Handing Jenna a Starbucks caramel macchiato, I picked up the pens and crap falling out of the locker, stuffing them back on the shelf. “Thanks,” she said over her shoulder. “Holy black hole, Batman. Did a funeral throw up on you?”
I glanced at Jaden and then back at Jenna. “Something like that.”
“Ah. Your mourning outfit. How could I forget?” Jenna nodded.
“Doesn’t my girl look hot in black?” Jaden asked, wrapping his arm around me and kissing me hard on the lips. I felt nothing. Empty. Dead.
Brody set my body on fire with just a look. Jaden turned it cold with the sound of his voice. He made me feel dirty with his touch. Being with him was wrong. But he knew, damn it all to hell. He knew… and I didn’t know how to get out from under his threat of exposing what she did—what we did. That one night… one decision. Every day, I wish we could go back. I’d make her do something. Something other than what she did best—watching.
I grabbed my biology book out of my locker and walked to class, Jaden following close behind me. Stopping outside the door, I stood with my back to the wall and one foot propped against it. I could see Brody watching me out of the corner of my eye.
“Aren’t you going in?” Jaden asked.
“Nope.” I took a sip of my macchiato
“Why not?”
“I’m drinking my caffeine. I can’t take it in with me,” I said and looked around the hall, saying hi to people as they passed.
“I don’t want to stand in the hall while you drink your macchi-whatever the hell it is. Let’s go.” He grabbed my arm, pulling me toward the door.
I yanked free of his grasp. “If you don’t want to stand here, don’t. Go to your class. I’m finishing my drink. I can’t take it in the room with me, so that means I’m staying out here until I’m done. Don’t like it? Tough.” I took another sip of my Starbucks, watching him over the rim of my cup. I braced myself for his outburst, but he was too smart to do anything in school. He’d wait until after, and then he’d mete out his punishment.
“Fine. We’ll do it your way today. But from now on, make sure your drink is gone before you get to school. I’m not waiting in the hall for you to finish your coffee again.”
“Macchiato.”
“Whatever,” he snapped.
I deliberately drank as slow as humanly possible. When the first bell rang, Jaden started getting nervous. He shifted from foot to foot, scanning the hallway.
“You’re going to be late for class, Jaden. You know if you’re tardy too many times, you’ll be benched.” I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, knowing he wouldn’t risk not being able to play in his precious game.
“Go in and sit down,” he said through clenched teeth.
“I will. I still have some drink left,” I lied. My macchiato had been gone before I even got to the door of the classroom.
He turned with a huff and stalked away. I grinned behind my cup. As soon as he was out of sight, I walked past the classroom door. Brody got up and walked into the hall.
“Hey, Ace,” I said with a smile. “Tired?”
“Nah. I could stay up all night.” He let his hand brush against mine quickly. I wrapped my finger around one of his and squeezed.
“We’d better get in there, I guess.”
“Is your Starbucks gone?”
I laughed. “It was gone before I even got here.”
“Sneaky. You go in first. I’ll wait a minute and follow.”
I squeezed his hand one more time and walked into class, dumping my cup in the garbage on my way to my seat. I didn’t look up when Brody walked in and sat down next to me. We didn’t speak in class, and we scooted our chairs as far from each other as possible.
It was all about appearances. That was my life. Smoke and mirrors until I wasn’t even sure what was real and what wasn’t.
Ugh. Midnight will never get here. They’ve been in bed for a half an hour. I’m sure they’re out for the night.
I stood at my window, overlooking the street, waiting for Brody to drive up. As soon as I saw his Jeep, I hurried out of my bedroom and slipped out of the sunroom door. I jogged to his Jeep and hopped in.
“Hey you,” he said, with a smile. Jeez, he could stop hearts with that smile.
“Hey back.”
“Wanna go to my aunt’s property? I want to show you something.”
“Sure.” I didn’t tell him that I’d go just about anywhere with him if he asked.
He pulled into the field and parked in the same place he did the night he brought me there to watch the movie. Grabbing a blanket out of the back of the Jeep, he opened my door to help me out. Again, I was perfectly capable of getting out myself, but I wouldn’t give up the chance for him to touch me. Even an innocent touch sent my body into a frenzy, creating feelings I’d never felt before. Feelings that confused me, but felt oh, so good. And I greedily took as many as he was willing to give.
He gripped my waist to help me down, and I put my hands on his arms. His biceps flexed under my hands, and I nearly groaned out loud. He pulled me close to him, and our faces were so close that I had to remind myself to breath. It was heady, heart stopping, and made me feel completely off balance. And I wanted it. I wanted it all. I wanted him.
Is he trying to torture me?
When he set me on the ground, we stood there, our bodies touching, looking in to each other’s eyes. He reached up and placed a lock of hair behind my ear before grabbing my hand and pulling me away from the Jeep.
He spread the blanket on the ground and sat down on it. “Wait until you see this. You’ll love it.” After he pulled me down on the blanket next to him, he laid down on his back. “Lay down.”
I eased myself next to him. “What am I looking for?”
“Just look up,” he whispered.
“It’s beautiful.” The sky was so black, not like in the city where the lights turned it into a murky gray. Stars were sprinkled across the inky sky, bright and beautiful, twinkling like they were winking at us. “I’ve never seen so many stars.”
“You can’t see them in town with all the lights.”
“It’s amazing.”
“I come here sometimes to think. It calms me,” Brody murmured.
“Thank you for bringing me.” I looked at him. He stared at the sky. I took my time looking at his profile, my eyes roaming over his face. He hadn’t shaved and a day’s worth of stubble covered his cheeks, giving him a sexy, rugged look.
He reached out and threaded his fingers through mine. I turned and gazed at the stars. It was perfect, lying with him in the dark, the stars shining above us. I wasn’t sure how long we lay there silent, holding hands. It could have been seconds, minutes, hours—it didn’t matter. I could have stayed there all night with him. It felt right.
“Why do you stay with him?” Brody asked quietly.
I opened my mouth to answer, but closed it and shook my head. My eyes filled with tears. I didn’t have an answer to give him. Not a good one—not the truth, anyway.
Brody rolled to his side and wiped my tears away with the pads of his thumb. “You’re not happy with him. Anyone who pays attention can see that. And I swear on my life if he hits you again, I’ll kill him.”
“Jaden doesn’t hit me.” I tried to pull away, but Brody held me in place.
“Willow, I’ve seen the bruises. Everyone has.”
“He’s never hit me. He’s a jerk sometimes, yeah, but he’s never hit me. I’m just clumsy, and I bruise easily. I’m fair-skinned, so they look worse than they are.”
Please, please just let it go.
Brody shook his head. His hand fell away from my face and he reached down, pushing up the sleeve of my shirt, looking in my eyes. “You can’t hide them all with big bracelets and long-sleeves.” His fingers lightly traced the bruises circling my wrist. His touch was so gentle.
“I… I stumbled and—”
“You said you’d never lie to me. Don’t lie for him. These marks are the perfect imprint of a hand.” His voice was hard, and I flinched.