Her reaction when I talk like this will never get old. Her pupils are big, her cheeks get all rosy, and she squirms. “Take me back to my studio and fuck me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She giggles and sits back in her seat. Picking her phone up, Ara stares at the screen again. Only this time, her face pales when she clicks on her newest text.
The energy in the car shifts again and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “What’s wrong?”
Ara starts to panic. Her breaths punch out of her in short spurts. “No. No, no, no.” She holds the phone to her chest so I can’t see it.
“Ara, what is it?”
“I’m…” She unbuckles her seatbelt and fumbles with the doorhandle, only to tumble out of the car.
Jesus. What the fuck? “Ara!” I scramble out of the car. She’s running. Running and crying and freaking out and I have no clue why. “Ara, stop!”
She doesn’t. I chase her down and pull her back with my hands around her waist. “I’m going to kill him!” she scream-cries. “I knew it! I knew things were going too good. Nothing this good happens to me for real.”
I’m so confused I don’t know where to start. “Talk to me.”
She crosses her arms and cries harder.
“Ara, goddamnit, talk to me!”
She shoves her phone in my face, and my heart falls out of my ass. Then my blood turns to toxic, fiery poison.
A video plays on her screen. It’s Ara, in her bed, masturbating. Clip after clip after clip.
It doesn’t take a genius to know who sent her this.
Fucking Jason.
“He’s going to ruin me,” she sobs. “I’ll lose the school’s commission if this leaks.”
I’m seeing red.
“I don’t even know how he could have gotten this!” She clutches her hair. “How could he have videotaped me?”
I need to stay calm. Think. Breathe. “It’s okay.” I’m not sure it is. “We’ll handle it.” I’m not sure she’ll like how I plan to handle it. “We’ll figure it out.”
“You’re not…” She sobs again. “You’re not mad at me?”
I think I’ve snapped. I must be mad. Insane. Off the rails. “Why would I be mad at you?”
“I don’t know!” she scream-cries at me.
Jesus fucking Christ. Her exes have done such a head job on her. I’m going after every single one of them.
Starting with Jason.
Chapter 23
Ara
I was so happy. For a whole three days, I was the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. And now comes karma’s painful balance.
I stare at the message again. “If you don’t come back to me, I’ll make sure everyone knows what a disgusting slut you are.”
Jason could post this on porn sites. He could send it to anyone I might try to do business with.
I don’t care about my body being on display. I paint myself naked all the time. And porn is porn, but that’s not what bothers me. It’s that he’s violated my privacy. Stole private moments to use against me. It could cost me everything I hold dear.
It could cost me Glitch.
He has no reason to believe me when I say I didn’t know Jason recorded all this. And I can’t even figure out how he did it. But the angle of each video is almost the exact same, and that’s when it clicks. My blood runs cold. “Take me home.”
Glitch hasn’t said a word. He strangles the steering wheel while he drives, and I’m scared I’ve already lost him. I’m a mess. No one wants a drama-infested dumpster fire for a girlfriend. It’s too much.
I’m too much.
When Glitch leaves me, I won’t blame him.
I squeeze my eyes shut. Breathe, Ara. Hold it together.
We’re at my apartment in less than five minutes. I can’t believe I live so close to his sister. I’m not sure what to say or how to act or what to do, so I go with, “I’m sorry.”
“Stop. Apologizing.” His voice is intense. Dark. Strained. Glitch hasn’t looked over at me since we got back in the car.
“I…” Stop apologizing. He’s right. I didn’t do this. I did nothing wrong. And I’m not saying sorry on behalf of a bastard who I hate and who’s actions I have no control of. I just need to figure out how to make it not get worse. “Will you come up with me?”
Glitch fumbles with the door handle, his gaze still deadlocked straight ahead. I think he’s glitching, and it makes me feel worse. He hates this as much as I do.