“Brother, she’s already gone.” He shook his head, and my stomach plummeted.
My phone was missing, and someone had sent a video of Tate and me to the whole damn school from my number.
“Jared!”
I turned and saw Sam running down the hall, jerking his thumb to the double doors leading outside.
“Tate’s trashing your car, man!” he shouted, breathless.
Madoc and I didn’t wait. We charged out the double doors only to see a crowd gathering around my Boss.
Tate.
I couldn’t see much, but I saw her swinging and felt the sharp slash at my chest every time the metal weapon in her hands hit my car.
She was losing it.
How many times could she be humiliated before she crumbled?
How many times could she be hurt before the damage was irreparable?
“Tate, stop it!” I grabbed her from behind before she brought the crowbar back down.
I had no idea what the damage was, but I didn’t care.
She twisted away from me, and spun around to face me.
And that’s when I saw it.
The end.
The death in her eyes. The absence of emotion. The surrender of everything good between us that we’d built this past week.
She believed I’d sent that video to the whole school. She believed I’d wanted her to hurt again.
“Tate…” I tried to speak but couldn’t.
She didn’t look angry or sad.
She’d given up on me.
And I was so paralyzed by that realization, I barely heard her threat.
“Stay away from me, or it’ll be more than your car getting busted up next time.”
She walked away, and the crowd around me hushed, but I had nothing to say.
I had no f**king clue how I was going to fix this.
Youth guidance counselor?
Yeah, right.
Chapter 36
“Give me your phone,” I ordered Madoc as I made my way through the crowd of hushed whispers and nosy-fuckin’-invasive eyes.
“Man, just leave her alone for now,” he groaned.
All these damn people. Their eyes were on me, and there were even some hanging out the school’s windows. Everyone had seen this, and someone had probably shot a video of Tate tearing up my car.
My car. I groaned. I couldn’t even look at it.
“Phone. Now.” I held out my hand after we’d gotten some space.
He plopped it down in my hand.
“I’m going to look for her.” I started dialing Tate’s number. “You stay here and go talk to the principal. Make sure she doesn’t get in trouble for this.”
Principal Masters was scared of Madoc’s father, and thank God for that. Mr. Caruthers wasn’t just a lawyer. He was the guy whose cases were studied in law schools.
His weight kept us out of trouble, and now Tate was going to keep her record clean, too.
I dug in my pocket for my keys.
“They’re going to know about the video, Jared. He’ll keep her out of trouble, but he’ll call her dad.”
Shit.
“Fuck!” I growled, shutting up everyone around me.
Girls squealed and others backed away.
That’s when I noticed I still had an audience, and for the first time in weeks, felt the need to hit shit.
“All of you,” I bellowed, pointing my finger around me in a circle, “erase that video from your f**king phones! Now! If I see anyone with it, you’re dead! Bitches included.”
“Oh, Jesus.” Madoc ran his hands over his face. “Are you trying to get arrested?”
Fuck ‘em all.
“If she shows up, for any reason, get a phone and call me.” And I turned around and climbed into my nearly broken car.
I drove around for about an hour before I worked up the courage to call her father. He might hear it from the school, but he needed to hear it from me first. I’d been calling and texting Tate non-stop, but it time to face the music.
Tate’s dad picked up on the first ring.
“Hello?” he asked, confusion filling his voice. I had Madoc’s phone, and he didn’t know the number.
“Mr. Brandt? It’s Jared.”
“Jared?” he blurted out. “What’s wrong?”
I almost laughed.
Mr. Brandt and I texted. If I was calling, then he knew something was up.
“Tate’s fine,” I assured him right away, but it felt like a lie. Physically, she was okay. “But something happened.” I paused and then spitted it out. “It’s probably a good idea for you to come home as soon as possible.”
That tasted like vinegar, but there was no way around it.
Tate needed her father right now.
“What the hell happened?” he barked, and I jerked the phone away from my ear.
I slowly and timidly, using the most sugar-coated language I possibly could, let him know that Tate and I were having sex, a video was recorded of us at a Homecoming party, and it appeared to be sent to the whole school from my phone that I’d lost.
Yeah, I was going to be shot.
The heavy silence coming from the other end of the line had me cringing. I kept telling myself to shut up, because at any moment he’d reach through, grab my neck and squeeze until he killed me.
“Mr. Brandt?” I squinted my eyes like I was bracing myself for a beat down when he didn’t respond. “Do you have any idea where she might have gone?”
He was silent for a moment and then cleared his throat. “Maybe to the cemetery.”