Jaded Read online

  smirk cockily when he was hustled from the back holding area. They took off his handcuffs just before he was allowed his personal items and moved through the gate.

  "Hey," Corrigan greeted us both with a hug.

  Bryce thumped him on his back while I punched him in the stomach.

  "Ow," Corrigan grunted, feigning pain, but he grinned a second later and wrapped me in another big hug.

  We trailed back out to the car in silence and I took the backseat.

  Once we were inside, he asked Bryce, "So did you…?"

  Bryce flexed his knuckles in response and let out a hiss in pain.

  "Man," Corrigan whistled. "You did him good."

  I rolled my eyes in the back, but remained quiet.

  Corrigan twisted in his seat and asked, excitement in his eyes, "Wanna hear about the chase?"

  I groaned, but a chuckle slipped out.

  "They could've shot you, Corrigan," I pointed out.

  "Nah, man," he laughed. "When they cornered me, I got out all slow with my hands in the air. It was awesome, but they were rough when they cuffed me."

  Bryce asked, "They pull their guns?"

  "Yeah. A few. They put 'em away quick though when they realized I was just a kid. I bonded with my arresting officers. I was cracking jokes on the way to the station. And I told them all about Chad, what he did."

  "What?" Bryce asked sharply. "Why the hell did you do that?"

  "They said they'd keep their eyes out for him."

  "Man," Bryce groaned. "If they go over there, they're going to want him to press charges against me."

  "What? Nah." Corrigan shook his head, but a cautious look flashed across. He laughed again and exclaimed, "No way. Yerling won't say a thing. He knows what'll happen if he does."

  "What is this? Like Fight Club?" I mumbled.

  "Yes," Corrigan answered while Bryce replied, "No."

  They glanced at each other and shared a meaningful look.

  Corrigan corrected himself, "I mean, it's not anything like Fight Club."

  "Right," I scoffed in disbelief.

  "The first rule: no one can talk about it. The second rule is: no one can talk about it. And the third rule is: if they do, they're out. Did I get it right?"

  "It's not like that." Bryce met my eyes in the rearview mirror. "Yerling's pulled some other stunts lately. He just needed to be put back in his place. That's all."

  "Let's grab some food. I'm starving." Corrigan pointed at the closest fast food and we trudged inside.

  One of the girls whispered to her friend behind the counter and soon two additional employees were at the counter.

  I groaned when Corrigan literally licked it up.

  I sat at a nearby booth and waited as the two morons got their food. Bryce grabbed a soda for me, but neither moved for a moment when their food had been placed on their tray.

  I marched up and grabbed the tray. As I moved past, I bumped shoulders with both of them on purpose.

  "Hey," Corrigan protested when he spilled his drink.

  "Oops," I deadpanned.

  Bryce came to sit beside me on my side of the booth. Corrigan sat, inhaled his food, and grabbed the rest of his burger. He stood at the counter while he finished it and his drink.

  Bryce relaxed against the booth and slid an arm on the back. He purposely stretched and slid his leg beside mine.

  "Stop," I murmured.

  Bryce chuckled and leaned closer to me. He whispered in my ear, "It'll be fine."

  I shrugged him off.

  Bryce frowned and asked, "What's wrong with you? You're usually up for this stuff."

  I was, but I acted like a 'girl.' That pissed me off more.

  "Nothing," I mumbled.

  "What? Is it Yerling?"

  Nothing.

  "Is it what Steele said to you?"

  Nothing.

  "Oh." He got it. "It's the counselor thing."

  I tensed beside him.

  He leaned closer and pressed a kiss underneath my ear.

  I relaxed slightly and closed my eyes when his hand slid onto my leg. He massaged just inside my thigh before he continued his exploration around my neck. I hung my head down, helpless and turned so he could capture my lips with his. I felt his fingers dip inside my pants and murmured, huskily, "If you wanted to take my mind off that, its working."

  Bryce chuckled and his breath teased my skin.

  "Let's go. Now," I breathed.

  Bryce shot up. "Corrigan, we're leaving."

