Forbidden: A bully romance (An Academy Twin Rivalry Series Book 2)

by Taylor Blaine

  “Where do you want to go?” I didn’t know how to respond to what she’d said. I had no doubt she couldn’t figure out how she felt. She’d been beaten until she lost her baby. I wasn’t even sure she’d wrapped her head around having a baby yet as it was and then it was pushed from her body – violently.

  “The police want me to press charges on…” Stephanie didn’t say Ryan’s name, but I knew who she meant.

  I glanced at her in surprise. “Really? You think that would do anything?” Ryan was from a wealthy family. The cops didn’t usually bother with the West Side of Shores. The kids with money just kind of did what they wanted which wasn’t fair for the East Side, but nobody really said anything that I’d heard.

  She shrugged and scoffed. “Like it matters, right? I don’t know.” Her tone turned wistful. “I thought he cared about me.”

  “If he cared about you, he wouldn’t have treated you like that, you know? You can do better. You deserve better, Steph.” I stopped at the end of her driveway. “Do you have a place in mind?”

  “I really want a slice of pie and some cocoa. Do you think we could hit Linda’s?” She glanced hopefully my way. Linda’s was a café and bistro on the East Side close to the line that split the town in half.

  I’d already been on the East Side and it didn’t scare me anymore. As far as I was concerned, I didn’t belong to either side. I wasn’t even sure I belonged in Shores at all.

  “Linda’s it is.” I turned to the left and we headed toward town. “I’m craving something sweet, too.” I wasn’t really craving anything except time with Jaxon, but that seemed more dangerous and confusing than anything. Plus, wasn’t chocolate the answer for everything?

  We pulled into the parking lot at Linda’s and climbed from the car.

  The little German looking establishment had the shape of a hat and the colors of the singing kids from the Sound of Music. German folk songs trickled from speakers set up by the door as we approached.

  I stepped forward and pulled open the door for Stephanie to let her through.

  Not very many cars were in the parking lot which was perfect since neither Stephanie nor I really wanted to see anyone else.

  We went to the counter and ordered German hot cocoa. Stephanie got a piece of German chocolate cake which definitely wasn’t pie and I ordered a slice of old-fashioned cherry pie.

  We grabbed a booth by the window and slid in across from each other. Stephanie reached up and slid her glasses down her nose, folding the arms carefully and then setting the shades to the side. She lifted her face and my stomach tightened.

  “Stephanie, oh my hell.” The bruising and swelling on her face muddled the lines of her eye socket, making her much puffier than I’d expected. She couldn’t see out of her injured eye and the bridge of her nose was black and blue and led down to darken the skin under her eyes.

  The eye she could open and close easily she rolled. “I know. It’s terrible. I can’t eat anything salty without wanting to kill someone. It’s awful.” She tried smiling, revealing the red cuts still trying to heal in her lips.

  The hoodie protected her from view for the most part from the rest of the café.

  She rested her forearms on the table and leaned forward, then had to lean back when the waitress delivered our drinks and dishes.

  I ignored the bright red filling of the pie as it glistened at me on the white plate beneath a mound of vanilla ice cream. “What can I do?”

  “You’ve already done so much. Thank you. I don’t know where I would have been, if you hadn’t been there.” Stephanie picked up her fork.

  A man’s hand reached down and snagged her plate from in front of her and then tore her fork from her fingers. “I’d like a bite of that.”

  I narrowed my eyes while turning my gaze to face the encroacher.

  Ryan stood above us, shoving the fork into the cake and taking a large bite. Two of his friends I recognized but didn’t know stood behind him, sniggering and glancing at him and each other.

  “What are you doing?” I slowly leaned back, reaching forward to grip my fork in one hand and dragging the utensil to my lap.

  “I’m eating my bitch’s cake. Whatever is hers, is mine, right, guys?” He laughed, eating another bite with relish, not even looking at the damage he’d caused. He didn’t ask about her as he insulted her and mocked her.

  Stephanie kept her eyes downcast and that infuriated me more. He’d made her feel less than she was and he was still succeeding at it.

