Page 42 of Fight for You (Flirting with Forever 2)

I nod, my face flaming hot, eyes trained on the gray tile flooring. “I’m okay.” I tuck my hair behind my ears and glance up to find all three men watching me with concern. I want to sink into a hole in the ground and never come back out. Why did I ever, ever think Ed was a good idea?

Damon and Sawyer exchange a quick look before Damon claps Jake on the shoulder. “Could you come talk to me in my room? I think they could use a minute.”

“Oh yeah, sure.” Jake pushes his glasses up on his nose, glancing at me one last time. “Let’s go.” They don’t hesitate more than a second before they hustle right back out.

“Sit.” Sawyer’s voice is gruff as he backs me up and makes me sit down in my chair. He pulls another chair my way and takes one hand out of my lap, holding it between his. “Hadleigh. I don’t know what’s happened between the time I left you on Saturday and now, but I want to help you, if you’ll let me. I promise I won’t be upset with whatever your answer to this question is, but I’m going to ask this just one time, because I think it’s important that I have the full picture.” He works his jaw before he rasps, “Are you still seeing him?”

I shake my head adamantly. My stomach churns. I don’t want Sawyer to doubt what I feel for him. “No. He just keeps coming back and trying to get me to go out with him again. He won’t leave me alone.”

“I’ve seen how he treats you. This is harassment, Had. You said no, and he got mad. This time he hurled obscenities at you. I heard it all the way down the hall. Maybe it’s time to talk to someone in the office about it. I can go with you, if you want. I’ve seen and heard plenty. Or maybe contact someone at the teacher’s association?”

“I feel like that will just make it worse.” If I come clean about the photos, no one is ever going to look at me the same way again. Oh my God, I want to throw up.

“It’ll make what worse, exactly?” When I don’t answer, he shoots out of the chair, pacing the room, his fingers intertwined on top of his head. “Okay, Hadleigh, let’s come at this from another angle. Pretend this didn’t just happen. I’m just a student teacher who wants to know what to do if someone makes advances that I don’t like. As my mentor, you’d tell me I’m supposed to report it. Right?”

“Of course.”

He scratches his head. “I don’t get it. Why are you letting him do this to you? Your girlfriends haven’t said anything to you about him?”

“They don’t like him, but they don’t know how bad it’s gotten. Sawyer, he …” My voice trails off and I slump in my seat. I can’t tell him. I don’t want him to know. Instead, I ask out of frustration, “Why are you being like this?” The last word catches in my throat as I try to stop tears from welling in my eyes.

Taking note of my distress, he sits down again and scoots closer, his voice low and comforting. “Like what?”

How can I explain this to him without telling him everything and humiliating myself? “We weren’t in a good place earlier today, and I’m sorry for that, but it had to do with all this stuff going on.” I wring my hands in front of me. “I’m a hot mess today, completely unprofessional. Yet, you’ve been nothing but kind to me. How are you able to do that?”

“I told you, I have sisters—two of them—and I have Willow. I would never allow them to be treated the way he just treated you.” He studies my features, and I know I’m not fooling him at all. “You’re scared of him. There’s something you haven’t told me. I can see it on your face.”

I never should have trusted Ed to delete those photos of me. I should have made him hand the phone over and done it myself. What a dumb, stupid, irresponsible thing to have let happen. How do I tell Sawyer that another man has nude photos of me? Photos that could be construed as very provocative if cropped the right way. My eyes cast down as shame radiates through me in deep waves.

Crap. Here I stand, dripping wet, and I’ve left my towel on the bed. “Ed?” I raise my voice, hopeful he can hear me through the door of the bathroom. I’d left him watching TV in the bedroom while I’d taken a quick shower, but who knows if he’s fallen asleep.

I give an exasperated sigh, irritated with myself. I step out of the tub onto the bath mat. The soft click of the door opening behind me has me glancing over my shoulder. Ed stands in the doorway. There’s what can only be described as an appreciative gleam in his eyes. “I forgot my towel.” I scoop my wet hair up onto my head, twisting it around and holding it there. “Would you mind grabbing it for me?”

“Your ass is fucking fantastic.” I glance back at him again and realize he’s not only not getting my towel, but he’s propped himself up against the doorway. At the look on Ed’s face, I can tell he couldn’t care less about my towel.

I smirk. “Take a photo, it’ll last longer.”

He chuckles. “I could do that. Like I’m a famous photographer or something, and you’re my model.”

I think nothing of it when he holds his phone up like he’s looking for the best angle to get that perfect shot. I give him a little booty pop and stick my boobs out further, winking at him and playing along.

Click. My face falls. Click. I turn around. Click. “You’re not really taking photos, are you?” I cover my breasts with my forearm and squeeze my legs together, my concern rising the longer he continues to tap at the screen.

Ed just grins. “Of course not.” Click.

“Oh my God, Ed, stop.” I cross the bathroom to him holding my hand up in front of the phone. “Stop. That’s not funny.”

“Come on, baby. Can’t I have a little something for the nights you aren’t here?”

“Ed, I don’t want nude photos of me floating around. Delete them. Now.”

At the look on my face, he finally concedes. “Fine, fine. Deleting now.” He pokes the screen of his phone a few times. “There. They’re gone.”

My brow furrows, taking in his expression. Is he telling me the truth? I can only imagine the shitstorm I’d face if naked photos of me circulated through town. I’d moved here to get away from the stigma of living with a parent who had sown her wild oats the whole time I was growing up. People talk. I don’t want them talking about me. “Did you really delete them?”

He holds up his hands with a chuckle. “Yes. Jeez, babe, calm down. I was just playing.”

My eyes fill. He hadn’t deleted them. He’s been holding them over my head ever since I confirmed after winter break that I didn’t want to date him anymore. I squeeze my eyes shut. I don’t want Sawyer to know. And adding to the mess that is my life … now Ed knows I’m seeing Sawyer.

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