Chapter Twenty-Five

Honey

Unknown: This couldn't keep happening to a better bitch than you.

After shoving my phone into the center console of my car, I slam it shut and force a fake smile on my face. I will not let these idiots get the better of me again. Today is a different day. I am a different person from the first time a video embarrassing me went viral, and I will walk in there with my metaphorical middle finger high in the air.

With my chin held high, I step out of the car with an extra pep in my step. Olivia spots me immediately and throws me an apologetic smile. "Hey," she says hesitantly. She's the only person who knows that not having seen or heard from Zach in the five days since the game has broken me, and I'd like to keep it that way. "How are you holding up after the incident."

Wrapping my arm around hers, I walk into school, ignoring the whispers.

"Which one? Zach's absence or the newest viral video currently making the rounds?" As if by another cruel twist of fate, a video of Zach arguing with Tiff that night has ended up on social media. Apparently, hearing it in person wasn't enough; I've now had it sent to me at least 150 times since it was uploaded.

Jamie's wide grin and intrusive glare follow me down the hall, but I don't give him the satisfaction of looking his way. I'm certain he's the reason for the video in the first place.

"This whole thing sucks." Olivia's voice drowns out the noise, and I swallow back a big ball of resentment.

"It's fine, Livi. I'm used to being humiliated by the guy I'm dating."

"I don't believe it," she says emphatically. "Jamie's a liar, and I think he's made the whole thing up."

"Oh, yeah? What about Mike?" I challenge.

Her confident smile quickly turns sheepish. "Mike's not talking. He said something about Zach telling us himself if he wanted us to know."

That sentence alone crushes all my hope. "Don't you see?" I shut my locker and relax my shoulder against it. I want nothing more than to get to class and away from the constant stares, but I keep my feet planted on the spot. Defiant and determined. "Mike not denying it is essentially confirming that Zach is a father."

His commitments float through my mind. There were moments where I questioned everything and wondered if Tiff was his sister, but I trusted Zach.

I trusted the wrong guy again.

"No. That's Mike's way of being a good friend to Zach. Something that he seems to be in short supply of right now."

It's the most unsubtle dig against me I've ever heard, but I don't have the energy or the will to push back on her. How can Zach and I be friends when he didn't tell me about the most important thing in his life?

His daughter.

The little girl I heard giggling in the background when I'd call him. She was always there; I was just too lost in my own problems to understand his.

No wonder he hasn't responded to any of my calls or texts. I lived up to the rich-girl stereotype he always had in his head. Self-absorbed and vapid.

Last night, I was so worried I nearly jumped in my car and drove to his house to check on him. I got as far as sitting in the car, about to accelerate out of the drive before I stopped myself.

"Hey, Honey." I close my eyes for a good couple of seconds. Turning around and speaking to Brett isn't exactly something I want to do right now.

"What do you want?" I ask, rolling my body to the side to see him. Staring at me with a placid smile, Brett takes me in.

"I, uh, just wanted to see how you were after your breakup?"

"What breakup?"

"You and Zach?"

I know other students are listening, waiting to hear my answer, and I hate that I've once again become the school gossip.

"We haven't broken up." I slam my locker shut, making it clear this is the end of the conversation.

Brett doesn't flinch at the noise. Instead, he tilts his head, raising his brows. "Wait, so Zach doesn't have a kid?"

"I mean, it's none of your business either way."

He raises his hands. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry, I was just asking." He steps back. "Can't believe you're still sticking up for the guy. If anyone I dated found out that I was hiding a secret love child with a girl I pretended was my sister, I'd probably get my cock ripped off."

"As much as I enjoy that mental image, I'd have to tell you not to believe everything you hear." Even though I'm not sure where I stand with Zach, I need to show a united front. There's no objective proof he lied yet, and he's earned the right for me to believe him.

"Okay." He thinks I'm being an idiot; I can hear it in his voice.

Pushing off the locker, I say, "I wouldn't believe everything I hear from Jamie if I were you. He's like a horse; he looks good, but has a big mouth, long face, and talks a lot of shit."

I shove past Brett, ignoring Jamie's icy glare as he holds onto McKenna. Pushing through the throngs of people, I attempt to get to class with no one else bothering me. Unfortunately, Brett grabs my arm before that's possible.

"Honey, wait. I'm sorry. I think we got this conversation off on the wrong foot."

