“I should go to bed,” I muttered, pushing up from the couch and tossing my empty pizza box on the table. “Do you mind staying?”

Evan gave me a quick smile and grabbed a throw blanket from the back of the couch. “Totally fine. I’ll stay until the boys get back, but I’m sure it won’t be long.”

“Cool.” I rubbed at my arms as I made my way toward my bedroom, but paused when he called out my name.

“He probably doesn’t deserve you, Riley,” Evan said quietly. “But you’re exactly what he needs.”

If that wasn’t the kick in the gut I didn’t need right before I tried to get some sleep.

I just shook my head without answering, because what could I say. Beck and I were two disasters constantly drawn together through some fucked up attraction. But it wasn’t like the disaster in us canceled each other out when we got close. Instead it intensified and created a fucking hell of a storm. We knew it. But we still couldn’t walk away.

After peeing and then brushing my teeth, I crawled into bed and pulled the covers tightly around me. Today had been up there with one of the worst of my life, although it hadn’t made the top two, which spoke of how fucked up the last three months had been.

Shit. It was my eighteenth birthday next week. The point where I thought I would be able to run away and forget Catherine Debitch and this shitshow she had dragged me into.

What a naive fool I’d been.

They had me. I was going nowhere.

“Go to sleep, Spare!” Evan yelled from the couch. “I can hear you thinking from over here.”

“Fuck you, Evan,” I shouted back, rolling to my side and pulling the pillow over my head.

He chuckled but was smart enough not to make the sort of remark Jasper would.

I tried my best to empty my mind. To forget everything and get the sleep my shook up body needed, but I couldn’t shut it down. Mostly I was worried about Beck.

After two hours of tossing and turning, I finally reached for my phone.

Me: Are you okay?

I desperately wanted to call him. To hear his voice and judge for myself; it was so easy to lie over text. But I also didn’t want him to think that I cared too much.

The phone was clutched in both hands as I stared down with desperation. I never even noticed Evan perched in the doorway, not until my phone buzzed and he wandered closer, leaning over to read the text.

Beck: I’m fine, baby. I’ll be back in ten minutes.

My heart squeezed in my chest. It actually hurt, and I almost coughed to try and relieve the pain. My fingers were moving before my brain caught up.

Me: Don’t call me that. Please. Just don’t. I just needed to know you were not going to get into trouble for me. Don’t come back here. Evan can stay, or I’ll be on my own.

My finger hovered over the button to send it, when Evan cleared his throat. “That won’t stop him, you know. If anything, you’re just waving a red flag at a bull by pushing him away so hard.”

I paused, my eyes lifting to meet his. “What are you saying? I should stop trying to reject him? You think Beck just likes the chase?”

Evan shook his head. “Fuck no. If you were any other chick, your attitude would have fucked him off long ago, and he would have lost your number in a split second. But like I said, I’ve never seen Beck like this. Not ever. I think you might be the first thing he’s ever wanted to fight for, Riles. He’s not scared off by challenges. Your anger does not scare him either.”

I threw my hands up and the phone went flying off the side of the bed. “What can I do then? I’m not playing around. I’m so fucking angry and broken up by what he did. What you all did, but most of the blame is with Beck. He fucked me knowing that he was going to betray me. The rest of you don’t have to wear that.”

Evan almost preened. “I knew you couldn’t stay mad at me for long. No one could hate Trunks.” His gaze turned thoughtful. “I am a little pissed that Jasper won the bet, though.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What bet?”

Without an ounce of contrition, he grinned. “We were betting which one of us you forgave first. To be honest, I chose Dylan. You seemed to be closest to him behind Beck.”

Another twinge in my chest. Not as strong as the one Beck caused, but it was still there.

“We were close,” I said softly. “And that’s why I’m still fucking furious with him. Not to mention, he hasn’t even tried to fix it.”

Evan cleared his throat, and I stood suddenly because that was a suspicious sound. Bending down to grab my phone, I narrowed my eyes on him. “Spit it out…”

He looked uncomfortable. “He’ll kill me for telling you this, and trust me, Dylan knows how to kill a person in like eighty-four brutal ways, but he’s been really broken up. He fought with Beck, and it was fucking insane. They almost brought down a damn building. If I didn’t know better, I might have guessed that you and Dylan had something going on as well…”

He trailed off, leaving that little fact dangling there, like he thought I was going to fall to my knees and confess. “I have been a busy little Delta whore, haven’t I?” I said sarcastically.

Evan laughed. “Ah, if only that was the case. But for real, you should talk to Dylan. Before he accidentally kills all three of us in anger. The dude doesn’t have much in the way of family life, just like the rest of us, and to lose someone he cares about. He’s not doing okay.”

I almost felt bad then. Almost.

My phone beeped again and I looked down to realize that the message from before had been sent, somehow. Must have knocked it when I dropped the phone.

Beck: You know that’s not going to happen. You belong to me, Riley Jameson.

My resolve wavered again. Damn him.

Evan caught the message, and a shit-eating grin lifted his lips. “Don’t fucking say it,” I warned him.

He didn’t speak, but the grin remained firmly in place.

A knock on the door startled us, and I almost dropped my phone again. Evan’s entire demeanor changed, and he shifted into what I like to call “stealth mode.” He crossed to where his jacket was, and I blinked as he lifted a gun from one of the pockets.

Fuck. He’d had that with him the entire time and I hadn’t even known.

He lifted the peephole so he could see who it was, holding the gun out to the side, like he could be back in a defensive position in a moment if needed. “We need to get you a security camera here,” he muttered, but then relaxed, lowering the gun.