Hmm. I wasn’t sure what a kiss should be like, mostly because I didn’t have much to compare it to, but…with her, I was pretty sure I liked it.
Her mouth molded against mine, the softness of her lips drowning out my racing heart. She let out a soft moan into my throat, and I peered at her through slit eyes, afraid that if I closed them, things wouldn’t be the same.
Her eyes, I noticed, were shut. Jaz was giving her all to the kiss, her all to me. It was an invigorating rush, having her give in and give up to the feelings she surely had. Having her body pinned between mine and the wall gave my body ideas it never had before.
I wanted her. I wanted her more than anything. I craved this girl like an addict, and I had no idea why. Hell, even if I could’ve stopped myself from feeling the way I did, I wasn’t sure I would want to. The high I rode right now wasn’t like any other feeling I’d ever had, her warmth flooding me like no other sensation.
Feeling her lips against mine, the slow kiss steadily giving way to something harder, rougher, hungrier, I knew it would be hard to give this one up. And, as foolish as it made me, a part of me didn’t want to. I wanted to keep her. Lock her away from the world, shield her from the rest of the liars and the beasts, and have her all to myself. Was that wrong?
By the time our lips parted, we were both panting for breath. My body was hard in places it shouldn’t be, and I knew she had to feel it; my hips dug against her, the main force pinning her back. Jaz had to know how wild she drove me.
Why couldn’t she let it go? Forget about my family. We could spend the rest of the year doing just this—losing ourselves in each other, giving in to instinct and passion. Never thought I’d be one to think something like that, but life had a way of throwing curveballs. Jaz was the curviest of curveballs there ever was.
We must’ve spent more time than I thought lost in each other, because before Jaz or I could even speak, the bells in the hall rang, signaling the end of lunch.
Her tanned cheeks were more flushed than they were before, her breathing still ragged. Once she heard the bell, she came to her senses and pushed me off her. I could’ve stopped her, could’ve held her back, but I let her go, knowing she had thinking to do. I had to do the same.
That one…I had the feeling I’d never truly get her out of my head.
I watched as Jaz unlocked the door, threw a look over her shoulder, and slipped out. She said not a word to me, but that was fine, because I wasn’t quite sure I could have a conversation right now, not with my body still heated up, not with my heart beating a mile a minute in my chest, as if it threatened to escape. Not while I had a hard dick pressing against the fabric of my jeans.
Somehow, someway, things had grown immensely more complicated the moment Jazmine Smith walked through these halls. Midpark, I knew, would never be the same.
Chapter Sixteen – Jaz
Later that night, I pretty much locked myself in my room. My mind was aflutter, my thoughts racing like the best Olympic sprinter. I couldn’t get them under control, couldn’t force them to simmer down and shut the fuck up.
I kissed Vaughn.
Or, technically, Vaughn cornered me in the bathroom and kissed me first, thereby making me kiss him back.
I still didn’t know how it happened. I would never have pegged him for the type of guy who’d corner any girl in a bathroom and pin her against the wall. Not that I was complaining, because if I was honest, his lips tasted sweeter than honey and better than I’d expected—not that I thought about his lips a lot before that moment. I didn’t.
Did I?
Oh, God. It was almost impossibly hard to keep myself under control here. Who knew Midpark would come with an overabundance of guys who just wanted me? Not that I was patting myself on the back or anything, but still. Archer was done with his self-imposed pity party of jealousy, and Vaughn wanted me. It was crazy.
And then, as I sat on the floor in front of my bed, I wondered if Vaughn really wanted me, or if he just wanted to get my mind off his family. There were worse distraction methods out there, frankly, but if that was the case, I’d be pissed. I was not above hitting Vaughn where it hurt.
I shook my head, not wanting to think about either of them, instead turning my thoughts to Jacob Hall, the PI I was going to hire, assuming the money I stuffed in my backpack earlier was still here.