"Always the same with us, Brett." I throw over my shoulder.

"Let me make it up to you. What are your plans for prom?" He can't be serious. He doesn't give a crap about me; he's still trying to win that stupid bet.

"Zach is my plan." My confidence is shaky, but I try to hide it because, logically, it makes sense. If the rumors are true, he needs this money for his family. It's the same reason he gave me at the beginning of the year; I was just too naive to ask him for the specifics.

Bang.

A classroom door slams open, and I catch my breath.

"Zach." He runs a shaky hand through his disheveled hair, and his bloodshot eyes narrow in on me. I bite my bottom lip, hoping the pain stops my stomach from flipping so damn hard. Without thinking, I run to him, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him close.

"Hey, Honeycomb," he rasps into my ear. There's an edge to his voice I've never heard before, and his whole body is vibrating. What I wouldn't give to be alone with him to talk.

His nose skates across my cheek, and he gives me no warning before kissing me hard. Everyone's watching. I can feel their eyes on me, and this doesn't feel right. I can't do this now. I dip my chin, forcing our lips apart, and rest my forehead on his chest. "Where have you been?" I whisper, somewhat nervous about his response.

"I'm sorry."

His hands drop to mine, and he waffles them together, oblivious to the stares. I don't get it. It's obvious that something happened from the way he looks and how many days of school he missed, but he's acting like things are normal.

"I broke my phone after the game and needed to deal with some stuff at home."

Stuff at home?

Commitments. Commitments. Commitments.

Commitments that I'm not close enough to know about. Wait? He broke his phone? Does he know what's been going on the last few days?

"Any stuff I can help with?" I tip my toes forward, hoping he'll finally tell me the truth even if I don't want to hear it.

Zach's lips dance into the smallest of smiles, and I swallow, anticipating my heart breaking. "Thanks for the offer, Honeycomb, but nothing you can help me with."

It's his usual canned response. We're surrounded by our peers, so I shouldn't be surprised he's not willing to divulge his potentially biggest secret now, but the longer we go without talking about it, the more inclined I am to believe the rumors are true.

He shakes his head, still smiling. Still so oblivious to everything that I don't know what to tell him. "You'll never guess what happened to me on Friday. Someone stole my hunk of junk bike from our carport. I spent the entire weekend convincing the police to file a report because they thought I was making it up for insurance fraud."

"Your bike?" I swallow, suddenly feeling nervous and prickly.

"Yeah. Honestly, not sure who would want to steal it, but I figure it must be someone more desperate for cash than me."

"It wasn't stolen."

He whips his head in my direction. "What do you mean?"

His brows knit together the longer I take to speak, but how the hell am I supposed to tell him anything when he's so agitated?

"Honey," he warns. "What did you do?"

Started falling for you.

Oh, God. I did not just think that. I'm not falling for Zach. It's just a crush.

Then he looks at me with a furrowed brow, and the thought of disappointing him makes me feel like I'm going to throw up.

"I've got your bike." He backs away, almost recoiling from my touch. "I was planning on telling you on Friday, but then…" I don't know how to finish the sentence. Talking about Tiff will not help defuse the situation.

"It's fine." It doesn't sound fine, and when he massages his temple, I know I've screwed up.

"I'm sorry, I wanted to surprise you."

Still not looking at me, he says, "Well, stealing my bike was definitely a surprise."

"I didn't steal it, it's at a local dealer, and he's working on it for you. It should be ready to ride by the weekend."

Zach's eyes skate around the hall, seemingly realizing that we're making a scene, but it's not like we can stop it. He lets out a low growl and speaks through gritted teeth. "Why the hell did you do that?"

"I wanted to do it as a thank you, and I thought you'd be happy because you'd be able to drive to school instead of taking the bus."

Pushing his tongue between his teeth, he lets out a humorless tut. "So you thought treating the scholarship kid like a charity case would help?"

I'm speechless. I didn't even think of that, and I certainly didn't care how it would look optically. I never intended to hurt him. Deep down, I know he knows that, but it feels like something else is going on with him, and I'm the person who walked in at the wrong time.

"That's not—"

"It's fine. I appreciate the gesture, but it would be great if you could return it."

Chatter from the other students rings in my ears. They're watching, and this will be another embarrassing blow for me. Tears threaten to fall, but I hold them back because I will not let them see me hurting twice.

