Page 151 of Game Plan

“I don’t care about camping right now. I only care about you.”

“Go,” Devin said. He and Craig were still holding a very angry Nichols, his hands restrained behind his back.

Mason lifted me in his arms, honeymoon style, and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’ve got you.” Fishing his keys out of his pocket, he unlocked his car and lowered me onto the passenger seat. “Watch her,” he instructed Amber. “I’ll go grab her jacket and change my shirt.” His lips found my forehead again for a long second, and he dusted snow off my sweater. “I’ll be right back, love.”

My eyes found Nichols’s, and he started screaming at me. “You’re just a fucking bitch who deserves everything coming to you. You ruined my life. And my reputation. My dad wants nothing to do with me anymore. Are you happy, you worthless piece of shit? You destroyed me, and I’ll make it my mission to destroy you too.”

I blinked. Someone had ratted him out, but it was definitely not me. I swallowed, forcing some strength into my voice. “I never said anything about you to anyone, not even Mase.” More tears streamed down my cheeks. “Your secret was safe with me.” I grimaced. My body was sore everywhere now. “You beat up the wrong people. My friends and I never told a soul about that night either, for that matter.”

Realization flashed in his eyes. His lips quivered. Some of the fury in his eyes waned. He kept his jaw locked tight and his fists clenched at his sides. “You’re lying.”

“I wish.” I tapped into my inner power and the quick wit I always had whenever I was working at Lola’s. “At least I would have been kicked in the stomach for a reason. How does revenge feel now?”

“You won’t get away with it. I know it was you. Who else could it be? You should be rotting in hell where you belong.”

I had heard these words somewhere. It took me a moment to remember. “Oh God. The flowers, it was you, wasn’t it?”

“Did you like them? When I saw them, they reminded me of you. Useless and stupid. I tried to warn you, to make you understand not to mess with me, over and over again, but you’re not smart enough to see clues even when they’re right in front of your face.”

“The phone calls and the stalking of my friends, it was you too, right?”

He didn’t answer the question. Instead, he said, “And I heard your pleas that day, begging me to free you from the restroom at Lola’s. You sounded so weak. Crying like a lame baby, thinking someone would come save you. Poor little stupid hopeless girl, unable to stand up for herself. You always pretend you’re in charge and let that sassy mouth of yours do the talking when you put on the little denim skirt, but we all know how pathetic you truly are. I wanted to teach you a lesson. Too bad someone walked in on me before I was done terrorizing you.”

“Shut up,” Craig said, twisting his arm a little more until a grimace appeared on Nichols’s swollen face. “Shut the fuck up right now, or else I’ll make you.”

“You’re a sick psycho,” Amber said.

“Nah, I’m just not inclined to have my ass served to me on a platter by a girl.” He brought his attention back to me. “If I wasn’t clear before, don’t humiliate me in front of my guys ever again. Take notes. That stupid mouth of yours has only one purpose, which is sucking dicks. Otherwise, it’s of no use. You should learn to shut it up.”

I blinked, unsure if this was real life. Nichols was way more disturbed than I had ever given him credit for.

“You can close your mouth, ma jolie. As you can see, I can’t feed you anything right now. Rain check?”

Rutherford punched him in the stomach. “You’re fucking trash.”

I was about to say something when Mason came back and positioned himself between us so I couldn’t engage with Nichols anymore. “Shepard, don’t look at him,” he murmured into my ear. He had changed into a mocha and beige hoodie and slipped on his letterman jacket. He placed my own jacket over my lap. “The fucker doesn’t deserve your attention. He’s sick in the head.”

He closed my door, rounded the car, and hauled himself behind the steering wheel.

He rolled down the window as his brother neared us. “Don’t worry, Mase. We’re taking care of him.”

“Thanks, man.”

Craig nodded at me before Mason reversed the car and pulled out of the driveway.

“I haven’t been honest with you,” I whispered. “About Evan.”

Panic filled his eyes when his gaze found mine as soon as we stopped at a red light. “What do you mean?”

I told him about everything that had happened over the last few weeks. The library incident, his visit to Lola’s later that day, the locked restroom door, Donovan being cornered and called names, Cassidy being followed, the flowers and poem, the threats, the HADB episode in the parking lot behind the bar.

His grip on the steering wheel tightened, his knuckles turning white. “I’m gonna kill him. I’m gonna kill that son of a bitch.”

I squeezed his hand, the one that blanketed mine. “No. You won’t kill anyone. It will be okay. We’re gonna be okay.” I rested my cheek against his tense shoulder. “We have each other. In the bigger scheme of things, it’s the only thing that matters. Don’t do something stupid because of him. Don’t risk your future because you think you gotta avenge me. You’d only lower yourself to his level. You gotta promise me, Mase.”

“I can’t. Nichols needs to pay for what he did to you. He can’t get away with threats and fights as if they never happened.”

“No. Don’t let your anger get the best of you or do the talking. It’s not your job to make him pay. Let the cops do their job.”