Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 123212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
He releases me and we remain in some sort of twisted stare off. “That’s over,” I tell him. “He doesn’t feel shit for me. Not anymore.”
Spencer doesn’t dare look away until Charlie finally steps in and looks between us. “Okaaay,” he says slowly. “I’m not even going to pretend that I know what the fuck is going on here, but did you just say that Jude was at the masquerade party on Saturday night?”
Fuck. I don’t want to go there.
I turn my gaze on Charlie and watch as he retreats from my stare. “Yeah, what about it?”
His brows furrow, unsure why I’m coming at him with an attitude and honestly, I’m a little unsure myself. All I know is that I have a shitload of pent-up aggression and I’d like nothing more than to go back outside and work it all out on that dickhead’s face. “Did you speak to him? He’s fucking missing. You know that right? No one has seen him in days. Not since ...”
Charlie looks up at Spencer and I can practically read the messages passing between them. Charlie had promised me that they’d handle Jude after he had the whole school sexually harass me, but that was over two weeks ago. What they don’t know is that after they were done with him, Nic also paid him a visit and that visit would have been near lethal.
What’s clear is that Charlie has no idea what happened on Saturday night and for some reason, I prefer it that way. Charlie is so sweet and innocent. Perhaps innocent is the wrong word but compared to Jude, Colton, and Spencer, Charlie is practically a saint. He doesn’t look at me with that same disgust the others do, he treats me like an equal, like someone worth waiting for.
Guilt flares through me. The idea of not being honest with him doesn’t sit well in my stomach, but then a lot of the shit that has gone down over the past forty-eight hours doesn’t sit well either. In comparison, not telling him this one little detail isn’t exactly going to change anything. It’ll probably save him from looking at me like the rest of the guys did. If he knew … fuck. I don’t even want to think about that. Charlie and Milo are the only two good things to happen to me in Bellevue Springs and I don’t want to ruin that.
I look back at him and shake my head. “No, I didn’t speak to him. I just saw him hanging around the main part of the house. I don't think he was actually at the party as a guest.”
I feel Spencer and Milo’s stares but I tune them out knowing exactly what they’re thinking. “Damn,” Charlie murmurs, looking off in the distance as he gets lost in thought. “I don’t know what could have happened to him. It’s not like we fucked him up that bad. I’ve had his fucking parents calling me and asking if I’ve seen him. It just doesn’t make sense.”
Spencer’s eyes harden and I’m reminded of Colton’s phone call once again.
‘Spence, I need your help.’
He knows something and just like I’d suspected with Colton, they know exactly where he is. I just don't understand it. Are they hiding him out or did they help him get away? Why would they protect him like that? All I know is that means that Colton lied to me. He told me that he didn’t know where he was and that he’d happily hand Jude over to Nic. Clearly, he didn’t quite mean that.
Spencer’s stare bores into mine, silently begging me to keep my mouth shut. He knows that I know something. He can see I have all the puzzle pieces, I just haven’t been able to put them together. “He’ll show up when he’s ready,” Spencer says to Charlie, all while keeping his gaze locked on mine.
Charlie looks between us again. “What the fuck is going on between you two? Did something happen?”
Spencer shakes his head as I snap. “Nothing happened. He’s just a shady bastard.” I tear my gaze away from Spencer and watch as he relaxes out of the corner of my eye. I look back at Charlie to find suspicion on his face. “Really,” I insist. “We’re all good. Spencer decided to take it upon himself to do Colton’s bidding on Saturday night and it didn't exactly pan out well.”
“Oh, is that it?” Charlie says with a relieved sigh that’s also filled with a hint of jealousy. He turns to Spencer. “Thanks a lot, bro. You could have put in a good word for me instead.”
“Fuck off, man. You’ve already sealed the deal with her and seeing as though she’s not falling at your feet, I’d dare say that ship has sailed. Move over, you know Colton is going to be her end game.”