Diamond
“Ibet Love is Hadley Queen,” Theo chimes, his comment going through one ear and out the other. I stopped entertaining their theories two and a half accusations ago.
“No way. I know Hadley. None of the confessions match,” Lacey argues, reaching for her vodka spritz in the hot tub drink holder.
I’m all for healthy curiosity, but they’ve been accusing people for threehours. Three freaking hours. I figured they’d have run out of suspects by now, butnope, still going. It’s been like this since we walked into Easton on Monday morning. They were all over school, plastered to every flat surface…
The confessions.
Secrets.
Sins.
Each one darker than the other.
I’m talking the kind of shit you take to your grave.
Rumor has it the confessions were found stashed inside a book in the library. The authors go by the aliases “Zac and Love.” We don’t know who spread the confessions, and we don’t know who wrote them. It would make sense for Zac and Love to be students at Easton, but even that we don’t know for sure.
“Holy shit, check out what Brie posted in the Facebook group.” Axel elbows Xavier in the ribs—yes, as in someone went as far as to make a Facebook group about the confessions. All so that people could gossip about Zac’s and Love’s identities.
That’show bad it’s gotten.
I almost wish Axel would drop his phone into Finn’s hot tub when he drives the screen closer to Xavier’s face. I think I see Xavier’s skin pale as his gaze skims over Brie’s post.
“Do you think that’s true? Is Aveena Love?” Axel asks, and nearly everyone in the group turns to look at me. They probably think I know something since she’s my best friend. They’re wrong.
That would require communication, and Aveena hasn’t been at school all week. She told me she had the flu, and then she stopped answering my messages altogether. Objectively speaking, the timing is pretty suspicious. God, what if Brie is right?
What if Aveena wrote the confessions?
“It’s not Vee,” I defend my best friend, leaning against Finn’s chest. Finn welcomes me on cue, wrapping his tattooed arm around my neck and pulling me in to kiss my forehead.
Theo nods. “Agreed. Aveena is way too much of a good girl to write shit like this.”
“You have to admit it’s a little weird that she disappeared as soon as the confessions got out.” Lacey adds fuels the fire.
Why is she here again?
Lacey and I made peace shortly after Finn and I got back together. Theo frequently invites her to hang out with us, and I figured I’d spare myself the awkward tension. We’re on good terms, but we’re not friends, and I’m not above asking Finn to kick her out for talking shit about Vee. This is still his house.
“It’s not her. End of fucking story.” Finn backs me up.
Theo, Axel, and Lacey eventually take the hint. As for Xavier, he seems disconnected from, well, everything. His body might be here, but mentally, he’s miles away. I’ve seen him glance at his phone on the patio furniture over five times tonight. He’s obviously hoping to hear from someone. The question is, who?
Grateful for Finn’s intervention, I tilt my head back to plant a kiss on his cheek. Only, he moves his head at the last second, and I get his mouth. I start to pull away, but his hand slips into my wet hair, holding me in place. He kisses me so hard I nearly forget that we have an audience.
Five weeks have passed since Finn trapped me in the janitor’s closet on senior prank night. I thought we’d never leave that damn closet after he fucked me within an inch of my life. Until Axel texted us that he’d seen the cops leave the parking lot and the coast was clear.
As soon as we put the Remy fiasco behind us, Finn and I slid right back into our routine, and by “routine,” I mean we went back to sneaking around, having forbidden sex in the woods, and lying to my parents.
I’m not proud of it, but my dads are practically members of the “I hate Finn Richards” club at this point. Don’t even get me started on Jesse. My brother would snitch on me in a heartbeat if he knew Finn and I were dating again. Well… if you can even call our casual relationship “dating.”
We still haven’t had the talk. I’ve been putting it off, trying to convince myself that I like things the way they are. After all, it’s not like Finn is hiding me. Everyone knows we’re together. He even gave Axel a black eye for texting me while we were broken up. Oh, and he slashed Sebastian Stein’s tires. All four of them.
Did I make him apologize and buy the poor guy new tires?
You bet I did.