by Maree Green
The guy—Trent—stood up with her. “I’ll let you go, Rabbit,” he said, opening his arms up for her to step into. “I’ve got to go anyway.”
Jess stepped into his embrace without question, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him back. Every muscle in my body wound tighter. “Thank you,” she whispered to him.
I watched him pull back before drawing his thumb over her cheek. Motherfucker. “You look beautiful, Rabbit. I’ll see you soon.”
Forcing my gaze away from the scene in front of me, I tried to control the jealousy that was trying to take control of my body. It was something I thought I’d mastered while Jess had been dating Wyatt, but this didn’t even compare. I thought it may have had something to do with the fact that I’d tasted her now. That it had somehow made me possessive of her. Like she was mine. But I wasn’t so sure right now.
“See ya, Eli,” the guy said, smirking. The fucker knew I was going insane.
As Jess watched him walk away, I tried yet again to get myself under control, but when she turned to me, her gaze questioning, I exhaled and allowed myself to take a step forward.
“What did Noah say?” she asked.
The fact that she immediately went into business mode disappointed me, but I couldn’t blame her. “They’ve arrested the dealer. He admitted to selling GHB to Zac.”
She released a heavy breath before sitting back on the edge of the table again. “Are they going to arrest Zac?”
I shook my head. “Not at this stage.”
This was the moment I was supposed to gently encourage her to consider reporting the drugging, but all I could think about was the guy. This wasn’t going to end well.
Chapter 27
Jess
Eli stepped forward, entering my space. It was definitely beyond the friend zone. “Who’s the guy, Jess?” he said, his voice low and dangerous. The timbre of it sent shivers through my body.
Realization shocked me. He was jealous. I cocked my head to the side a little, amusement settling on my lips. “Who? Trent?” I said, dragging the moment out.
He moved closer again. “You know I mean Trent. Who is he?”
I drew my teeth over my bottom lip as I thought about how to answer. I was tempted to lie, but I knew it would most likely backfire on me.
“It’s not that hard of a question, Jess,” he said, moving so close we were practically touching. “Who is he?”
“Why does it matter?” I asked as he leaned forward, bringing his lips toward mine.
“Trust me, it matters,” he said, his lips hovering.
My breath shook, the feel of his warmth so near to me it sent all kinds of signals to places that were probably dangerous right now. “He’s a friend of Austin’s,” I breathed. “He was in town for the weekend and wanted to say hi.”
Then he kissed me.
Excitement coursed through my body as his arms pulled me into him. Feeling him so out of control did something wild to me. The idea that he wanted me so much he couldn’t stop himself was so incredibly arousing, I wouldn’t have cared if he took me right where we stood.
But his jealousy . . . Oh. My. God.
I knew I should’ve told him who Trent was when I introduced them, but I’d hoped seeing me with someone else might’ve been the push he needed to let go of whatever it was that was holding him back.
Gripping his shirt in my fists, I pulled him against me, letting him know I was all for this abandonment. My lips teased and my tongue encouraged. And when his hands moved over my body, one tangling in my hair, gripping me to him, victory sang in my veins. A moan rumbled in my throat, my own abandon taking me deeper again. Eli’s hands tightened, his mouth crushing against mine, his tongue stroking and tasting. I was lost to it. Consumed. I never wanted it to end.
But what I wanted didn’t matter, because between one gulp of air and the next, Eli was tearing his mouth from mine and walking away from me. I stumbled a little before catching myself with the edge of the table, my breath harsh and my head spinning. Eli stopped a few yards away, thrusting his hands through his hair as he faced away from me.
Tilting his head back, he dropped his arms by his sides. “Fuck!” he yelled, his voice carried away by the wind. Then he turned and pinned me with a wild look. “Why the fuck can’t I control myself when I’m around you?” he demanded, although I thought he knew I couldn’t answer him. “Why can’t I just leave you alone?”
I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. Besides, I didn’t want him to.
He shook his head, desperation flashing in his eyes. “We can’t do this, Jess. It can’t happen.”
A pang of hurt flared inside me. I didn’t understand why he was resisting it so much. Was the thought of us being together so bad to him? “Why can’t it happen, Eli? Tell me.”
He threw his hands up in front of him. “It just can’t, Jess. There are too many things in the way.”
This wasn’t fair. He wasn’t being fair. “Do you want it to happen, though?”
“It doesn’t matter what I want, Jess. It just can’t happen,” he said, lifting his shoulders as though that ended the conversation.
Irritation crept into my chest. “So you keep saying, but I’m asking if you want it.”
Tension creased his brow. “Of course I want it. I think that’s pretty fucking obvious, Jess. But it doesn’t matter. I’m trying to be responsible here. I’ve got commitments I need to stick to, and I can’t afford to be distracted.”
Okay, now I was just pissed off. I didn’t care what excuses he was using. This was the second time he’d started something before dropping the boom gates on me. Whether he knew it or not, he was playing with my feelings, and it was up to me to put a stop to it.
