Page 43 of My Brother's Teammates

“Every fucking thing.” Jason swore when I flinched away from the harshness in his voice. “Jenny… I’m not mad at you. I just need to know what this fucker did.”

“It wasn’t like that. I wanted it when it happened.” I rushed to correct him, but I made the mistake of looking up and saw Ryder’s face. He was frozen, completely unmoving as he stared past me. I looked back down at my lap and struggled to get out the rest. “I gave him my virginity two days after I turned nineteen. I didn’t understand until earlier today how fucked up it really was. He pushed for it to happen and afterwards he made me feel like crap because he was so scared of getting caught. He was always like that. He took from me and then made me feel terrible, like I was bad for making him do this thing he wasn’t supposed to do. At the time, I just thought… I just thought it was normal.”

“You’ve been with him the entire time? Until you showed up here?” Jason stood up and paced away from me.

“Yes.”

“All those times you couldn’t come out when I tried to get you out of your room?”

Tears filled my eyes and spilled over. “I’m sorry. He thought I’d tell someone if I hung out with other students.”

Hudson’s low growl filled the room. “Comfort your sister or I will, Jace.”

***Jenny***

Istoodup,afraidof causing more trouble. “No. I’m okay. I.. I’m fine. This was my mess. I got myself into it and I’ll get myself out of it. I already have a new job, thanks to Hudson and Axel.”

Ryder finally locked his gaze on mine. “What do you mean, you’ll get through it? Are you suggesting there’s more to get through?”

I felt stripped bare by his stare and instead of feeling sexy, I felt frigid. I wanted to hide. “Just the normal stuff. He didn’t want to break up. I did.”

Axel held up his hands. “Wait. Is he still contacting you?”

I realized I’d walked into a danger zone. I didn’t want to tell them the truth. Jackie had informed me multiple times that day that I was a terrible liar, though. I took too long to answer and they came to their own conclusion.

Jason exploded. “Give me your phone! Jesus Christ. This motherfucker. How many times has he tried to contact you? Is it daily? More than that?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know, Jason!” I tugged at my hair and turned away from them. “I don’t want to do this anymore. I know I messed up and I deserve to be yelled at, but I just can’t handle it right now. I can’t.”

“Jenny-”

I spun back around and pushed Jason away from me. “No! I thought I loved him, Jason! I spent more than two years being as small as possible to be sure no one saw me, just to realize that it was a fucking joke! I was a steady fuck who didn’t talk back for a man who probably doesn’t know what I want to do after college. I feel stupid enough without you shouting at me! You all want the sordid details? He calls me multiple times a day and messages me so many times that I could probably set my watch by it. He wants his compliant little girlfriend back because I was so good at being convenient. Do you know what no one has ever called you, Jason? Convenient. No one has ever chosen you for your ability to blend into the fucking wallpaper. I did it so well that the guy can’t get over me.” I let out a frustrated scream. “You don’t understand how stupid I feel. You couldn’t begin to. I am so incredibly sorry for falling for him. I’m embarrassed and ashamed of myself. Telling you this sucks. When people do think of me, they think of me as the nerdy little sister who’s smart enough to tutor people. Jokes on you. I’m a fucking idiot. And now you all know. So, that’s great.”

Jason’s face collapsed into something close to horror as he reached for me. “Fuck, Jenny, I’m sorry. I-”

I stepped out of his reach and angrily wiped at my eyes. “I just… You have no reason to be sorry. You have every right to be angry at me. I’m angry at me, too. I just can’t handle it right now. My biggest fear came true and now everyone knows the truth about me. And if any of you try to make it right, you’ll ruin me. My entire future, my plans, all depend on the four of you doing the one thing I’m now realizing I shouldn’t have been asked to do for the past few years. I have to ask you to keep this secret and I’m no better than him because I’m doing it to save my career, too. If it gets out, it’ll follow me forever. The job I want, the career I’ve planned for my entire life, it would be gone. It wouldn’t matter that I worked my butt off for my grades and that I never took any help from him. Who would believe me?”

Ryder’s voice was quiet when he spoke, but I felt it like he was shouting next to me. “When you’re done beating the shit out of yourself, if you want to know what we think, we’ll be ready to let you know that you were innocent and that you’re still innocent. How could we be angry at you, Jenny? That’s what we’ll ask when you’re ready to listen.”

I wrapped my arms around my waist and nodded shakily.

“No one will let you lose another thing because of that fucker, Jenny.” Hudson reached out and lightly tapped my nose. “In case you forgot, I’m a DuPont. It’s mostly bullshit, but there are strings that I can pull when I need to. I’ll just owe Papa DuPont a few more show and tells at his office. The ties chafe the shit out of me, but I look damn good in them.”

Axel grunted. “You’re not alone, Kitten.”

Jason grumbled but he didn’t bother correcting Axel’s nickname. “I’m sorry, Jenny. I’m glad the guys are here to be better brothers than me.”

I winced and kept my eyes on my shoes. “I think I’m going to go for a walk. I just need to get some fresh air and come down.”

“I’ll go with you.”

I rolled my eyes at Jason. “No, thanks. I love you, but no. You’re putting out weird vibes right now.”

He sank onto the couch and rubbed his temples. “I thought my baby sister was a virgin until just a couple of weeks ago and I’d convinced myself that you’d only done a little bit. Now all this and I think I need a drink. Kid, you’re growing up too fast.”

I groaned. “Jason, you’re only a year older than me.”

“But you’re a girl.”

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