Reckless (The Reckless Series)

by True, Holli

  No one, other than Shayne, knew that it was me that Matt had attacked. And I intended to keep it that way. Though I was grateful that posting the flyers had granted me permission to expose him, while staying anonymous.

  Nicely played, Jonah commended me. I could almost see him smiling beside me, taking in the colorful scene.

  “It’s sweet vindication,” I murmured under my breath. One small triumph against my assaulter. Needless to say, I didn’t feel an ounce of guilt about it, either.

  . . .

  “Excuse me, Miss?”

  “I’m sorry, but we’re closed.”

  “Well, that’s a shame.”

  “Maybe for you.” I smiled to myself, keeping my back turned away from the counter.

  “I was really craving—”

  “Black coffee?” I teased, turning around to see the handsome face I had been eagerly anticipating.

  Jonah smiled, “Not quite.”

  I giggled as I watched him walk around the counter, toward me. With every step he took, closing the gap between us, new butterflies took flight in my tummy. By the time he reached me, they were swarming.

  “I’ve missed you,” he said, his voice soothing my soul. His hands softly caressed my face before nudging my chin forward, guiding my lips to his.

  “I know the feeling,” I whispered back, between kisses.

  “It’s getting harder and harder to stay away.”

  I nodded my understanding.

  Now that we were fully aware of the blackout phase and what it meant for Jonah each time he phased back into his Guardian form, we agreed it was best to keep our time together shorter. While it was the responsible thing to do, it wasn’t what either of us wanted. Of course, we both knew we were always actually together, though it just wasn’t the same.

  “Seriously, you two?”

  I pulled away from Jonah and peeked around his shoulder, finding Rebecca standing in the doorway, staring at us. “Jonah stopped by,” I said with a broad smile.

  “I can see that. It’s the third time this week,” she said, raising her eyebrow, as if to imply something.

  “What can I say?” Jonah said with an infectious smile, “It’s the Caramel Macchiatos.”

  He and I shared a private laugh, which made Rebecca roll her eyes. This had been a new experience for the both of us. It was usually Rebecca who had guys meeting her at work, the role reversal wasn’t lost on either of us.

  Taking Jonah’s hand, I led him to one of the vacant stools near the counter. “Give me ten minutes,” I said into his ear before kissing his cheek.

  I could feel his eyes on me as I walked back behind the counter and finished wiping down the machines and cleaning the espresso tools. Rebecca focused on the countertops and replenishing refills. The two of us worked in comfortable silence, both of us very aware of Jonah’s presence.

  When we walked into the backroom to retrieve our coats, Rebecca reached out and clutched my hand. “Okay, spill!” she demanded.

  I looked at her in confusion, “Spill what?”

  “When did all of that happen?” she asked, waving a finger in a circle, referring to me and Jonah.

  I laughed under my breath, “It’s been happening, Rebecca. For months, in case you didn’t notice.”

  “No,” she said firmly, shaking her head. “Before you left for home, things weren’t like this. Things have clearly gotten very serious between you two. So, when did it happen?”

  Shrugging a shoulder, I tried to appear innocent and unaware of what she was getting at. But it didn’t work. Rebecca read right through it.

  “He came to see you in Bend, didn’t he?”

  “Rebecca—”

  “He did!” she exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.

  A small smile broke through, revealing the truth behind her accusation. “Maybe he did.”

  “Oh my gosh!” she cooed, biting her bottom lip. “That’s so romantic!”

  “It really was,” I admitted, thinking back to all of the beautiful moments he and I had shared together in those blissful winter weeks.

  “What about your parents? Did they totally crap when he rolled up to your door?”

  “No,” I said nonchalantly, “they were fine.”

  Her brow shot up in suspicion. “You little liar!” she exclaimed through a wide grin. “They don’t know, do they?”

  I inhaled deeply, running a hand through a long strand of hair. “Not exactly. I don’t know, it just didn’t seem like the right thing to spring on them with the holidays and all. Besides, I can’t lie, it was so nice to have him all to myself for three weeks.”

  Rebecca reached out and clutched my hand again, she looked shell-shocked. “Wait. You mean he spent the entire break there? With you? How did you manage to keep your parents in the dark?”

  “It was complicated. But, we made it work.”

  She looked genuinely surprised by what I was telling her. “I gotta say, I’m impressed,” she said as she buttoned up her coat. Then she suddenly stopped and turned to me again. “Please tell me you two had sex.”

  “Rebecca!”

  “Oh please, Hailey!”

  “Seriously?”

  She said nothing, waiting expectantly for me to answer. Her patience was wearing thin.

  “No,” I groaned, finally caving. “We didn’t.”

  “For the love of God, why not?” she asked, exasperated.

  I wasn’t about to get into all the details with her. “Because the timing just wasn’t right,” I said simply. Though I had no doubt that when the time was right, it would be absolutely perfect and beautiful. I pulled the zipper up on my jacket and peered out through the doorway, my eyes instantly falling on Jonah. He didn’t notice me looking at him, which made me smile. Before getting caught by him, I turned back to Rebecca and shrugged. “Sorry to disappoint you.”

