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“Hey, if you’re offering.” He shrugged. “They hate me too. I’m sure I’ll need a favor down the road.”
“Ask someone else. I’m not helping you with anything.”
“Then take my information and use it anyway. No strings.”
I didn’t trust him. Or his words. But unlike Eli or West, he had no reason to lie to me about the business. I needed to figure out where the Blue Lounge was because I was going to be there at eight tonight.
“Thanks. Is that all?” I asked, finally ripping out of his grip.
“Watch yourself around them.” He glanced at the boys’ locker room door. “I can’t always be around to make sure they don’t go too far.”
“I’m fine,” I told him, just like I had with my coach. Did no one believe I could take care of myself?
I ran into Bri once I got into the locker room, and she stared at me expectantly, as if waiting for me to explain why Elias Perry was all over me on the court. The other girls stayed quiet, waiting for my explanation too. I sighed and started stripping my clothes off once I got to the showers.
“I promise we’ll talk about it back at the house,” I said to Bri, knowing everyone else was listening too. “There are a few things I need to tell you.”
Apprehension stuck to me as most of the girls started leaving. I was going to tell them and hope these last few weeks had been enough for them to make judgments of me before they knew my last name. I had been enjoying my time at the house and didn’t want it to end. I’d been living free from my name for the last nine years, and I didn’t want to go back to being a Whitman. I had freedom as Katie White. It was all about to end.
But they were going to find out. The guys weren’t going to leave me alone, and talk would fly through the school like wildfire after today’s practice. I’d rather they find out from me than Eli or West.
I washed and rinsed my hair before quickly washing my body. By the time I dried off, all the other girls had already left. The good thing about going to a ritzy school was the amenities. The locker rooms were fully stocked with whatever we needed. Blow dryers, curling irons, tampons. It had everything.
I quickly dried my hair and slid on a pair of baggy sweats and a loose shirt. As much as I wanted to take my time going back to the house and admit to the team who I was, I needed to hurry to make sure I was at the Blue Lounge on time. It was only six, so I had a couple of hours still.
I stepped back out into the gym, and panic cut through me when someone from behind me clamped a hand over my mouth before pulling me into a hard chest. I heard a grunt when I rammed my elbow into their gut. The hand didn’t move, and I grabbed the fingers, trying to pry them from my mouth and bending them as far back as I could. All I could imagine was William shoving those pills down my throat.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
I was twisted around,and my chest slammed into the wall. I screamed through the hand as my arms were pulled behind me. My breaths turned rapid when I realized there were two of them. One of them was still covering my mouth while the other was wrapping something soft tightly around my wrists. I struggled, kicking my foot back, bashing it against one of their shins. Whoever it was let out a hiss of pain.
And then I smelled him. His fresh soap surrounded me as he pulled me away from the wall. The small amount of relief that poured through me when I realized it wasn’t William was quickly overtaken by anger as I got dragged into the boys’ locker room.
West appeared in front of me and locked the door. He faced me, and I let my eyes grow murderous as he grinned. Eli pulled me down on a bench with one of my legs on either side of it. He sat behind me, trapping my bound arms between my back and his chest. West sat down in front of me, straddling the bench like I was. He scooted closer as Eli finally moved his hand from my mouth.
“You motherfucking assholes,” I screamed, raising my leg to kick West.
I landed a solid hit to his stomach before he gripped both of my thighs, keeping me still. My heart was in my throat as my chest heaved. Eli’s fingers slid up my back until they softly traced my neck. West’s grip on my legs tightened as he spread them wider apart, and then he slid closer to me.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I hissed, wearing my anger as a mask. I wouldn’t show them fear. Eli’s hand moved to the back of my head before he gripped my hair. My teeth clenched as he tilted my face up until I was staring up at him. It was an awkward angle, and my discomfort grew with every moment.
“We just need to talk,” Eli said, trouble lurking in his eyes. “But it seems every time we try to do that, you attempt to leave. So, we removed that option for you.”
It was obvious they were trying to scare me. Internally, I could admit that they had succeeded. They didn’t terrify me like William did. But they could inflict misery in their own way. I just hadn’t figured out what they planned to do yet. West shuffled away for a few moments before plopping back down on the bench. Eli’s gaze left me before he released my hair. My aching neck was relieved as I dropped my head.
“Kat.” I raised my eyes to West when he said my name and then cursed, lunging at him. Eli wrapped an arm around my waist, yanking me back to him. West was holding my phone, and by the look on his face, he had just gotten what he wanted.
“This new technology makes it so much easier,” West murmured as he stared at the screen. “Don’t even need a password. Just one scan of your face, and I’m in.”
My panic was nearly uncontrollable as he kept digging. I was positive everything about James had been wiped. The only thing was the contact under the name Amanda. And it was a burner phone with a generic voice mail. Even if West called, it wasn’t linked to James or his job at all. But my fear remained. What if there was a stray text? Or something else equally incriminating?
“You did all this to snoop?” I asked, trying to sound sarcastic and failing. I was too on edge. This could ruin everything.
“If you tell us what you’re hiding, we’ll have no reason to snoop,” Eli murmured, his lips grazing my ear.
“I’m not hiding anything.”
“What were you doing at that hotel a few weeks ago?” West asked, keeping his eyes on my phone.
