Page 47 of Fight for You (Flirting with Forever 2)

“Yes and no. I mean, at this point, I just want to air out all of my dirty laundry because I’m tired of trying to deal with it all on my own. I’m not handling it very well.”

Sophia reaches for my hand. “We could tell you’ve been having a hard time lately. You haven’t really been yourself.”

I take a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “So, things have progressed a lot further with Sawyer.” I glance up at them and wince. “I know you said it was a bad idea, but I slept with him.”

Madison looks at me funny. “Well, we kind of all figured that from that night when he dragged you away to talk and then you left together. And, um, Piper and I may have filled everyone else in about that.”

Questions shoot from Sophia, “Just the once, or …?” and Zoey, “Wasn’t it any good? What’s wrong?” at the same time.

“Twice that night after we were at the bar. The next morning, later that day … and several times since. And, yes, it’s better than good—that’s not the issue. Sawyer knows what he’s doing. The only thing wrong with the sex is that little problem of him being my student teacher.”

“Damn girl.” Quinn lets out a low whistle. “I’m not jealous at all. Of the sex or the other stuff, just to clarify.”

Madison snorts and gives Quinn a little shove. “You are so jealous of the sex.”

Piper, clearly the one keeping us on track tonight, looks me right in the eye. “I’d say it’s about time. I’m the only one of us who sees you two interact with each other on a daily basis, and I see two people who are very right for each other, despite the difficult circumstances surrounding it.”

“Well, that’s actually good to hear.” Sophia smiles. “Are you okay?”

“I—that’s kind of a loaded question.” I bite my lip, casting my eyes down.

Zoey frowns. “Spill the tea, sis. It’s okay.”

Quinn taps my foot under the table. “No judgment zone.”

“Okay. The problem is with Ed.”

Madison stops with her bottle halfway to her lips, her brows drawing together in confusion. “But I thought you were done with him.”

“That’s the problem. I keep telling him I don’t want to see him anymore, don’t want to date him, don’t want anything to do with him, but he can’t seem to get it through his thick skull.”

Sophia rolls her eyes, and I swear they almost make it up to the decorative wood beams of the ceiling. “He’s an ass. Maybe we all need to go have a chat with him.”

I shake my head quickly. “No. You can’t. I mean, I don’t want you to. Um. So, here’s the thing. Two things, actually. First, he suspects that Sawyer and I are together, and he’s threatening to tell the administration about it. You know, exactly why you all thought maybe this was a bad idea in the first place. He’s so pissed I’m with Sawyer that he’s threatening my job over it.”

As I look around, I take in the shock on everyone’s faces.

“That … that … that … douche canoe!” Piper’s eyes flare wide as she slaps her hands over her mouth.

Quinn catches Liam’s eye from across the room, and signals that we need another round. “I think you all should go another round or two.”

I couldn’t agree more, but I also know that it gets even worse from here. There’s an excellent chance that by the time I’m done explaining everything, I’m going to need to tap one of the hard cider barrels and just drink right from the spigot.

Everyone has been talking around me for several seconds while I’ve been lost in my head. Finally, I hold up a hand. “Wait. Before you all go crazy plotting how to fix this, I’m not done. It gets worse.”

Zoey takes a large gulp of her drink and moans a little. “How the hell could it be worse than Ed threatening to expose the fact that you’re having hot sex with your student teacher?” She holds up a hand. “Still not judging. Promise. I’m just terrified of what else you’re about to say.”

Liam comes by with our drinks, giving me a few seconds to figure out how to say this.

All too quickly, though, everyone’s eyes are on me again. They smile at me encouragingly, though their expressions hold a certain degree of apprehension and fear.

Sophia grabs my hand again. “It’s okay. Whatever it is. You can tell us.”

Madison gives me a sad smile. “I think you’ll feel better if you get it out.”

“And we’ll be able to help you.” Quinn grimaces. “I hope …”

Finally, the words erupt from me. “He has naked photos of me. He’d supposedly deleted them, but he didn’t,” I huff. “I didn’t know this until he started texting them to me after we were already broken up. He’s basically been threatening me with them, saying he’s going to show them to people or e-mail them to the school or something. Then he got wind of Sawyer and me, and that seems to have made things worse because now he’s threatening to show them to Sawyer, too. I go back and forth, I’m not sure which part of the whole mess is worse. Sawyer seeing the pics? Having the pics e-mailed out for everyone to see? Or having Ed tell everyone I’m with my student teacher.” The last bit comes out pretty shrill, and when I’m done, I cover my face with m

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