Page 28 of Forgive Me For I Have Sinned

"I can't believe you can still beat all of us," Dravin adds. "In the same night."

I grin. "I still swim."

"We see that, dick. You still got it," Reid says, shaking his head.

I turn when I hear giggling from the back patio, and my eyes narrow when I spot Gia, Jess, and Veronica with a couple of friends, including the new freshman replacing Matt on the football team at Ohio State.

"Who the fuck invited her to the party?" I ask in a hard tone.

They all give me meaningful looks, knowing exactly who I'm talking about, but Valen's the first one to speak up. "I did."

"Why the fuck would you invite that crazy bitch here with all of us?"

Garret wipes his face and dips in the pool. "Don't call her that."

My head whips like I've been slapped. "Oh…you're going to forget all the shit she has done all of a sudden?"

I know I'm acting childish and shouldn't care, or maybe it's because Garret slept with Veronica and is into her, and…it bothers me.

"I think you have it all wrong about her," Valen adds, looking defiant.

Reid and the Bedfords glance at each other, surprised, probably thinking Valen has gone batshit crazy.

"Let me guess, asshole. You fucked her and caught feelings," I say, leaning forward, making him step toward the deep end of the pool while Garret gives Valen a dirty look.

Garret has strong feelings for Veronica, but she apparently doesn't feel the same way. I don't understand why Valen is defending her, but for whatever reason, the monster within me is rearing its ugly head whenever it concerns her. Last night, I was about two seconds away from punching Dorian Black to wipe the smirk off his face while he pawed her ass.

"She isn't a problem anymore, so why the fuck do you care and for the––" a wave of water splashes on my face, "I've never had sex with Veronica, you jealous fuck. Everyone knows you lose your shit every time she's around."

"Fuck off, Vikiar." I growl, wiping my face.

"Leave her alone," Draven says quietly. "Gia and Jess wanted her to come, and Valen's right; she's no threat to anyone. She'll marry by the time she graduates, and she isn't thrilled about it. So you got what you wanted."

"I never wanted anything. I…she was using me. Reid called me that night––"

"I never called you," Reid shoots back.

I lean back on the wall of the pool. "You called me."

He shakes his head. "I. Never. Called. You. I was looking out for––"

Alicia. He was making sure she was okay at the initiation party. If he didn't call me to warn me about Veronica, then who did? But the text was from him. I remember.

"Stop fucking with me, Reid. You called me that night and warned me about Devlin's daughter setting me up. That asshole has wanted an in since our grandfather and Riodrick Hotels monopolized the hotel industry."

Reid scoffs. "Hey, asshole, I never called you. I knew she had a crush on you. I mean…everyone in our family knew. Your mom knew. Alicia invited her to every family function if her father allowed her to go, and Veronica begged her to introduce you to her, but you never knew she was even there. I get that she was younger than you, and you were fucking your way through college and didn't know who she was or that she existed. That night I figured you didn't like her, and the sex was shit from how you treated her after Dorian walked in on you. Shit got out of hand."

Dorian recorded her bleeding between her thighs because she got her period, her tears, and how she ran home crying after I called her out. It was fucked up, but I was pissed off, and at the time, all I wanted to do was hurt her for thinking I would fall for her mind-fuck games. I got into it with Dorian and made him delete the video and anyone who copied it. Fists were thrown, and threats were made, but in the end, we all turned on her. We fucked with her. Because she deserved it. But if Reid didn't text me that night, who did?

"Then who texted me?" I ask.

"It wasn't us." Garret chimes in. "I didn't know her like that. In high school––" Garret trails off.

Valen's mouth forms a thin line, and he pinches his brows. They both went to high school with her, and so did the Bedford twins.

"In high school, what?"

Draven mutters under his breath, and I'm annoyed they are all avoiding telling me something. Something I don't know because I don't know Veronica like that. Dravin glances across the patio at Gia, deep in conversation with Jess and Veronica, and then shifts his gaze back to me.

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