Page 49 of Crush
“She won’t corner you again,” he says into my hair. “I swear it.”
“You don’t know what it’s like to be defenseless. You never will,” I gasp into his chest. “Anything you want, you get. Including me.”
His grip slackens for enough time that I can slip through—but I don’t because of what he says next. “I have been on the receiving end of abuse for most of my life, little pretty. I know what it’s like, and I’d rather blind myself, mutilate the best parts of me, than have you endure the same.”
I breathe in so heavily, my hair sticks to my lips. “You—you’ve been…?”
“Raped? No.” He then squeezes me to his chest, a signal I can’t decipher. “My father is more creative than that.”
Thorne drops his arms, the chilled air invading all the spaces on my body he’d protected. I stare at him, crossing my arms and shivering, unable to close my mouth as I search his softened features.
“You’re safe from her.” But then, Thorne shakes his head, ridding himself of vulnerability. “I can’t promise you’ll be safe from me, but I won’t hurt you that way.”
“Thorne, I … please. Don’t shut down. I want to talk. For real.”
His expression hardens. “Like my father, I’ll figure out other creative tactics, the sex tape notwithstanding.” Thorne reaches into his pocket and pulls out a set of keys, where a black USB dangles.
And just like that, he becomes the raging douchebag I can’t stand. “You stole that from my property. Distributing it in any way—if anyone else at school sees it, that’s just as much of a violation. Don’t you fucking dare, Thorne.”
He snorts. “Give me credit where it’s due. This is simply assurance. You got a free pass yesterday for embarrassing me. Do anything else to piss me off, and I will somehow lose this and put it in the hands of someone much worse than Winthorpe’s finest. Your father.”
My hands curl into fists against my breasts.
“That’s right, little pretty. Behave.”
Thorne twists on his heel and saunters off.
21
Ember
“Sooooo let me get this straight.” Aiko perches on her bed, munching on a bowl of popcorn. “Thorne’s threatened to expose your unintentional sex tape to Malcolm if you so much as walk wrong down Winthorpe’s halls, and you still want to crash his party and riffle through his stuff?”
“His family is hiding something. Thorne hides everything. There’s more to Savannah’s disappearance than this town knows, and the Briars are the key. They run the Societies.”
“But you said Headmistress Dupris is the Virtue queen. She’s not a Briar.”
My lips thin at Aiko’s unintentional reminder that I told her everything that went on this week. I’ve been casting her aside for too long. I felt like I owed her the truth, considering it’s her stepsister at the center of this. And Thorne.
I chew in thought before answering. “Right, but Dupris surrenders to Damion’s decisions. She made that clear during our ‘tea’ last week. What Damion says goes, even if it’s through his son. I wouldn’t be surprised if Dupris was nominated for the queen because she’s the easiest for Damion to utilize. He’s a Noble, a loyal alumnus who donates a ton of money to the school, and his reputation precedes him. Dupris won’t act against Damion. Look at what he did to Malcolm. The headmistress isn’t playing chicken with the Briars.”
“That sucks.” Aiko crunches down on an un-popped kernel and winces, then digs into her cheek for the culprit. “We could’ve really used someone powerful on our side.”
“Zeke is pretty amped to help.”
“Mmm.” Aiko removes her finger from her mouth and frowns, pushing the popcorn bowl away. “He’s too slick and self-absorbed to truly have our bests interests at heart.”
“I agree.” I pull the bowl onto my lap, sitting cross-legged on her bed. “But he has his uses. He’s a fun catalyst that will send Thorne through the roof tomorrow night. And when Thorne’s angry, he gets sloppy.”
I haven’t told Aiko about my confrontation with him in the courtyard and the abuse he confessed to. Or his assurance that he’d never take my consent away. It felt too personal. Thorne doesn’t tell anyone about himself, yet he allowed the walls to fall for a few seconds with me before building them back up, brick by stubborn brick.
Aiko redirects my thoughts. “Aaaand we’ve come back full circle to your sex tape.”
I also told her about Thorne’s and my hookup in the garage. Not full details, but enough to get her brows to hike up to her hairline. Surprisingly, Aiko didn’t freak out. She merely processed it, then nodded as though she knew I was hooking up with Thorne all along.
I guess Aiko would have to be blind not to notice the string of tension looping around Thorne and me.
If Aiko’s upset over my weakness with Savannah’s ex, she’s not showing it. Maybe, finally, she believes it was the Societies who hurt Savannah, not Thorne.