Jaded

"What?" I sat up and asked in shock.

Bryce's eyes widened—a feat that I'd never seen before, but he didn't say anything.

Corrigan watched us another moment and then threw his head back in a laugh.

"I'm so joking, you guys. God—look at you." He kept laughing until Bryce punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow!" he yelped and moved away. Corrigan shook his head and continued eating in between laughs. "Seriously. You guys looked like I'd died or something. That was hilarious."

"Not funny." I glared.

"It was funny." Corrigan chuckled as he finished the rest of his food. When Bryce and I continued to stare at him, he threw his hands in the air. "Come on, guys! Seriously! You don't want to go there."

"What is wrong with you?" Bryce asked, more curious.

"Nothing's wrong with me. Why do you automatically assume something's wrong?"

"Because we were making out and you interrupted. You never interrupt us," I spelled it out. That was my first clue anyway.

"If you want to make out right now, don't hold back. I have no problem with it." Corrigan flashed his charming grin again.

I blinked, stunned at how slippery he could be. Then I said, "No. Tell us."

He glanced at Bryce for a second and shook his head again. "Seriously. Nothing's wrong."

He didn't want to share and it was starting to become more work than it deserved so I rolled my eyes and gave up. "How do you know Steele's sister? What's her name?"

Bryce glanced to him and asked, "You already know her?"

Corrigan stiffened, but answered, "Her name is Mena and yes, I've met her. It didn't go so well."

"What happened?" Bryce flashed a grin. "You hit on her, but shagged her best friend."

Classic Corrigan and as his jaw tightened, Bryce had hit the bulls-eye.

"Oh come on, Corrigan. How are you expecting to make a better impression over that?" I laughed.

The charm was back when he replied, "I've got a few tricks."

I narrowed my eyes and then rolled my eyes. Corrigan was in one of his moods and I lacked the energy to play his game.

Bryce studied him for a moment longer and then decided the same as me. Corrigan would do what he always did.

"Come on. I'm ready to go back. How about you two?"

Whatever. He decided when we left, now he decided when we went back? I didn’t think so. I knew Bryce had turned to me, so I flashed him a wolfish grin. The desire was starting to pulsate between my legs. I wasn’t going to go back to school with that throbbing. I was going to do something about it.

I dug my keys out and chucked them to Corrigan. "Crash her and you pay for her."

He sent a suggestive leer at us before he jiggled the keys. "Thanks, Sheldon. Feel free to tape it so I can watch later," Corrigan called over his shoulder as he jogged up the stairs and out the door.

Bryce watched me, trying to gauge me.

He always did this too.

Sighing, I uncurled my legs and stood. As I stretched, Bryce enjoyed the show with a half-grin curling at his mouth. I bent forward, holding his gaze, and reached for his plate, then grabbed my own and traipsed up the stairs.

Bryce followed as I placed the dishes in the sink. Then I proceeded to my room. I left the door open and fell on my bed as he followed inside.

"When are your parents coming back?" he asked as he pulled his shirt off.

My eyes traveled over his muscular chest and stomach. I licked my lips. The throb had doubled. I felt it in my toes. "They're in Italy and won't be home until Thanksgiving." My voice was husky as I knelt on the bed. "Between you and me, I don't even think they'll be back by then."

Since my room could get stuffy, he left the door open and moved closer to me.

"You told me they'd be back this weekend. I remember," Bryce stepped closer and closed his eyes when I slid my hand down his chest. I hooked a finger on the inside of his pants and he said, "Because that was your excuse for missing my party on Friday."

I unsnapped the front button and slid the zipper down.

I pulled him down on top of me and whispered, closing my eyes as his hand started his own exploration, "Maybe I just didn't want to go and see you hit on all those other girls."

"Baby." Bryce rolled me underneath him and propped himself up on one elbow.

I opened my eyes and held his sapphire ones.

He bent forward and pressed a kiss to my jaw when he murmured, "You're always my first choice. You know that, don't you?"

In truth, I hadn't gone because we'd had a 'near emotion' event that day. That's what Corrigan called them when I witnessed a cheerleader pawing the front of Bryce's pants that afternoon. Bryce hadn't known I was around, but my jaw clenched and I turned away. I hadn’t enjoyed seeing that.