After unzipping the front compartment, I found that it was. I’d locked my door, so it wasn’t like Mom could waltz in at any moment and see me handling a huge wad of cash, but for whatever reason, I was still unsettled as I tore off the white paper wrapped around the stack and started to count.
There was…
There was more than a thousand here.
Quite a lot more than a thousand.
I stared at the money, wondering just who the hell had slipped it to me. Surely it wasn’t Archer, and no way it could’ve been Vaughn, not with how I basically confessed that I wanted his family investigated.
The truth was I probably shouldn’t use it. Whoever had put it in my locker somehow knew I’d needed the cash, and I bet it didn’t come free. Whoever it was would demand a price when I least expected it, so really I should…what? Turn the money in? Then I wouldn’t be able to hire Jacob Hall, nor would I be able to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that my mom and I were safe here.
Or if we weren’t, because the more strange shit happened around here, the more I wondered if safety was nothing but a luxury in Midpark.
How would I even convince my mom to leave Midpark if it turned out we weren’t safe under this roof? I had no idea, but that would be a problem for future Jaz, not current life Jaz. Right now, I needed to send an email to Jacob and tell him that I would see him tomorrow.
Once that was done, I counted out ten of the hundred dollar bills, stuffing the rest under my mattress. I’d have to move it eventually; didn’t want Mom finding it when she washed the sheets. For now, it’d work just fine.
I showered and then tried to sleep. Sleep took a while to come, but once it did, I was out like a light, and the next thing I knew, my alarm was going off, its sound grating on my ears. I had to roll over to turn it off, and once I did, I buried my face in my pillow.
Somehow, I knew today was going to be a long day.
Mom made pancakes for breakfast while simultaneously making Ollie his morning coffee. Ollie actually made his presence known in the morning, and I was finishing up my last bite of pancake as I said, “I’ve been meaning to ask, how was your fundraiser last weekend?”
Both Ollie and my mom paused to look at me, though they wore different looks. My mom looked annoyed, while Ollie just looked shocked. While it was true I didn’t like talking in the mornings, it was also true that Ollie was into something shady. Shady shit tended to get people in trouble, and I didn’t want my mom caught up in it just because she worked for him.
The things you did for the people you loved.
“It was good.” Ollie gave me a smile, but I sensed something hidden behind it. A fakeness someone wouldn’t see unless they paid attention, unless they were looking for it. Along with that fakeness came something else, though. A sadness? He did seem rather glum most of the time, though I assumed that was because, again, he was into some shady things.
He said nothing else, leaving the house after grabbing his coffee and his briefcase. Both Mom and I watched him go, and it was only when we heard him leave the house through the side door that led to the garage, where he parked his car—one among many—that my mom turned to look at me.
“You’re oddly chatty this morning,” she commented.
I just shrugged, not wanting to talk about it.
My golden silence lasted until I reached homeroom, where Archer sat, waiting for me with a grin on his face. Those dimples could seriously kill you if you weren’t careful and didn’t take the right precautions. What were those precautions? I’d have to let you know once I figured out what they were.
He wore a slimming dark blue shirt, although on h
im the fabric hugged his muscles and made his biceps appear even thicker. His blonde hair was combed to the side, styled with just the barest hints of gel. The way his blue eyes watched me enter the room, following me as I went to my seat beside him, made my stomach harden in memory of what else his body could do to mine.
Hooking up with him so fast had probably been a mistake, but it’d been fun. I wouldn’t mind doing it again.
Not that I wanted to, you know, date him.
Not that I would be opposed to it, either—but of course if I dated him, I’d have to figure out whatever mixed feelings I had about Vaughn, first. I couldn’t go out with Archer while secretly pining for Vaughn. That just wasn’t right.
“Hey,” he said, grinning as I sat down.
“Hi,” I responded. Morning time was not my best conversational time, but I’d make an exception when it came to Archer. I’d always make an exception for him. He was too cute to resist, really. And those muscles…oh, his muscles went on for days. They’d lead any girl astray, even a girl on a mission, like me.
