Jaded

Corrigan threw his head back in laughter and then bounded over to wrap both arms around me. He lifted me in the air and bounced us both up and down as he chortled, "You love it! The gang is back together again! About effing time, Sheldon!"

I laughed and patted his arm. "Put me down, idiot. And why are you making it sound like I had anything to do with it?"

Corrigan placed me back on my feet and gave me an incredulous look. "Seriously, Sheldon. You know why."

"No, I don't." And I didn't.

"Bryce is back because of you. Admit it. He needs you just as much as you need him."

"Bryce came back because the California Suns offered him a better deal on their soccer team."

"Uh huh," he replied. Then he wrapped his arms around me again. "I don't care that you're in denial. I'm just happy that the crew's back together again."

I heard guffaws of 'hey dude' and 'did you get laid a lot?' and raised my eyebrows at Corrigan. "Did you have to bring them? All of them?"

Corrigan shrugged and ducked as I swatted at him. "They're my brothers. They wanted to meet Bryce."

"Whatever. Just get 'em out of here by tonight and not too late. I have class tomorrow, and I already know I'll be losing sleep as it is."

Corrigan nudged me with a wink. "Maybe you should sleep now, and then you'll be rested for Bryce tonight."

"You're disgusting." I hit him, but the idea had merit…

"Just trying to help. I care about your sex life."

"More like you care if I'm a bitch or not." And then I thought about it. "Are you dating someone new? You only care if I'm nice if you've got a new girl."

I narrowed my eyes but saw the quick panic in Corrigan's. Then he ran his hand through his shaggy blond hair. That's when I knew for sure. "Oh my god. You're dating someone that I won't be able to stand, aren't you?"

"No. Seriously Sheldon. You're all cute with your choppy brown hair and your smoking bod, but the attitude—it wears a little thin sometimes."

I narrowed my eyes. Corrigan never commented on my looks. He'd refer to me as hot or bodylicious, but he never commented on my hair—never. He was off, something was off. And then I knew. "You heard about what I said about Grace, didn't you?"

A wall slammed over his green sparklers.

And I had my answer. He had, and he was pissed about it.

"Why do you care? It's not like it's a secret. Bryce said that you talked about it to him."

"But I haven't talked to you about it because you're Grace's friend. Now it's out, and it has to be dealt with. You're pushing me to deal with it, Sheldon. And it's not your place. You should've kept your mouth shut." The gleeful boy had changed to show the anger that Corrigan usually kept in check.

"I would've, but she was pissing me off." I didn't care if Corrigan had a temper. We both did.

"Why was she pissing you off? Because it's so hard to do that."

"You don't know. You weren't there."

"Then explain it to me!" Corrigan yelled back. He was right in my face.

My nose was almost pressed to his as I cried out, with a hitch in my throat, "Because she constantly thinks I'm going to break. She can't get over what happened a year ago, and I'm sick and tired of her reminding me about it."

Corrigan sobered instantly. "I'm sorry, Sheldon."

I pressed on now that the dam had broken, "She can't let it go. I'm tired of always seeing this look in her face, like she thinks of me as a victim or something. I don't want her goddamn pity. I'm tired of it."

There was an awkward silence between us for a moment. I replayed my words and flinched from the raw emotion. And then Corrigan asked, "Who do you talk about it with? You don't mention it to me."

There was a knot in my throat, and I couldn't speak. I waved my hands in the air and shook my head. Corrigan groaned and moved close. "Hey, hey." He touched my shoulder, but I shrugged him off. "Sheldon, come on."

I couldn't, not then and there. The truth was that I didn't talk to anyone about it. Sometimes Bryce and I used to mention one or two things about Marcus Donadeli, but it was never in-depth. I had covered it in my counseling sessions with Miss Connors. Really. Did I have to talk about it to anyone else? Who would want to talk about that stuff?

I hurried out of the changing room and moved around the group of frat brothers.

"Sheldon! We're going to get a keg. Is that okay?" Michael Reveritt called out.

