Broken Trust: A Dark High School Romance(34)

I narrowed my eyes. “What bet?”

Without an ounce of contrition, he grinned. “We were betting which one of us you forgave first. To be honest, I chose Dylan. You seemed to be closest to him behind Beck.”

Another twinge in my chest. Not as strong as the one Beck caused, but it was still there.

“We were close,” I said softly. “And that’s why I’m still fucking furious with him. Not to mention, he hasn’t even tried to fix it.”

Evan cleared his throat, and I stood suddenly because that was a suspicious sound. Bending down to grab my phone, I narrowed my eyes on him. “Spit it out…”

He looked uncomfortable. “He’ll kill me for telling you this, and trust me, Dylan knows how to kill a person in like eighty-four brutal ways, but he’s been really broken up. He fought with Beck, and it was fucking insane. They almost brought down a damn building. If I didn’t know better, I might have guessed that you and Dylan had something going on as well…”

He trailed off, leaving that little fact dangling there, like he thought I was going to fall to my knees and confess. “I have been a busy little Delta whore, haven’t I?” I said sarcastically.

Evan laughed. “Ah, if only that was the case. But for real, you should talk to Dylan. Before he accidentally kills all three of us in anger. The dude doesn’t have much in the way of family life, just like the rest of us, and to lose someone he cares about. He’s not doing okay.”

I almost felt bad then. Almost.

My phone beeped again and I looked down to realize that the message from before had been sent, somehow. Must have knocked it when I dropped the phone.

Beck: You know that’s not going to happen. You belong to me, Riley Jameson.

My resolve wavered again. Damn him.

Evan caught the message, and a shit-eating grin lifted his lips. “Don’t fucking say it,” I warned him.

He didn’t speak, but the grin remained firmly in place.

A knock on the door startled us, and I almost dropped my phone again. Evan’s entire demeanor changed, and he shifted into what I like to call “stealth mode.” He crossed to where his jacket was, and I blinked as he lifted a gun from one of the pockets.

Fuck. He’d had that with him the entire time and I hadn’t even known.

He lifted the peephole so he could see who it was, holding the gun out to the side, like he could be back in a defensive position in a moment if needed. “We need to get you a security camera here,” he muttered, but then relaxed, lowering the gun.

He pulled the door open and Beck, Jasper, and Dylan were waiting on the other side. Stone faced. Dressed in dark jackets with windswept hair. The weather was wild out there. Their eyes were almost the same. Fierce and untamed.

They filed in silently, and as Evan closed and bolted the door again, I was swept off my feet. Dylan held me tightly, his arms trembling slightly as he lifted me. He’d moved so fast that I hadn’t seen a thing until I was in his arms.

“I’m so sorry, Riles,” he murmured close to my ear, sounding broken up. Evan’s words hit me then, I remembered everything he’d said, and I allowed myself to relax against Dylan. Even going so far as to wrap my arms around him and hug him back.

“It’s okay. I’m okay,” I said over and over, like I was trying to convince us both.

When he finally set me down, his face looked as devastated as his voice had sounded. “I can’t believe we let them touch you,” he growled in that graveled tone. “Fuck. I wish I was there to kill them all.”

Evan snorted. “Yeah, trust me, Beck needed no help.”

My gaze was drawn to Beck. Everything about me was drawn to Beck, and I fought the natural urge to go closer. Jasper distracted me when he swept me into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” he told me, pulling back so he could see my face. “No more separation at school.” He was dead serious. “I don’t care what’s going on in our personal lives. If you still hate us, that’s fucking fine, but you will not be separated from all of us again.”

He set me on my feet, and I swallowed some of my angry pride and nodded. “Agreed. We will present a united front, because that Katelyn is definitely here to fuck shit up. To separate us. To create chaos. I don’t know exactly what Huntley’s end game is, but I’m determined to destroy them first. And to do that, I need you all. I need Delta.”

“You have us,” Dylan said quickly. “We have your back.”

Jasper whipped out his phone then in a rush. He was dialing as he lifted it to his ear. “Yeah,” he said when they answered. “I need you to buy a couple of apartments.” He then rattled off the address and name of this building.

I opened my mouth, slammed it closed, before opening it again. But I didn’t protest. I’d agreed to this outward showing of unity, and I would still have my own place here. A little protection around me was not something to complain about.

“Kick them out,” Jasper replied to whatever the other person had said. “Or offer them double what they’re worth. I don’t care how you do it, just get us a few apartments on Riley’s floor.”

He hung up.

Beck shook his head. “If you’d asked me, I would have told you that I’ve already arranged to buy out this floor. Even if Riley didn’t want us to move in here, I still preferred she have no neighbors that could be easily manipulated into betraying her.”