  Not on my watch.

  “You can go replace that cake. Now.” I stared up at him, the challenge clear in my eyes.

  He scoffed, pointing at me as he spoke around a mouthful of cake. “This coming from a traitorous slut.” He laughed with the guys, completely ignoring me as I stood.

  I grinned at them, laughing as if in agreement. Once they quieted and turned toward me, amused tolerance on their faces, I quietly asked, “Is that your answer?”

  Ryan reached out and patted the top of my head as if to remind me of my shorter stature. Five feet five inches wasn’t short but compared to his taller height, I could see how he thought so.

  Underestimating me was his biggest mistake.

  “Nah, I’m not going to do anything like that. She’ll buy me another one, if I want it. Won’t you, Bitch?” He laughed, glancing again at his boys.

  I drew my hand back, holding the fork in a tight grip. Swinging hard and putting a full hip pivot into it, I slammed the tines of the fork into the side of his crotch, through the silky material of his sports shorts.

  He dropped like a rock to the ground, screaming and grabbing at the fork handle protruding from his flesh.

  I pulled back my foot and delivered a solid kick to his friend’s shin who stood near me and was distracted by trying to figure out what had happened to Ryan.

  I slid back into the booth and motioned toward Ryan as the other one glared at me and moved toward me as if to attack. “I suggest getting him to the hospital. He could die from that.” Speaking over their noise to the alarmed women at the counter, I motioned at the scene. “He’s a rapist and a baby-killer.” I jerked my thumb at Stephanie who still hadn’t put on her sunglasses. “He’s also an abuser.”

  Their eyes widened and one gasped at the sight of Stephanie’s face.

  Turning back to my plate, I picked up the spoon sitting beside my cup. Scooping a bite of pie, I calmly watched as the two friends called 911 and squatted beside a now-passed out Ryan.

  Bored with the scene, I looked back at Stephanie and then slid her plate back in front of her. Standing, I grabbed two forks from the table behind us and slid a clean one across to her. “Sorry. Do you want a new piece of cake?”

  She blinked at me; her mouth partially open. “That was…” She shot a peek at Ryan, still passed out on the floor. Tears brightened her eyes and she mouthed thank you at me.

  I let my satisfaction at my actions well inside me. He deserved so much more than a stupid fork in his leg. I should get up and use my butter knife to carve my initials in his leg. That’s how mad I was at the prick.

  I sort of smiled at her amazement and reached across the table to take her hand. “You need someone who is willing to do that for a tiny reason. And not just a friend, either.” I hoped she knew what I meant. I didn’t want her to think a friend would be enough. She was worthy of love and I hated that Ryan had convinced her otherwise. Or worse, that her parents had destroyed her confidence in herself.

  My phone vibrated at the same time EMTs burst through the front doors. I ignored them as I swiped the phone screen and saw Jaxon’s text.

  J: Hey, are you free next Saturday?

  I glanced up at the staff at the counter as the EMTs questioned them on what happened. The woman who had gasped didn’t even look at us as she replied. “I have no idea what happened. I think he fell on his fork, but I’m not sure.”

  I grinned my thanks and the other one nodded discreetly my direction. Of course, the guys woul
d say what had happened, but without the testimony of the women at the counter, they didn’t have much to go off of when it would be a he-said-she-said matter.

  Me: What did you have in mind?

  J: It’s my mom’s funeral. I really don’t want to go alone.

  That had to be hard to admit. My heart went out to him. He could have kept it to himself and yet he didn’t. He asked me to go with him.

  Me: I’d be honored. Did you have a good day?

  J: I slept. I’ll see you when you get back?

  Me: I’m with Stephanie. I just stabbed Ryan with a fork in the leg. I might just stay with Steph tonight. You can come over, if you want.

  I wasn’t sure if Steph would be okay with that or not, but for some reason, I didn’t want to leave him at his dad’s house without some kind of backup with Braddox roaming around. Braddox was bad news. Some days it felt like I was the only one who saw it.