Striding forward, I clenched my jaw tight, watching a hint of wariness creep over his features as I neared. “You know what, Eli? That’s fine. You can use any excuse you want. It’s your choice. But unless you decide you want to take a chance with me, that was the last time you get to touch me. Because if you do this again, I have a bunch of guys who’d be willing to make you regret it—your brothers included. And you know it.”
“Jess,” he said, regret streaming from his gaze.
“No, Eli. Enough is enough. It’s not fair of you to do what you’re doing. I could stand here and lie and say I don’t want you, but we both know that’s not true. If you really don’t want to be with me, stop teasing me and just leave me the hell alone,” I said, jabbing him in the chest with my finger. “Oh, yeah, and if you see me with another guy like you did today—regardless of what he is to me—you suck it the fuck up and turn around and walk away. You don’t get to march on in and demand to know what’s going on. And just remember, it was your choice.”
Without waiting for him to respond, I turned and stormed across the park. I had no idea where I was going. All I knew was that I needed to put as much distance between Eli and me as possible. But the more I walked, and the more I thought about what had just happened with Eli, the more I began to see just how much I’d been a bystander in my own life. As much as I could blame Wyatt and Zac and Eli for all the things that had happened to me these past few months, I hadn’t exactly done much to take control of the outcomes. I’d allowed myself to be a victim.
Slowing to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk, people flowing around me, I realized what it was I needed to do. Pulling the cell phone out of my pocket, I scrolled through my contacts and pushed on the one I needed.
Pressing it to my ear, I took a deep, reassuring breath, and as the call connected, I steeled myself. “Noah,” I said, “I’m ready.”
Chapter 28
Eli
As the flames flickered in the slow-burning fire, I sat forward in my seat, elbows on my knees, and hung my head. Rolling the beer between my hands, I allowed the remorse to flow through me. No matter how hard I tried to convince myself I’d done the right thing with Jess, I just couldn’t deny the fact that I’d been a douche. The fact that I’d allowed myself to take whatev
er I wanted without any regard for what would happen afterward, made me more disappointed in myself than I’d ever been.
Shaking my head, I took another swig of the beer. All I knew was that I’d fucked up. Colossally. I’d dug myself into a hole so fucking deep, I was sure I had no way out again. I couldn’t even pretend I’d be capable of hooking up with another girl after today. No one would ever compare to what I’d tasted with Jess. Ever. I didn’t care how much time could pass. I was scarred.
The way she responded to my touch would forever be my torture. And I fucking deserved it. To know how receptive she was—how free she could let herself be—and that I’d ruined any chance of ever seeing her like that when she came undone in my arms, was something that would eat away at me for the rest of my life.
Sighing, I slumped back in my seat. Fuck, I’d be lucky if she ever spoke to me again after today. The way she fired up, her green eyes burning with such intensity, was a sight to be seen. I didn’t revel in the fact that I’d made her angry, but I sure did admire the way she stood up for herself. She was beautiful and strong and she fought for what was right. She was perfection.
“All right there, Brother?”
I started at the sound of Noah’s voice. I’d been so deep in my own thoughts, I hadn’t even heard him approach. Giving him a nod, I held up my beer. “I will be soon.”
His gaze narrowed a fraction before he disappeared into the man cave, reappearing a second later with his own brew. Taking a seat beside me, he tapped the neck of his bottle against mine. “Want to talk about it?”
I stopped to consider his words before deciding I wasn’t ready. “I’d rather not,” I said, shooting him an apologetic look.
“Fair enough,” he said, taking a sip. “I just came to say thank you. Whatever you said to Jess, it worked.”
At the mention of Jess’s name, I tensed. There were lots of things I said to Jess, but as far as I could remember, none of them were good. “You’re going to have to clarify.”
Suspicion narrowed his eyes, but he didn’t press it. “She came in to report the drugging. We can start looking at surveillance now.”
My head instantly started searching through the events of the day. I was pretty sure I hadn’t even brought up the issue of going to the police. I’d been too busy tormenting her like the scum I was.
My jaw clenched as I thought about the guy. Trent. I wondered if he was the one to convince her. Would she have told him about it? My body’s reaction to the thought of that wasn’t good. I wanted to be the one she confided in. I wanted to be the person she listened to.
“What’s going on, man?” Noah asked. “I’ve never seen you like this. You’re worrying me.”
Rubbing the bridge of my nose, I pressed my lips into a tight smile. “I’ll be all right, Bro. I’m just not real happy with myself right now.”
Noah groaned a little. “Do I want to know what you did? Am I going to hear a never-ending barrage of women being all pissed off?”
I chuckled a little at that, but there was no humor in it. “There’s a high possibility, so maybe I should say sorry now.”
He watched me as I drank deep, sympathy evident in his silence. After a few more minutes, he nudged me with his elbow. “Things might seem shit now, man, but they always work out in the end. Just try not to get too messed up over it in the meantime.”
“I kissed her,” I said, leaning forward and staring into the fire. “Again.” Shaking my head, I pressed my lips into a tight line. “I keep fucking up with her, man. I know I need to leave her alone, but I keep proving that I’m just a selfish asshole.”
“Jess is a strong woman, Eli,” he said carefully. “I know we’ve been raised to be honorable and chivalrous, but that also means giving the women we care about the power to make their own choices. Jess isn’t the kind of girl who’ll take shit if she was feeling manipulated.”
