by Wendi Wilson
“Shut up, Wyatt,” Beckett said, finally speaking. “You look beautiful, Savanna.”
“No, seriously,” Wyatt argued. “She’s going to have guys all over her!”
“Shut. Up. Wyatt,” Jett demanded.
“Okay, but if we end up having to beat the hell out of some dumb jock, don’t forget I warned you.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. A few months ago, I might’ve gotten offended. The fact that Wyatt was insisting a new outfit would be all it took to make people see whatever beauty I possessed was ludicrous and slightly insulting. But I knew him well enough to know he didn’t mean anything by it. I knew how he felt about me, that he found me attractive, no matter what clothes I had on. They all did.
“Hello, boys.”
We all turned at the sound of my mom’s voice as she walked back into the foyer. The boys stepped forward, greeting her with half hugs and flattering compliments. She smiled through it all and it made me happy. She’d really come around over the last couple of months, accepting my relationship with them and getting to know them individually as well.
Dad was another story. He wasn’t rude or cruel to them, but he could never quite hide his disgruntlement. I spied him through the kitchen door and waved to get his attention.
“Bye, Dad,” I called out. “Love you.”
“Bye, Pumpkin. Be home by midnight.” Those last words were emphasized with a pointed look at the boys.
“Yes, sir,” Jett said, giving him a nod.
With a quick hug for Mom, I ushered them through the door. As we walked to the truck, I tried to hide the fact that my nerves were on edge. It didn’t work.
“What’s wrong?” Beckett asked, slipping his hand into mine.
“Nothing,” I said. “Just a little nervous about this party, I guess.”
“Well, you have nothing to worry about,” Wyatt said, taking my other hand. “We’ll be right there with you the whole time.”
“We won’t let anything bad happen,” Jett said, opening the front passenger door for me.
Their words calmed my nerves, at least a little. Sucking in a deep breath, I strengthened my resolve. I was determined to have some fun.
Nothing would go wrong.
Chapter Eight
I felt funny.
When we’d arrived at Lizzie’s, she welcomed us with excitement, hugging each of us around the neck like we were old friends she hadn’t seen in forever. It was obvious she’d been hitting the keg I spotted in the kitchen, so I didn’t get too mad when she touched my boys.
She offered me a beer, but I declined and asked for a coke instead. She disappeared into the kitchen, emerging a few minutes later with a red plastic cup filled with ice and brown soda. Before I could take a drink, Jett took it from me and smelled it. He took a small sip, swishing it in his mouth for a moment before swallowing and handing it back to me with a nod.
I guessed he was checking it for hidden alcohol. We wandered through the crowd, looking for somewhere to sit as I sipped my drink and scanned the kids around me. I recognized most of them. It seemed like most of our school turned out for the party.
The boys never left my side. They played a game where one would pick a kid from the crowd and another had to make up a funny backstory about them. They had me in stitches before too long, the nervous tension seeping out of me.
We were there for about an hour when I started to feel it. At first it was just a sense of well-being. I felt happy, without a care in the world. My body warmed and itched to move. I decided I needed to have some fun.
I handed my drink to Wyatt and pulled Jett into the middle of the living room. The furniture had all been pushed to edges of the room to leave a large empty space where party-goers were gyrating to fast-paced hip hop music. I headed right for the center of the crowd, pulling Jett along behind me.
I turned and wrapped my arms around his neck, only vaguely aware that my sweater rose up in the process. I felt his hands on my bare back, and it felt so good. I pressed against him, grinding my hips with the beat of the music. He moved with me, his silver eyes darkening to a stormy gray.
Before I knew it was happening, my lips were on his. Hot. Hungry. Demanding. Heat filled my body and I rambled random words between kisses.
Want.
You.
Need.
You.
Love.
You.
A strong hand on my shoulder broke through my lusty haze. I turned to see Beckett standing behind me, a concerned look on his face. I didn’t stop. Didn’t think. Only felt.
