Unspeakable (30 page)

“Oh shit on a shoe,” Jenna whispered. “Does he know?”

I shook my head. “Have you seen Karen yet?”

“I saw her wandering around,” Tim said. “Hey, can I be there when you tell Jaden?” He bounced in his seat like a little kid.

“Yeah, why not? Everyone here will see it anyway.” I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth.

“Damn, I wish I had a camera.” Tim laughed and fist bumped Brody.

“Yeah, the more witnesses the better,” Jenna muttered, folding her arms in front of herself and rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

Brody squeezed my hand, pulling me closer to him. “I’m going to get us something to drink. Slushie or caffeine?”

“You have to ask? Do you not know me at all?” I rolled my eyes, but smiled.

“Caffeine it is, then.” He started to walk away, and our fingers slipped slowly apart.

“Wait!”

Brody turned toward me. I hurried to catch up to him. “I want to go with you.” I threaded my fingers with his. “I think I’ll need a fix, too,” I said, looking at the cotton candy.

“Cotton candy? Or should we go straight to the hard stuff and get the chocolate bars now?”

“Don’t mock the calming effects of the combination of pure sugar and caffeine. Hmm…” I tapped my finger against my bottom lip, looking from the chocolate to the spun sugar and back again. “I think I’ll get two cotton candy and two chocolate bars, you know, just in case.”

Brody nodded. “Always be prepared.”

“Exactly.” I reached to pay, and Brody shook his head.

“I’ve got it.”

“Thanks,” I said, smiling at him. I couldn’t stop smiling. My cheeks were starting to hurt, but it felt so good. I felt as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Brody made me happy—giddy, even. I never felt that with Jaden, even when we first started dating. I never realized it was missing until I met Brody, and he showed me how it should feel.

Are my feet even touching the ground when I walk? Cuz I feel like one of those little cupids with the wings on their feet… yeah, I’m definitely a lost cause. He’s so gonna break my heart. I’ll think about that later, when he’s not buying me chocolate. Tonight, not even Jaden can kill my buzz.

When we got our order and turned to walk back to the bleachers, I stopped dead. There, not two feet from me, stood Karen. I knew it would happen. It had to happen. But I was hoping she’d just see us and report back to Jaden. I didn’t want to come face-to-face with her.

“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.

“I don’t really want to meet your mom when I’m sporting a cut-up face.”

“My mom’s not like that. She’s cool. She’ll baby you the whole night.” He paused and lowered his gaze. “And, um, I’ve already told her about you.” His eyes traveled slowly up to meet mine. “Don’t be mad. I just wanted her to know in advance what your situation was if you ever needed a place to go.”

Tears pushed at the back of my eyes. I sniffed and cleared my throat. “And… um, and she was okay with everything?”

“She wasn’t okay that someone was hurting you, but she was very okay with you having a safe place to come if you needed one. Don’t worry, Willow. She’s going to love you.”

Brody lifted my hand and kissed the inside of my wrist, letting his mouth linger. Giant butterflies invaded my stomach. My arm tingled under his lips. They were soft and moist. I wanted them on my mine. My lips parted, and I sighed. Brody looked into my eyes and grinned against my skin.

He placed my hand in my lap and wrapped his hand behind my neck, leaning into me. My breath came in little gasps, and my heart did a free fall to my toes. I ran my tongue over my lips, leaning toward him. He kissed the space behind my earlobe. I sucked in a breath and threaded my hands through his hair, gripping his head to me.

“Mm, I love the way you smell,” he whispered in my ear. “Like raspberries.”

I closed my eyes and let his voice wash over me, concentrating on his mouth on my skin. I think I answered him. I was positive I didn’t use an actual word because at that moment, I couldn’t put two coherent words together. My lips ached for his. I tightened my hold in his hair and pulled his face to mine. His lips skimmed mine when he spoke, just a whisper of a caress, barely a touch at all.

“We need to go inside,” he murmured, reaching up and pulling my hands from his hair.

He pulled me gently from the Jeep and led me to the door. His mother had her back to us when we went inside. She sat on the large couch, watching television. She turned when she heard the door open.

“Brody, you’re home early—” She stopped abruptly when she saw me standing behind him. “Introduce me to your friend.”

She stood and walked toward us. Tall like her son, she shared his thick hair and color. Hers was cut in a short bob that was businesslike and feminine all at once. Slim, but curvy, and dressed in designer jeans and T-shirt, she looked almost like Brody’s older sister, or maybe an aunt, than his mother.

“Mom, this is Willow.”

“Hi, Willow,” she said with a smile.

“It’s nice meet you, Ms. Victor,” I said, trying to cover the gash on my check with my hair and standing behind Brody’s shoulder.

“Oh, call me Anne. Come on. Let’s get that cleaned up. Do I get to ask what happened? I’ll be honest, as long as I feel you aren’t in immediate danger, I won’t call the police or your parents.”

“My ex-boyfriend didn’t take the news that I was breaking up with him very well,” I said quietly, not meeting her eyes.