Page 92 of Hate the Game
***Savannah***
My hands shook as I opened my laptop and set up the call. It was beyond time to face the music. I’d been fully embroiled with The Apex Three for a month and I’d put off telling my brothers for long enough for it to start bothering my men. I could tell they were starting to worry about my intentions to tell my brothers. Some of the tension was making me wonder if they were even questioning if I’d stay when the semester ended. It wasn’t anything they said but in the way they held me a little tighter each day, in the way they tensed up at every mention of finals.
I didn’t want to make them worry for another moment. They spent their days reassuring me, convincing me of just how much they loved me. When the campus found out about us and I got constant looks from everyone around me they stood proudly beside me. When those looks made me feel hesitant to have sex in the dorm they’d rented an apartment right off campus. We had privacy and our relationship felt even more real because of it. They’d gone above and beyond to take care of me. It was my turn to return the effort.
Sunny sensed my nerves and crawled into my lap, his big body too large to fit more than his head and one arm but he tried nonetheless. Getting an apartment had also meant we could adopt the big dog. He was more and more spoiled each day and the guys were starting to joke that I loved Sunny more than them.
What could I say? I was a sucker for a big, strong man with a bit of an attitude problem.
My brothers answered my call way faster than I wanted them to. I’d been hoping they wouldn’t answer but that was cowardly and I needed to handle things. Not only were my guys suffering because of my cowardice but so was my relationship with my brothers. Since the night of the party, I’d talked to them at least once every other day but there was distance between us that had never been there before. They’d tried to ask about it what felt like a hundred times but I’d never been ready to face their wrath.
Cash’s face appeared first, shoved closer to the camera than necessary until Weston pulled him back. “There’s our baby sister! What’s up, Vannah? It’s been a long time since you called a family meeting. Is this about the article coming out finally? When and where can I buy my copy?”
Hayes wasn’t as jovial. “Or is this about why you’ve been acting funny?”
I rested my hand on Sunny and was about to open my mouth to spill everything when Sunny barked and ran to the door, letting me know one of the guys was home. I hadn’t told them that I was calling my brothers to have ‘the talk’ so it shouldn’t have been a surprise when Jax came in calling for me.
“Where are you, dirty girl? Practice was a bitch and I need to crawl between your thighs for my afternoon snack!”
I blushed brighter red than ever before and started coughing in an attempt to muffle Jax’s words but I could see it was useless when my laptop screen showed my brothers’ mouths equallydropped open, and then their quick transition from shock to fury.
Jax still didn’t notice the laptop because he knelt next to where I was sitting in front of our couch and cupped my face. “What’s wrong, Sav?”
I looked frantically at my laptop and he followed my gaze, frowning when he saw my brothers glaring back at us. Instead of jumping off the screen or apologizing he sank down next to me and held my hand. I felt weak at needing that extra support, but it helped me find my voice.
“Hayes, Weston, Cash, this is Jax, my boyfriend.” I swallowed so loud they probably heard it in New York. “And the magazine comes out next week…”
Cash leaned closer again, his face twisted in anger, his focus clearly far, far away from the article. “We know the fucker. Get your hands off our sister, asshole!”
“What the fuck, Savannah? What are you doing?” Hayes yanked Cash back again and then it was his angry face we were looking at. “Thisis what you’ve been hiding? No wonder you haven’t been able to look us in the eye. Jesus. How big of a fuck up could you have made?”
Jax tensed beside me but I spoke before he could. “I need you to shut up and listen to me. Please.”
Weston was scarily still and quiet but Cash was ready to speak enough for both of them. “Oh, you want us to shut up and listen? What the fuck, Savannah? I can’t believe you would do this to us.”
“I’m not doing anything to you!” My raised voice had them pausing for long enough for me to try to explain myself. “I tried to do what I came to USC to do. It was wrong, though. I watched the game footage and got to know them. They’re not monsters. They’re…pretty great. I didn’t mean to but I fell in love with them. I’m sorry for not telling y’all everything while it washappening but I’ve been so scared of losing y’all. I love you guys and you mean the world to me. You know that. But I love Jax, Ryder, and Cole, too.”
Ryder and Cole came in just before I stated that I loved them and they instantly sat on the coffee table on either side of my laptop, watching me.
“I would never do anything to hurt y’all if I could help it. And if I believed these guys actually tried to hurt you, I wouldn’t be able to be with them. You know that, right?”
“What the fuck do you mean with all this they and them talk? Jax had better be getting progressive with his goddamn pronouns, Savannah.” Cash scowled and shook his head. “I don’t know anything about you anymore, Savannah Ford. You’re screwing all three of them. Jesus Christ.”
Jax growled and I looked up at him, pleading for him to stay calm. “Please, Jax. If you fight with them, I’m going to be even more torn.”
He huffed out a sigh and nodded. “Fine. They don’t get to disrespect you, though, Savannah.”
Sunny came back and laid across Jax to rest his head on my thigh. I stroked his head and begged my brothers to understand. “I know you’re angry. You have every right to be angry. I hid this from you and-”
“Enough, Savannah.” Weston sat forward finally, resting his elbows on his knees with a disappointed look on his face. “Give us time to process this and then maybe we’ll be able to have a calmer conversation. That fucker next to you might be an asshole but he’s right. We have no right to be disrespectful to you.”
“How much time?” I knew I sounded as panicked as I felt. “West? How much time?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we’ll talk more when you come home.”
I felt my guys stiffen and knew I had to upset my brothers even more to reassure my men that I believed in what we had. “I’m not coming home.”
Cash looked like he was going to murder everyone. He glared at me through the screen and shook his head before jumping up and leaving. Hayes held up his hands and wouldn’t even look at me. He directed his comment towards Weston. “You deal with her.”