I laughed sourly. “You can say that again. She may have told me to fuck off.”
“Really?” he asked, surprise etched in his voice.
I shrugged. “She may as well have. She told me not to touch her again unless I was prepared to take a chance with her.”
Noah chuckled a little, making me turn to question it. “That’s exactly what I mean. Man, it’s so obvious she likes you. What’s really stopping you?
Rubbing my hand through my hair, I sighed. “You of all people should know where I’m coming from, Bro. I might not be in a life-or-death situation like you were, but I’m in a place where I’ve put a lot of time and energy into reaching my end goal, and I just don’t want to see it all fucking crumble around me because I can’t stay focused.”
His gaze narrowed with thought before he nodded. “You’re right. I do understand. But what I missed at the time—and you’re missing right now—is the element the right person can bring when you’re on the last leg of the race. Because when you’ve got someone there beside you—someone who needs you and supports you—it does the exact opposite of distract. It makes you want to work harder for them. To be better. To succeed.”
I blinked at him with surprise. How could that go against everything I’d been working around, yet make so much sense? Something told me it was a trick—something to catch me out.
I shook my head, pushing it aside. All I knew was that for the last three years since I’d started law school, I’d worked to this one goal with success. With less than five months to go until I reached the end, it wasn’t a risk I could take. I needed to stay strong and focused.
Giving Noah a slight nod, I held up my beer in thanks, but I wasn’t ready to give up on my plan just yet.
Chapter 29
Jess
Scrolling through my cell phone, I let out a low groan. “What’s the protocol with pictures of exes on Facebook?”
Amber looked up from the box she was unpacking and smirked. “Depends on how good they were in bed.”
I rolled my eyes and studied the picture of me and Wyatt at one of Zac’s parties a few months ago. “I’m serious here. Do you keep them or delete them?”
She straightened and picked up her mug of coffee. “Everyone’s different, hon. Personally, I think it comes down to how it makes you feel when you look at the pictures. If they were genuine assholes, they’re gone. But if you consider them to have been a positive part of your life while they were in it, then they stay. They’re a part of your past, and I think it’s important to acknowledge the part they played.” She took a sip of her coffee while holding up one finger. “I do, however, have a strict rule to delete photos of exes off my cell phone. They can stay on my hard drive or social media, but not my phone. Except for Isaac. He’s staying. For now,” she said, one perfect eyebrow wiggling up and down.
Letting out a soft laugh, I shook my head. Her encounter with Isaac must have been a good one because she grinned every time she talked about it. So much so, I had to ask her if she wanted more from him. But she’d been very quick to cut that thought straight down. To Amber, Isaac was pure fun.
I considered her rules as I sat there, and whether they would work for me. At this point in time, I didn’t consider Wyatt to have been a terrible part of my life at all. Of course, that could change if I found out he had anything to do with drugging me. I thought her rules were pretty good, though. It would be a little extreme to delete every trace of our dating life off social media like it didn’t ever exist. Like she said, he’d been a part of making me into who I was in this very moment. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
But I was also in agreement about the cell phone thing. My cell phone was my personal possession. To me, it was to carry things close to my heart. And if I was to scroll back through my pictures, I only wanted to see things that made me smile.
Closing Facebook down, I opened my pictures and started flagging the ones I wanted gone. To be honest, I didn’t have that many pictures of Wyatt on there. There were a couple of good ones of us posing at parties, but I knew they’d been uploaded to Facebook, so they could defi
nitely go.
Pausing at one that just looked like a black pocket photo, I prepared to flag it, but stopped myself when I realized it was a video. Deleting the ones I’d flagged, I opened the video to full screen and hit play. I frowned as it started, watching the blurry darkness and movement. I must have accidentally put it into video mode or something. I wondered when it was from. It couldn’t have been that long ago.
Holding it closer, I tried to see where I might’ve been. I could just make out the shape of my coffee table, so I must’ve been in the living room. I didn’t know why this amused me, but pocket calls and accidental videos always had. I liked to listen to see if I could catch anyone out doing something funny.
Turning up the volume, I frowned when I heard grunting accompanied by some kind of rhythmic slapping. What the hell was that? The camera flailed about, the picture growing lighter as part of the kitchen came into view. It was obvious it was an unintentional video, but surely I should have some recollection of when this was?
The camera wobbled, turning a fraction more, and my breath stopped. “What the fuck?”
The frame moved away again, but my heart was already in a sprint. That seriously could not have happened. With my eyes glued to the screen, I held my breath, my hand slightly shaking.
Amber moved beside me. “What’s wrong?”
I couldn’t answer. My head was spinning, my gaze pinned, waiting in shock. And then it was there again, but this time it stayed in frame.
I heard Amber gasp. “Holy fucking shit!”
As the picture shook, shifting again before it came to an end, I slowly raised my gaze to Amber’s stunned one, my mouth dropped open in a perfect O. I struggled to comprehend what my eyes had just witnessed. My head was telling me it was impossible, but the proof was right there. Oh. My. God.
Wyatt and Zac. In my kitchen. Fucking.