Chapter4-RiskAssessment
1428 Words
Evelyn's POV
Luca disappeared through the library doors before I fully processed what had just happened.
I was still deciding whether going after him would get me answers or an assault charge.
My curiosity won.
I shoved my laptop into my bag and hurried after him.
By the time I caught up to him outside the library, I was one unanswered question away from committing a felony.
“What does that even mean?”
He stared at me.
“What?”
His audacity was impressive.
“Your brother’s going to hate this,” I repeated. “That. What does that mean?”
“Forget it.”
“Oh, that’s not happening.”
“You don’t get to say cryptic things and then tell me to forget them.”
“I just did.”
“Luca.”
“Goodnight, Evelyn.”
I watched him disappear across the quad.
I pulled out my phone.
If Luca Hayes wasn’t going to explain himself, there was only one person left who might.
Ethan.
My thumb hovered over Ethan’s contact.
Then my phone rang.
It was Chloe.
“Please tell me you didn’t commit a crime.”
“What?”
“You only sound this irritated when someone’s annoyed you.”
I started walking toward the dorms.
“Maybe someone did.”
A dramatic gasp crackled through the speaker.
“Hockey boy.”
“Hockey boy has a name.”
“So it was hockey boy.”
I should have hung up.
“He said something weird.”
“Oh, we’re not doing this over the phone.”
“Stay where you are.”
The line went dead.
Three minutes later, Chloe appeared like she’d been launched from a catapult.
“Talk.”
“You ran here?”
“Focus.”
“I was going to call Ethan.”
“After you tell me everything.”
The walk to my dorm was all it took for chloe to drag the entire story out of me.
“Your brother’s going to hate this,”she repeated.
“Yes.”
“That’s insane.”
“I know.”
“No, Evelyn. That’s actually insane.”
She opened the lobby door.
“How does he even know Ethan?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why does he care if Ethan’s angry?”
“I don’t know.”
“What happened between them?”
“I don’t know.”
Chloe pointed at me.
“See? That’s too many ‘I don’t knows.’”
Just as I opened my mouth to answer, her phone buzzed.
“What now?”
She unlocked her phone.
“Why are you smiling?”
“I’m not.”
A laugh slipped out of her and she turned the screen toward me.
The fellowship photo had escaped.
It was on Hawthorne Tea.
The biggest gossip page on campus.
The caption read:
OUT OF EVERYONE THEY COULD HAVE PAIRED?
Ethan Hart is going to lose it.
No way.
Luca Hayes is either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid.
“What the hell does that mean?” I muttered.
Every single person seemed to understand something I didn’t.
I was getting very tired of being the last one to know.
I tapped Ethan’s contact before fear could talk me out of it.
“Hey, Ev.”
“Hey.”
“What’s wrong?”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes.
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“You only start conversations with ‘hey’ when something’s wrong.”
I dropped onto the edge of my bed.
“Ethan.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know Luca Hayes?”
Everything on the other end disappeared.
“Where did you hear that name?”
“You know him.”
“Evelyn.”
“Answer my question first.”
“Ev.”
“Why do you know him?”
I mouthed:
He knows him.
She nearly fell off the bed.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s funny.”
“Everybody keeps saying that.”
“Saying what?”
“That this is a bad idea.”
“Because it is.”
“Excuse me?”
“Stay away from him.”
“You can't be serious.”
“I am”
Ethan had never done this before.
“Let it go.”
“No.”
“Evelyn. Trust me.”
Trust wasn’t the issue.
He was asking for trust while refusing to give any.
“You’re acting like I’m twelve.”
“I’m acting like I’m your brother.”
“I didn’t ask for one.”
“Evelyn, stay away from Luca Hayes.”
He ended the call.
“What the hell was that?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
My phone lit up.
Three notifications.
Back to back.
Chloe, who was sitting less than six feet away, had texted me.
DO NOT PANIC.
“You’re literally in the room.”
Another notification appeared.
This one wasn’t from Chloe.
It was from a sports account.
A much larger one than Hawthorne Tea.
The same photo was on my screen.
Only now, it was everywhere. Thousands more opinions from people who didn’t know the first thing about me.
The caption read:
Captain Luca Hayes and Student partnership pair Evelyn Hart seem to be spending a lot of time together lately.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
Chloe grabbed her own phone.
“Damn.”
“What now?”
Her lips parted, but no words came out.
“Chloe?”
She turned her screen toward me.
Someone tagged Ethan.
Publicly.
Judging by the flood of replies underneath it.
People were waiting for a reaction.
Another notification appeared.
Luca: Can you meet me? Ten minutes. Outside the arena.
Chloe leaned over my shoulder.
“You’re going.”
“I haven’t decided.”
“You replied in under five seconds.”
“I’m aware”
Ten minutes, I’m standing inside Hawthorne Hockey arena.
Practice had ended.
The stands were empty.
Luca stood near the players tunnel, hands buried in the pockets of his hoodie.
“You picked a dramatic location.”
“I was already here.”
I crossed my arms.
“Start talking.”
“You called Ethan.”
I looked at him, baffled.
“How do you know that?”
“He called me.”
“What?”
“He told me to stay away from you.”
I knew Ethan.
He wouldn’t make calls like that.
Not unless he thought he had no other choice.
“So…” I searched his face for something, anger, anything. “What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
“You said nothing?”
“What was I supposed to say?”
“I don’t know. Defend yourself?”
He let out a soft laugh
“I’ve done enough defending.”
Something about the way he said it made me stop.
“You really don’t know, do you?” he asked.
“Know what?”
“For someone who hates hockey players”
He didn’t finish.
I didn’t need him to.
“What are you talking about?”
His phone vibrated.
Mine too.
Neither of us moved or looked away.
Finally, he exhaled.
“The gossip isn’t slowing down.”
“I noticed.”
“Yeah, my coach too.”
“Because of one picture?”
“if people think something long enough, eventually they stop asking whether it’s true.”
I knew exactly what he meant.
I watched the same thing happen to Ethan.
One headline, and people would accept it without asking another question.
“My brother already thinks you’re an issue.”
“And if this keeps getting bigger, he’ll make sure everyone else does too.”
“What then?” I asked. “What’s your brilliant solution?”
“Go out with me”
“I don’t mean for real,” he continued. “Publicly.”
“You’ve lost your mind to believe I would ever..”
I couldn’t even finish my sentence.
“I’m asking you to help me control the story before someone else does.”
“It protects your brother from becoming the headline again and my season.”
“Your brother’s been carrying this for four years.”
“What are you talking about?”
He picked up his hockey bag.
“Luca.”
He didn’t turn around.
“If you want the truth…” His voice echoed across the empty arena. “stop assuming your brother told you all of it.”
Then he disappeared through the locker room doors.
Leaving me all by myself.
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