  Corrigan finished talking with one of the girls and jogged over with a suggestive smirk. "You two go on. I'm going to grab a ride home with this girl."

  Bryce and I looked over and saw that she was giggling with another friend. They both blushed when they realized they were the center of our attention.

  In the car, Bryce kept a hand on my leg. It stayed in place.

  When we pulled into my driveway, I hit the garage opener on my keychain and Bryce pulled his car beside my mom's Chrysler. Mine was still parked outside.

  "Sheldon."

  We were startled when a figure spoke up from the driveway's darkened edge, but she stepped forward and the light shone over Mena's strained face.

  Bryce swore.

  I let out a breath I'd been holding when I murmured, "Mena. What are you doing here?"

  It was almost midnight.

  "My brother came and talked to you, didn't he?" she asked, anxious.

  "Uh…yeah." We moved inside and into the kitchen. Mena followed and perched on the stool she'd earlier occupied. She hugged herself.

  "I knew he would." She shook her head. "He's just being an overprotective brother, but he doesn't understand anything."

  Bryce frowned at me. He nodded towards the kitchen table, but I shook my head. He went to the fridge and grabbed a beer before he disappeared upstairs.

  "Wow," Mena breathed out.

  "What?"

  "Bryce Scout. Wow."

  "Are you serious? Your brother is Denton Steele."

  "And my brother is my brother," she replied, dryly. "Believe me. I don't see the allure."

  Let's hope not.

  "Uh…" I shifted uncomfortably. "I've had a really long night, so…"

  "Right. Cut to the chase." Mena nodded. "I can do that."

  I relaxed slightly.

  "Here's the thing…my brother thinks I'm this innocent little girl. He doesn't want me to be as worldly as you. That's a load of crap. Denton just wants to shelter me from all the bad stuff in this world and he thinks that you've seen more than your fair share."

  Um… This was nearing a 'near emotion' event.

  Mena proceeded, unaware, "I am a little sheltered. I'll own up to that, but he thinks that I haven't even had sex. That's not true. I've had sex with lots of guys, he just doesn't know about any of them."

  "He seemed pretty sure that you hadn't had sex with your boyfriend."

  "Because I hadn't," Mena said bluntly. "Justin was Denton's errand boy. He told him everything. Justin and I never went further than kissing on the lips."

  Ewe. I cringed and asked, "He asked your boyfriend if you guys…?"

  "Yeah. He was like Denton's spy. I figured it out pretty quick and realized that Justin was the perfect cover for me to live my life my way."

  I sucked in my breath. This talk was really becoming too uncomfortable.

  "Listen, I uh…" I glanced towards the stairs and gestured upstairs. "I've got…"

  "Okay." Mena grinned widely and nodded, "I get it. You have more important things to do than listen to me complain. I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

  "I doubt I'll be there."

  "Oh. Oh yeah because of…that thing that happened, right?" She watched me intently, but I smiled.

  "Okay." Mena laughed again and moved to the front door. When she left, I locked the door, hit the garage button, and reset the security system. I stopped in the bathroom before I moved towards the light that shone out of my bedroom.

  Bryce
leaned against my headboard, shirtless, with an empty beer beside him. ESPN was on my flat-screen.

  I shut off the lights and shimmied out of my jeans and sweatshirt. I crawled underneath the covers and felt Bryce pull me into his arms. I could smell my mint toothpaste on his breath.

  "Who was that girl?" he asked.

  "That was Steele's little sister. She started at our school today and asked to be my friend." I still felt weird about the whole thing.

  "That's the girl that Corrigan wants to bag?"

  "Yeah, but I don't think he knows how protective Denton is of his little sister." I turned over and grinned up at Bryce as he looked at me.

  "It's kinda freaky," he frowned.

  "What is?" I slid a leg up and nestled it between his.

  "That dude was here before and she showed up tonight. That's what's freaky."

  "They're just…I don't know. Messed up or something. He cares about his sister and she's trying to have a life. I can relate."

  "You can?"

