Chapter 17
Chapter
Seventeen
JADE
I hopped into the passenger side of the black two door coupe that Drake led me to. My mind was otherwise occupied at the time and I didn’t bother asking whose car we were in or where he had gotten it from until about ten minutes into our drive.
“It’s mine,” he says, not bothering to give any more details or explain how in the world some poor, orphaned guy like him managed to afford a car like this, or any for that matter. I mean it’s nothing super fancy like the SUVs Bass and Ace drive around in, but the interior is clean and not all tattered like my ex’s cars all were. It’s shiny, smells rather new, and has some high-tech stereo with touchscreen and blue LED lights.
“And how the fuck did you manage to buy a car let alone one like this?” I ask, rather intrigued by what the Dragon’s gotten himself into. He’s been MIA recently and we haven’t questioned it given his history with Scar, but now I'm definitely curious to know where he’s been running off to .
“I got a job,” he utters bluntly, once again not further explaining anything.
“Bullshit,” I yell, not buying it, “Where the fuck did you get a job? No one here would be crazy enough to hire any of us and Pleasant Hills is too far to commute daily,” I add, gaining me a scornful glare from him.
“First of all, it’s only like an hour and a half away and second of all, I don’t have to explain myself to you Wolf,” he snaps, tightening his grip on the steering wheel. His tattooed fingers turn white with the force he’s using to hold on to it, when he suddenly reaches over, turning up the volume to MGK’s most recent album currently bumping on the stereo. Drake and I have never been awfully close compared to my relationship with my other foster siblings. I’ve always felt more comfortable around Kai or Jax, while he was usually always broody and pissed off at the world when he wasn’t following Scar like a lovesick puppy. Then when we came here and they finally got together, I realized their relationship was forced and they weren’t at all good for each other. I think deep down at one point he may have believed I was the reason she ended things with him.
“Well someone’s touchy,” I scoff, turning and rolling down the window letting the cold breeze of the night cool my skin.
“Says the chick who just caused a fucking brawl and ran out of their faster than she came in,” he answers, causing me to turn and glare at him. Now I’m the one who’s pissed. I reach over and turn the volume down, twisting my whole body to face him as I smack him over the head.
“What the fuck Jade, you’re going to make me crash!” he shouts, swerving slightly to the left.
“First of all, I just asked a fucking question, and second of all, you have no idea the shit week I’ve had. So don’t come at me with your whole I’m a fucked up, damaged bad boy bullshit Dragon. We’re all fucking screwed.” I roll my eyes and look back out my open window, holding back the tears that have been aching to come out all day long. This time the Dragon’s smart, turning the volume back up and driving silently the rest of the way to campus.
As we pull up outside the parking structure of the academy, Drake turns off the ignition, but neither one of us makes a move to exit. I shift my gaze to him and notice he’s focused on his steering wheel, his hands still gripping it harshly. But just as I am about to speak and apologize for lashing out at him, he interrupts me speaking first.
“Just know, what Scar did, whatever it was, she couldn’t have meant it. You girls are two halves of the perfect heart. One beats the other follows. I can’t imagine a world where you two aren’t talking.” His eyes never come up to meet mine, clearly not wanting them to show the vulnerability in him when it comes to my sister.
“Some things aren’t as easy to forgive Dragon,” I say, my voice cracking as I swallow down the thickness of my pain.
“If anyone understands the hurt Scar can cause it’s me Jade, and I've forgiven her for all she has done.”
“I’m sorry Dragon but what she did to you, it doesn’t come close to what she’s done this time,” I mutter and he quickly turns to me, a look of shock appearing in his eyes. “And I don’t mean to downplay what happened between you two, but you and I both know that you and Scar weren’t endgame,” he nods his head in agreement, his tattooed fingers rustling anxiously in his hair.
“I’m not hurt because I lost her Jade. You were right, I realize that what we had wasn’t that kind of love, it wasn’t real to either of us. But I lost my best friend because I was too damn proud to admit it. I don’t want the same for you,” he says, holding my gaze. His eyes are sincere and ache with the pain of having no one left in your corner you can actually trust. I mean he has his sister but she’s just such a petty bitch sometimes she’s impossible to talk to. And the guys, Kai and Jax, even though they’re like brothers to him, they’ve got their own demons to fight off .
“You know she’d go back to the way things were in a heartbeat if you’d let her,” I say, and he nods, accepting it’s him who’s reluctant. “I’m going to forgive her Drake, because you’re right, I don’t see my life without her in it. But I can’t right now, I get she’s hurting but so am I.”
