I blow out a breath. I never should have let this bitch in. If I were still trying to fuck Evan over, Olivia was my best bet. But that plan’s long gone. Evan isn’t going anywhere. The only reason I continued to let Olivia believe she had a shot with me was to protect Evan.
“Maybe you should take the hint, Olivia,” I say it louder than necessary and turn to look at her. “Maybe I’d want anyone more than you.”
Some of the guys make burn noises in the background as her eyes narrow on mine. When some girls giggle, Olivia shoots them a look that makes them stop.
There’s hell to pay in her eyes, but I’m done giving in to this bitch.
The teacher comes in. “All right, let’s focus, people.”
Olivia straightens. She glares at me before she remembers herself and smiles softly. This isn’t going to end well.
When class ends, Olivia is out the door before I can say anything more to her. I blow out a breath. That might have done more harm than good. When I walk into second and Evan looks up at me with those eyes, my chest feels tight. It’s not just Jackson I want to protect her from. It’s everything and everyone.
Chase, Olivia, even her own mother.
We need to make sure Olivia hears me loud and clear that we’re never going to happen. Not sex. Not a relationship. Nothing.
Without getting Evan hurt.
Hawk
Damon isn’t happy, but Annie wants to stay the course. I want Chase to pay for what he did to Annie and Damon, so I’m all in on the revenge plan to take everything from him. The party on Saturday will take away Chase’s freedom. Our other plan will cost him his dignity. We just need to find the right moment to pull the trigger. He’s lost the girl he wants, but I want it to hurt when he finds out.
Cam did his job and everyone knows about the party. All we have to do is show up and make sure Chase’s parents find out.
I’m waiting outside Annie’s third period class when the bell rings. When she walks out, I wrap my arm around her shoulders, leading her to the doors instead of toward the cafeteria.
“Hawk, what are we doing?” She doesn’t struggle. I love how she’s never really shoved me off her, even when I shouldn’t havebeen doing this. There was only one time she pushed me away. Back when she wasn’t mine.
“We need to go somewhere we can talk.”
She pauses next to the trash can and throws away three highlighters. I open the door and lead her to our motorcycles.
“Talk?” she asks suspiciously with a small smile.
I want to pull her in and kiss her because I love that she’s as down as we are to fuck. But that’s not the objective today.
Her eyes light up when she sees Damon and Cam ready to ride. Damon holds out her helmet. She goes to him, and he helps her put it on, but she turns to look at me.
“Go on, little devil, ride with Hawk.” Damon pushes her hip, so she comes over to me.
I climb on and she easily slides on behind me. Her arms wrap around me, and she rests her head against my back. Her trust warms me. We start our bikes and take off.
Not the burger joint. Damon has plans, so he wanted somewhere private, where we can talk and not be overheard.
We drive to a park that’s empty. It doesn’t have playground equipment, just green space, so there are never a bunch of kids and moms here. When we stop to get off, Annie laughs.
“A picnic?” She hands me the helmet, and I put it on my bike before taking her hand. Damon has a pack and brings it over to a picnic table.
He takes out the food his chef made. She kisses his cheek, and he smiles.
“I swear your cook is trying to fatten me up.” She takes the eggplant parmigiana.
“We’ll help you burn it off.” Cam sets a red paper flower in front of Evan before he straddles the bench next to her and eats a sandwich. He takes in every inch of her like she’s next on his menu.
She smiles at him and touches his jaw. Her fingers touch the petals on the flower. Something inside me settles and acknowledges this is the way it should always be. At school, on weekends, every fucking night. Just us and our girl. Fuck everyone else.
Damon clears his throat, and everyone shifts our attention to him.
