Chapter 5
2091 Words
“Calm down, Miss Donovan. I know you wouldn’t involve yourself in those kinds of things. On the other hand”—he focused his attention on Easton—“how many times do I have to tell you to stop getting into trouble?”
Easton scoffed.
“If people making up a bunch of bullshit about me counts as getting into trouble, then f**k, I’ve got a pretty long list.”
“Easton, if you don’t want our father finding out about this…”
“He’s not my father. He’s your father.”
Young Principal Presley rubbed his hands down his face and let out a long sigh. It took my brain a couple of seconds to process the information I had just heard.
“You guys are brothers?”
“Yes,” the principal answered.
“No,” Easton answered at the exact same time.
“It’s a long story,” the principal explained.
“A story that has nothing to do with you.” Easton stood up and glared at his brother. “If you say one more thing, I’ll kill you.”
He walked out of the office, slamming the door behind him.
“Please excuse him. He always reacts like that whenever we bring up the subject.”
“I understand, but… are you really brothers?”
“That’s right, and that’s all I’m going to say. Back to the main subject, I’m assuming the thing about the maintenance closet was just a rumor, right?”
“Definitely.”
“But you two are dating?”
“Yes,” I lied.
“I see. That’s all I needed to know. You may return to your classes.” I stood up to leave. “Miss Donovan, being close to Easton is only going to bring you a lot of trouble.”
I smiled to reassure him.
“Don’t worry, I already knew that.”
And with nothing else to say, I opened the office door and walked out.
♡ ♡ ♡
When lunchtime finally arrived, I bought a bowl of Waldorf salad and an orange juice before heading toward the table where my friends were waiting for me. On the way there, I saw Cassie sitting on Nate’s lap at the center table, right where the football players usually gathered.
I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from showing how jealous I was.
“So you really were dating Easton Cash?” Marisa asked the second I sat down.
“Our relationship was a secret,” I lied.
“Since when?” Maddie asked.
“Six months ago.”
All three of them stared at me in shock.
“I don’t understand how that even happened,” Lisa murmured. “You and Nate looked perfect together.”
“Nate and I hadn’t been okay for a long time.”
“And how did you end up with Easton?” Maddie asked suspiciously.
Luckily, I already had a story prepared.
“Remember when Easton destroyed Nate’s car with a baseball bat? I was still inside when he started smashing the windows. When he realized it, he apologized to me. After that, he started looking for me… messages, calls, things like that. At first I tried to ignore him, but little by little I realized Easton wasn’t like everyone thought.”
“So the rumors about him are fake?” Lisa asked.
“Most of them.”
“And when did you stop feeling something for Nate?”
I lied without even blinking.
“When I fell in love with Easton.”
That was completely false. My heart was still clinging to Nate.
“Well, that’s perfect because Nate and Cassie are together now,” Maddie said with a small malicious smile.
I felt something break inside me.
“Cassie can keep him. I don’t care.”
“You should be careful,” Maddie continued. “If Cassie managed to steal Nate from you, she could steal Easton too.”
I let out a mocking laugh.
“As if that could happen.”
At that moment Easton appeared at the cafeteria entrance. When his eyes met mine, he winked at me and, unfortunately, I blushed.
He grabbed a tray and walked toward our table.
“Hey,” he greeted before kissing my cheek and sitting beside me.
My friends completely froze.
“Easton, these are Maddie, Marisa, and Lisa.”
He gave them a relaxed smile.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet my girl’s friends.”
All three of them immediately blushed.
“Is it true you robbed a*****e by yourself?” Lisa suddenly asked.
Marisa elbowed her.
Easton’s smile faded slightly.
“Do you want me to feed you, babe?” he asked, completely ignoring the others while lifting a french fry.
“I can’t eat that.”
“Why not?”
“Carbs.”
Easton frowned as if I had said something ridiculous.
“Salad is horse food.”
He tried to make me eat the fry and I ended up accepting just to shut him up. The problem was the way he did it. He grabbed my face and leaned way too close to mine, practically forcing me to bite the fry he was holding between his lips.
My face instantly burned.
“That was weirdly romantic,” Lisa whispered, fascinated.
Easton looked far too satisfied with himself.
When the bell rang, I tried to stand up, but Easton grabbed me by the waist.
“We’re not leaving until you finish your salad.”
I blinked in surprise.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re way too skinny. You don’t need to starve yourself over some stupid cheerleading squad.”
His words hit me harder than expected.
Nate had never said anything like that. Quite the opposite. One time he saw me drinking a milkshake and commented that I was going to gain weight.
“If I want to starve myself or not, that’s my problem.”
Easton looked at me seriously.
“Open your mouth.”
I ended up taking another bite of the fry just to avoid arguing.
Then a voice interrupted the moment.
“What a romantic scene.”
Cassie and Nate had just arrived.
