Page 101 of College-Virgin & Dark Bully Next-Door

Oh, hell.I slap my forehead. The last thing I want is to relive that awful night. “Chase, don’t—”

“What prank?” Ash asks, his face screwed with confusion.

“Are you really going to stand there and pretend like you don’t know?”

“I’m not pretending, dude.” The incredulity on Ash’s face is so heavy. “I seriously don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” I blurt. “Ash, you apologized… why are you lying right now?”

He turns to face me, his brows tightly scrunched with a deep frown. “Apologize for what, Sky?”

“For ganging up with Peter and embarrassing her that night, you piece of shit,” Chase snaps. “You did it to get back at me for snitching to your folks.”

“What?”

Ash is either wasting his acting talents, or there’s something very wrong here. His alarmed expression shifts from me to Chase, then back again. “Sky, what the hell is Chase talking about?”

My stomach tightens from hearing the quivering in his voice. I tell myself he’s putting on a show, straighten my shoulders and stare right in his face.

“In case you forgot— which I doubt you have, you bought me a thong swimsuit, left it on my bed, then sent me a text message to meet you by the pool wearing nothing but it. When I got downstairs, I found Peter and a bunch of his friends. They took photos of me, called me a pig in a wig, then leaked the photos to the entire school group.”

“Jesus.” Ash pinches the bridge of his nose. “I swear to God, Sky. That wasn’t me. I wouldn’t do that. You were sixteen years old, for God’s sake. Still underage.”

“The message came from your phone,” Chase cuts in.

“Peter must’ve gotten to it before I left that night.” He turns an appealing stare on me. “Bumblebee, I didn’t—”

“Don’t you fucking call her that,” Chase growls, advancing on him.

Ash blocks the blow Chase aims at him, then drops him with a punch.

I scream as Chase lands on the ground, a bruise blooming across his cheek. “Ash, stop!”

He backs away with his hands raised as I kneel down beside my brother. “I didn’t pull that cruel stunt, Sky. Please believe me,” he mutters.

“It doesn’t matter what I believe. I need you to go,” I say softly, words pouring out before I can think.

“Are you serious?”

I get up and try to hide my shaking. “You justhadto come over when I said no. You couldn’t give me time or space or anything!”

He grabs my hands. “Sky.”

“It was a no!” I shove him away, trying to clear my blurry eyes. “It was a no, and you ignored it.”

His face falls a little before he catches it, but this isn’t enough to ruin today. No, because the universe hates unfinished things. It’s either all or nothing, always. That’s how Ash is. That’s how the universe is. No fucking gray area.

“What the fuck?” Peter demands from behind his brother, then he tries to pull him back. “Are you still drunk?”

I whip around to glare at Peter. His brows lift as I storm toward him. Every pent-up anger, embarrassment and fear caused by this monster rises to the surface. He doesn’t even get to back away. There’s a sickening crunch when I punch his face with a tight fist.

“Sky!” Mom screams.

A pair of arms pull me back as I attempt to punch him again. It’s Chase. I struggle against his hold, but he gets some distance between me and Peter without effort.

“He’s not worth it. None of them are,” my brother mutters in my ear.

“What the fuck was that for?” Peter cries, gingerly touching his bloody nose. He gasps as Ash suddenly collars him. “Hey! Chill out, bro!”

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