“Why Bali?”
“He went there on a trip when he was young and fell in love with it.”
“Well, I hope you can get there one day,” Maeve said with a kind smile.
I nodded slowly. “Yeah, me too.”
Maeve turned and headed over to the enormous walk-in pantry just as the microwave beeped. I went to retrieve my food. When I turned back around with my steaming bowl, I almost bumped right into Cerina.
“Watch where you’re going, bitch!” she muttered before flouncing over to the fridge to grab a Diet Coke.
I bit back a retort and headed upstairs to eat and watch TV in my room. Two hours later, my mom called me to let me know that dinner was ready. With a yawn, I got off my bed and headed out into the hall.
Jax’s friends must’ve left a while ago, because he exited his bedroom at the exact same time as me, and he seemed to be alone. I pretended I didn’t see him and headed toward the stairs.
“Hey, Holland,” he said tersely, catching up to me in a few strides. “I heard you’re thinking of going to Nate Ellingham’s party on Saturday.”
“Yeah, I am. Not that it’s any of your business.”
He stepped right in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. A muscle was ticking in his jaw, and his eyes were flashing with a familiar malevolent gleam. “You can’t go,” he said.
I folded my arms. “Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”
“I don’t want you there.”
“I really don’t give a shit,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Also, that’s a pathetically childish reason. Grow up.”
I tried to push past him, but he held out his left forearm to keep me at bay. “If you go, you’ll regret it,” he said in a low voice. “Trust me.”
I took a deep, calming breath and fixed him with a sweet smile. “You know, I’ve actually been waiting for a moment like this,” I said.
Confusion flickered in Jax’s dark eyes. “What?”
“A moment like this where you threaten me in some way,” I elaborated. “Because now I get to tell you what I have on you. I’m pretty sure it’ll shut you right up.”
“Yeah?” His nostrils flared slightly. “What do you think you have on me, Kinsey?”
“Remember when you had some of your friends over after the first game of the season?”
Jax narrowed his eyes. “What about it?”
“I saw what you guys were doing down in the living room, so I got my phone and filmed it.”
“I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about.”
I tilted my head to one side and tapped a finger on my chin. “You don’t remember your friends racking up lines of coke on the coffee table?” I said. “You don’t remember them snorting it all?”
“I wasn’t a part of that.”
I nodded slowly. “Yes, to be fair, you didn’t have any. But half the guys theredid,so you and the others look guilty by association. I mean, who’s to say you didn’t have some after I stopped filming? That’s the first question people at school will ask when they see the video.”
“You really think anyone at school will give a shit?” Jax asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “Half the students there do coke themselves. Or other shit.”
“I’m not planning on sending the video to the Dirt app. I’ll send it to the school administration instead,” I said. “I know the students won’t think it’s a scandal of any kind, but CPA has a particular reputation to uphold. Best school in the country, remember? So I doubt the administration will be happy to have a video like that doing the rounds. I bet the PTO will have something to say about it too, and your dad is a fairly prominent member of that, isn’t he?”
Jax snorted. “God, you really are a fucking snake, aren’t you?”
I ignored his comment for now. “Let’s not forget the colleges you’re applying to,” I said, arching a brow. “I know you’re probably a legacy somewhere, but these days colleges are starting to care less and less about pandering to rich kids who coast by on their family’s name. They care more about their reputation, because anything can go viral on social media at any time. So how likely are they to take on a guy who was already involved in a drug scandal before he even graduated high school? No matter who that guy is or what his family’s so-called legacy is.”