The tension between Easton and Nate was immediate. Nate looked at him with pure hatred while Easton smiled as if he were enjoying every second of it.
“Jacob,” Easton suddenly said.
I frowned.
“Jacob?”
“Yeah, this guy’s name. Isn’t it?”
I couldn’t help laughing.
Nate was one of the most popular guys in school. How was it possible that Easton didn’t know his name?
“My name is Nate, asshole,” Nate growled.
Easton pretended to think about it.
“Nate Asshole. Got it.”
That only made things worse.
“I’m going to break your face,” Nate threatened, taking a step forward.
Easton slowly stood up.
“You?”
The tension became unbearable. The students still in the cafeteria watched the scene, waiting for a fight to break out.
Before everything exploded, I placed a hand against Easton’s chest.
“It’s late. Let’s go.”
Cassie also looked uncomfortable, so she ended up dragging Nate away.
When we finally left the cafeteria, I looked at Easton in annoyance.
“Don’t you dare fight Nate.”
“It wouldn’t be so bad to knock a couple of his teeth out.”
“I don’t want you hurting him.”
Easton stared at me.
“Do you really want to keep this act going? Is that guy really worth it?”
I pressed my lips together.
“I don’t know.”
He stepped closer and placed his hands on my shoulders.
“A guy like him doesn’t deserve a place in your heart, Ashley.”
I lowered my gaze.
“I know… but I can’t force myself to stop loving him.”
Easton sighed.
“Speaking of our deal… how about another advance payment?”
“I JUST GAVE YOU TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS.”
“What can I say? I’m a high-maintenance guy.”
“A high-maintenance i***t,” I muttered.
I pulled another stack of ten thousand dollars from my purse and handed it to him.
Easton took it and kissed me on the lips.
“You just paid for two months of my services.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I tried to stop him, but he simply ignored me and walked out of the school.
I stood there motionless, staring at the doors he had disappeared through. He had practically taken all the money I had on me. I guess I’d have to say goodbye to the new Chanel bag… and even then, I still couldn’t stop thinking about his kisses.
I unconsciously touched my lips before making a face.
I was definitely going to complain about that tomorrow.
The sound of a car horn echoed in the distance as I walked toward where Hank was waiting for me.
My mind was still a complete mess because of Easton and that kiss when I heard a strange sound. A loud screech that quickly turned into a roar.
Startled, I looked up.
I saw several things at once. Nothing moved in slow motion like in movies. Instead, the rush of adrenaline made my mind work faster, allowing me to process multiple scenes at the same time in perfect detail.
Easton was standing four cars away beside his motorcycle, holding his helmet in his hands while staring at me with an expression of genuine horror. His face stood out among the sea of people around me, all wearing the same horrified expression.
But at that moment, all my attention was captured by a dark blue pickup truck speeding far too fast between the cars in the parking lot.
The tires screeched violently against the asphalt when the driver tried to brake and lost control during the turn. The vehicle was heading straight toward me. I was trapped between the truck and the car parked beside me.
I wouldn’t even have time to close my eyes.
Something slammed into me hard, though not from the direction I expected, just before I heard the terrible crash of the truck smashing into the back of the car, metal folding in on itself.
My head hit the asphalt, and I felt something cold and solid pinning me against the ground.
I was lying on the pavement behind the car, but I barely had time to notice anything else because the truck was still coming. After colliding with the vehicle, it had spun around and was about to crush me.
I realized someone was beside me when I heard a low curse, and there was no mistaking that voice.
Easton.
Two large hands stretched out in front of me protectively, and the truck came to an abrupt stop only inches from my head.
Then those hands moved so fast they became a blur.
Suddenly, one hand was holding up the truck’s frame while the other dragged me out of its path. With a harsh metallic crack that nearly pierced my eardrums, the truck crashed heavily onto the asphalt.
Exactly where my legs had been a second earlier.
Absolute silence reigned for a long moment before everyone started screaming.
I heard people calling my name through the chaos, but among all that noise, the only thing I could hear clearly was Easton’s rough, shaken voice beside me.
“Ashley? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Even my own voice sounded strange to me.
I tried to sit up, and that was when I realized Easton was holding me tightly against his side with almost impossible strength.
“Easy,” he said as he tried to loosen his grip. “You hit your head.”
A sharp pain shot above my left ear.
“Ow!”
Incredibly enough, Easton let out a low, almost nervous laugh.
“That’s what I thought...”
I tried to clear my thoughts.
“How the hell...?” I stopped to steady myself and get my bearings. “How did you get here so fast?”
“I was right beside you, Ashley,” he said, his voice turning serious again.
I tried to sit up once more, and this time he allowed it, moving only a few inches away from me. I looked at the seemingly calm expression on his face, filled with concern.
His golden eyes unsettled me once again.
What exactly had I just seen?
- Writer