“Because of Silver,” he states rather than asking. As if he knows the answer, like it’s that blatantly obvious. Well it is after the scene he just pulled.
“Something like that,” I mumble, not wanting to delve into that at the moment.
“I won’t ask, I won’t pry, I won’t even tell you to steer clear of him for your own safety. Just know Jade, no matter what I’m here for you. We’re Grayson’s after all.” I fight with everything I can against the stray tear threatening to stain my cheek as I look into the solemn gaze of one of my brothers. Because although we may not be the closest pair, Drake has been there for me in more ways than one. He’s more a brother to me than Roman ever was and that I’ll never forget.
“Thanks Dragon, you don’t know how much that means right now.” He simply nods, just like me not wanting to make this into a bigger deal than it is. I reach to pull the handle of the door but before I exit turn to face him. “Same goes to you Dragon, I’m here if you need me.”
The next morning I wake up with a blinding headache courtesy of spending the night tossing and turning, hardly getting even a wink of sleep. I replayed Sebastian's words in my mind over and over again. His reasoning behind not telling me about my brother was mediocre at best, but I can’t dwell on the fact that he lied to me for months, cause I’m the one lying now. So instead I walk over to my restroom grabbing a towel from the linen closet and locking myself inside. I hunch over the sink, looking up at my reflection in the mirror. I look like shit. Like seriously it’s terrifying how fucked up I look, like I haven’t eaten or slept in days. This situation is going to be much harder to hide if I don’t pull my shit together. I need to start figuring out how to keep my food down, maybe eat some more saltine crackers and that ginger candy Sarah bought me, maybe even some of that gross as fuck fizzy water. And I need to go into town and stock up on a shit ton of makeup to hide my scary appearance.
Once I’ve showered, changed, and made myself look at least seemingly presentable, I walk into the living room finding Scar and Stella watching me with careful eyes as I emerge from my bedroom. They stare at me as if I’m made of glass or some explosive about to detonate, worry and fear clouding their gazes. Fuck do I still look like that much of a mess. I pulled my hair up into a loose bun, rimmed my eyes in liner and mascara, and even managed a bit of concealer and foundation over my dark circles. My uniform fits me looser than before, which is odd because I thought you were supposed to gain weight when you’re pregnant not lose it, but I’ve also barely managed to keep any food down so there’s that.
Irritated by their blank stares and lack of words, I walk up to the kitchen cabinet and grab a bottle of ibuprofen, but just as I’m about to pour some into my hand, I freeze. Fuck, I’m not sure if I should be taking this. Ugh I hate that I have to be more careful now about what I do especially since I have no idea what it is I’m doing. I’ll have to text Sarah later and ask if it’s safe and I probably should think about going to see a doctor or something. Ugh, just the thought makes my stomach cringe, so instead I throw the bottle of pills into my bag not wanting to make my reluctance to take them evident. But when I turn back around their gazes are still glued to me.
“Well are you two just going to stare all damn day or are we going to get breakfast?” I ask, urging Stella to grab her bag and head straight to the front door. But Scarlett doesn’t move.
“Jade we need to talk,” she mutters, stepping forward. Her hair is in its usual style, slick straight and past her shoulders, her uniform fitting like a second skin, and make up as always on point. But the look in her eyes is off. There is a ghostly shadow hiding behind her blue irises clearly haunting her every thought. It pains me to see my sister this way lacking her usual spark. She’s worn this haunting stare for so long and now when she’s finally defeated all the evil that threatened to consume her, now that she can finally be happy with the love of her life, she looks anything but.
But I can’t, I’m not ready. “I told you I wasn’t ready for that Scar. I get you’re sorry, I get you’ve been through a whole lot lately, but I’m not fucking ready, so can we go back to acting like nothing happened and get to class, or should I just go on my own.”
Scar nods her head in defeat, grabbing her bag from beside the couch and motioning for me to walk before her.
My first day back to school after my two-week hiatus is going a lot smoother than I expected. Grayson mentioned she’d called the academy and told them I had a family emergency and would be out for a few weeks. Funny since as far as they know, I have no family. Nonetheless they agreed, managing to send me my assignments, which luckily for me midterms had just passed so there weren’t very many. But the way the professors looked at me when I mentioned my absence, as if it was the most normal and understandable thing, makes me wonder if it was someone else who excused my absence. Perhaps someone, or a group of someone’s who hold more power in this school than any adult ever could.
