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“It was all lies.” Justin scoffs. “He was checking out the girls I had painted, but he zeroed in on you. He asked Pierce if he knew the girl with the tattoo on her hip. Pierce asked him why, but Ted wouldn’t say why he wanted to know. Pierce refused to tell him. But when he saw you at the Pit, he recognized you.”
All his work is torn to pieces on the floor, and I feel responsible as if I had done it myself. “I’m sorry I went there,” I tell him, “I’m sorry I didn’t listen.” I pick up a torn piece of paper by my hand—a charcoal of the lower half of my face. My lips curve in a smile, thinking about what we do in here alone. I toss it back on the ground. “I should have listened to you.”
We leave the studio and attract some curious looks as we walk hand in hand to Getz’s office to meet Wyatt, Bryce and Pierce. They answered my text immediately. We have to talk about how to fix this shit.
Justin is calm as we walk, and his thumb traces the skin on my fingers. I feel that way again when he touches me. I’m not amping up for sex. That’s not what I’m thinking about. I feel calm inside. The way I imagine it would be if we woke up in bed together in our own place and had nothing else to do but lie wrapped in each other’s arms. Justin calms the wild in me down, and now, I’m doing the same for him.
Getz’s office door is open as we walk in, and Justin is still holding my hand. I don’t realize it until I notice the expressions on the other boys’ faces. Pierce shrugs his shoulders. Wyatt frowns and looks away. Bryce watches our hands intertwined until his gaze rises to my face. He stares at me as if I should offer an explanation, but I won’t. Not now.
“It’s okay,” Wyatt said, “We’ve discussed it, but I thought I’d give it a try.”
I let go of Justin’s hand and sit down near Bryce on the couch. He eases toward me as I watch him from the corner of my eye. But I fold my arms over my chest and stop him with a hard gaze from touching me. Not now.
“It’s about Justin today.” I say it out loud. I’m going to speak openly. They don’t have to discuss me in private. They can talk about me while I’m sitting here listening. But not now. I look at Justin as he sits down at Getz’s desk.
Pierce stands and gets the conversation moving forward as he paces the small room. “So, it’s past time for us to do something.” He pauses as Justin makes a sound in his throat. “We need to work together.” Pierce eyes Justin sharply. “And be united in what we do.”
Justin gives Pierce the dirtiest look. “So does that mean you’re going to stop providing Ted with entertainment?”
“Does it mean you’re going to stop joining in?” Pierce shoots back. “What was that shit in the limo about anyway?” There’s no reply as Justin glares at Pierce. “That’s okay.” He scoffs. “Be all moody and shit.”
Justin puts his feet up on the desk on top of Getz’s paperwork. “Seriously, you attend private parties with Ted. Don’t tell me you just watch.”
“I don’t join in,” replies Pierce. “Who do you think leaked Ted’s nasty hobby to the press? I don’t like how Ted thinks he can order my dad around. But it’s not staying that way. And I want that laptop.”
Bryce swipes his bangs to the side and rolls his eyes dramatically so we all notice him. “That’s the problem, Pierce. You talk unity, and then a minute barely passes, and you’re back on your favorite topic…you. I’m not hating for it. I’d rather talk about me. But that’s the problem. They’re counting on us to fight with each other while they quietly take over.”
“A bit dramatic,” replies Wyatt. “And who is they? The Illuminati?”
“Our parents,” I answer. “I can see where it went all wrong. The Pit was under Monarch control, and then when it showed promise, Stonehaven stepped in. And now who runs it? Ted.”
Pierce nods in agreement. “We fought among ourselves and lost control of it. And this shit is going to keep on happening until we have a solid plan.”
“We have to agree on everything.” Wyatt glances at me for a second and then looks at Pierce. “The wild behavior has to stop. You and Justin can’t party with Ted and then expect to prosecute him in the morning.”
Justin pulls out his phone and taps the screen. He holds up his phone in an outstretched hand above his head, and panting and groans fill the small office. On the screen is Ted on top of some girl in the back seat of a car. Ted’s hands grip her by the ass so hard that they leave wide red marks. He pushes in and out at a punishing pace that makes the girl scream for him to stop. I look away, shaking, until the video stops.
“And by the way,” Justin says, “I did stop him, which is probably why he went after Astrid. Ted lashes out when he’s told no.”
The dimly lit room is quiet again as we sink into our own thoughts. I stare at the bookcase across from me and focus on the old red hardcovers that are slowly falling apart. I wonder if Getz has even read half of these books. It’s a stupid thought, but reading all the books in this room seems more likely than us getting along.
“The first thing we need to do is give evidence against Ted, and we have plenty of it,” says Pierce, finally sitting down in a wooden chair. He stretches his legs out and looks at me. “Would you be willing to testify against him?”
“No,” Wyatt raises his voice, “Whatever happens, Astrid won’t do that.”
Pierce shakes his head. “It will be hard to make it stick without her help.”
Justin puts his feet down with a bang. “No, I won’t let her do it.”
I grip the couch as they argue over my role in this. I know what I want to do. I don’t want to testify. I don’t want to be remembered for what Ted Leister almost did to me. I’m the tough girl, taking on any and every dare, but I can’t do this. I don’t want that incident to follow me the rest of my life.
“I don’t want to do it,” I speak softly as Bryce places his hand on my thigh.
“Let’s think of something else,” he says. “What if he’s caught in the act? Turnabout is fair play. A good old-fashioned raid. We call the police while he’s balls deep in it at the Pit?”
Pierce shrugs, curling his lips. “It might work. So far, it’s all rumors, but we have damning proof.”
Justin shakes his head. “It has to be with someone that is shocking. He has to be caught with a woman or man that could ruin his career.”
