Page 31 of Forever Relentless

“Why?” Dustin shrugged when they all looked at him, probably thinking it was pretty obvious why. “I know you were going to hook up with her,” he explained quickly. “But you were already caught, weren’t you? I’ve seen your social media, Jason. Laurie-Anne is very prominent. You’re sitting at a party ‘bonding’ with some girl, you’ve already been tagged, man. The college gossip mill is just as bad as the high-school hate campaigns, only with more alcohol and less morals.”

Noah whistled lightly under his breath. “Jaded,” he murmured.

Dustin ignored him, and so did Jason.

“Walk us through it,” Dante encouraged him.

“I was with a group of people,” Jason explained. “It wasn’t a one-on-one situation. We were in a group.” He still wouldn’t look at them. “It didn’t look suspicious at all.”

I heard one of them snort. “Then how did it get . . . intimate?” Dustin asked bluntly.

I didn’t bother to hide my grin. This was genuinely one of the most entertaining things that had happened since I came here. I only wished I could share the tea with Diana.

“Do I need to draw you a picture?” Jason asked so flippantly that I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing.

“I don’t understand. How does standing in a group, talking among yourselves, become a ‘do you want to go somewhere quieter?’ How does that happen? How were signals even sent?” Dante wasn’t hiding his impatience any longer. “What am I missing?”

Jason cleared his throat. “I knew some of the guys,” he said gruffly. “They offered a . . . group experience.”

Whoa. Was he serious?

“Are you serious?” Noah asked him flatly.

“I’m serious,” he admitted with a loud sigh.

I wish I could have seen Noah’s face, but I was too worried about being caught. His tone said everything. “You decided your first time would be at a party with old high-school buddies, some girls you didn’t know, and have an—”

“Orgy.” Jason sounded like what the word misery described.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to laugh or not.

“Are you stupid?” Dante asked bluntly. “That is . . . That is such a fucking stupid idea.”

“Is the media girl coming back?” Jason asked, and I almost giggled at his obvious attempt to shift focus.

“Soon,” Noah grunted, and I almost, almost, wanted to pop up and yell ‘surprise’ just to see the fuckers’ reactions. “When did you find out your private party wasn’t exactly private?” Noah asked Jason.

“Three days later.” Jason was becoming even more distraught. “I don’t get it, there were no phones, no cameras.” He genuinely sounded like he still couldn’t account for it, even now. “I’m not fucking stupid. We all agreed. We made a deal, none of us had a phone or anything. I don’t know how they got a picture of me with her. I know . . . I know I was stupid.”

“You were in a bedroom?” Noah asked, and Jason must have nodded to say yes, because Noah continued. “Someone’s laptop was open then. Probably filmed the whole thing.”

I risked a glance up through the gap and saw that Jason looked ready to pass out.

Dante must have thought the same thing. “Hey, it’s going to be okay,” he assured Jason, getting out of his seat.

How? I mean . . . he was so single when his girlfriend found out.

“So what happened?” Dustin asked. “You got your rocks off with an audience, you cheated on your girlfriend, and you have a picture, much like I do, of being caught in a compromising position.”

By the looks of it, the news that Dustin was in a similar position brightened Jason’s day.

Dustin waved him off. “Nah, man. Not the same. I was with my girlfriend, on the street, just her and me.”

“You have a girlfriend?” Jason asked in surprise.

“Off topic,” Noah reminded them, also standing. “So what we have is someone taking pictures of the team screwing?”

Jason’s eyes were wide as saucers. “I wasn’t screwing!”