I backed up, pulling Jett with me, and rubbed my back against Beckett’s chest. He remained rigid, but didn’t back away. He whispered something to me, his words fast and urgent, but I had no idea what he said. I only felt his hot breath on my ear, the hard planes of his chest against my back.
Keeping one hand on Jett’s neck, I released the other and reached it over my shoulder to grip Beckett’s. I fisted my hand in his hair and used it as an anchor to pull him forward. I turned my head and plastered my lips to his. So soft. So warm. So wet.
I didn’t even notice when Jett stopped moving. I was wrapped up in my kiss with Beckett, my grip on his dark head keeping him right where I wanted him. I mumbled the same words to him that I had to Jett. Want. Need. Love.
“Savanna!”
I pulled my mouth away from Beckett’s. My sight was wonky, a little blurry around the edges, but I could see Wyatt standing in front of me instead of Jett, a pleading look on his face. I released Beckett and sauntered forward, my hips swaying to the music. I wrapped my arms around his neck, my fingers interlacing behind his head.
“You’re so tense,” I murmured. “Let me help you.”
I pressed my mouth to his neck, sucking the skin there into my mouth. I scraped my teeth across his flesh. Once. Twice. The temptation was too great. I started to bite down, reveling in his moan that I could feel more than hear.
Cool air enveloped me and I opened my eyes. Somehow, I was outside. Strong arms cradled me against a hard chest. I leaned my head against it and let my eyes drift shut once more.
The next thing I knew, light was burning against my closed eyelids. I threw an arm across my face, burrowing deeper into my bed. I just needed a few more minutes’ sleep.
I sat up in a rush and pain exploded in my brain. I rubbed my fingertips across it, trying to soothe the pain away, as well as jog my memory. I had no idea how I got home, much less into bed. I cracked my eyes open and looked around.
I was definitely in my own bed. My things surrounded me. I looked down at myself. I was still wearing the outfit I wore to the party, minus the shoes. I wracked my brain, as much as the pain would let me, but I couldn’t remember much.
I remembered going to Lizzie’s house, drinking a coke and hanging with the boys. I vaguely recalled dancing with Jett, but after that, it was a blank. I was so confused.
My phone chimed from its spot on the nightstand. I picked it up and looked at the screen. I had sixty-seven text messages.
“What the hell?” I mumbled, pulling up my texting app.
I had been added to a group chat. My phone dinged over and over as new messages poured in. I scrolled up, looking for the beginning of the thread. My eyes caught random words as I scrolled. Slut. Hot. Sexy. Whore.
When I reached the top, there was a link to a popular video streaming website. I clicked the link and saw a still shot of me, my arms around Jett’s neck in Lizzie’s living room. My jaw started to chatter as I tapped the play button.
It was awful. Me, dancing with Jett. Grinding against him. Kissing him. Telling him I wanted him. That I loved him. He kissed me back for a moment, then tried to pull away. He seemed to realize we had an audience and was trying to get me to stop.
Then Beckett appeared. I couldn’t hear him over the music, but he looked tense. A cry escaped my lips as I watched myself latch onto him and kiss him while still holding tightly to Jett in front of me.
Oh my God.
My eyes focused back on myself when Wyatt stepped in front of me and started snapping his fingers in front of my face. I released Beckett and grabbed him, latching onto his neck with my mouth. My hand flew to my mouth, holding in a strangled cry.
“Oh my God,” I whispered. Was I biting him?
Beckett pulled me away from Wyatt and swooped me into his arms. We disappeared through the door and the camera panned to catch kids willingly handing over their phones to Jett and Wyatt, and them deleting what I could only assume were videos.
The footage ended suddenly. Whoever shot this must have hidden their phone before the boys got to them. I could see the number of comments on the video rising by the second, but I closed out the app and threw my phone to the bed. My text alert continued to chime. Over. And over.