When I looked over, I gasped at what I saw. Bryce sat at one of the tables with Michael and a few others. That's not what made me gasp; it was the naked girl grinding on top of Michael while she eyed Bryce who sat right beside them.

"Get rid of the skank and you can have two kegs."

Michael flashed a smile and pushed the girl off his waist. She glared at me. I glared back. Then Michael called out, "Hey, pledge! Take Leah home."

One of them groaned but tore away from his group. As Leah dressed in reluctance, I looked up and caught Bryce's gaze. He was eyeing me, not in concern, not in caution, but in curiosity. And then his eyes trailed past my shoulders, and I looked. Corrigan was behind me, wearing a scowl.

Bryce stood up and asked, "What happened?"

Everyone quieted and looked over.

Corrigan jerked an abrupt shoulder. "Ask Sheldon. Since she doesn't effing talk about anything anymore. Wait—that's never changed, has it, Sheldon?"

I rounded on him. "Why are your panties so twisted? Is it because the Grace thing is out or is it because I don't talk to you about certain stuff?"

"You don't talk about anything. You left Bryce and you haven't said one word about the two of you. For the longest time I thought you'd broken up. Bryce is the one that had to tell me things were still okay with you two." He shrugged another shoulder and looked dejected. "You still don't let me in, not like Bryce, not even when he was across the world."

I narrowed my eyes and studied him hard. This wasn't normal for Corrigan, at least not in front of so many people. We didn't air our dirty laundry, and here he was, doing just that. I'd had enough. "Stop taking your bad mood out on me. You don't give a crap if I talk to you or not, not about those things. You're pissy about Grace. Are you in love with her?"

"What?" He froze, but his jaw clenched.

Bryce walked around the table. Michael and the brothers moved out of the way. And then Bryce bent, wrapped an arm around my waist, and lifted me up. He turned and called over his shoulder, "Party all you want, but don't trash the place and no media."

Corrigan snorted. "I can't believe you have to say things like that. 'No media.' That's rich." He forced a lighter tone, but I still heard the anger.

I lifted my head as I was transferred over Bryce's shoulder and glared. "You trash my place, and I'm coming after your balls."

"Yeah, well, we can talk about it afterwards," Corrigan threw back.

I flipped him off as the door shut behind us. Then I wiggled to get off Bryce. "You can let me down."

Bryce didn't answer. He patted my butt and carried me through the dining room, kitchen, and up the stairs.

He paused at the top and I murmured, "I moved into the big room." So he swept to where my parents' room used to be. Once inside, Bryce deposited me on the king size bed and kicked the door shut at the same time.

I fell down and glared up at him.

He asked, "What the hell is going on with you and Corrigan?"

I stayed on the bed and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Sheldon, you and Corrigan have never fought, not like that. What happened this year? I know that you and I are—I'm not sure how we are, but you and Corrigan have always been solid. What the hell happened?"

I raised frosty eyes at him. "What would you know about it? You've been around the world, doing your thing. Where do you get off talking as if we're in a relationship? This, you and me, it's called sex. That's all we've ever been."

Bryce shot a dark look at me and was quickly on top of me. He pinned my wrists to the bed and then growled. "We have been in a relationship since seventh grade. It took me six years to finally get you to say that you loved me, so don't insult me right now by saying we're not in a relationship or that we never have been. I won't stand for it, Sheldon. Not anymore, especially after being apart from you for the last six months. You left me."

"You left me first!" I tried to kick free from him, but Bryce spread his legs and wrapped them around each of mine. I was trapped, and he knew it.

"I had to go to Europe for my family, remember? And you came with me."

"Well, it didn't take with me."

"You didn't give it a shot. And are we really having a fight the first night I'm back?" Bryce asked, exasperated, and rested his forehead against mine. I felt his breath on my cheek as he breathed. And then he shifted and I felt every part of his body on mine. He moved upwards and a groan escaped my lips when my groin came into contact with his.

He chuckled. I couldn't keep back a grin.

Some things never changed.