But I shrug off the thought, not really caring who said what, and tucking it away into the back of my hippocampus where all my recent thoughts have been indexed into for a later retrieval, as I walk out toward the field for my last period. Gym class is always my favorite when we get to step out of our state-of-the-art gym and onto the football field where all the gorgeous, hunky athletes are practicing. I also happen to have Stella and Scar for this class, but after skipping out on lunch and spending it going over everything I missed in anatomy with Professor Davis, I have yet to see them.
But what I do see, or rather who, is a flawless head of golden blonde hair, and gleaming tanned muscle running toward the sideline of the field. He immediately sees me, and jogs over to where I stand on the track field. Instead of wearing his lacrosse practice uniform consisting of shorts and a tank, he’s shirtless wearing nothing but his football padded pants, holding his helmet in his hand.
His glistening white smile reflects off the rays of the sun, as he comes to stand before me. “Hey there gorgeous,” he says, calling me by his usual choice of adjective.
“I thought football season was over?” I ask, clearly knowing full well it is but still curious to know why he’s having football practice instead of lacrosse.
“Yeah it is, we’re just practicing for a friendly charity game we’re playing in a couple weeks with the team from Pleasant Hills actually. We never play them in season since they’re public and we’re not, but it’s something Headmaster Servite and his brother set up before the um, accident.” He shrugs his shoulders as he mentions the unfortunate freak accident the Servite family claimed happened at their Manor two weeks ago, killing Wesley Servite and his guests. Luckily, no one else was home when a “gas leak” in the kitchen caused an explosion when mixed in with the stove burner being left on. It’s always a gas leak.
“I guess it’s like being held in his honor and the money they’re raising is building Pleasant Hills, a new cutting-edge stadium. They’re team is pretty great from what I hear. Any advice?” he asks, confusing me slightly. But then I realize he’s asking because I used to go to that high school. Fuck I didn’t even know we had a team, well other than the quarterback, running back, and kicker I may or may not have made out with in the back of some seedy car. Not at the same time of course.
“Hmm well other than telling you how to seduce their quarterback or all about how he’s a sloppy kisser, I think I’m out of my area of expertise,” I joke, well not really joking, causing him to laugh wholeheartedly.
“I swear Jade, you are a breath of fresh air compared to the girls around here.” I take that as a compliment, I guess, as I meet his playful gaze noticing something I hadn’t earlier seen. I reach my hand up running my fingers over the purplish bruise forming under his left eye leading down to the small cut on his lower lip. I gently run my thumb over the scabbing gash.
I don’t realize what I’m doing until I hear him inhale sharply, his body stiffening before me. Fuck . I quickly drop my hand, stepping back slightly but he quickly reaches back for me. His fingers intertwined along with mine as his eyes look intensely at me.
“Go out with me Jade,” he mutters under his breath, his voice low and husky, dripping with seduction. “Dinner this Friday night.”
I stare blankly at him unsure of what to reply. I can’t lead him on, not in my condition , not with Sebastian lurking around like a fucking predator stalking his prey. I mean look what happened to Liam, just because of the simple fact he offered me a ride home and a meal. Yet here he is doing it once again.
“Liam I…”
He interrupts me before I can refuse. “Just dinner Jade, as friends, it can be at Scottie’s Diner, informal and fun. Unless you are otherwise tied up?” he asks shyly, looking down at his football cleats before looking back up at me, slightly afraid of my response. I laugh at his choice of words. Yeah well Sebastian sure enjoys tying me up .
“No I’m not otherwise tied up if that’s your weird way of asking if there is anything going on between Silver and I,” I say, hoping it’s the right thing to say. I know I shouldn’t lead Liam on but he said we’d just be going as friends, and I’ve come to notice I’m seriously lacking in that department.
“So then dinner, this Friday at Scottie’s. I’ll pick you up,” he exclaims, the excitement obvious in his voice. I simply nod, giving him a warm smile, well as warm as I can give, internally laughing at his enthusiasm.
“Catch you later Walker,” I say before turning away and running toward the track.
Three laps into my warm-up, I ran into Stella and Scar barely emerging from the locker rooms and heading over in my direction. It’s nearing the end of March but the heat today is no joke. My ponytail is sweaty and my gym polo is glued to my body like a sticky layer of skin. I reach back to pull it over my head, looking around and making sure no teacher or coach is nearby to give me any shit about running in just a sports bra, but quickly decide I don’t fucking care if they do given that the cheer squad is down the field practicing in much less. I immediately spot Kinsley, cheer co-captain of course, since Carrington is in charge, wearing miniscule shorts and a sports bra that looks more like a swimsuit top. I roll my eyes at the way a crowd of guys huddles around them watching their practice.
