Bound Together (Torn and Bound Duet 2) - Page 81
Nothing from Drew.
Fuck.
Travis, that little bitch, is going down.
I throw on my shoes and stuff everything in my bag. Once I’ve slung it over my shoulder, I hurry out of the building toward my car. I dial back Brayden, who answers on the first ring.
“What happened?” I grind out.
I know what happened.
Travis threw us all under the fucking bus and now Drew is going to be the one who gets in trouble.
“Drew…” His voice cracks. “He’s leaving.”
Over my dead body.
“Drew’s not going anywhere,” I growl. “Let me fix this. I’ll talk to Dad—”
“He quit, Ash. He’s leaving. Flying the fuck out of here. Away from this—away from us.”
My stomach hollows out at his words. He can’t bail. We’ll figure it all out. Drew just needs to give me a goddamn minute to sort it out.
“I’ll call you back,” I tell him. “I’ll fix this.”
“I don’t think you can.”
We hang up and I dial Dad.
“Hello?” Dad answers, his voice tight.
“How could you?” I spit out.
“It’s beyond my control, Son. That video has my employee kissing his player and dancing with his hands all over another student. The four of you…” He huffs and then rushes his words out, as though he’s mortified to have to even say them. “Everyone knows the four of you are together. It’s unethical for Drew to be in a relationship with one student, much less three. It’ll cause a huge storm if I don’t do my part.”
I knew, eventually, he would figure it out, and now he has proof. But, rather than being cool as shit like Tim and Molly, Dad is the king of morality and hell-bent on doing the right thing. In this case, running Drew off.
“You didn’t even try,” I accuse. “You fired him because you’re embarrassed!”
“I didn’t fire him. He quit. I didn’t do this for me, Ashton. It’s for the best it’s come out, though. He’s a coach and—”
“You can’t handle the fact that we’re all together!” I belt out. “Admit that’s what this is about. Now that people know your own goddamn son is in a relationship with three people, it’ll destroy your reputation. Admit it, Dad, you were just waiting for something like this to happen so you could shut it down.”
Dad sighs. “I honestly don’t know what you expected from me. Do I condone the fact you’re sleeping with three people? No. If it were three students, though, I wouldn’t get involved. This is between me and my employee. I’m the dean, for crying out loud. I can’t let this go, especially since the video was sent to everyone. All I can do is damage control, and Drew leaving his position is a step in the right direction.”
I throw my bag into my car and climb in, trying not to mow down anyone in my haste to get home.
“We can’t lose him, Dad,” I rumble, my fear bleeding into my anger. “Brayden says he’s leaving.”
“I’m sorry,” Dad states. “Maybe it’s for the best.”
Fire burns hot inside me. “And Travis gets off without a smack on the hand? Dad, you know he did this. The weed. The bleach in my water bottle. The threats. The slashed tires. He hates me and wants to fuck up my world. You can’t do shit about him?”
“Bleach? Slashed tires? What are you talking about?”
“He’s a monster trying to destroy my life!” I bellow, slamming my hand on the steering wheel. “And you let him. Because your job is more fucking important than your own goddamn son. But that’s how it’s always been for you, huh? Doing grand gestures to show the community what a fine, upstanding citizen you are, at the stake of your family.”
“Ashton—”
“If you don’t deal with him, I will,” I warn. “I’m tired of letting him get away with all this shit. He crossed the line sending that video to everyone, because now he’s beyond hurting me. He’s hurting them too.”
“Ashton, I don’t know about the other stuff with Travis, but I’ll look into it. But the video?” He sighs heavily. “He didn’t send it to me.”
I pull into a parking space in front of my building, snag my bag, and climb out of my car. “Of course he did.”
“It was brought to my attention by another… concerned student.”
“Who the hell is concerned about my goddamn love life?” I snap, flinging open the door to the building. “This is such bullshit and you know it!”
“Sasha. You know her dad is—”
“What?” I bark out.
“She only showed me the video. I doubt she was the one to spread it. If you’re worried about Travis being the culprit, I’ll have the IT department investigate him first. Just come by my office and we’ll discuss this like adults.”
I take the stairs two at a time. “Sorry, Dad, but I have to take a raincheck. I need to go convince my boyfriend he can’t fucking leave us or our hearts are going to break. Great talk.”
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