My brows furrow.
Yes, Asher might have only approached me for revenge, and he’s always been his own brand of asshole, but I saw those small gestures…the way his eyes softened, the show of affection in his green gaze, the tightening of his jaw afterward as if he didn’t want to care.
It doesn’t matter, though, does it?
None of it erases what he did. His intention was loud and clear on the roof, in the classroom, and in the locker room.
He wanted to kill me.
Don’t they say actions speak louder than words?
I’ve witnessed his actions. Hell, I can still feel those creepy vibes down to my bones.
“Tell me everything you know, Jace.” I meet his kind brown gaze with my determined one.
My brain is telling me to retreat to my room, hide under the covers, and cry—but my sheets still smell like him from yesterday. Hell, my entire body does.
I’m still sore from him, still full of him in ways even I don’t want to admit.
Besides, if I give the gloomy cloud any freedom, it’ll just take over and leave me with nothing but depression and dark thoughts.
My best bet is to know what I’ve done. There’s nothing scarier than ignorance. It slowly creeps under your skin and eats you alive, and when you decide to act, it’s already too late.
I’m solving this before it turns unresolvable.
Jason cocks his head to the side. “Follow me.”
I don’t question and walk behind him as he heads to the pool house.
His shoulders become my focus as I try to walk right. My brain keeps pulling me in different directions. One part wants to run back to Asher and demand the truth from him. The other part is letting the gloomy cloud whisper nasty things in my brain.
See? You’re nothing.
Why don’t you follow Arianna and just die?
No one cares about you.
The sound of a closing door shuts those demons up. I didn’t realize we were in the pool house until Jason locks the double doors.
Something is secretive enough to warrant this, I suppose.
“I knew this day would come.” He speaks as he heads toward the TV on the opposite wall. “I knew I’d have a use for this.” He retrieves a flash drive from his pocket and hooks it into the TV, cocking his head back. “Are you ready?”
“For what?”
“This footage will give you an idea of what you need to know.”
My palms turn clammy as I slowly nod.
He motions at the cushions lined up in front of the TV. “You might want to sit down, Reina.”
I approach them at a snail’s pace, suddenly not sure if this is the place I want to be in.
Before I can voice my thoughts, Jason plays the video.
The footage’s angle is sideways, and the quality is grainy like those old security videos. It’s almost as if it’s been recorded in secret.
There’s no audio.