Heartbreak Lover (Broken Hearts Academy #2) - C.R. Jane Page 0,68
stay calm. The last thing I needed was to go black right now. Everly would be left all alone.
Please, God. Don’t let me go black.
“He’s lying about everything. He beat Everly half to death the night of the accident, and he’s been basically stalking her since he woke up,” I tried to explain to him.
“Why on earth would Caiden be stalking that trash?”
I wished I could reach through the phone and land a fist in my father’s stupid fucking face at that moment.
“He’s obsessed? I don’t know…you would have to ask him why he’s such a psychopath.”
“Jackson, you’ve been jealous of your brother since almost the moment you were born. I’m not going to listen to this crap for one more minute.”
I heard Caiden’s smug voice in the background, and then the line went dead. He’d hung up on me.
Well, at least I knew where Caiden was. The snake had returned to his hole.
I went to the administration the following morning with Everly and reported Caiden.
The school dean had a flabbergasted look on his face as we laid out all of Caiden’s sins, his mouth opening and closing in shock.
When we’d finished outlining everything, there was a long pause.
“Are you sure it was Caiden?” the dean finally said, and I shot him a disgusted look.
“I’m positive. So do your job.”
“Have you spoken to your parents about this?” I scoffed, knowing he was worried about losing the sizeable donation that my parents provided to the school every year.
“Let’s just say that my parent’s donation will be the least of your concerns if Caiden is still a student here by the end of the day.”
Dean Lewis puffed up like a peacock, his enormous stomach threatening to bust his shirt open as he poked his chest out, trying to look intimidating.
“Are you threatening me, Mr. Parker?” he asked in a tight voice.
“Of course not. I’m simply saying that if he’s still in the school, this story will be everywhere. I’m sure that your other donors will have a lot of questions as to why such a fine institution as Rutherford Academy would be allowing such acts to happen in its hallowed halls.”
Dean Lewis stared at me, a tic moving rapidly in his left cheek. He hated me.
And there was nothing he could do about it.
“I’ll see what I can do,” he finally seethed.
“Do better than that,” I warned as I dragged Everly out of the office behind me.
“This is going to send him over the edge, don’t you think?” Everly asked, worriedly.
It would, but that was what I was counting on.
“Either that, or he’ll give up.”
Everly nodded, but I knew she didn’t believe that he would give up.
I didn’t believe it either.
Caiden had been texting her constantly since about an hour after we’d discovered the snake. No matter how many times she blocked his number, he’d text her from another number, until finally, she’d just turned off her phone.
The texts had terrified her, a strange mix of threats and obscene descriptions of all his sexual fantasies he had concerning her. We’d saved all of them in case we needed to get her a restraining order, but I was worried it wouldn’t be enough, or that a restraining order wouldn’t do a damn thing in the first place.
I might’ve been able to put pressure on Rutherford Academy, thanks to my position as the number one quarterback in the country, but my parents held all the power outside of these walls. They could make a restraining order disappear in a flash, if it meant protecting their beloved son.
My heart clenched, thinking of this latest betrayal.
I’m regretting the day you were ever born.
My father’s words shouldn’t have stung so badly. I’d been hearing a version of them ever since my diagnosis.
But somehow, they still hurt.
Everly’s warm, lithe body pressed against me just then, and the pain quieted.
As long as I had her, nothing else mattered.
Please, God. Don’t let me go black.
Everly
The shrill whaling of the fire alarm jolted us both awake. I inhaled in surprise at the rude awakening and immediately began coughing as smoke filled my lungs. Tears washed over my eyes.
The entire room was cast in a hazy cloud of dark smoke that had fear sparking up my limbs.
“Shit. We have to get out of here,” Jackson yelled, panicked.
He hastily pulled on his pants and threw me my sleep shorts and tank top that he’d ripped off earlier when he’d devoured me before falling asleep.