Brutal Obsession (79)

“You’ve got a point. Not even a defamatory article could bring him down.”

Yeah. That. I think of my list, of the weird things that have been happening since I got back. Maybe it has less to do with Greyson and more to do with me. I’m the vulnerable one.

Either way, I’m not going to solve this mystery tonight.

I settle in and let Jack pick a movie. He orders us food, too, and jumps up to get the door when it arrives. I’m not going to lie… it’s nice to have company. I feel better not being alone in the apartment.

Still, the fact that Jack dropped me so fast after that video went out still stings.

And the worry that he might’ve seen Greyson take the video…

“What’s been up with you since…?” I bite my lip and set down my drink. The pizza is mostly gone, the movie is half over. I didn’t mean to bring up the video, but here we are. He acted so cold outside the dining hall. Hateful, even. And here I am, sitting on my couch with him like everything is fine. It’s not. It’s far from fine. “Actually, Jack, I think you owe me an apology.”

Regret flashes across his face.

We talked briefly after he lashed out at me. But he pretended the whole thing didn’t happen—and now he’s sitting on my couch doing the same thing. It’s not how I want tonight to go. Especially if he’s going to pretend we’re okay.

He twists to face me and takes my hands. “You’re right. I am truly sorry for how I acted after that video was posted. I knew you didn’t have anything to do with it, but Devereux got in my head about it.”

I pause. “What does that mean?”

“Just that he was joking about it to his buddies. He had a good laugh at our expense and kind of blamed it on you…” He shifts.

Jack called me a slut. His apology shouldn’t erase my memory of it.

I pull my hands from his grip and stand. “I’ll be right back.”

What the fuck is happening to me? I lock myself in my bathroom and close my eyes. I shouldn’t do anything with Jack. I shouldn’t even have invited him in… wait, no, I didn’t invite him in. He just… came.

But he is right about one thing. I should hit Greyson where it hurts.

Strike back.

We can’t be together, him and I.

So we may as well be enemies.

The thing is, there’s not much Greyson cares about. Hockey, of course. His friends. Like Willow and me, I doubt they’d be easy to tear apart. But… there is something else.

I splash water on my face and step back into my room. A wave of dizziness washes over me, and I grab the doorjamb.

“You okay?”

My head snaps up. Jack sits on the edge of my bed, his gaze steady on me.

“Just dizzy.”

He hums. “Shame.”

“What is?”

He tilts his head. “The movie isn’t over. But maybe we should get you to bed.”

Goosebumps rise on the backs of my arms, and I head for the hall. “It’ll pass.”

“It’ll get worse.” He rises and grabs my forearms as I pass. He grips me just under my elbows, and my knees give out.

I blink, and it feels slow. Like they’re closed a lot longer than they should be.

When I finally force my eyelids open again, we’ve moved closer to the bed.

“What did you do?”

He makes a face. “Nothing you don’t deserve.”

He sets me down on the edge of the bed and waits. The room swims around me, and I brace my hands on my knees. I try to rise again, but my legs aren’t working. It’s like someone detached my head, and I’m floating up into the ceiling. He swings my legs up, setting my head down on my pillow, and pulls out his phone. I blink again and lose precious seconds.

An alarm goes off in my mind.

His phone flashes, the click of the camera loud.

“Hey!” I didn’t say that. And neither did Jack.

He whirls toward the voice.

I push myself up, but my muscles can’t hold. I catch a glimpse of Greyson storming into my bedroom.

He grabs the phone from Jack and glares down at the screen. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Jack sneers. “You’re not the only one who can use her—”

Greyson punches him.

I close my eyes and try to roll on my side. I teeter on the edge of my bed. My legs hit the floor first, and my body follows. I crash hard, my shoulder catching my nightstand. Searing pain bursts down my arm, numbing it. The room keeps going in and out of focus, and my hearing, too. Like I’m floating through a wave. Caught in a riptide. Nausea hits me, and my stomach knots. I can only hear the grunts that I know come from Greyson. They’re familiar to me in a way Jack never was.

What was Jack going to do to me?

“Come on,” Greyson says, suddenly close. He grips me under my arms and lifts me.

I weakly curl my fingers into his shirt. I force my eyes open and barely see Jack’s legs extending past the end of my bed.

Greyson ignores him and swings me up into his arms.

He carries me into the hallway. I can practically feel his mind working. He goes into the hallway bathroom and sets me down in front of the toilet.

“Sorry, Vi,” he mutters.

Then he jams his fingers down my throat.