“You keep rolling your eyes like that and they’re going to get stuck,” Scarlett mocks, as she and Stella walk up to me. So I do what I do best, roll my eyes and give her the finger.
She laughs, something I haven’t heard from her in a while, as she starts stretching on the track. “You know the bitch has been running her mouth about what happened on New Year’s,” Scar says, and I know exactly what she’s talking about.
“God I can’t stand the sight of her, I swear I see fucking red!” Now it’s Stella’s turn to laugh, as she turns to look in the direction my glare is focused, right toward the gossiping bitch .
“So it’s true then?” Stella asks, referring to the lovely story Kinsley’s been going on about how things went down at the New Year’s Eve party down at the beach. In her unhinged little mind, some three-way fantasy of hers was about to play out but fuck it if I was going to be any part of that. I left Bass naked and with the worst case of blue balls when the bitch showed up claiming to want in and he wasn’t so quick to turn her away. In his “defense” he said his drunken mind was taking longer than usual to react, but I was in no mood to fall for his bullshit. The only downside, he wasn’t the only one left heated and wanting.
“Not the way she’d like to remember it,” I hiss, turning to where we hear Liam barking orders at his teammates.
“We also heard Walker came over here earlier,” Scar teases, changing the subject, her unspoken question evident in her mocking tone of voice.
“The gossip mill around here works overtime I see,” I sneer, irritated that everyone is always in everyone’s business. “But he did, wants to take me out to eat on Friday,” I add, as if it’s no big deal. Both their jaws drop open acting as if in fact it is a big deal. They turn to each other exchanging a suspicious glare before turning back to me.
“I guess he didn’t learn his lesson at Bass’s party,” Scar mumbles under her breath.
“So are you going to go out with him?” Stella asks, her eyes suddenly going wide as if terrified of my answer. What is it with these two today?
“Yes, I’m going out with him on Friday,”
“Like fuck you are,” Bass yells, suddenly appearing out of fucking nowhere. I turn abruptly coming face to face with the gorgeous bastard and Ace smirking at his side before walking over to hug my sister.
“And why the fuck not?” I ask, popping my hip out and placing my hand teasingly on my waist. His eyes roam over my body and I swear I see smoke emerging from his ears and nostrils as he notices I’m wearing nothing but my gym shorts and a sports bra, bearing a decent amount of cleavage and ending just above my rib cage. His anger turns to desire as I seductively puff out my chest and tilt my neck slightly to the right giving him an eye full of the skin he loves to run his tongue across. Bass is a neck guy. He loves to kiss them, lick them, bite them, and wrap his hands around them.
His eyes snap out of their lust filled trance as they come back up to meet mine. They’re clearer today, the gray coloring almost transparent as they watch me. “Because I fucking said so. I guess pretty boy didn’t get the memo this weekend about keeping his hands off what belongs to me. Maybe someone needs a refresher course.”
“Fuck off Bass,” I shout, pushing at his chest but failing in making him move even the slightest bit. “In no way, shape, or form am I yours. You need to get that through that thick fucking skull of yours you stubborn ass.” I’m fucking pissed, fuming, and practically foaming at the mouth at his cockiness and overconfidence. But instead of pissing him off he starts fucking laughing. Like a full-blown bent over, unrestrained, juvenile laugh joined in by Ace, Scar, and Stella. Now I’m in killer mode.
“Oh Little Wolf, you are out of your ever-loving mind if you think you don’t belong to me.” His body straightens as he approaches me, slowly closing the distance between us, his thick and broad shoulders shielding me from the field around us. My body starts to tremble, not in anger but in desire as his scent fills my nostrils, the notes of bergamot and pine I love, putting a spell on me. My pussy begins to ache, clenching as I squeeze my thighs together, almost losing my balance, reaching my hand up to his shoulder to steady myself. Fuck these goddamn hormones and mood swings. I go from playful, to pissed, to real fucking horny in 2.5 seconds. It’s infuriating.
His hand reaches out to wipe the sweat beading at my temple, moving to my chin, running his fingers over the soft skin of my neck, and down to the perky swells of my breast before he roughly grabs my waist pulling me into him. “You are mine Jade Wolfe, mind, body, and fucking soul. Don’t you forget it.”
And he just turns and takes off toward the parking structure located to the left of the gym, walking like he didn’t just lay an unsolicited claim on me. But god fucking dammit if he isn’t right.