Page 59 of Brutal Game

“I wish I’d never met you. No amount of justice is worth the hell you’re putting me through. I never, ever, want to fucking see you again.”

His face turned to stone.

“As you wish, princess,” he said.

With that, he pressed a button on the door. The locks beeped as they disengaged, and he stood to the side, arm held out to guide me out the door.

Slipping my feet into my frayed sneakers, I ducked out of the way of his arm, determinedly walked out of his door—and hopefully, out of his life.

Just as I reached the hallway, he stopped me with four chilling words:

“See you in class.”

19

Aviva

Ispent Saturday and Sunday on my couch buried under blankets, rewatchingTed Lassowith a concerned Tovah. She’d begged me to tell her what was going on, but I knew if I did, she’d go directly to the police. What’s more, I was worried she’d be ashamed of me, and that I’d put up with Jack’s behavior for so long.

But no longer.

My phone was silent; no packages were delivered. It was a relief, even though I knew I hadn’t seen the last of him. I even went so far as to research if I could drop out of Deviant Psych this far into the semester without it impacting my transcript; unfortunately at this point I’d fail the course.

My only option was to beg Professor Johnathan to let me switch project partners.

Monday rolled around, and I forced myself to get up, shower, put on clothes—careful to cover my scar. As I wrapped a scarf around my neck and tucked it under mytop, I froze, staring in the bathroom mirror at the dark circles under my eyes.

What if someone had taken a picture with their phone? What if someone had recorded the whole thing? What if it already was online somewhere?

What if Friday night had ruined my life in ways I couldn’t imagine?

Walking into the living room, I called to Tovah, who was making us both coffee.

“Tov?”

“What’s up?”

I swallowed. “There haven’t been any…posts about me on social media, have there? Can you check?”

She eyed me. “Do you want to tell me why?”

I shook my head, and she sighed, picking up her phone and scrolling.

“Nope, nothing. But I swear to god, Aviva, you need to tell me what’s happening. You don’t have to go through whatever this is alone.”

I blinked tears away. “You’re the best, have I ever told you that?”

She reached forward, hugging me. “No, you’re the best. The strongest, the bravest, the loyalest. But you don’thaveto be.”

Even without any posts about what had happened at the hockey house, I still couldn’t relax. Just because it hadn’t been posted yet didn’t mean that it wasn’t coming. Or that they hadn’t created a fake Only Fans account and shared it there. I resisted the urge to text Jack and beg him not to post anything, and to tell his team the same thing. That would only give him ideas. I prayed that he hadn’t thought of it yet, and no one else had, either.

I made my way to class slowly, knowing I was going to belate, but reluctant to be there. I didn’t want to see Jack, and I didn’t want to be back in the room where he’d first fucked me. There were too many memories and they weren’t all horrible ones.

By the time I got there, the door was locked. I had to knock, which was embarassing enough. Worse was Professor Johnathan’s concerned face when he saw me.

“Aviva, you’re late. You’re never late. Is everything okay?”

His voice carried through the hallway; everyone in class must have heard him too.

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