Chapter 3 3.

KAYDEN

Reese swung around my locker door just as I shoved my gym bag inside.

"Did you see what happened in the cafeteria?" He threw me the ball in his hand.

I caught it and fired it back hard. "No. What happened?"

"Minka dumped her entire lunch on Greyheart. Full on public execution style. It was honestly brutal to watch." He threw the ball back to me.

My hands tightened around the football until my knuckles went white. "Why would she do that?"

"The photos, man. Everyone thinks Greyheart uploaded them to destroy you. Minka was playing defender of your honor or some crap like that." Reese rolled his eyes. "Though personally I thought the photos were hilarious. You looked like a baby deer trying to understand gravity. Were they from those tryouts nine years ago?"

"Yeah.” I confirmed, “Glad I could fucking entertain you."

"I'm just saying it's really not that deep. Everyone's got embarrassing middle school photos buried somewhere."

Yeah, except I wasn’t everyone.

My father would loose it if he ever caught wind of those photos.

“Hey, in case you’re freaking, I don’t think old man Lachlan makes a habit of checking the school website.” He said after he caught the ball, speaking to me like he could read my mind. He tucked the football to his side as he walked over and clapped me on the shoulder, “Your dad’s not gonna see these photos. Your Mom might, but your pops? Nah.”

That barely gave me any comfort.

But I was grateful Reese was giving some sort of pep talk, even thought it didn’t lessen any of my worries.

He understood how shitty things could get if my family caught wind of this.

He was my closest bud in this goddessdamned existence.

I clapped him on his shoulder in return, nodding in acknowledgement to everything he said. “Let’s hit the field, man.”

After practice ended I headed toward my car in the parking lot.

Two girls from the cheer squad were standing near the exit talking in voices that carried.

"I actually feel really bad for her," one of them said. "Minka's been targeting Honoria since like September."

I stopped dead in my tracks.

"Why though? What did Honoria even do to her?"

"Kayden gave her some breakfast Minka had made for him. That's literally the entire reason. But Minka's been bullying her for months over absolutely nothing."

"That's so incredibly messed up. Does Kayden even know what's been happening?"

"Please. He doesn't notice anything unless it's directly related to football. We like him that way though, keeps him a forever hottie."

The girls walked away laughing.

I stood next to my car with my keys digging into my palm.

September.

Six months ago.

Minka had been making Honoria's life hell for six straight months because of something I'd done without giving it a second thought.

The memory slammed back into focus with uncomfortable clarity.

I'd been completely exhausted from Minka's relentless attempts to win me back after our breakup. The constant gifts and elaborate homemade meals and suffocating attention that followed me everywhere. That morning she'd shown up with cinnamon rolls and I'd just wanted them gone. I'd spotted Honoria sitting alone in the back corner looking small and bored and tired and I'd handed them off without thinking about what might happen next.

Never considered consequences.

Never thought about what Minka might do when she found out.

My jaw clenched hard enough to ache.

The photos were still petty revenge. Honoria had still crossed a line that probably couldn't be uncrossed no matter what happened next.

But maybe I was starting to understand why she'd felt pushed far enough to do it.

Fucking hell though.

I got in my car and drove home with the deeply uncomfortable realization settling in my gut that I'd screwed this up way worse than I wanted to acknowledge.

Something was going to have to change.

I just had no idea what.