Still Jaded (26 page)

"I'm surprised you came to class."

"And why wouldn't I?" I remembered how she lifted her jaw, like she was meeting me in a challenge. I lifted mine now and stepped closer.
Two could play at that game, girl. Let's not forget who'd been the master.

She looked down, but then glanced at the girls around her. "I…"

"Don't look at them for cues. They don't know what to say either. You're the one who's going to know. You know me the best. Lesson 101 on fighting: look for your enemy's weaknesses. What are my weaknesses, Grace?"

She jerked her gaze away, but then her jaw hardened and she swung back. "Your weakness is Bryce and Corrigan. You don't have any other weakness."

I grinned. "Now you're getting it. What else? How would you use those weaknesses?"

"You're crazy."

I looked behind as Carolina drew beside me, her sisters behind her. They squared off against their enemies.

I focused on Grace and repeated, "Tell me again. How would you use those weaknesses?"

Grace opened her mouth, but shut it. Her eyes darted from Carolina to me and then to her comrades. She couldn't do anything. I stepped forward. "Don't freeze, Grace. It's fight or flight time now. Don't be one of those who let it happen. Fight it. Run away. Choose. Pick what you're going to do. What are you going to do?"

I felt Carolina's gaze, but I ignored it. Instead, I zeroed in on the girl that I used to think was a friend. She was faltering. She was trying to be something better, but she was glued in place. I wanted to shove her forward, out of place. So I stalked forward and whispered, though everyone could hear, "Out of all these years, you haven't picked up anything? Why are you with these people? Why do you need their friendship? They're fake to you. They're in it for themselves. Cadence didn't want you. She wanted me. I made her take you. How's that feel—?"

"You're nothing without Bryce!" she shrieked.

Finally.

I grinned and let it soak. Then I was in her face. "How does it feel? You threw the first gauntlet. Now I get to throw one back, right? But I'm going to wait, Grace. I'm going to let you savor this moment. This is when you bested me. You won. Now you can walk away breathing easy because you'll win the next round, right?" When she paled, I grinned. I savored that too. "No, seriously, Grace. I'm not coming back at you, not yet. Find your way. Find your footing right now. I'm giving that to you." Then I saluted her with a finger. "Good luck, Grace."

No one seemed sure how to react. When one of her friends opened her mouth and readied a snooty comment, Grace clamped a hand on her arm. "Let's go." Her eyes never left mine, but
they turned and left. As they went around a corner, she stopped. Her eyes were still on mine, searching, but then disappointment flared in her depths before she followed behind them.

"That was…unexpected." Carolina rotated on her heels so she stood facing me.

I shrugged. "I'm not completely heartless. I'm turning a new leaf. Someone told me how selfish I can be today."

"That was your first act of kindness? She still feels humiliated, though she doesn't understand how. You screwed with her mind."

I grinned and turned to leave. "Maybe I just didn't want to hurt her anymore. She was a friend, you know."

As I left, I felt her eyes on me. I'd just met the girl and I could tell how she smart, maybe smarter than me. But I didn't feel like she was after any of mine. Maybe we'd get along. Maybe not. It wasn't something I wanted to focus on. I had worse things to deal with, and as I headed to where Corrigan had parked, I knew his words were a few of them.

He'd been right with what he'd said. I didn't think before I acted. Sometimes I didn't want to because they would pick up the pieces. They always had. It wasn't that I put that responsibility on him and Bryce in the past.

When I spotted Corrigan's car with no Corrigan, I sat at a picnic table nearby. Then my phone rang and everything went haywire inside of me.

Bryce.

"Yeah?" My voice sounded hoarse, and I cursed at myself. There'd been a hitch in my throat.

He didn't say anything for a moment. "Officer Patterson called me. She said there was an intruder last night at your place?"

I shot to my feet. "Are you kidding me? She called you?"

"She wanted to know where I was. For some reason," he bit out, "she thought I might've been the intruder. What'd you tell her?"

