~Chapter Seventeen - Having Two Hot Guys Fighting Over You Is Not Good~
******RAINE’S POV******
By one o’clock, I think we were all beginning to lose it. Even Drella seemed to have lost all of her energy—no matter how dark it used to be.
I noticed Steve in the corner, his head in his hands as his shoulders shook slightly. He obviously missed his family, and I think out of all of us he had the most to lose. He had a kid and wife to support.
Despite seeing Donovan’s body in the room, I had to stay strong. I couldn’t be weak right now. I had had my time to cry and go into shock. But now I had to stand strong again. Like the quote said, ‘The weakest link in the chain is the easiest to break.’ I couldn’t be the weak link. None of us could. We had to be unbreakable.
I excused myself from the conversation with River I had been in and then wandered over to Steve, sitting down beside him.
“Hey,” I said quietly, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.
He jumped, and I immediately took my hand off of his shoulder, feeling a jolt of embarrassment.
Way to go, Raine. Two hours ago he had convinced himself you were the killer, and now you’re touching him? Way to make him feel better!
“Sorry,” I said quietly.
He shook his head. “No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry about everything. I should have never accused you, Raine. I thought I saw something and I pointed fingers without evidence. So, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Steve. I don’t blame you. I mean, at first I did, but it’s not your fault. You saw what you thought you saw… even if it wasn’t true. So it’s okay,” I replied gently, keeping a bit of distance between us.
“I guess I’m just starting to lose it,” Steve confided in a low voice, staring at his hands. They were slightly wrinkled and flecked with freckles and age spots. “I mean, all of this… I can’t handle all of this, you know? I’m starting to lose my mind here.”
I put a comforting hand on his shoulder, growing more confident. He didn’t shake it off, which I took as a good sign. “I know, Steve. But it’s okay; we’ll make it out of this if we stay strong and stick together. We’ll make it through.”
He nodded with a sigh. “I hope so. I have my little girl to get back to. And my wife.”
I smiled kindly at him. “They’re very lucky, then, Steve. And just think about them whenever you start to lose it, and remember why you have to stay alive. Why you have to make it through.”
He nodded at me, the corners of his mouth turning up as he thought about his wife and child. “Yeah. Thank you, Raine.”
I nodded. “Of course, Steve. I’m just glad you know I’m not the killer.”
He smiled wanly. “I do. And thank you for being here. I needed someone to talk to.”
“I’m here for you, Steve,” I told him. “If you ever need to talk, I’ll be here. We can make it through if we stick together.”
“You’re a nice girl, Raine,” he acknowledged.
I stood up, rubbing my palms on my jeans. “And you’re a good man, Steve. I’ll talk to you later?”
He nodded happily—well, as happily as you could be in this kind of situation. “Yeah, Raine. We’ll speak later.”
I looked around for River, only to find he had mysteriously vanished. The only other person missing was…
Jason.
I looked around for them, and walked over to Brad, who was slumped in his chair, his eyes shut. When I walked closer to him, they fluttered open to reveal light eyes. He gave me a questioning look, and I sucked in a breath. “Hey, Brad, do you know where Jason and River are?”
He raised his eyebrows and pointed to a hall that led to the bathrooms. The mouth of the hallway was invisible from here, hence why I hadn’t been able to see them. “Yeah, when I last saw them, they went over there,” Brad supplied.
I smiled gratefully. “Thanks, Brad.”
He looked happy at my appreciation. “No worries, Raine.”
I briskly walked over there, and left Brad to keep dozing off. I was exhausted, but there was no way I’d be catching any Z’s tonight. But if Brad could, then go ahead.
It wasn’t like I was becoming possessive or nosy, and I had no intentions to eavesdrop, I just wanted to make sure Jason and River hadn’t, you know, been violently killed.
Or just killed, period. The violence thing really didn’t matter.
Though knowing this killer, it was the only kind of murder they seemed to know.
I walked over there, and the first thing I heard were two masculine voices, and they sounded pretty heated.
I should’ve left then and there. I wasn’t a snoop, and this was obviously a private conversation that I shouldn’t be invading like this. People’s conversations were their own, and I wasn’t the kind of girl who rudely listened in to those. You made enemies that way, and I had no desire to make any enemies on this particular night.
I turned to leave, when I heard my name.
Slowly, I turned around and listened.
“Look, River, don’t get me wrong, you seem like a nice guy, but lay off Raine, alright?” The voice was deep, smooth and masculine. Jason’s.
“Why?” River countered, his voice not as deep, but hard as ice. “Has Jock-Boy got feelings for her?”
Jason remained mysteriously quiet, and my eyes almost bugged out of my head. Wait… what?! What the hell was going on here?
“You do,” River said incredulously, his voice breathless in shock. “So, what, I can’t be with her because you have feelings for her? News flash, meathead, she doesn’t have feelings for you like she does for me.”
“How do you know, huh? If this whole thing hadn’t have happened, you’d still be with that bimbo and you wouldn’t have even paid a girl like Raine a second glance,” Jason sneered, and I was shocked at the hostility behind his words. I’d never imagined a soft guy like him to be so vicious.
River snorted. “Right. ‘Cause you’re so much better, huh? Jocks don’t go for bookworms, and don’t pretend you’d be any different.”
There was silence. I had no idea whether I should say something or quickly back away. Should I stand up for myself or Jess? Let them know I was here? Or leave and pretend I’d never heard their heated discussion.
I decided to stick around. Hey, this was about me, so I deserved to know.
“What’s your fascination with her, anyway?” Jason queried, still using a mean sneer.
“She’s… different,” River finally answered, and a small smile caressed my lips, despite the situation.
“Drella’s different,” Jason replied offhandedly. Obviously River’s words hadn’t had the same effect on Jason as they had on me. “What’s the real reason, River?”
“I can’t explain it,” River said, and I peeked around the corner to see him running a hand through his hair and tousling it. My heartbeat sped up at the sight of him. “There’s just something about her.”
“You’re not good enough for her, River. You’ll only end up hurting her.” Jason’s words made me frown.
“You don’t know that,” River replied. “You think you know me, Jason, but the truth is that you don’t.”
“You’re forgetting, I knew you in high school. I know your reputation. How you use and abuse girls to get your way. You won’t do that to Raine. She deserves better than that.”
“I know, Jason,” River growled. “I wouldn’t do that to her.”
“You better not, or I swear to God I will cut off your reason for calling yourself a man,” Jason threatened, and I backed away from the entrance.
As I walked away, the only thing I could think to myself was this:
I think I’m falling for River Peterson…
~ * ~
Sorry for the short chapter.
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