  J: I’ll need details on the stabbing. Do I need to bail you out?

  Me: He harassed Steph here at Linda’s. Ate her cake. He won’t leave her alone. I’m not sure what else to do.

  J: Got it. I also promise not to eat your cake. ; )

  I glanced up at Stephanie who watched me with slight grin. Shrugging, I set the phone down and cut a bite of pie with my fork. “I feel like I want to do something tonight, but I don’t want to go out.”

  The EMTs didn’t bother us as they packed up Ryan and his friends and wheeled him out of the café on a gurney. We continued ignoring the chaos, as if my hands weren’t shaking from having recently stabbed him.

  Stephanie sipped her cocoa and gazed over my head as she thought about it. “You know, Staci lives by me. We should sneak over and do something – like dump bleach in the hot tub or something.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me.

  “I’m not sure about the bleach, but… that’s intriguing, actually.” I poked a cherry with my new fork and stared at the pie. “Did I tell you I think there’s some kind of connection between me and her?”

  Stephanie wrinkled her nose as much as she could. “Are you saying you’re attracted to her?”

  I laughed, shaking my head. Leave it to Steph to make me laugh in inappropriate times. “Not really, but she does have a nice rack. I saw her naked last night – or almost naked – and I wish I looked like her to be honest.” No wonder the guys liked her.

  Stephanie’s laugh was genuine and lacked the shadows of sadness she’d harbored for so long. “I don’t know about that. I’d kill to look like you. What kind of connection are you talking about?”

  “I would kill to look like you.” I snort-laughed. Funny how we both wanted what we didn’t have. “I think… well, I’m not sure. There are a lot of coincidences and I’m not sure how they all tie in together.” There wasn’t a lot more I could say. I didn’t know anything more than what I’d told her.

  “I think we need a reason to go over there.” I sighed and pointed at Steph. “Dumping bleach into the hot tub isn’t a real option.”

  “Whatever, I’m taking bleach just in case.” Stephanie winked with her good eye and pointed at my pie. “Eat that. I think Pierre is making meatloaf tonight. We need to get some weight on us, if we’re going to be stealthy burglars.”

  I laughed even harder. “We’re not stealing anything either.” A little reconnaissance actually sounded exactly like what I needed. Maybe then I could get answers to my questions. Staci’s house – my old house – might be the only way I would get anywhere.

  Chapter 13

  Jaxon

  I leaned forward on the edge of my bed. Olivia had been forced to stab Ryan because he was harassing Stephanie? I stood, running my hand through my hair as I paced at the foot of my bed. Back and forth. Back and forth.

  Was there something I was missing? Why had Olivia stabbed Ryan? She was there with Stephanie, obviously. Ryan must have been harassing Stephanie enough that it pushed Olivia over the edge. Ryan wasn’t a small guy and the fact that she’d faced him and stabbed him had me shaking my head.

  I was worried. What would happen with the loser once he got things taken care of? I wasn’t even sure to what extent the damage had been done. I had no idea on any of it. Rather than call her and act worried, I would have to work in the background on securing her safety.

  I wasn’t going to tell her not to see Stephanie. Not only would that not work, but Stephanie didn’t deserve to be left to Ryan’s intimidation and abuse.

  No. I had to deal with the situation at the core. I tucked my phone in my back pocket and strode to the door of my room. Not more than thirty minutes ago, Braddox had gone into his room. I hadn’t heard him come out yet.

  West Shores Academy was my brother’s turf. He had overall control. I’d seen that when people got out of my way at the party and then again at the school when they thought I was him. He had deference, but was he utilizing it and securing it in the best possible ways?

  It didn’t seem like it.

  I clenched my fist and thundered on his door. I wasn’t in the mood to play nice. Either he took care of the mess at his academy or I would do it. If I did, there would be a shift and he would like me even less at that point.

  Almost thirty seconds passed before Braddox bothered opening his door. He stood there, in black slacks and a dark blue polo that only made him look bigger where it would make other guys our age appear prissy and ill-defined. His jaw ticked and he leaned his head back.. “What do you want, Jaxon?”

