Page 93 of Princess of Hawthorne Prep

He shakes his head as frustration flickers in his eyes. “That’s not what I meant. Aubrey mentioned something on the beach the night before you left and I couldn’t get it out of my head. I wanted to get her talking, so I pretended…”

“To be interested,” I finish for him.

“Yeah,” he admits with a sigh. “She told me everything Jasper did, from digging through my records to drugging you at the party and taking pictures.” A hard glint sparks in his eyes. “I made damn sure she went to the police when we returned to Hawthorne. I don’t give a shit that he outed me, but drugging you?” His jaw clenches and a muscle in his cheek tics a mad rhythm. “There was no way he was going to get away with it. I’m just sorry I didn’t listen to you from the beginning. I should have trusted you.”

I can only stare as I process everything that he’s telling me. The shitty things that Jasper did have now been exposed.

Aubrey admitted to it all.

“It’s why she shoved you on the boat,” he adds as my brain continues to spin. “I guess you were asking too many questions.”

My lips purse as I attempt to tease more memories of that night to the surface, but, for the most part, they remain elusive.

She probably didn’t realize I couldn’t swim, but still…

I could have died.

What a psycho bitch.

“Thank you. Without you getting to the bottom of the truth, we still wouldn’t know what happened.”

He takes a hesitant step. “Aubrey said that Jasper only took photographs. She was there the entire time.”

The fact that I was passed out and don’t remember if I was violated takes the situation to an entirely new level.

I don’t understand how Aubrey could do that to me.

Or anyone.

How could she go along blindly with Jasper’s plan?

It’s so messed up.

“Delilah?”

I blink back to the present and the boy standing in front of me. “Yeah?”

Uncertainty flickers in his green depths. He’s so close that it would be impossible to miss the various shades of green and gold that dance within his irises.

“Is there any way you can forgive me?”

The question rolls around in my head for a few silent moments. In the past, I’ve never been one to hold a grudge. I’ve always found it to be a waste of energy. What I want most is to move forward in peace and get through the remainder of senior year before leaving Hawthorne.

I give him a slight smile. “We were both victims in Jasper’s machinations. I don’t hold anything against you.”

My ex is the one I can’t forgive.

Hope flares in his eyes. “Do you think there’s still a chance for us?”

My teeth scrape across my lower lip as I glance away, staring at the rolling green hills of Hawthorne Prep’s campus. They’re picture perfect with the autumn sun shining down on them. As much as I wish we could rewind time and start fresh, that’s no longer a possibility.

I force myself to meet his stare and slowly shake my head. “I don’t think so.”

His eyes widen as his grip tightens on my arms. “You don’t?”

“Too much has happened.”

“Delilah.”

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