A soft knock on my door had me swiping tears from my cheeks and trying to clear the lump from my throat. I croaked out a greeting and my mom came in carrying a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin. I took the water and gulped down half of it before accepting the bottle of pills. I refused to meet her eyes.
“The boys told me what happened,” Mom said in a soft voice while smoothing my hair back.
I forced myself to look at her so she would see the truth in my eyes. “I swear, Mom, I didn’t drink. I only had a coke and Jett checked it for alcohol before he let me have any of it. I don’t know what happened.”
“I know, Honey. I know,” she said in a soothing tone. “I know you better than that. Someone obviously put something in your drink.”
“Like a roofie?” I asked, my voice cracking.
She shook her head. “From what the boys said, it sounds more like ecstasy than Rohypnol.”
My eyes dropped to my lap as I digested her words. I’d seen movies where the characters had taken ecstasy and, from what I saw in that video, I thought she may be right. The backs of my eyes started burning as water filled my eyes.
“Hey,” Mom said, lifting my chin so I would meet her eyes. My eyes overflowed and tears poured down my cheeks. “It’s going to be okay, Savanna. I promise.”
I nodded, but her words didn’t mean much. She hadn’t seen the video. My life would never be the same again.
“Now,” she said, straightening. “Go hop in the shower and get yourself cleaned up. The boys are waiting for you in the kitchen.”
“They’re here?” I croaked.
She smiled. “They never left,” she said and turned to leave. After stepping into the hallway, she turned and poked her head back in. “Hurry up,” she said, “before I lose control and they come barging in here.”
She winked and disappeared up the hall before I could respond. I stood from the bed as quickly as my pounding head would allow. I couldn’t believe Jett, Wyatt, and Beckett had stayed all night. I couldn’t believe my parents had let them.
Things were changing, fast.
Chapter Nine
“Savanna.”
“Are you okay?”
“How do you feel?”
Their questions bombarded me as soon as I walked into the room, barefoot and hair still wet from my shower. I waved a hand at them, heading straight for the coffee pot. I needed some caffeine before I could even think about talking.
When I turned back to face them, coffee in hand, Jett was standing in front me, his face grave. I tried to smile at him, but I was pretty sure it came out like a grimace.
“I’m so sorry, Savanna.” I opened my mouth to refute his need to apologize, but he cut me off. “No. This is all my fault. I checked your drink and didn’t taste anything. I let you drag me out to the dance floor and I didn’t get you out of there the second I realized you weren’t yourself. I got a little…caught up in the moment. Please forgive me.”
I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the table, motioning for him to sit before do the same toward Wyatt and Beckett. My parents were noticeably absent from the kitchen, but I wasn’t going to question it. I needed to talk to the guys, alone.
I threw my phone on the table between us, the video queued up. “Have you guys seen this?”
Jett picked up the device and tapped the play button as the other two leaned toward him to watch. A curse exploded from Wyatt’s mouth and Beckett’s face turned red, his lips pinched tightly in anger. Jett’s eyes met mine over the top of the screen.
“I thought we got them all,” he said, his voice gravelly with emotion.
“What the hell?” Wyatt whisper-shouted, no doubt to keep my parents from coming to investigate. “We persuaded everyone in the room to tell us if they had recorded you.”
“It doesn’t matter how it happened,” I said. “It happened. And there’s a group text. Everyone has seen it.”
Jett tapped my screen a few times, bringing up my texting app. Snarling, he scrolled through the thread. He tossed the phone down in disgust and Beckett picked it up, his eyes moving rapidly as he read.
“You guys really didn’t have any idea?” I asked. “It looks like every kid at school is on that text.”
“Nobody has our numbers but you, your parents, and our uncle,” Beckett said, handing my phone to Wyatt.
Wyatt’s face pinched as he read dozens of text messages. Some questioned my morality. Some insulted me. One suggested that I would probably be open to a fourth or fifth guy and they were going to take a shot. I stopped reading them after that.
