Page 90 of Not Fooling Anyone

“Did he…” He audibly swallows. “Did he force…”

“No,” I whisper. “I kind of saw red after that. I bit his lip as hard as I could to get him off me. Then I threw a right hook and broke his nose. All that training for boxing as a kid was good for something, because instinct took over. He was screaming and holding his face. There was blood everywhere and his friends started freaking out. I told him if he ever got near me again, I’d cut off his dick. I guess I was crazy enough that they believed me and let me leave.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah. But then he started that rumor, and told everyone a foul ball busted his face up at practice. Like it was some glory injury.”

“None of the guys on the team contradicted him?”

“No. Probably some dumb bro-code thing. They did this thing where if someone outright asked one of them about it, they’d act all coy and say what happened in the locker room stayed in the locker room. So not technically confirming it with their words, but with the way they said it. And once Ashley got wind of it, she made sure to spread it. To let everyone know what a filthy slut I was. And as her best friend, Savannah followed suit. I don’t get why they even cared, but maybe like Cody said, she was jealous.”

“Did you tell people it wasn’t true?”

I wipe the back of my hand under my nose. “No one believed me. It was like the more I protested it, the more they took it as proof it happened. So, I stopped caring after a certain point. Stopped trying to talk to anyone. I just… kept to myself.”

I’d met Travis the next year on the school bus. Being a year younger, he hadn’t been around for the worst of it, though the rumor still lingered for the remainder of high school, even after Cody had graduated.

Ethan pulls into Element’s parking lot, surprising me. I completely lost track of time. I glance at the clock on the dashboard, discovering I have three minutes left to make it inside and clock in.

“I’m sorry to unload all that on you and then leave, but I have to get in.” I unbuckle my seatbelt, grabbing my bag from the floor. “I’ll ask someone if I can get a ride—”

“I’ll come pick you up. Just text me when you need me.”

“You don’t have to. It’s out of your way.” Element’s in the opposite direction of his house from mine.

“I’m picking you up.” His tone leaves no room for argument. “If you leave me your keys, I’ll try to fix your car.”

“You don’t have—”

“Lexie…” he warns.

I fish my car keys out and drop them into his waiting palm. If he could fix it, that’d be amazing. One less thing I have to deal with.

I open the car door, but he stops me with a light touch on my arm. I turn back, surprised at the intensity on his face.

“You mentioned last week that if I knew everything about you, I’d feel differently. I just want you to know that this doesn’t change at all how I feel about you. I’m so sorry you had to go through all that.”

My bottom lip trembles the slightest bit before I firm it, releasing a shaky sigh. This isn’t all of it. There’s still all the stuff with my mom. That’s an issue for another time, though.

“Text me when you’re done here,” he says.

I nod, agreeing to his request. “If it’s not too busy, I’m usually cut around nine-thirty.” And Mondays are never busy.

“I’ll be here.”

My stomach makes a funny flip-flopping motion as I exit, looking back once when I’m halfway across the parking lot, his gaze trained on me.

What are the chances he goes home and thinks about everything I told him, then decides he doesn’t want to take this on after all? There are plenty of people I went to high school with on campus. It’s the closest university. And every time they see me, they’ll remember what I did in high school. Ethan will be tainted by association.

And though there’s a part of me that considers doing the honorable thing and cutting ties with him now so I won’t tarnish his reputation, the truth is… I’m selfish. I want his gaze on me. I want him to keep looking at me like that. Now more than ever if he says it doesn’t change anything for him.

You still have to tell him about Mom. He deserves to know.

Later. I’ll do that later.

For now, I just need to make it through my shift at work.

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE

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