Page 22 of Dangerous Play

The door swung open, and my best friend’s grim face welcomed me.

“What the hell did you do?”

CHAPTER SIX

IVY

I was going viral.Actually,wewere.

It wasn’t enough that I humiliated myself in front of all my friends, but someone recorded it and posted it online, turning the entire thing into mockery. Making me seem like a pathetic girl in love who wanted her ex back so desperately that she would even ruin her sister’s relationship.

I stared at the tiny screen in Derek’s hand where my teary face was all blown up and zoomed in.

Gosh, I was an ugly crier.

Of course, the video had no sound. It only showed what Westpoint students wanted the world to know. Me crying at the bottom of the stairs and Ander standing between me and my sister. No one recorded his cruel words. No one took a snapshot of his sadistic smile.

As usual, he was the victim and I was to blame.

It was the same when he cheated on me with my sister. Everyone felt bad for him when he was the one committing adultery.

It wasn’t fair.

He was a narcissistic bastard with victim mentality. He was toxic, and while I got out, it didn’t feel like I was ever going to get fully rid of him.

Max’s pine scent hit my nose as he moved closer to me, and his arm snaked around my shoulders, gently pulling me to him. It was a kind and comforting gesture.

“Just breathe,” he murmured in my ear and pushed away his friend’s extended hand when he saw his own face on the video.

“Take a deep breath, Ivy,” he said again as I struggled to breathe, his fingers pressing into my shoulder with just enough force to distract me from my spiraling thoughts. Instead, I focused on the way his fingers drummed gently on my shoulder, one at a time, lifting and pressing back. I savored a small swirl in the base of my stomach when his thumb caressed my exposed skin peeking out from my dress and he draw small, calming circles. I relished the weight of his dropped arm, the safety belt of his protectiveness. And his warm breath tickling my neck as he leaned in closer.

“You’re doing great, Ivy,” he praised me.

I suddenly became painfully aware how a tiny praise made me feel. Breathing was supposed to come easy, yet I struggled with the most basic human function.

I was pathetic, not someone who should be praised for being able to keep herself alive.

Ander’s voice echoed in my head, his cruel words bouncing in my mind and reminding me of all the things he called me.

Stupid.

Pathetic.

Bitch.

“Ivy.” Max’s voice sounded somewhere far away, and I blinked, focusing on the reality in front of me. Questioning gazesburned my skin. Dex and Maddox stared like they haven’t seen me before.

“Come inside,” Maddox suggested, moving his tall frame out of the way and allowed us space to step in.

Max kept his arm around me as he guided me inside, his voice a muffled sound compared to the shouting coming from the living room. I glanced toward the voices arguing and strange gunshot coming from the open space living room.

“Ignore them, they are playingFortniteorCall of Dutyor whatever that is,” Max explained casually.

I groaned, “They don’t even look the same.”

Max’s lips tugged upward as he suppressed a grin. At least this got me out of my weird trance. “You shoot each other in both games. Same thing.”

“Yes, but the essence is different.”

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