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“Theta is fucked, Charlotte. It could be a great sorority, but...Well, trust your instincts because they’re right.”
“Do you know who told Theta about my OnlyFriends account?” I ask.
“Kurt told Helen,” replies Tracey. “He subscribes to OnlyFriends. He’s addicted to it. He looked for you after seeing the leaked video.” She squeezes her eyes shut, but large tears escape onto her flushed cheeks. “Kurt is an awful person.”
I sigh. “I know that firsthand.”
Her shoulders shake as she sobs and soon I can’t hold it in. I wail in pain at the realization of what almost happened and what could still happen breaks me down. We hug each other, offering comfort by expressing how we really feel. We have an ugly cry that we both needed.
The next day, Asher disappears from school, and no one will tell me where he’s gone until I’m almost in hysterics. I shouldn’t be so frail, but after what I’ve been through, even a piece of burnt toast or an unexpected rainstorm sends me spiraling down. Jaxon finally confesses and tells me that Asher went to Weymouth.
“He’s coming back,” replies Jaxon, holding me in his arms so I won’t cry. We stand in his room with the door locked. “He went to speak to his uncle.”
I yell at Jaxon as if he sent Asher away. “His uncle Trunk gives no fucks about anybody. Why did he do that?”
Jaxon sits me down on his messy bed and holds onto my hands. “Asher recognized the guy who tried to snatch you. He heard his voice and recognized the car when it drove off.” He pauses, waiting to see if I’ll lose it again. “We couldn’t talk him out of it, Charlotte. And I didn’t want to. He has to go find out what’s going on so we can take care of you.”
We didn’t mention Eddie Kessler to anyone. We only spoke about him when we were alone. In the meantime, I suck it up. I refuse to be treated as if I could shatter and break. I’m not a victim, but I’m not a fighter either. I foolishly thought I could handle any situation, including fighting off a crazed stalker. My swollen wrist is proof that I was wrong. Or maybe lucky; it could’ve been worse.
I don’t mention Asher again, but I knock on his door every day until he comes back.
CHAPTER 9
Hudson
The pledges talked about the incident with Jaxon. Bryan texted Kurt when Charlotte showed up at the house. A lot of guys were disappointed about Jaxon, but no one will miss Bryan if he gets kicked out.
I don’t know how I feel about Jaxon and Charlotte alone—Asher watched us together, and it made me want Charlotte more. I got off on him watching as I took her, but I’m not sure if I want to watch him or Jaxon with Charlotte. I roll over and watch her sleep, peeking at her curvy leg sticking out from under the covers. I have to stop thinking about fucking her as soon as I wake up.
With her arms stretched out, Charlotte sleeps heavily on a mattress on the floor. There’s nothing I can do with morning wood. So I roll over and face the wall, dozing off again. Jaxon gets up for his Saturday morning run. The door clicks shut, and the sound of keys in the lock rouses me. I roll over and watch Charlotte lift her head and look at the door. She sinks back down on the mattress and pulls the comforter to her chin. She insisted upon sleeping on the floor. She refuses to use my bed or Jaxon’s and won’t let us sleep on the floor.
“Hey,” I whisper, and she looks at me. “You want to take a ride?”
Charlotte watches me with her blue eyes, and her lips curve into a delicate smile. I crawl over to the edge of my bed and lean over the edge. My hand grazes her bare shoulder, and my fingertips linger on her warm skin. In the mornings, she looks like the girl I crushed on in Stonehaven again, and I pretend the years in between never happened. That we skipped over the pain that wrecked us. She giggles when I slide over the edge and onto her mattress. I lie on top of her, sending her into more fits of giggles as I tickle her soft skin. I kiss her until she slips away from me.
“Let’s go to Heights Corner,” I tell her in a croaky voice. “You deserve fun after all this shit. Let me spoil you today. Take your mind off it.”
We talk shit on the ride to the Airbnb and avoid mentioning all the bad stuff that’s been hanging over us. We crack on the reactions of her professors after they learned about her OnlyFriends account. She tells me about the check she gave to the school and then mentions Theta’s offer to clean up her image.
I’m quiet. Asher mentioned Charlotte and Theta. We need to tell her our suspicions. What they’re really like. The strong connection they have with Alpha.
“Did you know Prisha left school?” she asks without emotion.
I shrug. “I hadn’t seen her in a while. I didn’t know she was gone.”
“Tracy told me,” she replies. “Kurt’s to blame. I hope she’s okay.”
We turn down the street where the Airbnb is located and use it as an excuse to change the subject. “The owners left dinner in the fridge for us,” I tell her.
“Frequent customer card,” she laughs. “I’m starved.”
They left cold lasagna, a huge kale salad with baguettes, and a bottle of red wine. It isn’t fancy, but it’s filling as we drift into a carb coma in the bedroom. The window has a view of the hill descending toward a stream in the valley. Houses intermingle among the tall trees on the swell of the hill, and instead of watching streaming, we stare out the window at the scenery. We make an agreement not to check our phones.
“Did Asher tell you he’s thinking of quitting Ivymore?” she asks in between bites of lasagna heated up in the microwave.
I finish chewing before I answer. “Yeah, but he’ll change his mind.”
She tilts her head to the side. “How do you know?” she asks.
