This gives him pause, and he shakes his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re crazy.”
“Give me your phone,” I demand.
He drives a hand through his hair. “Shit. It wasn’t my idea. All right?”
“Addison,” I say simply.
Sluggish, he sways and leans on the side of the car for support. “She was all convinced there was something off about you. I mean, you did bang one of your students.” He laughs.
“Carter and I are in love,” I retort.
“Whatever. Look, Addison knows I’m good with programs. She asked me to dig into you, do a facial recognition search. And holy hell—” he whistles “—you lit up the Internet. You’re one sick girl.”
Sweat beads along my brow; I feel hot and chilled all at once. “It’s not what you think,” I say. “You don’t understand.”
“I don’t give a shit,” he says. “Not my problem.”
“Then why did you do it?” I demand.
“Addison asked me to.”
I nod slowly. “And you’d do anything she asked of you.”
Sully laughs. “You bitches are all the same. Crazy as fuck.”
“Get up.” I’m not going to drag his passed-out body.
“When he found out how fucking loaded you are, though…that’s where it got interesting.”
My whole being ices over with dread. “Who? When who found out?”
His body gives up the fight and he slumps against the car. “Damn, what’d you give me? This is good shit.”
I take a hesitant step toward him as I mentally fit the pieces together. “So your plan was to send cryptic messages to me, to blackmail me. How’d that work out?”
“It’s fucking Addison’s fault,” he says. “She was all, turn her in—” he waves his hands in the air as he mimics her voice “—and shit. Whatever. I don’t know anything about any messages. Ask them.”
Them… You know who he’s referring to, don’t you?
“Shut up.” I claw a hand through my hair. I don’t want to hear any more.
“Hey, you asked,” he says, laughing. He groans and wipes his mouth; he’s starting to drool. “Hensley and Addison. Man, fuck them.”
I stop moving; my whole body freezes over. “He wouldn’t believe her lies. He loves me.” He trusts me. I trust him.
&nbs
p; Sully’s head lolls against the car. “Whatever. Doesn’t matter now anyway,” he says, finding a second wind to push to his feet. “Addison got what she wanted, lame bitch. They can have each other.”
No. No, no, no. “Shut the fuck up.”
“Sorry, psycho girl. The slut never gets the guy.” He swipes a hand out and grabs my hair. “Me? I don’t do relationships. I’ll just take some of that sweet-ass pussy instead.”
I fight against his hold. I hear the gut-wrenching sound of my hair ripping as I yank free. I drop to my hands and knees and scuttle away, then climb to my feet. I take off toward the mountain trail.
The path is jagged and my heels make it impossible to run as I trip over rocks. I lose the shoes and continue up the path with bare feet. I can hear Sully gaining on me, and I swipe at branches as I push my way up the rocky trail, getting closer to the pass.
Sully isn’t far behind. His hand circles my ankle and I’m hauled backward. The razor-sharp edge of rocks tear into my back and shoulders. He crawls on top of me and cages me in against the ground.