  She sighed heavily, “So much for my master plan to get you and my brother together.”

  I rolled my eyes at her, “You can stop plotting now.”

  Minutes later, we said goodbye to Rebecca, waving as she drove away. She had offered to give us a ride because it was raining, but walking gave us more time together, so I had politely declined her offer. The rain didn’t really bother me anyway. It never had.

  As we walked away from my work, Jonah laced his fingers in mine, pulling me close against him. It was a cold January night, the drizzle made it feel even colder. In the back of my mind, I wondered if we’d wake up to snow on the ground. The thought of it caused a slow shiver to roll throughout my body, making the hair on the back of my neck stand on it’s end.

  “Are you all right?” Jonah asked with concern.

  “It’s just colder than I thought,” I assured him, snuggling in closer against his warm body.

  We walked past Johnson Hall, turning onto the path just beyond it. It was a long and narrow walkway that would connect us to another path, giving us a straight-shot to my dorm. We had walked it together several times, at this point, I was certain we could do it with our eyes closed.

  The sound of the heavy rain hitting the pavement and the canopy of trees above must have drowned out the noise around us because neither Jonah or I heard the sound of the footsteps until they were just behind us.

  “Just the people I wanted to see,” a voice sneered in the darkness.

  I gasped at once, knowing it belonged to Matt. As Jonah and I turned around to face him, Jonah tucked me safely behind his back, acting as my shield.

  “Back off!” Jonah demanded of Matt.

  “Like hell!” he spit the words from his mouth like it was venom. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” He was glaring past Jonah, right at me.

  “What I’ve done?” I sputtered back at him.

  “I’ve had three meetings with the Dean thanks to that little prank you pulled, Hailey.” His eyes glowered down on me, they almost felt like they were burning right through me. From what I could tell, he was sober, though completely irate and beyond reasoni
ng with.

  “Don’t talk to her!” Jonah growled.

  “They contacted my parents. I might get kicked out of school. All because of you!” he yelled, ignoring Jonah’s warnings.

  “I’m really heartbroken for you, Matt.” I snapped, disgusted. I couldn’t even meet his gaze, looking at him made me ill.

  “You did this!” he hissed at me, the rage in his voice felt like it was physically assaulting me.

  “No,” I fought back the tears, “you did this. You, Matt. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself.”

  He started shaking his head violently and I could tell my words were falling on deaf ears. “You’ve ruined me,” the words sounded as though they were being ripped out of his throat.

  “You tried to rape me!” I screamed, no longer able to suppress the tears.

  “You wanted it.”

  Before I could react, Jonah charged at Matt, knocking him flat on his back against the wet cement. He grabbed Matt by the collar and jerked him upwards toward his own face, glaring him straight in the eyes. “It’s taking every ounce of restraint in me not to kill you right now.”

  Matt tried to break free, but it was useless against Jonah’s unmatched strength. After several failed attempts at breaking free, he finally gave up the fight, saying nothing.

  “There is nothing I won’t do to protect her. Nothing. You got that, Matt?”

  “Get off me,” he spit, vengeance in his eyes.

  “Not so tough now, are you?”

  Matt kept his eyes cast down, but he maintained his stiff upper lip. He wanted to fight, I could see it. But he didn’t stand a chance against Jonah and he never would, though I doubted it would keep him from trying.

  Jonah finally released his collar, causing him to fall back against the wet pavement. “Get out of here. You make me sick.”

  As Jonah turned to walk back to me, Matt sat up and took a swing at him with one of his crutches, barely skimming the back of his leg. Furious, Jonah turned back, ripping the crutches from his hands. I winced as he slammed them hard against the pavement, causing the metal frame to break and bend, rendering them impossible to use. Jonah tossed the mangled crutches back in Matt’s direction, he had to duck to prevent one from hitting him in the head.

  “Next time, I won’t be so subtle,” Jonah said to a now speechless Matt. His voice was strained and his jaw clenched tight with intensity. I could tell that he was suppressing the urge to destroy Matt before my very eyes. And I knew that with very little will, he could do just that. It was Matt who had underestimated Jonah’s ability. Though after that night, I hoped for his sake, he’d never make the same mistake again.

  Despite the danger I knew I was in when it came to Matt and Ethan, I couldn’t help but feel safe with Jonah by my side.

  - 22 -

  no way out

  JONAH

  Hailey glanced around the vacant space, slowly moving in a circle as she took in everything around her. “September can’t get here soon enough,” she said softly under her breath.

  Don’t rush it. We have a summer to spend together, I reminded her. As far as I am concerned, September can wait.

  She instantly looked down and smiled. We shared private moments like that together all day long, without anyone knowing. It was kind of like mentally texting, or so she had told me.

  “I think it’s absolutely perfect,” she said to Shayne a few seconds later.

  “It really is,” Shayne agreed, turning to smile at Hailey. “But do you think our parents will go for it?”

  Hailey shrugged, “I hope so.”

  “We can’t let them say no,” Shayne declared. “We need to live here next year. We’ve earned it after that horrendous dorm.”

  Hailey nodded in agreement, “No offense, but I really need my own room again.”