Corrigan shook his head when I left down the opposite hallway and out the door.

The sight of a girl mauling Bryce wasn't anything new, but the sight of Bryce enjoying it had cut deeper than I wanted to acknowledge. I begged off the party. My excuse had been weak. At the time, Bryce registered it with a flicker in his eyes, but he hadn't said anything.

I entwined a hand around the back of his neck now and pulled his head to mine. Against his lips, I whispered, as I twisted one of my legs over his, "I better damn well be."

Bryce smirked before he captured my lips with his and his full weight fell on me.

Moments later, both of us were panting as the rest of our clothes followed to the floor and Bryce gasped, "Condom."

"Usual place," I whispered against his skin as I stayed wrapped around him.

Bryce groaned and I pressed against him.

We hadn't been together all weekend.

"Baby," he grunted. "I have to go. Condom, now."

The haze disappeared enough for me to remember the importance of that little piece of rubber and I let go. Bryce was off the bed in a flash and he grabbed a condom from my dresser drawer. He met my lips when he returned and it didn't take long before the condom was applied and Bryce rolled me underneath once more.

He slid in and both of us groaned in pleasure.

As the tempo sped up, Bryce continued to kiss just underneath my ear. It was one of my spots that he'd discovered early on. I tilted my head back, ran a hand down his back, and moved to meet his lips with mine.

He groaned into my mouth and increased his thrusts.

After awhile, both of us held on as we climaxed together and our bodies shuddered. We stayed put, wrapped around each other with Bryce still inside of me until our bodies had stopped convulsing.

I sunk down onto my pillow and nearly purred when Bryce ran a hand down the side of my body, from my shoulder to my knee. It was soothing and I rolled to allow him to move to the other side of my body.

Chuckling, Bryce pulled out and pressed a kiss to my hipbone as his fingers finished their exploration of my body.

He moved to the side and pulled my bedcovers over both of us before he turned and wrapped an arm around me, spooning from behind.

My entire body was content. Yawning, I glanced at the clock. 12:45.

"We should go back for the rest of the afternoon.” But I was so tired. I felt my eyelids starting to close.

Bryce chuckled into my ear. One of his hands started to run over my back in a circle. "What for? We'll get reamed out by the principal."

"We should stay in bed all day?"

"Why not?" He propped himself on an elbow and looked down on me as I fell to my back. He smiled and murmured, "It wouldn't be the first time."

"Because you have soccer practice in three hours," I pointed out. "If you're not in school, you can't play."

A shadow of weariness passed over him as he sat up and moved to the edge of the bed.

"What?" I asked and sat up.

Bryce shook his head and reached for his pants.

"What?" I repeated and reached for my own.

"Nothing," he clipped out and moved to the shower. When I heard the water running, I dropped my clothes and crossed to the bathroom doorway.

I could see Bryce in the shower and his eyes found mine through the translucent glass shower door. He finished and stepped out a moment later. As he moved aside and dressed, I finished my own shower.

Bryce sat on my bed as he waited for me to finish dressing.

I couldn’t handle the silence and cracked after awhile. "What is it?"

"Nothing. Are you done?" He stood and grabbed a set of car keys on my nightstand. He knew I kept keys to all the cars in my parent’s garage. There was an extra set in my bedroom, one in my purse, and another in a kitchen drawer.

"Are you mad?" Even as I asked it, I felt my chest tighten a little. This was encroaching onto a conversation I didn't want to have, but I'd already asked.

"I don't want to fight so let's just…," he waved towards the door. "Let's go."

"What fight? Did I say something to offend you? Is this about soccer practice?"

Bryce opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He closed it and turned towards the hallway.

I followed behind and neither of us questioned it when Bryce drove us to school in my dad’s Maserati.

Chapter 3





The parking lot was full of students when Bryce pulled into a slot and turned the engine off. Neither of us moved as we watched the crowd outside the door. It wasn't uncommon for nearly everyone to flock outside, either in the back or in the front of the building when the weather was warm. There was an extended break between fifth period and sixth.

I couldn't stand the tension, but I also knew I didn't want to get out of the car with how things were between us. "I don't know what to do right now."

Bryce bit off a bitter laugh and shook his head. "You don't have to do anything."

"What?"

