Left or right?
When I turn left, I inhale through my nose, muffling a shriek. Someone runs into me, and my heart rate accelerates, determining I’m done for.
There’s a gasp, and then a female’s voice. “Crap! What are you doing here?”
As the shock wears off, I double-take at Stella.
She grabs my arms and her overlined eyes widen. “Do you have a death wish?”
“I… I…” I clear my throat and strengthen my footing. “Where’s Dax?”
She yanks on my arm, tugging me into a room on the right. She shuts the door behind us and glues a pointed index finger to her lips.
I look around the small space, housing a dingy twin bed and a metal chair in the corner, and gulp.
“It’s Dax’s room,” she whispers. “We’ll let him come to us.”
A shiver jitters down my body. “Are you in trouble?”
“Things are manic around here,” she replies. “Dax lets me hide out here whenever Hugo drags me along. But today is especially intense.”
“It seemed like no one was around.”
“A few are in the basement, and some are down the back. I took the opportunity to go to the bathroom while it was quiet.”
I chew on my fingernail. “But Dax is here?”
Her eyes well as she nods. A sob croaks out of her, and she blurts, “I’m sorry, okay! I didn’t mean for them to find out.”
She latches onto me, and her urgency has my body in a chokehold.
“Wha… Wha… What are you talking about?”
“One night when Dax wasn’t here, the other guys wouldn’t leave me alone.” Her bottom lip quivers. “I just wanted to scroll on my phone to ignore them.”
My mouth stays ajar, unable to grasp what has her so upset.
“I couldn’t stop staring at this post.” She sniffs hard, releasing my arms. “Hugo wanted to know what had my attention. Then Lance snatched my phone.”
My teeth chatter, watching the melancholy droop her face.
“It was a poll, asking who should be your boyfriend.”
My heart drops to my gut, which contracts and twists. I moan, holding my stomach, sickened at the idea of Dax’s brother looking at pictures of me.
“Lance said he recognized you,” Stella mumbles, her eyeliner running down her cheek. “He wanted me to dish on you. I’m sorry, he scared the crap outta me.”
Adrenaline races through my veins as I keep pressure on my stomach.
“Once I checked out your page and realized you were Tom Ashworth’s daughter, Lance had the guys look for Dax,” Stella says. “He wanted to know why he had lied about you, and wanted Dax to make it up to him.”
Tears fill my eyes, and I trace over his pendant under my sweatshirt. “I knew he was forced into it.”
Stella moans, raking her hands through her hair. “If only I’d never been on that stupid app.”
I shush her. “It’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up.”
She wipes away her tears, creating large black circles under her eyes. “Dax just looks so crushed. I hate that I did this to him.”
