Page 93 of Dark Tangled Truths
And while this weekend sounds good for everyone, Damon comes back, which fills me with equal parts excitement and dread. There’s a lot we need to talk about, but I just want to feel his arms around me. I want them all to be with me so I can breathe again.
The usual buzz of people gossiping fills the room. I haven’t looked to see what the latest post is on the social media account, but it’s apparently all anyone can talk about this week. I wish it would just die, because there’s no getting it down. Camconvinced me to shut off notifications, but it feels wrong not to know what to expect.
Hawk comes in with a smirk on his lips as he zeroes in on me.
He pauses next to my desk and leans over to give me a kiss. When he lifts his head, he gives me a grin before taking his seat. He’s definitely up to something. I turn in my chair and give him a questioning look.
What’s he all smiley about? When he doesn’t say anything, I let out a huff.
Clearly gloating, he nods toward the door. I turn and watch Chase walk in. A few guys stand and clap. Girls giggle behind their hands. Chase stops, and the pleasant mask he wears falls.
“Fuck off,” he grumbles before taking his seat.
My phone vibrates, and I look at the link Hawk sent me. It’s a video. I click on it and see Chase out in the woods captionedWhen he thinks he’s meeting a girl...
I watch it without sound. Chase walks into the woods and gets surrounded by guys. Then he waits there, crying, alone, until he runs to his truck in the same place he abandoned me. His truck lists to the side. Clearly one of his tires is flat.
My heart pounds. He’s left there alone in the woods exactly like he left me. I lift my gaze to Hawk’s. He touches my jaw, lifting my chin slightly.
“It’s better with sound.” He winks, but his eyes are dead serious. “No one fucks with you, Annie, and comes away unscathed.”
“Isn’t therea way to get this down, Adam?” Mom sits next to him, glaring at her phone. It’s been a rough week so far, and it’sonly Wednesday. New pictures keep appearing, along with the deranged things the poster wants to do to me.
It’s also family mealtime. Without Damon.
It’s hard to stay mad at him when I miss my quiet time with him. How he scoops me up and makes me shower with him after his workout. How he brings me dinner in his room while we work on homework. How when I lie down on his chest I can hear the steady rhythm of his heart lulling me into sleep.
It’s hard missing Damon because it’s sullied with what he did. My chest squeezes thinking of how he bared my soul to my mom without even a thought. Was I lonely before him? Yes. Did he need to tear into my mom about it? Not at all. Mom didn’t deserve that. I didn’t deserve that.
I love being with Cam and Hawk. How they make sure I’m taken care of. Cam gives me flowers during the day and runs his fingers along my spine until I fall asleep. Hawk talks with me about Shakespeare until I drift off. I swear we could stay up all night talking.
And honestly, sleeping with just Cam or Hawk is a whole new experience that I’m loving. I wish I had more opportunities to be with them individually.
Adam clears his throat, bringing me back to the conversation.
“If EvanAnn were younger, maybe.” Adam shakes his head and turns his blue eyes to me. “I’m sorry you’re going through this.”
I nod. It’s all most adults have been able to say. At this point I’m resigned to my pictures being on this Hockey Wh*re page. It’s not harmful—they don’t have my name and address and phone number on it—just disturbing words and an invasion of privacy. At least I already told my mom about the guys, or there would have been a lot of questions to answer.
We’re over that awkward moment of me sleeping naked on top of Damon. Okay, maybe not over, but we’re dealing. Honestly, these posts might have been a much easier and less embarrassing way to find out than how she actually found out about my relationship.
And Damon and I wouldn’t be fighting. I push my food around on my plate. Damon and I still talk, but under the cover of darkness, when it’s just him and me. Those conversations give me hope that we can get through this. He said he wasn’t ready to apologize. That means he will, right? And what will I do when he does? Will I be able to accept that he tried to blow us up because Mom thought he was my rebound?
When he gets back, we’ll talk and see how it goes.
Until then, maybe I can figure out some things we haven’t been able to get a handle on. I push my food around, trying to figure out a way to bring up the texts Mom got. There are ways to ease into a conversation like this, but I just need to know.
“You said the text that night wasn’t the first anonymous text you received?” I ask with an arched brow. “What did the other ones say?”
Mom glances at Adam and then down at her plate. She releases her breath. “It was just little texts at first. Likedo you know where your child is? It reminded me of a horror movie Jason made me watch. So I’d check in on you with either a text or find you in the house. Most of the time nothing was happening.”
My cheeks flare with heat remembering the three times she interrupted me and Damon in the beginning. When he showed me his blackmail. After that first kiss. In the bathroom when he showed me his after he’d seen mine. Those were just coincidences, right?
“When?” I ask, feeling a little choked because if they happened at those times that means someone has been watching us in this house.
“After we moved here.” Mom shrugs like it doesn’t matter. “I blocked most of the texts.”
“It doesn’t bother you that someone texted you that I needed to be checked on? That the last time they did, you found me missing?”
