Page 78 of Broken Butterfly
I bend down and kiss her. “I’m not mad at you, baby. I’m mad about what happened.”
“I need to go grab something to eat before my next class, so you, girl, are going to tell me everything tonight,” Meredith threatens while pointing at Elizabeth. Elizabeth turns around in my arms to look at her, but I don’t let her go. “And you and Trevor better text me what those two girls look like. I know almost everyone in that dorm. I mean it! Text me! You also need to text me where we’re meeting up tonight,” she yells over her shoulder as she walks off toward the cafeteria.
“You really do need to ask her out on a proper date,” Elizabeth tells Trevor.
Trevor shrugs. “Already told you why that’s not such a good idea.”
I interrupt. “Babe, I need to talk to you about something and it’s kind of important. It can’t wait.”
Elizabeth is distracted as she watches people walk past, so I look at Trevor. “I’m meeting the guys at the library. You’re more than welcome to come.”
“Why do I have the feeling that it’s not good?”
That catches Elizabeth’s attention. “What’s not good?”
She’s still wrapped in my arms, so I tip her chin back and kiss the side of her mouth, happy when she shifts her sole focus to me and not the assholes I notice who are watching. She’s had to endure this for the past two days?
“I love you,” I tell her.
Elizabeth sighs and melts into me. “I really needed to hear that.”
“Come on. We’re heading to the library.”
“Why?”
Trevor chuckles. “You really weren’t paying any attention, were you?”
Chapter 22
When Julien and I get to the library and I see Fallon and Trevor standing next to Liz and Ry, my good morning disintegrates. Why the hell are those two douche canoes here? My main concern is Liz. Her face is pinched with what could be worry or irritation. I can’t tell which.
“We’re here. What’s going on?”
“That’s what I want to know,” Liz says.
Ry ushers us inside the building. Once we find a floor that is empty, we walk to the back of the stacks. We find a lone table and four chairs there. Julien and Trevor take a seat. Fallon stares bullets into Trevor who stares right back. Liz bites her thumbnail, and Ry takes out his phone. Well, if this isn’t awkward as hell.
Liz looks over at me, silently asking if I know what’s going on. My shrug communicates back to her that I have no fucking clue.
Without taking his glare off Trevor, Fallon barks out, “Kitten, stop biting your nails.” She drops her hand.
I’m tired of waiting. “Ry, come on, man,” I start, but he interrupts with, “Give me a sec.”
Finally, he places his phone on the center of the small table so we all can see. What the fuck?
“Fallon found out about this last night and told me about it this morning. We don’t know who posted it yet, but before he could get it taken down, a lot of people had already seen it.”
Liz snatches up the phone, her eyes wide with shock. “Oh my God!”
Julien and Trevor hunch over Liz’s shoulders to see and both release a few choice expletives including a very loud, “goddammit,” from Trevor. I’ve seen enough. I reach over and take the phone from Liz’s hands, ignoring her protests, and I stab it back at Ryder. “She doesn’t need to see that. What’s wrong with you? And people think I’m the insensitive prick,” I say heatedly.
“She needs to know,” is his response. “We all need to know so we can figure out what to do about it.”
“Then use your words next time. Liz has been through enough already without having those visuals seared in her brain.”
“Jayson, it’s alright. It’s sick and disgusting, but at least now I know why I’ve been getting all these creepy stares for the past couple of days.”
“You’re getting verbally assaulted and harassed is more like it,” Trevor scowls.
