“Why can’t I just do the homeschool thing with you?”
“They already chased me out. They’re not chasing you out too.” I was being an asshole. While I didn’t mind school, he hated it, and without me there, it would be closer to torture than a learning experience.
He hesitated and picked at one of the threads of the throw rug he was sitting on. “Ashley had the nerve to ask me to come to one of the lake house parties this weekend.”
Anger, irritation, jealousy—something flared up inside me. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, though. “I’m shocked she’d even talk to you since she’s supposedly so scared of me.” I couldn’t hide the bitterness in my tone.
“Her parents are probably using her to get information about the lawsuit or something.”
“Probably,” I snorted.
He hesitated and still wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“Did she say something else?” I asked.
“She kinda hinted she wants to…”
“Fuck you?”
The harsh words seemed to startle him. Wide, guilty eyes stared back at me.
“Go for it. I don’t give a shit.” I let out a harsh laugh and threw myself down on the bed. “You could use the experience.”
All things considered, that was cruel, but I was in a shit mood.
Except for a grunt of agreement, he remained quiet.
I sat up and squinted down at him. “I thought you couldn’t stand her?”
“Do I have to like her to fuck her?”
“No.” I studied him for a few seconds. “How come you never liked her, anyway?”
“Girl’s got no loyalty.”
“You don’t say.” My heart hammered as I reconsidered his words. “Why’d you think that?”
His gaze landed everywhere in the room but on me. “I didn’t want to tell you this before.”
“What?” I already had a sinking feeling I knew the answer to my question.
“She’s suggested we do…stuff before.” Two red splotches spread over his cheeks. “When you guys were together.”
“Figures.” Why should I expect any different? The only thing that surprised me was how little I actually cared. Ashley already betrayed me in the most brutal way possible. Trying to fuck my best friend was pretty tame in comparison.
“I never encouraged her.” His voice held an edge. “I kept trying to tell you she was a cunt.”
I reached down and whacked him upside the head with my pillow. “Free tip, little brother, stop calling women cunts, or they’re never gonna let you in theirs.”
“If anyone’s earned it, she has.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, warming up to this idea. “But having to teach you how to fuck seems like punishment enough.”
He cackled and threw a sneaker at my head. “I guess that means I have your blessing.”
I opened my nightstand drawer and flung a handful of condoms at him. “Knock yourself out.”
Having Jensen fuck and dump my ex might be the only revenge I’d ever get for what she’d done.
Chapter Fifteen
Shelby
“Oh my God,” I whispered. I can’t stop staring at Logan. “That has to be the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Now you understand why she tracked you down in L.A. to get even with me?”
“Honestly, no, I really don’t. She got you kicked out of school. What more did she want?”
“Well, my aunt wasn’t fucking around. She wouldn’t let it go. She sued the school district, the mayor, and Ashley’s parents personally.”
My jaw dropped. “Seriously?”
“Yup.” Bittersweet affection shines in his eyes. “They made the mistake of messing with her family.”
“Damn, she was a badass.” I bite my lip, details of the story still bouncing in my head. “But you said it yourself. Her family ran the town. What happened?”
“They battled it out in court. I dropped the homeschooling and went to a private school while the lawsuit went on.”
“I never pictured you in private school.”
He flashes a tight smile. “It was a nest of delinquents who’d been kicked out of every other school. But at least the news coverage gave me street cred there. Everyone was terrified of me.”
“News coverage?”
“Oh, yeah, her grandfather’s newspaper ran several pieces about the lawsuit and me. I was fucking mortified.” He glances down and flicks bits of sand off his jeans. “I loved Em for caring so damn much.”
“What’d Jigsaw do?”
“They couldn’t afford to send both of us to the private school.” He scoffs. “Jiggy wanted to stay put anyway.”
“Let me guess, he wanted to exact revenge? Oh, God, what did Jiggy do?”
He smirks. “Nothing he didn’t enjoy.”
“Oh my God! Ew. So he really…”
Rooster shrugs.
“Poor Jiggy.” I sigh. “You know, when he told that happy-go-lucky version of losing his virginity at the bonfire, I thought he was a jerk for screwin’ your girlfriend, but now…”
“What?”
“I feel kinda sorry for him.”
He snorts as if he’s not surprised at my reaction. “I’m sure he’d tell you a much more flattering version of events.”
“Everyone has their own version of the truth.”
“Now that’s a song if I’ve ever heard one.” He taps my arm. “Got your notebook on you?”
Damn it, he’s right. I tug the tiny purple notebook out of my pocket and matching mini pen. The sea breeze ruffles the pages and I hurry to jot the line down.
“Thank you.” I tuck the notebook into my sweatshirt pocket and tip my head back. “You really get me.”
He kisses my forehead.
“Go on. Please tell me someone finally whooped Ashley’s ass?”
“I wish.” His shoulders tense up again. “Maybe six or eight months into the lawsuit, the judge pulled all the parties in for a conference. He was a friend of Ashley’s father—”
“How the hell—”
He holds up a hand, cutting me off. “Our lawyers were worried about it too but couldn’t get him removed. I guess it didn’t matter. That day, he berated everyone involved in kicking me out of school. The principal, Ashley’s parents, the school board. The judge strongly advised the school and Ashley’s parents to settle with my family. It wasn’t going to be a jury trial like on television. The judge made it clear which way he was leaning.”
“Wow. Someone finally had some common sense.”
“Yeah, I got to sit in on the conference that day.” Logan’s mouth twitches into a bitter-sweet smile. “He tore into her parents for raising such a spoiled brat. After all the humiliation, it was vindicating in a way.”
“They upended your whole life. Ruined your reputation. Over nothing. No amount of money could repair the damage they caused.”
“No, but at least it was something. The newspaper went bankrupt. Ashley’s parents lost everything. Her father was removed from the mayor’s office. The bank took their home and the lake house.”