“Hi, Karen,” I said, shoving a huge piece of medication—cotton candy—into my mouth.
She didn’t answer. Her eyes traveled down and locked on my hand intertwined with Brody’s.
We stood looking at each other for a few seconds. “Well, it’s been nice chatting with you. I gotta get back to my seat. It’s gonna be a great game tonight. We’re playing Stanton. That’s your old school, isn’t, babe?” I looked up at Brody and smiled.
“Yes, it is. I know who I’ll be rooting for.”
“See you later,” I called over my shoulder as Brody and I walked away. “Well, that went much better than I’d expected.” I shoved more cotton candy in my mouth. At the rate I was stuffing it in, I’d deplete my stash before the game started, not to mention have major tooth decay by the time the night was over.
“Babe? Since when do you use pet names other than Ace?”
“Well, Ace didn’t sound very loving so I improvised. But don’t worry. You’ll always be Ace to me.” I bumped my hip into his.
“Good, I kinda like it. How long do you think it’ll take for her to tell Jaden that she saw us?” Brody looked over his shoulder. “She’s already gone.”
“Oh, I’d bet money that she’s already texted him,” I said. More cotton candy went in, and I licked the sticky sugar from my fingers.
Brody put his lips to my ear. “You’re killing me. I don’t know if I can sit next to you and watch you lick your fingers like that. I might have to scoop you up, take you back to the Jeep, and do all kinds of naughty things.”
“Promise?” I peered at him through my lashes.
“Ugh, you’re such a tease.”
“But I wasn’t teasing.”
Brody gazed at me, his eyes darkening.
“Hey guys, come on,” Jenna called. “Did you see Karen? She walked by here, and she didn’t look too happy.”
“Yeah, we saw her,” I answered, my gazed still locked on Brody’s.
“Then Jaden knows. He’s gonna have a fit, and it’s gonna be epic. We’ll be lucky if he doesn’t move the earth off its axis.” Jenna rubbed her hands together and shivered. I think she was more worried about Jaden’s reaction than I was.
When the football players ran through the stupid banner that the cheerleaders held for them, Jaden’s gaze immediately found me on the bleachers and if looks could kill, I would’ve been dead twice over. He wasn’t just mad. He was livid. I expected no less. This was going to be fun. Or not.
I still had no idea how things would go down. No plan on how to tell him. I was secretly hoping that seeing me with Brody would be enough and Jaden would just leave it alone, but I knew that wouldn’t happen. Jaden’s moods were all over the place. I had no idea what type of reaction we’d get. And it scared me. I tried to stay calm in front of Brody. If he knew how scared I was, he’d insist on leaving, and that would only prolong the inevitable. We had to confront Jaden at some point. And like Jenna said, the more witnesses, the better.
We watched the game. Well, I pretended to watch. My mind was reeling with thoughts of what would come after the game ended. My knee bounced up and down with nerves. The closer the game came to an end, the faster my knee bounced. Finally, Brody laid his hand on it and squeezed.
“It’s going to be fine,” he whispered in my ear.
“Sure.” I nodded.
I wish I could believe that. I know he’s going to make a scene. And he’s going to tell. Years of protecting what I know, putting up with Ralph, dealing with Jaden, all to keep her secret—our secret—hidden. I’m throwing it all away. He’ll tell, and everyone will really know what happened that night. But Brody’s worth it. I hope he thinks the same of me when he knows the truth.
“Do you want to leave now? He knows. That was the main point of tonight, right? You got the message out. Everyone here is staring at us. We’re no doubt the topic of most conversations. People are watching us more than the game,” Brody said with a chuckle. “The bad boy steals the good girl from the star football player. Yeah, we’re big news. We don’t need to hang around.”
“I have to face him sooner or later.” I hated how my voice shook. I didn’t want to sound weak, but Jaden was one area in my life that I’d never been able to control. I’d always let him have control. It kept him happy, and he kept his mouth shut. I needed to stand up to him.
As soon as the game was over, one of Jaden’s closest friends and teammates made his way to the bleachers. “You’d better leave now, Willow.”
I looked over his shoulder and saw Jaden plowing his way toward Brody and me. His face was red with rage. A thick vein pulsed in the side of his neck. People got out of his way like he was Moses parting the Red Sea.
Too late.
“Thanks for the heads up.”
“Willow,” Jaden said, looking at Brody’s hand holding mine. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“We’re done, Jaden. Sorry you had to find out like this, but it’s over.”
“No, it’s over when I say it’s over,” Jaden said through clenched teeth. He looked at Brody. “If you want to keep that hand, I suggest you get it off my girl.”
“I don’t believe you can stake claim to her any longer. My hand’s gonna stay right where it is.” Brody narrowed his eyes at Jaden.
Jaden took a step toward Brody. Brody didn’t move.
“How long, Willow? How long have you been sleeping with this piece of shit?” Jaden spat.
“None of your business.”
“You’ve been seeing him while we’ve been together?”
I hesitated for a second. I knew if I answered truthfully, Jaden would destroy my reputation, but if I didn’t tell the truth, I’d risk hurting Brody. “Yes. We’ve been seeing each other.”
“You slut!” His hand darted out so fast that I didn’t have time to react. The pain sizzled across the side of my face, ricocheting through my head. I could feel where his class ring dug into my skin, warm liquid dribbling down my cheek. The impact ripped me away from Brody’s grasp and sent me tumbling across the bleachers, scraping the side of my face where it hit the grooved metal.
Jenna and Tim ran to me, helping me up. I looked up in time to see Brody charge Jaden. He slammed into him, sending them both flying across the bleachers.
“What’s the matter with you, Victor? You’re the one screwing her. If she’s gonna act like a whore, she’s gonna get treated like one,” Jaden shouted, standing up and wiping the dust off his uniform.
“I told you if you ever laid a hand on her, I’d end you,” Brody whispered through clenched teeth, shouldering Jaden.
Jaden barreled toward Brody. A group of his football buddies held him back. “He’s not worth it, man,” one told him.
“She’s definitely not worth it,” another said, looking at me like I wore a scarlet letter across my chest. Maybe I did. Maybe I deserved one.
Brody took a step toward Jaden. “Brody! Brody, stop!” I yelled, trying to get his attention.
He looked at me, and his face softened. “Let’s get you out of here and clean those cuts.” Reaching out, he wiped the blood off my face with the pad of his thumb. He looked over his shoulder at Jaden. “If I ever see you touch her again, I will make sure it’s the last thing you touch. You won’t always have your jughead friends to protect you.”
Well, that actually went better than I thought it would. I’m still alive.
Brody took me to his house to clean my cuts. When we drove up, a strange car was parked in the garage. He pulled next to it, killing the engine.
“Whose car is that?” I looked out of the window at the black sedan parked next to us in the immaculate garage.
“My mom’s.” Brody climbed out of the Jeep and came around to open my door.
I didn’t get out of the SUV. “I don’t think we should be here.”
“Why not?” Brody’s gaze didn’t waver from mine. His brows furrowed over his eyes.