  “We need to talk.” I moved into his room without an invitation. Confidence wasn’t something I had to ask permission for. The damn trait ran in our blood.

  Braddox narrowed his eyes as he stared at me and then flicked his gaze back to the door and then back at me. “Okay, I’ll bite. What do you need to talk about? Should I order up some Rice Krispy treats and cocoa?” The sarcasm was rich in his voice, forcing me to grit my teeth.

  He could be a jerk. That was fine. I didn’t need him to be my best-friend or even cordial. I just needed some answers. “Nah, I’m not hungry. Thanks.” Two could play that game. I turned back to him and folded my arms, tilting my head to the side. “I don’t know how you do things here, but when I ran East Shores, abuse wasn’t tolerated.”

  Braddox blinked at me, then shut the door. “What the hell are you talking about? Who abused who?”

  “Ryan Beetham raped Stephanie the night of the last party at Donnie’s. Then recently, Olivia and I had to take her to the hospital because he’d beaten her so bad, she lost the baby.” I didn’t need to recount the blood and the slight weight of Olivia’s friend as I’d carried her to the car.

  Braddox froze as he stared at me. “She lost the baby?” Something flickered in his eyes.

  I narrowed mine. Why did he care about the baby? There were too many things going on at once. I shook my head. “I just want to know what you’re going to do about it.” It wasn’t a question. I’d moved beyond that. Everything between Braddox and I had moved to a demand situation.

  “How do you know about the baby? Are you and Olivia that close, now?” He moved around, coming to a stop in front of the window which looked out over the front yard. He waited for my answer.

  I shrugged, even though he couldn’t see me. “I think so.” I didn’t want to tell him anything about Olivia and me. None of that had any pertinence to the discussion in front of us. “If you want to keep control at West Shores, I suggest you do something about it. If you don’t want to keep your spot, let me know and I’ll step in.”

  Intimidating people was one way to gain power. But protecting people was the best way to hold onto deference and true respect. When you did things for people, they owed you. I’d learned that the hard way.

  “Why do you care what I do or what I control? It’s only three more months of school. Then we’re all going to be free to do whatever we want. You can join the military or whatever it is poor people do. I’m planning on Cal-Tech or somewhere equally expensive. My grades will get me in a place like that. How about yours?”
Braddox glanced over his shoulder, smugness in the squinting of his eyes and the slight curving of his lips.

  I shrugged, more than ready to put the dick in his place. “Cal-Tech and MIT wanted me, but I turned them down.” Okay, not technically, but wasn’t it the same thing when Dad was telling me he could get me in wherever I wanted to go and I said no? I still hadn’t analyzed that conversation completely yet either, though. I wasn’t sure what it had meant or what I should take from it.

  Braddox turned to me, skepticism strong in his features. I could have been staring in a mirror. “What do you mean you turned them down? How is that possible when your class load was the low… caliber offered at of ESA?”

  “My education surpassed that school’s limitations. Don’t worry about it.” I pointed toward the door. “Do you have any idea what you’re going to do?” I was anxious and ready to get started on doing something. Anything.

  “I don’t see how it’s any of your concern.” Braddox pushed past me and reopened his door, looking pointedly at the hallway and then back at me.

  I nodded at him, a slight grin on my lips. “Okay, got it. You don’t care.” I moved toward the door and then stopped in front of him. “The odd thing is, this is important to Olivia and yet… you don’t care.”

  “I don’t care about Olivia. She’s not my problem anymore. She chose you, remember?” He smirked at me and looked away. “You’ll hate having her. She’s a virgin, you know?”

  That’s when it struck me. He was jealous of me. Not because he actually cared about Olivia – I wasn’t sure on that one way or the other – but he didn’t like that she chose me. Over him.

  “You don’t care that Olivia chose me over you? Or that she’s a virgin? Didn’t you guys date for a year or something? She didn’t give it up to you, huh?” I slowly ambled toward the door, like I wasn’t in any hurry. I rubbed the side of my nose, complete nonchalance in the way I moved.