“We did a search,” Wyatt said, drawing my attention. “Your, uh, symptoms seemed to indicate you had ecstasy.”
“That’s what my mom said,” I muttered.
“When you were dancing with Jett, I checked your cup,” Wyatt continued. “There was some white gunk at the bottom. I showed Beckett and that’s when we tried to get you out of there.”
“We should have tried harder,” Beckett said, his voice low. “If we had forced the issue, nothing would have happened to be recorded.”
“Stop,” I said, meeting each of their eyes. “None of this is your fault. This is on whoever slipped drugs into my drink. No one else.”
“It had to have been Lizzie,” Jett said.
He read my mind. Not only was she the one that got me the soda, it was her house. Her party. Her sudden friendliness toward me was suddenly making sense.
“It was all a set up,” I said to no one in particular.
“And we led you right into the trap,” Wyatt said, frowning.
I opened my mouth to protest, but my mom entered the kitchen, drawing my attention. She shot me a weird look before stepping to the side, revealing a puffy-eyed, crying Lizzie Williams. The boys stood in unison, matching frowns on their faces.
I stayed in my seat, too drained to move. “What are you doing here, Lizzie?” I asked in a monotone voice.
She took a step forward. “I swear, Savanna, I didn’t know.” She sniffed and swiped at her face.
“You brought her the drink,” Jett said, his voice hard and demanding.
“I know,” she said, her gaze dropping to her feet for a moment before she looked back at me. “I was drunk, and when Jonas offered to pour you a drink, I let him do it. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Jonas?” I asked, arching a brow. “Jonas Wiggins?”
That was a stupid question. Of course, it was Jonas Wiggins. He’d been looking for payback for a long time. It seemed like he’d found the perfect opportunity. I studied Lizzie’s face, trying to determine if she was telling the whole truth.
“Lizzie,” Beckett said, drawing her attention to him. Once he had eye contact, he asked, “Tell me the truth. Did you know there were drugs in Savanna’s drink?”
“No,” she said, looking a little dazed for a moment before she shook it off. “I just told you I had no idea. It’s the truth. I swear,” she wailed.
Beckett looked at his brothers and nodded. She
was telling the truth. Beckett’s persuasion made sure of it. I had the fleeting thought that I should have been happy, or least relieved, that Lizzie wasn’t actually involved. I didn’t feel either of those things. I was nothing but numb.
“I believe you,” I said.
“You do?” she asked hopefully, unaware that she’d been persuaded.
“Yeah,” I said. “I don’t blame you.”
“Thank you,” she said, fresh tears leaking from her eyes. “Okay, well, I’ll see you at school?”
“Sure,” I said.
She waved and turned, showing herself to the door. Chairs scraped across the floor as the boys took their seats. I sipped at my coffee.
“I guess that answers that question,” I said to no one in particular.
“I’ll kill him,” Jett said.
“Jett,” Beckett said, his tone somewhat pleading.
“No. Stop it,” I said. “Nobody is going to kill anyone. I can handle this, myself.”
“Savanna,” Wyatt started, but I cut him off with a slash of my hand.
“You three listen to me and listen good. You are not to do anything to retaliate. I won’t have you getting into trouble over this.”
Jett opened his mouth, but my glare had him closing it without speaking. I nodded at his wise choice.
“I do not care what these people think,” I said, enunciating each word while tapping my phone, which was still resting on the table. “Never have and I’m not going to start now.” I met each of their eyes before adding, “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you.”
I was embarrassed, but I wasn’t going to show it. I needed to be strong.
“No way,” Wyatt said, shaking his head.
“You could never embarrass us, Savanna,” Beckett added. Jett nodded in agreement with his brother.
“I watched the video,” I said. “I practically molested you in front of the entire student body.”
One corner of Jett’s mouth twitched.
“Don’t you dare laugh!” I shouted, pointing at him.