I should be thinking about my meeting with Jacob later, but instead I was meeting Archer’s grin with a grin of my own. I probably looked like an idiot, but oh, well.
He leaned over his desk, asking, “Have you thought about the party tomorrow? I’m not saying I won’t go alone, but…I really want you to come.” Even though the dimples still sat on his cheeks, his eyes held a seriousness, almost pleading with me to go to this party with him.
I hadn’t spoken to my mom about it, but I knew she wouldn’t want me to go. “I still have to ask my mom,” I said, mentally wincing when I realized how stupid I sounded. I was eighteen years old; I shouldn’t have to ask. Yes, I still lived under her roof…
Wait a moment. No, I didn’t. I lived under Ollie’s roof, so technically my mom couldn’t use that card against me.
“Here.” Archer said nothing for a while as he flipped to a blank page in his notebook, scribbling something down before tearing it out and handing it to me. On the page, all that was written was a ten-digit number…his number. “Text me. Maybe I can think up some pointers.” He grinned. “Parents always love me.”
My heart thudded in my chest, and I hurriedly folded the paper and shoved it under the cover of my textbook, as if not wanting anyone to see what he’d given me. We were in the back of the class, so it wasn’t like anyone was staring, and the announcements hadn’t started yet, so everyone else was caught up in their own conversations, too.
“Why does that not surprise me?” I asked, unable to keep a straight face. He made me feel giddy. Vaughn…Vaughn made me confused, conflicted. Or maybe that was just because I knew his family had to be in some shady business.
“I’m a lovable fool,” Archer mused, reclining in his seat as if it were a couch or something more comfortable than a hard chair attached to a desk top.
“The jury’s still out on that.”
“Are you saying I’m not a fool?”
I shrugged. “I’m saying I don’t know what you are yet.”
His dimpled smile was slow to fade, and he sounded utterly serious when he said, “I hope to prove myself to you, then. Show you how much of a fool I can be.” For whatever reason, his words caused my heart to skip a beat. Or two.
Tapping the side of my desk with my fingertips, I decided to ask, “You didn’t put anything in my locker, did you?”
Archer looked almost alarmed at that, caught totally off-guard. He blinked, asking, “What? No. What was in your locker?”
He genuinely seemed curious, not wearing the face a man caught would wear, so it wasn’t like I could tell him the truth. Oh, you know, a few grand. Nothing huge. Yeah, I was going to keep it to myself for now.
“Nothing,” I shrugged it off, wishing I could tell him to forget I asked. If it wasn’t Archer, who was it? It wasn’t like I spoke of me needing money to anyone else, and I hardly had any friends here, let alone acquaintances. My mystery donor would have to remain a mystery for now.
The day passed slowly, and I diligently went to class, pretending everything was alright. Not a care in the world. Just a normal student at Midpark—hah. As if I’d ever blend in with this crowd. It was true that they all wore the latest fashion, the newest stuff. My clothes were sometimes holey, sometimes ratty-looking, and most were a few years old. I got my period when I was eight, so I was an early bloomer. Had to start wearing a cupped bra in sixth grade, not to mention having to learn early that deodorant was a necessary evil.
Yeah, having just graduated fourth grade, getting a period was the last thing on my mind—since, you know, we hadn’t even covered it in health class yet.
Ugh. Being a girl sucked, really.
Bobbi wasn’t there in choir, which kind of stunk, because I hadn’t really spoken to anyone else in the class. I kept to myself, tried my best to sing along with the warm-ups and the songs we were learning for the next concert. The hour ticked by slowly.
The whole day moved ungodly slow, actually. Every minute felt like an hour, no joke.
Once the bell rang and it was lunchtime, I practically ran from the choir room. The day was a bit more than half over when lunch started, which meant I was that much closer to seeing Jacob.
