“Colton…” I began. His finger came up and rested against my lips to silence me. I froze.
“Shut up.” My eyes widened. Cole never spoke to me that way. “You will not talk to me about today. I don’t want to hear about how sweet your boyfriend is. Your boyfriend whose friend drugged you, so he could get laid. Yes, that’s what the fucking bastard did it for. Jay’s not getting laid, so he thought he would ‘loosen you up.’”
My heart stuttered in horror.
The finger pressed firmer against my lips. “I will not listen to any fucking excuse that Jay didn’t know. I am not a fool. I know exactly how these sick fucks operate.” My eyes were as wide as they could go. My pulse was racing, I had never seen Colton so close to losing control.
“If you want to stay with that gutless shit, do so. We told you about the situation. Matt and Theo think Jay is ignorant of it all,” Colton leaned in further dangerously close and furious. “I am not an idiot. Your boyfriend knows more than he lets on.” The finger was removed. He straightened up and looked at me, he shook his head in disgust. “I’m done with this.”
He turned and walked out of the room leaving me speechless, hurt and so very confused.
Colton’s reaction had left me so unnerved, I didn’t venture back down the stairs that night. I was hungry, but I didn’t want to see anyone. In a few short sentences Colton had forced me to really look at things.
Jay claimed he never knew, but Colton said that the guy was trying to ‘loosen me up’. The phrase made me sick. He wouldn’t know I hadn’t slept with Jay unless Jay had told him. Was Jay discussing our relationship with his friends? I still wasn’t sure there had been a relationship, so what was he actually discussing?
I wasn’t sure I was comfortable with this. Colton implied this guy who drugged me, was a good enough friend that he chose to slip something in my drink. Jay had said he never knew it was happening, but even if the guy was not a good friend, the fact that he was in the circle of friends, was enough to make me pause.
Another detail I couldn’t ignore was Tattoo Neck. He had called Colton to say I was in trouble. Had he seen the guy spike my drink? No. I didn’t know him well, thank God – plus I didn’t like him – but he didn’t strike me as the kind of man who needed to drug women, nor the kind of man who would approve of the action.
Yes, he liked illegal fighting, he liked playing with people – but he wouldn’t appreciate the fact someone had no control. As he told me, he liked to fight fair. No, he wouldn’t have approved of this.
Which again brought me back to the bastard who had done this. Was he then an actual friend of Jay? Or just a hanger on – I mean there were lots of them, they moved in almost pack-like formation, they couldn’t all be close friends.
My head hurt. This was stressing me out. I remembered I was going to call my grandparents. I needed to do that. I texted Matt – yes, I was that much of a coward. I needed a landline and I wasn’t searching this house for one for fear of who I may meet.
Me:Is there a house phone I can use to call Scotland?
Matt:Why are you texting me?
Me:I don’t know where you are.
Matt:I’m in the same house as you.
I rolled my eyes at that.
Me:Please. Can you just tell me?
I waited patiently watching for the three dots apprehensively and getting anxious when nothing came up.
The knock on my door made me yelp in surprise. It opened slightly and then Matt’s head appeared.
“What’s going on?” he asked as he walked into the room.
“Why can’t you just tell me where the phone is?” I demanded. My tone pulled Matt up short and his face showed his surprise.
“Right. What’s going on? Tell me now,” he crossed his huge arms and I wanted to scream. I hung my head in frustration.
“I just want a phone,” I said through clenched teeth.
A shadow moved towards me. I looked up Matt was in front of me.
“Arielle Miller. Talk to me.”Ugh.
“Colton went all scary Colton Dawson on me over Jay. Do you know he went to the garage today to confront them about Saturday? Apparently, he attacked Tattoo Neck.” Matt didn’t flinch. That meant he knew. He may not have known at the time, but he knew now.
“Jay came here to see me, to see how I was and I asked him if he knew. And he didn’t, said that Colton and his brother found out who it was anddealtwith it.” I had used the dreaded air quotes as I said dealt. “Colton came home when I was outside with Jay, then when we came in, I asked him to carry the flowers up to my room. I was going to ask him if he was ok…” I took a breath as it all rushed out of me. “He came in here and he was furious and told me that Jay knows more than he lets on, Colton isn’t an idiot and he’s done with me.”
I felt like crying. I was not going to cry.