"Sure."

"Let me know how much work they did on it, and I'll pay you back."

"I don't want the money."

More sniggers echo down the hall, but I can hardly hear them. My blood pressure is rising, and a slow zing pierces my brain. Nothing is going right between us. Absolutely nothing, and the whole school is witness to that again.

"Honey," Jamie singsongs as he walks over to us. Not now. A couple of his teammates flank him as he steps closer. Zach shuffles a little closer to me, and it's the first time I've felt his protective presence today.

"What do you want, Jamie?" Zach asks, venom laced through his voice.

Jamie brazenly steps closer, undeterred by Zach's demeanor. He ignores Zach's question and stares straight at me. "I gotta give it to you, Honey. I've thought you were a lot of things over the years, but I never took you as a homewrecker."

"Homewrecker Honey!" someone shouts down the hall.

Taking a deep breath, I can feel the flaring heat rising to my cheeks. This can't be happening.

"What are they talking about?"

Zach raises a brow at me, and there are too many eyes on us to make this a comfortable conversation. I open my mouth, but all that comes out is a pathetic sort of stutter at having to be the one to tell him about the video.

"It's not important," I state.

"Lying to your boyfriend isn't going to get you anywhere," Jamie says. I turn my back to him so I can focus on Zach.

"What's he talking about?"

"Let's talk about this later."

"Still trying to hide your baby mama, Evans?" Zach scrunches his face. "I bet she wasn't happy to find out you've been screwing the richest girl in school, was she? Is that why you've been missing practice?"

"What has Jamie told you?"

My hands fidget as I think about the best way to phrase this since we have an audience. Even if we wanted to leave, Jamie has us surrounded by football players waiting to see us fail.

"Honey?" Zach urges.

"He told me that Tiff isn't your sister." I cringe when I finish the sentence, hating that I'm forcing something out of him he clearly wants no one to know.

My heart stops because he hasn't denied it. He didn't even flinch. All I'm met with is Zach's straight face, his eyes searching mine. He pushes his tongue out and stares at me blankly. "Who did he tell you she was?"

Swallowing, I garner the courage to state the obvious. "He told me she's your girlfriend." He's not surprised. "And that you're a father."

A small curve of a smile tips Zach's lips, but it's quickly replaced with a frown. Strangely, all I see is hurt, not the anger I was expecting. "Do you believe him?"

Again, no denial. Nothing. A hopeless look in his eyes because he knows the answer without me saying a word. "Unbelievable." He shakes his head, stepping closer. Instinctively, I step back. "The guy cheated on you and treats you like garbage. Actually, no. He treats his garbage with more respect than I've ever seen him give you, and you believe him before talking to me."

I take another step back, wishing I hadn't come into school today and this wasn't my life. I want some time alone with Zach, but that ship sailed a long time ago. "I've got to go and sort out this mess," Zach grits.

"Jamie posted a video of you arguing with Tiff." Lowering my head in shame, I can't look at him. Someone had to tell him; he needed to know. I didn't want him turning on his new phone and finding out that way.

Zach blows out a breath before he sweeps past me. My pulse beats through my ear drums as he walks to Jamie. I don't know what to do, so I just stand there, watching the car crash I know is about to happen. Jamie puffs out his chest, standing taller as he waits for Zach.

"Who's better in bed? Baby mama or Homewrecker Honey?" Jamie tips his chin, acting as arrogant as usual.

This isn't going to end well.

"You. Are. An. Asshole."

Zach's hands clench and unclench to the same rhythm as his breathing until he closes his fist and raises it. He punches Jamie square across the cheek, making him fall backward. Blood splatters across the floor, and students gasp at the sight.

Jamie pulls himself up, his nose and mouth are covered in blood, but he smiles through it like the psychopath I've started to see him as.

"You fell into that trap too easily, Evans."

I haven't taken a breath since I saw the blow. Zach says nothing, just pushes past a bloodied Jamie and walks straight to the exit. No looking back.

I can't let him leave like this. Forcing my way through the crowd of students, I follow him. "Zach. Wait," I call, but he keeps walking as though he doesn't hear me.

"Honey, don't." Olivia holds me back; her sympathetic voice is the only thing soothing me right now. "Give him some time. He'll come back."

Slumping, I watch as he storms out, taking my heart with him as he goes.