Maybe I should’ve tried to look tougher today. Maybe I should’ve done my makeup and looked good. If I was going to hire him, I didn’t want him thinking I was just some run of the mill kid. I wasn’t a child—and even if I was, sometimes kids were forced to grow up fast. Being with my mom for so long, just the two of us, I never felt like a normal kid. Not really. I always felt…out of place, no matter where I was.
I wanted to be normal, but…maybe it was the fact that I didn’t know who my father was, but I had the feeling normal just wasn’t in my blood.
Chapter Seventeen – Jacob
This was a bad idea. It was a bad idea for many reasons, but as I sat in my car in front of the diner, waiting for her to show up, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very, very wrong. My vehicle was off, and the air inside grew chillier with each passing minute. I should really go inside and order a coffee, wait for her to arrive, but I couldn’t.
I couldn’t stop staring at the file on my lap.
Oh, I’d been contacted yesterday for another job, but this job was unlike any other job I’d ever had before. This job wasn’t a simple one, like most were around here. This wasn’t about catching someone cheating or even committing fraud. This was…I should’ve said no. I should’ve declined the job, but they were able to wire money straight to me. Enough to cover my rent for the next six months. The worst part? They said more money would be in it for me if I actually did the job. The money they’d sent me was an incentive, a booking fee.
My eyes studied the picture sitting on top of the file. A pretty face all bundled up as she exited Midpark High.
Her name wasn’t Marie; it was Jazmine Smith, and the one who wired all that money to me wanted me to keep an eye on her. Follow her. Figure her out. Where she came from, who she was, why she was here.
Almost like…almost as if they suspected her of something.
I knew I couldn’t put anything past a pretty face, and it was from past experience that I knew even a high schooler could get into a lot of shit.
What the fuck was Jazmine into? Why was someone paying me so much money to investigate her, basically stalk her? Now I had no choice but to work with her. She said she’d acquired the money I’d asked of her, so now I had to do the one thing I didn’t want to do—be around a young, pretty face.
The rumors would surely start flying, but I didn’t work for the police department anymore, so it wasn’t like I could get fired. If I kept up this job, maybe I could save up enough to leave Midpark. I didn’t want to leave, but it might be my only option at this point. Midpark clearly did not coincide with my mental health.
It was hard to stay sane in this place.
I leaned an elbow near the window, gazing down at the photograph. Jazmine Smith, not Ma
rie. She was young, so I guessed I could understand why she’d given me a fake name to begin with. She didn’t know what she was doing, and frankly I had no idea why the hell she wanted to hire me to begin with. This way, though, I’d be getting paid twice, double-timing the clock. I’d work for her while simultaneously working for Mr. Anonymous.
Yep. Mr. Anonymous. That’s who contacted me. I had an email, and that’s it. I tried to search for the email, to see a name attached to it, but there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
The photo of Jazmine had been taken from the parking lot of the school during the afternoon pickup. Since Midpark didn’t do buses for its high school, it could literally be anyone. A student, a parent, someone just using the pick-up time to his or her advantage and blending in.
I found it ironic that Mr. Anonymous wanted me to stay close to Jazmine, and Jazmine had already found me of her own accord. Made my job of tracking her down easier, but still.
Fuck. I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want to be around that girl more than I had to. Seeing her young, pretty face just brought back memories I’d rather not remember. Everything that happened years ago…it still riled me up. I never should’ve let them go. I never should’ve let Celeste’s horrible past get to me. I should’ve nutted the fuck up and did what I had to, which was bring them in, make those fucking brothers confess that they framed me.
I wasn’t labeled as an official sex offender, but I bet that was only because the department let me go. If I put up a fight, I bet things would’ve gone down differently. I’d lost everything that day—my future, my career—and all because I just so happened to be put on Celeste’s case.
Heaving a sigh, I closed the folder on my lap and shoved it in the backseat. With my keys in my pocket, I got out of my car and locked it, holding my hands in my coat pockets to keep them warm as I entered the diner and sat in the same seat I’d taken up earlier this week.
Feisty: A High School Bully Romance (Midpark High Book 1) Page 13