Page 85 of A Hurt So Good

“How do you know that they were recent?”

“They had the dates on them,” I whisper.

“Arya, I honestly don’t think they would be with anyone else. They care too much about you,” he says.

“I didn’t think so either, but they had dates on them, Jarrod.”

“Fuck. Where’s your phone?”

“I left it downstairs. I didn’t want to take it with me because they put a tracker on it,” I admit.

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

“It doesn’t?”

“No. They care about you, Arya. They want to make sure that you’re safe.”

“Well, it didn’t work this time.”

“Is it alright if I look at your phone?” I debate it for a long second before I just nod my head. I honestly don’t give a shit anymore who sees my phone. “Okay. I’m going to get that and something for the pain. You just lay here and relax. I’ll lock the door so they don’t come in.”

“Thank you, Jarrod.” He reaches up and runs his fingers along my cheek as he nods his head. I watch him stand and head out of the room, locking the door behind him just like he said he would.

I close my eyes and try to block out the fucking world, but what good does that do me? I’m so angry. I’m mad. But most of all, I’m hurt.

Chapter 34

Denz

Anger doesn’t come close to what any of us feel right now. It’s beyond that. We don’t know what happened to her. We don’t know who did this to her. We don’t know who the fuck we have to kill for touching her.

None of us are in our right minds right now. The fact that she didn’t want any of us coming near her doesn’t sit right with me.

The three of us sit, trying to figure out what our next move needs to be when dad comes down the steps. He glances around before walking toward the door, grabbing a phone off the table.

“That hers?” I ask.

“Yeah. Did you know she’s been getting strange messages?” he asks.

“Yeah. She wouldn’t let us look into it, though. She said it was nothing and deleted them,” I tell him. He scrolls through her phone when he sighs. Turning it to face us, we all three look at the same thing. Pictures of us with other girls.

“What the fuck?” War growls.

“Those are old,” Harlon adds.

“Who sent those?” I ask now.

“It’s an unknown number. I think we need to dig into this,” Dad says.

“She thinks they’re recent. That’s why she didn’t want us coming near her,” War says, sounding as pissed as I’ve ever heard him.

“Yeah, she does. And she thought Rachel was sending them,” Dad tells us. We all curse under our breath.

“Those aren’t new pictures, Dad. I swear to you. Those are all old,” I tell him once more.

“I believe you. But they are timestamped. Someone had to alter them to look like they were new.”

“Rachel isn’t that smart,” I add.

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