Oh. I sat back down. That was almost laughable. "I didn't say a word. She's a cop. She's not stupid. You're always there and the one time you're not, both Corrigan and I clamp down on where you are. He told her you were busy. You left me, remember?"

Bryce took a deep breath. He gentled his voice. "Are you okay?"

I gripped my phone hard when I heard the concern in his tone. He cared, and for a second, I felt my heart skip a beat. The old schoolgirl crush was coming back, but I gritted my teeth. He couldn't have that power over me. "You have no right calling me and asking me that. No right, Bryce. You can call her. You can worry about her. Don't call me again."

"Sheldon—"

I'd been about to hang up, but something stopped me.

Then I heard him continue, "Please listen to me. Please."

I choked out, feeling the threat of tears, "What? Say it quick."

"I don't know what I want to say. I'm sorry. I should have it planned out. Are you okay? Did the intruder get inside? Is someone with you? Is Corrigan there?" He paused for a moment. "I have to know that you're okay and that you're safe."

I heaved a deep breath. "Corrigan's with me, yes. We're fine. He got a new security system for me, and it worked. The intruder didn't get in, but I saw him—them—whoever at the window. It looked like Marcus."

"Marcus?!"

"I know. I know. He's dead. It wasn't him. I know, but…" It looked like him so much.

Bryce sound choked up. "Who is the security system through? Your other ones sucked."

"Hoodum did it."

"Oh. Good. He'll do a good job. Corrigan will make sure of it." His voice hitched on a note.

"He will." I nodded. More tears threatened to spill out. I hated that they came so easily for him. "What do you want, Bryce? Did you call because of the intruder? I'm fine. Officer Patterson knows that. She shouldn't have called you. I'm sure she just wanted the gossip on us."

"She didn't want gossip, Sheldon. She was just doing her job. It makes sense that a recent ex-boyfriend might be the stalker. We both know that. She grilled me, and I was honest about everything I knew."

"About Guadalupe? Did you tell Officer Patterson about her?"

His voice was quiet. "I did. She needs to know everything. I told her about Guadalupe and I explained to her what happened with us. She's trying to protect you. She needs to know my frame of mind."

"Too bad she didn't ask about mine," I bit out without thinking. "And aren't you the perfect citizen."

There was silence on his end.

My heart skipped a beat. I closed my eyes. I shouldn't have said that. I could've said something else. Wait—who was I? I don't doubt my words for anyone, but this was Bryce. He wasn't just anyone. I heaved a deep breath instead.

I didn't know what to say so I said nothing.

"Are you okay?" Bryce asked. He sounded genuine.

I closed my eyes and sucked in the pain. I didn't want it, but it was there. His words, his tone felt like a knife stabbing me in the throat. He cared, and I could hear the concern in his voice. He wasn't allowed to care anymore, right? Right? Could I care about him? What were the rules now? Had they changed?

"Sheldon?"

I took too long to answer. I mumbled, "I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I—"

"You what? What could you do? You can't do anything, Bryce. Not anymore. You shouldn't have even called me." My throat hurt so much. It felt too tight.

He sounded strained. "Sheldon, I still love you. Things aren't clear with us right now, but I'm always going to be a part of your life. You can't cut all those years. Since seventh grade—it's been that long for us. I'm a part of you."

"I'll adapt. I always do." What the hell was I saying? I didn't want him out of my life, but everything was so confusing. I counted to ten and tried to calm myself. "It's just harder when you call me." My voice broke.

"I know. I'm sorry," he whispered.

I bent over to rest my forehead on my knees. Why was everything so painful? When I drew in a shuddering breath, someone sat beside me. I felt them take my phone, and a second later Corrigan spoke into it, "Hey. I'll call you later."

Bryce responded, but Corrigan closed my phone. His hand found mine, and then he hugged me against him. I couldn't think or say anything. The pain was almost numbing—it blasted me completely. Slowly, so slowly, I lifted my head back up and blinked away some tears. Corrigan's eyes were concerned, but there was something else.