  Yes, you do.

  She smiled again.

  “None taken, I couldn’t agree more.” Shayne sighed with contentment, “Can you even imagine what it would be like to live here?”

  Hailey shook her head in Shayne’s direction, “No, but I hope we get to find out.”

  It was the third apartment Hailey and Shayne had been to with their parents that day and by far the nicest. The living room had six large windows on the two exterior walls, making the white walls even brighter. The jet black cupboards and slate gray counter-tops were paired with stainless steel kitchen appliances that looked shiny and sleek. It was a stark contrast to the living room area that it opened up to.

  Compared to the dated dorm room Hailey and Shayne were being forced to suffer with, the apartment looked absolutely posh and luxurious. It was no wonder they were so giddy with anticipation and excitement. Though, they weren’t the only ones.

  Judging from the reaction of both of their parents, it had clearly become the front runner for everyone. Of course, there were other things that made the apartment a top contender, aside from it being aesthetically pleasing. It was the same building that Rebecca lived in, her apartment was just a few doors down the hall. Living off campus also meant the girls would be able to bring their cars to college the following year. And, with the added bonus of it being located near campus, which was one of Christy’s requirements, there was little standing in the way of this being their apartment for their sophomore year.

  “We can put a couch and chair here,” Shayne said, stepping forward, waving her arms in the general area she was talking about. “And we’ll need one of those big, fluffy rugs, I’m thinking red? Maybe black? The TV should go there,” she pointed to the wall behind Hailey. “I can already see it! Can’t you?”

  Just smile and nod, I teased Hailey.

  She did, suppressing her laughter.

  I glanced sideways at Ben, “I don’t know how you keep up with her?”

  He shrugged. “Years of practice. It’s an acquired skill,” he said, laughing softly.

  “Think of the parties we can have here!” Shayne whispered loudly, to prevent from being heard by the adults in the next room.

  “Shayne,” Hailey said firmly. “No.”

  “Casual get-togethers?”

  “I know you far too well to buy that. You don’t do casual anything.”

  “That’s not true!” she said matter-of-factly. “I’ve mastered the art of casual sex.”

  “And I stand corrected,” Hailey muttered under her breath, laughing lightheartedly.

  Shayne shrugged, “You have no idea what you’re missing out on, Hailey.”

  “I’ll pass,” she said, smiling back at Shayne. “You’re crazy. You do know that, right?”

  “You love me,” she said, bumping her with her hip.

  Hailey and Shayne’s mom’s entered the living room with the person who was showing them apartment, coming from one of the bedrooms. The three of them were chattering just as excitedly as the girls about the prospect of the apartment. A few feet behind them trailed the dads, less enthusiastic, but still supportive, none the less.

  Hailey and Shayne exchanged eager glances before turning to their parents. Neither of them could contain their obvious excitement.

  “Well?” Hailey asked with anticipation, waiting to hear the verdict.

  “You girls are really sure you don’t want to live in the dorms again for one more year?” Shayne’s dad asked, fighting back a smile.

  “I’m not even going to respond to that,” Shayne said flatly.

  Her father and Tom laughed.

  “Do you think this is the one?” Christy asked them.

  They both nodded fervently.

  Christy exchanged a look with Shayne’s mother and then both turned to their daughters with the good news. “We think it is, too!” Christy beamed at Hailey.

  The girls shrieked with happiness, throwing their arms around one another before rushing to their parents to hug them, too. As they talked animatedly amongst themselves, I sidestepped around them to stand next to Ben.

  “This will be quite a change,” I noted, glancing around the empty space.<
br />
  “Anything beats that closet they call a dorm room, that’s for sure,” he said, looking relieved. “I don’t think I could handle another year of that.”

  “No more Shayne clutter. At least not for me,” I joked, nudging him with an elbow.

  “Or facing the Post-It explosion on a daily basis,” he bantered back.

  Ben and I laughed with ease, both of us excited about the new chapter we would soon be embarking upon. As I turned my attention back to Hailey, I noticed Leo, who was standing on the opposite side of the room. We made eye contact briefly before he turned his back on me, making it perfectly clear that he was still angry with me.

  My smile instantly faded. He and Abram had barely spoken ten words to me since their arrival the day before. I didn’t know if either of them would ever forgive me, but I had made my decision and they were just going to have to live with it. I could only hope that one day they would accept me back into their good graces and respect how I felt about Hailey.

  “We just have some forms that need to be completed,” said the woman who had shown them the apartment. “If the young ladies would like to have another look around, we can go down to my office and get the paperwork completed,” she suggested to the parents.

  Once they left, Shayne grabbed Hailey by the wrist and immediately started dragging her toward the hallway. “Let’s pick rooms!” she said eagerly, stalling between the two bedroom doors. “Bigger closet or private bathroom?” she asked.

  Hailey shrugged, “It doesn’t really matter to me. You choose.”

  “Bigger closet.” Shayne and Ben both said without hesitation, in unison.

  Hailey and I both laughed.

  “I had a feeling you’d go that route,” Hailey admitted.

  A devilish grin spread across Shayne’s face, but she hesitated. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”