JAX (The Beckett Boys #2) - Olivia Chase Page 0,132

Piper hadn’t come home at all on Sunday, which meant my anger had a chance to morph in to general dismay…but Piper was still pretty lucky that I didn’t know how to throw a punch.

“You know we’re not friends,” Piper said, rolling her eyes as she poured herself some wine from a box in the fridge. “We never got along. And I’m just being honest. It’s just who I am—“

“That’s an excuse you use to act like a bitch,” I snapped back.

Her eyes lit up. “If you’re this mad about it, maybe it’s because you feel guilty,” Piper said, shrugging. It was clear she was loving this— that it was the final, ultimate revenge on me for snatching Jacob out of her hands months ago. It was also clear that Kiersten found the entire confrontation entertaining, like she was watching a soap opera scene rather than real life.

“Guilty for what?” I asked, hating the fact that I even cared a little bit what she had to say about anything.

“You had to chance to just hook up with him and let it go. You’re the one that tricked him into an actual relationship. I’m not saying that’s the only reason he’s hurt again and that Adams is the new star, but I’m saying that there were no problems before you showed up here and started meddling with him.”

I closed my eyes to keep from screaming, then walked to my room and slammed the door. I couldn’t stay here with Piper— I had to leave. I had to go somewhere, anywhere. But who could I even call? The idea of calling Jacob was way too stressful; between their breakup and his injury and Adams’ video, even a string of text messages would be overwhelming. The truth was, other than a handful of people I knew from group projects, I only knew one person at Harton other than her roommates. I grabbed my phone and called.

“Hey. Things are just so crazy here— is there anyway you could come pick me up?” I said quietly into the phone.

There was a sharp knock on the door about an hour later. I had just finished packing a bag of clothes and my school stuff into the largest bag I had on hand. I slung it over my shoulder and left my bedroom to find Piper and Kiersten standing in the kitchen, staring at the person in the living room.

“Oh! Sasha,” Jenna said, smiling cheerfully. She looked tiny and compact and fierce, and her face was hard. “I was just telling Piper that she and Adams are going to shut the fuck up, or they’re going to be public enemy number one and two here at Harton.”

“What? How?” I asked, confused.

“Well, you see, there’s an ethics clause that all the athletes sign,” Jenna said, explaining this slowly, so there was no possibility Piper could fail to understand. “It’s pretty vague, but one part is clear— that nothing scandalous can happen in the McMillan Alumni Hall. The guy who donated the place, McMillan, was a Southern Baptist. Anything goes on there, the entire house goes back to his estate.”

“What’s McMillan Alumni Hall?” Kiersten asked.

“Football House,” Piper said, scowling. “But everyone drinks there, and besides, Sasha’s the one who’s underage. She’s the one breaking the actual law.”

“Ah, yes, that is true,” Jenna said, giving me a serious look. Then she turned back to Jenna and smiled, so artificially sweet that it could cut you. “But I’m not talking about the drinking. I’m talking about you and Adams fucking in the room upstairs. I saw it. Sasha saw it. Kiersten saw it. And moreover, the cameras in that house saw it.”

Piper laughed. “Well then guess what, Jenna? Jacob is in trouble too, because he’s forever fucking girls in that house.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong. Jacob goes to the garden. Or to the alumni building. Or his apartment. Not technically in Football House, which means the contract doesn’t apply.”

Piper’s face paled, and mine felt a swell of amazement. Was Jenna telling the truth?

“So you’re going to call the papers— whatever papers are posting this shit about Sasha— and tell them you lied. That you’re a stupid girl in need of attention, bitter that she didn’t get to fuck Jacob Everett, and that you made all that bullshit up. That Sasha is the best thing to ever happen to Jacob.”

“You’re over-reaching,” Piper said, regaining her composure. “Harton isn’t going to throw their only real quarterback off the team because he has consensual