“Beau’s back,” he agreed, then with one last apologetic smile he turned and walked away.
Beau
I needed to hit something. Stalking out I put both hands on the front doors and shoved them open hard before walking out into the parking lot. Grabbing my phone from my pocket I finally turned it on. Apparently, Sawyer hadn’t told me everything. He’d had his chance to explain what he meant by Ashton having a rough week. He’d failed to tell me that she’d been ridiculed. Why hadn’t he taken those notes off her locker himself? Where had he been? Had he enjoyed seeing her treated badly? My blood boiled and I fisted my hand tightly. I was going to beat the shit out of him.
Looking down at my phone I had ten unread text messages. Had Ashton texted me about all this? Turning it off had been a pu**y thing to do. I’d wanted to hide from everyone and everything and wallow in my pain. While Ashton had needed me and I’d been hiding, she’d dealt with it all. My chest tightened. I scrolled through my messages.
Ashton: I love you. I’m sorry. Please come home.
Ashton: I left a note with your mother. Have you gotten it?
Ashton: I spoke with Sawyer today. He told me. Beau please come home. Please.
Kyle: Hey man. Not sure where you’re at but you might want to come back. Ash needs you.
Ethan: It ain’t pretty here. Ash is getting major shit at school. Thought you might want to know.
Kayla: A couple pics you may want to see.
I scrolled down to see a picture of Nicole shoving Ashton’s head in her locker. Another one of Ashton sprawled out on the floor with her books being poured out of her backpack onto her head.
My stomach rolled. I didn’t need to read any more. I was going to kill my brother.
I punched Sawyer’s number into my phone and waited while it rang.
“Hello.” The cautious tone in his voice told me he knew I’d just found out.
“Meet me on the field, now,” I growled.
“You know,” he replied in a weary tone.
“Yeah, you stupid f**k, I know.”
I ended the call and shoved my phone into my pocket before heading down to the field. I hadn’t wanted to hit Sawyer last time. I’d just wanted to block his blows. But now it was all I could think about.
When he stepped onto the field and walked toward me I glared at him, waiting until he was close enough. The urge to charge him was overwhelming. The fury of what had been done to Ash was making it impossible for me to think clearly.
“Did it make you feel better seeing her suffer?” I called out as he drew closer.
He didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. We both knew it had. He’d let her suffer because he was hurt.
“Now I’m about to make myself feel better, you stupid selfish shit,” I informed him in a calm, cold voice.
“Go ahead, Beau, hit me.”
I didn’t need another invitation.
Ashton
I stood outside the cafeteria studying the double doors. Beau had appeared in Literature class today but he’d sat across the room from me and not once glanced my way. I know because I watched him the entire hour and a half. Sawyer didn’t show up to Physics. There were no notes on my locker and I’d gone all morning without a snide comment or someone sticking their foot out to trip me in the aisles in class. Only a few people actually spoke to me. It was as if they weren’t sure how to treat me yet. Beau was ignoring me. It was impossible to miss. At some point everyone was going to relax and one brave soul was going to test the waters. I really didn’t want it to happen during lunch. My lunch was packed and the library was upstairs, empty.
“You coming in?”
I turned to see Kayla standing beside me. Her hand on the door. My heart rate picked up and I decided no. I wasn’t ready to face the crowd inside. I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”
“Why? No one is going to harm a hair on your head after Beau’s performance this morning.”
I wasn’t ready to bank on that.