I frowned. "Are you angry?"

He blinked and the unnamed emotion was gone. With a brief smile, he hugged me again. "Don't worry about me. Are you ready to go?"

No deep talk. No words of explanation. No soul searching. This was why Corrigan knew me so well. I nodded.

When we got into his car, I asked, "What do you know about a girl named Carolina?"

The next few weeks went by without much drama. Corrigan and I went to our classes. I didn't have any more run-ins with Grace or Cadence's group. Carolina and her girls flanked me everywhere I went. They must've felt that I needed protection, but I didn't mind. The girls were just there. They didn't pester me for information or try to play social games with me. I was happy with that. Leah came over at night. Carolina came once and I saw how she was fascinated with Corrigan, but as I got to know her more, I knew she kept her cards close to her chest. She wouldn't want him to know about her captivation.

Corrigan drove me after school and stayed every night. Bryce didn't call again. I wasn't sure if I was happy or relieved. I tried not to think about it and pressed on like a robot.

"Hey," Corrigan greeted as he came into the kitchen. He had showered and now wore his fraternity's polo. The royal blue looked official.

I whistled in approval and lifted my coffee cup in a salute. "You're looking official. What's up?"

"The House is hosting a banquet tonight on campus. It's for the pledges and their families."

"Are you taking donations?" I grinned. "That sounds like something used to pimp the purses of your alumni."

"Maybe." Corrigan chuckled as he took my cup and finished it. "After classes, we're heading to the Wilshire. Is your car still there? I'll be stuck at the banquet most of the night so…"

…I might need it.

"Right." My pulse jumped a beat. I hadn't thought about the hotel or my car in a long while. I'd been putting off the moment of going back. It was where she was. It was where I knew Bryce was probably going every night.

Corrigan's eyes measured my reaction. "If you'd like, I can run over there with Matt. I'll drive your car back after the banquet."

I breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness.
As I fished out my keys, I murmured, "Thanks, Corrigan. It's parked in the back lot. I'm not planning on going anywhere tonight anyways."

"Okay." He took them and squeezed my hand for a moment. "I'll drop you off after classes and then head back to the house."

And that's how the rest of the day went.

We went to classes, and then he hurried to the fraternity while I was stood on my front patio. I had an entire evening to myself. I hadn't had this much freedom or alone time in awhile, which was a good thing. Probably.

I heated up some soup and settled in the media room with a textbook. I knew Miss Connors and knew her final wouldn't be easy. However, I nabbed the remote and turned on a movie first. Studying came later, always later. Halfway through, the gate buzzer went off. When I checked the monitor, I was surprised to see Denton, flashing a blinding smile with shades over his eyes.

I couldn't help grinning as I pushed the talk button. "You're a bit too Hollywood sometimes, you know."

He chuckled and pressed his button. "I only dress up for you, Sheldon. I'm in my best attire."

"Your jeans look like you've been trying your hand at being a mechanic, and your shirt—pink, really?"

Denton looked at his tee shirt and laughed. "It's tie dye. I thought you'd like it."

Chuckling, I pressed the entry button and met him at the front door. He pulled the car through and hopped out of the convertible. "I felt like taking you for a drive tonight. A little birdie told me you needed to let your hair loose."

"I thought you had a jeep?" Arching an eyebrow, I shook my head. "A birdie, huh? Corrigan called you for baby-sitting duty?"

He grimaced and drew close. "I don't do kids. Ugh."

I laughed and led the way inside. "This is coming from a former teen idol? You aren't turning your back on those tween fans already?"

"No turning my back on anyone." Denton's eyes sparkled in amusement as he patted my shoulder. "Come on. Grab whatever you need. I'm taking you away for the night. We'll go to a premiere. We'll get a private box at a club. We'll go sky-diving. Come on. You're going to have fun tonight."