Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 155405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 777(@200wpm)___ 622(@250wpm)___ 518(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 777(@200wpm)___ 622(@250wpm)___ 518(@300wpm)
“You’re leaving things out,” Anae states, her fury and viciousness growing. “If you think you can form some kind of secret connection with him and push me out, I swear to god, Hannah…”
“What are you talking about?” Hannah cries desperately. “You know I don’t even like talking to him. You were obsessing over the tattoo, and I thought maybe I could get an answer so you didn’t have to keep digging.”
“Bullshit,” Anae seethes, her eyes flashing with anger. “Dare belongs to me. I’m the one who knows how to keep him, not you vanilla bitches. Soon, he will be with me again—and when he is, you will pay for your betrayal. I will let him take every bit of aggression he has toward you out on you before exterminating you like the little rat you are, and I will enjoy every second of it.”
“I didn’t betray you, Anae,” Hannah says softly, but I can hear in her voice she knows her denial is useless.
“You messaged my fucking boyfriend behind my back.”
“Ex-boyfriend,” I put in gently, ill-at-ease with this demonstration of Anae’s temper. Everything she’s saying is so fucked up, I just want to grab Hannah and drag her away to safety.
But I also know she’ll vent her fury now or later, and I’d rather there be a witness so at least I can make sure none of Hannah’s wounds from this lashing will be physical.
Anae looks at me, only just seeming to realize I’m still here. She was so lost in her rage fog, so zeroed in on Hannah, I think for a moment I ceased to exist to her.
“Yes,” she says, visibly coming down from the heights of her rage. “For now. Because Dare likes games, and so do I.”
It’s sad that that’s the story she’s telling herself, but right now, I have no capacity for concern for Anae. My entire focus is on not letting her temper escalate again so I can get Hannah the hell out of here.
“And this is part of it,” Anae says, refocusing on her mission. “It’s my task to figure out what I’m supposed to do next. Maybe he blocked me so I would interrogate Hannah and consequently read the message he sent her. Maybe something he said in it was meant for me.”
I keep my tone calm and rational. “He obviously has your phone number, Anae. If he wanted you to know he and Hannah exchanged a simple message about his stupid tattoo, he could have just sent you a screenshot.”
Anae looks absolutely disgusted. “What kind of game is that, Parker? God, you’re so clueless. Grilling Hannah is part of the fun. A screenshot is boring.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the slightest movement from Hannah. Her hand. She’s touching the screen of her phone.
My heart starts to pound faster.
She’s deleting the message.
I don’t know if there’s any truth to Anae’s seemingly crazy claim that Dare must have left a breadcrumb for her in that message, but even if there isn’t, I think Anae may be delusional enough to invent one if she gets hold of it.
My guess is Hannah realizes that, too.
Currently, Hannah is the only one who has seen the message, and even if she has to risk incurring Anae’s wrath, she’s going to keep it that way.
I know that’s probably for the best, but I know one other thing with absolute, startling certainty.
If Anae catches her in the act, Hannah is completely fucked.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Parker
Anae’s head starts to turn in Hannah’s direction, and my heart nearly stops.
“Arden asked about you,” I blurt, desperate for a way to distract her.
Anae’s gaze snaps back to me. “What?”
“Remember, we talked about focusing on the present instead of dwelling on Dare? Well, I saw Arden the night of your party. We talked in the study. Another girl was blowing him, but you probably don’t care about that.”
“I don’t—unless you got a good look at his dick while it was out? What’s he working with?”
I shake my head. “It was shoved in the girl’s mouth when I walked over, and I didn’t look when she popped off. But whatever he’s packing, he must be pretty good with it because he wasn’t even nice to her, and she still wanted to please him.”
She rocks her head from left to right in consideration. “That could be a good sign. Of course, she could just be pathetic like that Brittany girl and eager for whatever crumb is thrown at her.”
I try to tamp down my eagerness that she’s interested in my bait. “Yeah, I’m not sure. Anyway, he said…” I pause, pretending to think. “What was it he said?”
I fight the urge to dart a look at Hannah because I know if I do, Anae might, too.
My brain generally works much faster than this, but my utter panic is slowing me down. I’m also hesitant to directly lie about the only thing he did say, which was about Hannah and not Anae at all.