Page 44 of With This Mask
Alec might sound nonchalant to anyone else. Like he doesn’t care, or like he really doesn’t know what Victoria is going on about. But I hear it. The little inflections that tell me he’s nervous.
“You think no one has seen her coming and going from your apartment?” Victoria says with an amused, disgusted scoff. “You do realize my apartment directly faces yours, right?”
“Careful, Victoria,” Alec warns.
She makes a noise of annoyance. “Holy shit. Do you… do you actually care about that charity case?”
My heart starts pounding harder. My palms feel cold. And I can’t help it when my eyes finally rise from the table. Victoria stands to Alec’s side, who is facing directly toward me. She looks furious. And frustrated.
“Victoria,” Alec says darkly. I watch as he clutches his fist around his fork, the butt of it digging into the table’s surface.
And this resigned little smirk crosses her lips. I see the snap. When she’s finished trying. When the hurt sets in. When the drive for vengeance strikes.
“Salem Winters,” she says as she turns, facing the courtyard and increasing her volume to make sure she’s heard. “Care to tell us about your late-night trips across campus? Or why the hell Alec fucking Vanderholt cared one iota who you danced with at the gala?”
Shit.
Shit.
I sit there frozen, in complete and utter disbelief that this is happening.
But I have to say something. I have to do something. "Fuck off, Victoria," I snap, my face burning hot with embarrassment and anger. But she doesn't back down, only smiles wider.
"Cat got your tongue? Don't worry, I'll let them know for you,” she grins with malice and revenge. “Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Salem Winters, scholarship student extraordinaire, who also happens to be fucking Alec Vanderholt when no one is looking."
A collective gasp echoes through the courtyard, revealing that everyone has in fact, been listening to her outburst. I feel like I'm going to be sick. This can't be happening, not now. I'm so close to graduation, to getting a job, to escaping this place and never looking back. The last thing I need is a scandal to ruin everything, to be humiliated and rejected by Alec when I've worked so hard to prove I'm not just some poor girl they can toy with.
"Victoria, you're full of shit," I manage to choke out, trying desperately to regain control of the situation.
"Am I?" Victoria taunts, her voice dripping with venom. "Why don't we ask Alec himself?"
My heart hammers against my ribcage as my eyes flick to meet Alec’s. His face is a mask of carefully controlled fury. He’s worked hard to protect our secret from getting out, all to protect me. But it was to protect him too. To not have to explain. To save him from the embarrassment of having some nobody scholarship girl as a girlfriend. To not have to admit to the world that he’s settled for someone so low down the ladder.
Us keeping us a secret benefited him too, greatly. It’s no wonder he agreed so readily when I’d said I wanted to keep this between us.
The air around me crackles with electricity, all eyes on Alec as he stands, rising to his full height, the weight of his decision heavy on his furrowed brow. And this is it. The moment he denies me. When he crushes my heart. When his cruel words return and we’re once again the enemies we began as.
The tension in the courtyard is palpable, everyone waiting, watching, expecting him to throw me under the bus and save himself.
Alec crosses the courtyard until he’s reached the center of it.
"Listen up," Alec's voice booms, cutting through the whispers and murmurs like a knife, "it's none of your fucking business what I do, or who I'm with. You lot are nothing but shallow savages looking for the tiniest, briefest moment of entertainment. So, enjoy your five minutes today.”
His words are ice cold, and those blue eyes of his have never looked colder.
“But since you're all so damn interested, let me be very, crystal clear. Fuck yes, I am with Salem."
A murmur rips through the crowd. But my heart explodes in my chest with a mixture of relief and disbelief.
"Trust me," he continues, a hint of a smile playing on his lips as his eyes find mine in the crowd. He takes a step toward me, and then another. "If you knew what it was like to be with her, you'd keep her all to yourself too."
Everything in me surges as Alec stops right in front of me. He pulls me to my feet, one hand at the small of my back, the other gently cupping my face. The heat in his eyes as he stares down at me leaves me with no doubt. Alec has zero problem claiming me. There’s a warning in his eyes, one that says now that the cat is out of the bag, this is about to get a whole lot hotter. And finally, Alec’s lips claim mine in the most searing, scorching kiss of my life. Lightning bolts race down my spine. Something electric races to my toes.
And with eager enthusiasm, Alec’s tongue teases at mine, begging for entrance. And so I grant it to him. My lips part, Alec’s opening wider as he utterly marks me as his. His hand at my waist tightens, bunching my skirt up at my hip.
The courtyard has gone silent except for the faint click from peoples phones, pointed in our direction. They capture our moment for the internet.
But I don’t care. When the moment came, when I was thrust into the spotlight because of who my boyfriend is, I don’t care that people know now.