  "No. Not really, but I think it's sweet."

  "Because you haven't had that," Bryce bit out.

  I slid my hand around his neck, but we both swore when his phone rang.

  Bryce reached over me to grab it and cursed swiftly before he flipped it open. He sat up and murmured, "Yeah, mom?" He yawned a replied, "No. No. I'm at Corrigan's house. We were watching the game. It's still on."

  A second later he closed his phone and placed it on my bedside table.

  Since he was up there, I shifted smoothly underneath him and wrapped my legs around his waist.

  Startled, Bryce shifted more comfortably, but bent and kissed my chin, then my cheek, lips.

  He finished under my ear and I moaned.

  Chapter 6

  I woke and instantly knew Bryce wasn't beside me. I knew that without feeling for him or opening my eyes. He rarely was. Whenever he did sleep over, he was the first up and he rarely woke me for a morning round.

  It was just something weird about us. We didn't do the morning quickie.

  What he had done, though, was left my bedroom door open.

  That was another thing about Bryce. He liked to leave my bedroom open. He told me once that it was because my room got unbearably stuffy, but I didn't mind. When I got up to close the door, I was surprised when I saw Bryce walk back in and pull his shirt over his head. I sat back and watched as he tugged it down to cover his chest.

  I whistled appreciatively.

  Bryce ignored me and shuffled some things underneath my bed until he emerged with a pair of men's sandals.

  "What are those doing under there?" I asked as I fell onto the bed.

  Bryce fitted a belt around his waist and replied, distracted, "I dropped them down there awhile ago. It's going to be seriously hot today."

  "I thought you were home."

  "I'm going, but these are my favorite pair and since I remembered they were down there…" He looked up and raked his eyes up and down my figure.

  My sweatshirt had ridden up and a wide amount of skin showed.

  I didn't move to cover up.

  "So what are you thinking about Corrigan's new girl from last night?" Bryce turned away and leaned against the wall.

  What'd I say? No morning quickies for us. Someday I might ask why that was, but not today.

  I grinned slyly and sat up. I removed my sweatshirt and scooted up in bed, knowing that my pajama bottoms would get caught against my bedcovers. My movement would pull them down further. And they did.

  Bryce noticed too.

  "I think it's pathetic," I said flatly, but I grinned slyly as I watched Bryce watch me.

  "She's cute. What are you pissed about?" His eyes lingered at my hipbone where my thong peeked out.

  "I'm not. I'm a little tired of watching Corrigan roll over those girls, though. They let him do anything to them."

  Bryce swallowed slowly. He watched as I wiggled further up and my pants wiggled further down.

  "You let me do anything to you," he said huskily. "And you haven't even met her."

  "I don't have to meet her to know she's just like all the others," I said evenly. "And I don't pant after you and I don't pin my heart on my sleeve." Here we go, a conversation about the two of us was now on the table. The game was over.

  His eyes whipped to mine and stayed there.

  I sighed and stood. I moved to the closet and grabbed some clothes.

  "What's your problem?" Bryce asked as he moved to the doorframe. He watched me strip down and step into the shower.

  Over the water, I said, "Nothing. I'm just kinda tired of having to be nice to those girls. They're around for, like, two minutes and then he's got another girl over." If he wasn't going to say anything about 'us', then two could play at that.

  "Are you serious? You're actually mad that Corrigan plays these girls?"

  "No," I said tightly and finished rinsing my hair. I held Bryce's eyes and knew we thought the same thing. Bryce played the same games, but he played them when I wasn't around. And I did my own thing.

  Bryce sighed and moved from the doorway. When I dressed in my bedroom, I heard the front door slam shut.

  I wasn't planning on going to school, but I'd already gotten dressed so I figured…

  Outside, just as I climbed into my car, I braked suddenly. Mena stood on her house's patio with a blank stare on her face. That was odd. I frowned, but reversed and drove to school. I wasn't about to put much thought into Mena's life when I barely thought about my own.

  When I walked into school, I saw a group of guys surrounding Bryce at his locker. He was turned with his head bent as he