"You're always saying that. Get a clue, Sheldon," he snapped and slammed the door behind him.

I watched as Bryce was greeted by Chad, Trenton, and so many others.

Get a clue? What did that mean? And why did I actually care?

I followed behind, feeling just…uncomfortable. I didn't care that most of the students had knowing looks on their faces. Bryce glanced up as I neared where he stood, but I didn't want to stop and chat. It must've shown in my face because a path cleared for me so I was able to walk inside without any hassle. As I stepped into the girls' locker room to avoid people in the hallway, there were three girls at the sinks. All three stared at me.

"What?"

All of their eyes widened and turned away. When they left, I glanced up and saw that one had stayed behind. She had jet-black hair that streamed to her waist. She was petite with a cute green top over a faded jeans and black boots that stopped just underneath her knee.

"Hi?" What'd she want?

"You're Sheldon Jeneve, right?" she asked and tamed a strand of hair that was out of place. She didn't look nervous, just confident.

"Yeah. And you are…?"

"I'm Mena Cruiw. My brother is Denton Steele."

Oh. I studied her again and saw a faint resemblance in the eyes, but that was about it. The nose curled at the same spot.

"You have a different last name?"

"I was adopted by my stepfather, but they're having problems so they sent me out here to live with my biological dad."

"You and Denton are half-siblings?"

"No." She leaned against a sink. "We're full brother and sister, but he still loves our dad. Me, I'd rather not have anything to do with him. My mom and biological dad were your neighbors before they got divorced. My mom moved to New York."

This sounded complex. "Look," I murmured. "I don't really want to hear your family's genogram."

"That's okay." she shrugged. "I don't really want to tell you my family's genogram. We're messed up, that's the gist of it."

"And why are you talking to me…?"

"Because you shagged my brother and didn't give him the time of day afterwards." She grinned and it lit up her face and eyes. Corrigan would've called her hot without the smile, but he would've considered her deadly with the smile. "I wanted to meet you."

"Nice to meet you." I dismissed her as I turned my back to leave. I expected her to say something, but she didn't. When I got to my locker, I realized why—she'd followed me.

"What?" I grabbed my sixth period book.

"I thought maybe," she shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe we could be friends? You know who I am and you don't care about my brother. I like that. I heard around that you don't have a lot of friends."

"I don't do friends."

I cringed inside. Bad choice of words.

"This isn't about popularity. Trust me." She gestured to the hallway. I glanced around and saw a good portion of the guys were eyeing us, up and down. I'd grown immune to the attention, but I shouldn't have been surprised they were watching her.

Mena waved them off. "I know who my brother is. I can be popular off his name. I can be popular on my own too. I was Homecoming Queen at my last school for the junior class. I went to the largest high school in Manhattan. I'd like to think that says something."

"Becky Lew likes friends." Becky Lew liked followers.

Mena parroted my thoughts as she snorted, "Becky Lew likes to be followed around and fanned. She wants errand girls, not friends. I was lucky to get a few good friends at my old school. I like you. I heard all about you from Denton and this morning around school. You don't give a crap what people think of you. It works for you." She stepped closer. "And you don't play those childish games that all girls inevitably do. I'm tired of that life."

I frowned and moved away from her. I didn't know what to think of this girl, but then Corrigan interrupted us as he stopped between us. His back was to Mena. "Do I need to know what happened between you two?"

Corrigan did that so efficiently. It was a perfected technique that cut out everyone else.

For a moment, I thought he meant me and Mena, but then comprehension dawned and I whispered, "No. You don't need to know because I don't even know."

He meant Bryce and me.

"Bryce is furious. I'm asking." He shifted closer to me. "Should I know what happened?"

"You want to know all the dirty secrets?" I teased. "You want the play by play?"

Corrigan took the hint and returned, "You taped it. Right? Tell me you taped it."

Mena shifted farther to the side as Corrigan dropped to lean against the locker that she had been standing against. She frowned at his back, but our attention was thwarted when Bryce stopped beside us. He ran his eyes over us before he drawled, "Principal wants to see us."

I groaned and buried my head in my locker.

"Hope your nooner was worth it. I heard you guys were supposed to be at the library instead." Corrigan gave us a knowing leer.

"We skipped because you were hungry," Bryce pointed out.

The leer disappeared.