Page 81 of Beautifully Devoted

“I’m not sure I am. I think this is another bluff.”

“What if it’s not?” Jagger burrows his head closer to my neck.

“Do you really think he can hurt me?”

“The guy I remember, no. But he’s not that guy anymore. I’m honestly not even sure that guy existed. I might’ve made him up or blocked out the bad things about him.”

“Even if you did, I didn’t. I remember him as being lazy and selfish, not violent. And frankly, he doesn’t look like the kind of guy who could defend himself very well, so I doubt he wants to court violence. You saw how he reacted when I grabbed his shirt. I don’t think he really wants to mess with me.”

“What if he owes someone and he’s more desperate than we think?”

“No offense, Kitcat, but your dad isn’t really good with authority, so I can’t really see him working for or even partnering with anyone else. He’s too much of a loner or a free spirit. Whatever he’s up to, it’s his own plan.”

“What do we do, then? Ignore that picture?”

“I—”

The office door swings open, and Coach comes back inside with a wary glance in our direction. “Everything okay?”

Jagger lifts his head off my chest and nods as I say, “Yeah.”

“Good. I want you two to sit here and wait for campus police. They’re going to take a statement and get a description so they can keep an eye out for your dad,” he tells Jagger. “They can’t do anything about the threat since we can’t prove who made it, but they can ask non-students to leave if they’re suspected of posing a threat.”

“Okay. Sure.” I guide Jagger back to his chair and take a seat myself.

“After that, I want you both to go home and get some rest,” Coach says. “We’ve got a big game this weekend and I need your heads in it, so take today and come back ready to play tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.” I nod, which he returns with just enough eye contact to assure me that he’s got our backs. Then he heads out to practice and the campus police rep comes in to hear what we have to say.

By the time we finally get home, we’re both exhausted, but Jagger’s dragging like a zombie. So I do the only thing I can think of to take his mind off it. I kiss him on the forehead and send him up to bed with a promise to follow right behind him with some food. I’m in the middle of making sandwiches when Liam comes back from class and finds me in the kitchen.

“Did they call practice early?” He reaches around me to grab an apple from the bowl on the counter. “I don’t see Cruz’s Jeep.”

It’s hard not to laugh at that since it’s actually Liam’s Jeep that he “sold” to Cruz in exchange for covering his rent after his dad cut him off.

“No, Jagger and I got excused today.”

Liam pauses with the apple halfway to his mouth. “Is this because of the whole gay chicken thing?”

“It wasn’t gay chicken.” I layer lunchmeat on two slices of bread.

“It wasn’t… You’re with Jagger then? Not in a bi-curious way but an actual together way? And the football team sent you home early because they don’t like it?”

“Yes, I’m with Jagger.” I spread mayo over the bread and put the tops on the sandwiches. “And I have no idea if the team likes it or not. I haven’t seen them since we decided to be boyfriends.”

“Back up.” Liam shakes his head. “When I saw you before the game Saturday you two were just friends, but by the party you were boyfriends? Because of the gay chicken?”

“After the game we kissed, not because of gay chicken. Although, it started as a way to get him off the hook with this girl, Anna. We realized we liked it and decided to date.”

“You went from zero to a hundred in the span of a few hours?” Liam gapes at me.

“There might’ve been some exploration between zero and a hundred.”

“In the span of a few hours?”

“I never said when zero started.” I cut the sandwiches in half and grab some Gatorades from the fridge.

“I knew it.” Liam takes a bite of his apple and smirks proudly.

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