Page 185 of Red Zone
So, I break it.
“I don’t know for sure who filed the complaint,” I say softly, my fingers knotting in my lap. “Megan didn’t say.”
That gets his eyes on me, sharp and questioning.
I take a shaky breath.
“But if I had to guess…it’s probably Savannah,” I admit, my voice quiet. “Grayson doesn’t seem like the type.”
Carter blinks at me, his brows furrowing.
“Grayson?”
I shrug weakly. “He’s been nothing but respectful. If anything, he’s warned me about how it might look. But Savannah…she’s been watching. I noticed her the night of the first party when you almost…” I trail off, my cheeks heating. “Kissed me. She saw me come back inside after.”
Carter sits up straighter, the faintest crease forming between his brows.
“And then before my midterm,” I continue, glancing down. “She was leaning against the wall down the hall. Watching. I didn’t even notice her at first.”
Carter exhales sharply, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.
“Shit,” he mutters under his breath.
I glance at him, and that’s when he shakes his head, almost laughing, but there’s no humor in it.
“She came onto me,” he says finally, his voice tight.
My stomach flips. “What?”
“At the hockey party last weekend,” he goes on, his tone growing sharper. “When Beck and I went. She cornered me bythe cooler, put her hand on me. Told me I ‘wasn’t the kind of guy to stay tied down’ and that I should ‘have some fun.’”
My chest tightens, my breath catching.
“She what?”
Carter looks at me now, eyes dark, jaw set.
“I shut her down,” he snaps, his voice firm but not at me. “Told her she didn’t know me as well as she thought she did. But she just smiled like she already won something and walked away.”
I close my eyes and shake my head, the knot in my stomach pulling tighter.
It makes sense now. Too much sense.
The timing. The glances. The smug little smirk she gave me in the hallway that day.
Carter leans back against the couch, dragging a hand down his face, his chest rising and falling with a quiet frustration, his jaw still tight, and for the first time I see it—the full weight of what this means settling over both of us.
And neither of us says anything for a long moment.
Because we both already know who’s behind it.
And we both know how bad this could get.
Carter’s hand drops from his face, and he leans forward again, his elbows resting on his knees as he stares at the floor.
When he finally speaks, his voice is low but sharp, cutting through the silence.
“She’s not gonna get away with this.”
