Chapter Eleven #3
It scares the shit out of me doing this for her. But not as much as the thought of walking out that door and leaving this behind.
So I stay.
By the time I arrive at school, the day already seems like a mistake.
Cold air clings to my clothes from the walk across the parking lot, settling into my bones the same way everything else has lately. I showed up because Bells looked at me this morning with those tired eyes and asked me to promise her that I’ll go, and I said yes before I could stop myself.
That right there should be a red flag the size of Texas, because I don’t make promises. And I sure as shit don’t keep them.
The hallway hits me with its usual suffocating noise. Metal doors slam shut. Voices bounce off the walls in forced conversations. Cheap body spray mixes with the stench of whatever mystery meat they’re serving in the cafeteria today, creating a cloud of bullshit I can practically taste.
Nothing changes in this place. Same assholes. Same judgment. Same fucked-up version of me they all think they know.
By the time lunch arrives, I am slouched against the brick wall out by the back quad, with an unlit cigarette dangling between my fingers.
I don’t even remember pulling it out of the pack.
My mind is still stuck in Lola’s kitchen this morning, replaying how her voice cracked when she asked me to stay with her until her dad came home.
No one has ever wanted me to stay before.
Footsteps echo across the cracked pavement.
I don’t bother looking up. I don’t need to.
No one ever comes back here, to this forgotten corner of the school where the dumpsters rust and the walls are covered in a decade’s worth of crappy graffiti.
This used to be our spot. Mine, Noah’s, and Reece’s.
Our sanctuary to ditch class, to pass a cheap joint around until our heads were numb, to brag about the latest hookup with a girl who was stupid enough to fall for our bullshit.
Noah and Reece plant themselves right in front of me, their shadows covering the little sunlight trying to shine through the gray clouds overhead.
Neither one says a word at first. They just stand there, staring at me.
Well, that’s fucking new.
The silence lingers until Reece finally breaks, his jaw clenched and his eyes steely.
“What the fuck are you doing, Jace?”
I lift my gaze to meet his, letting the unlit cigarette hang between my fingers as if I have all the time in the world.
“Living my best life. You should try it sometime.”
Reece’s jaw tightens so much it could crush diamonds.
But it’s Noah’s face that makes my stomach twist. That eerie calm. The deadly stillness. The kind of quiet that comes right before someone’s fist connects with your face.
“Aubrey told me what happened this morning,” Noah says, his voice flat and razor-sharp.
Yeah. Of course she fucking did.
Of course, Bells’ little friends rushed straight to their boyfriends, delivering the story along with a huge sign that had the word ‘asshole’ stapled to my forehead.
“And?” I drawl, letting the word linger like bait.
Reece closes the distance between us. “And you should stay the fuck away from Lola.”
A laugh tears out of me. “What, you her personal bodyguard?”
“She’s not someone you mess with,” Reece snaps.
I cock my head, letting my eyes drift over him slowly. Assessing. Mocking.
“That so?”
His hands ball into fists, knuckles going white. “She’s not another pussy for you to chase, fuck, and forget by Monday.”
Something vicious coils in my chest at that moment. I shove off the wall, invading his space just enough to make my point clear. I don’t do intimidation.
“You two have gotten real fucking chatty with your opinions lately.” The mask slides back on effortlessly, that carefully constructed armor I’ve worn so long it’s practically fused to my skin.
The role I perfected. The part I play better than anyone.
“You used to be fun,” I say, flicking my gaze between them.
“Now look at you. Pussy-whipped into early fucking retirement.”
Noah’s expression is dangerous. “Watch your fucking mouth.”
My grin spreads, all teeth and no warmth. “Or what?” I ask.
He’s laid me out before. Outside the school, months ago, when he caught me walking Aubrey home after her shift at the diner. Didn’t bother with questions. Didn’t wait for my side of the story.
I respected the shit out of him for it. I still do.
But this… This isn’t about Aubrey. This isn’t some misguided knight-in-shining-armor bullshit over his girl. This is about Bells. And these two idiots think they’ve got me figured out when they don’t know a fucking thing.
Reece lets out a bitter laugh, shaking his head like I’m the punchline. “You think this is funny?”
“I think it’s interesting,” I correct, my tone sharp. “You two used to stay in your lane. Mind your own fucking business.”
“That was before you got Lola involved.”
Her name lands differently when he says it.
Reece closes the distance, getting right in my face. “You think she’s just another fucking conquest.”
The word conquest churns my stomach, it makes me feel sick. I bury it fast.
“Relax,” I say, shrugging it off. “I fucked her. She’s fine. The world didn’t implode.”
The second it’s out, I want to claw the words back in. Swallow them whole. Bury them somewhere they can’t do damage.
Too late.
Reece’s jaw clenches so tightly I can hear his teeth grinding. Noah’s fists curl at his sides, ready to fight.
I lean in, lowering my voice enough to ensure they hear every word. “Don’t act like you two are fucking saints. You spent years pulling the same shit.”
“Yeah, but Lola deserves so much better than you,” Noah says, his tone flat and final.
That one cuts deeper than I want to admit. I force a cocky smirk anyway, refusing to let them see the crack.
“Didn’t realize her pussy came with bodyguards.”
Reece shakes his head, disgust written all over his face. “You’re a piece of shit.”
Noah moves first, and for half a second I’m bracing for the hit, muscles tensing, ready for his fist to connect. But he just stops and stares at me like I’m something he scraped off his shoe.
“Stay the fuck away from her,” he says, voice dead calm. He turns and walks off, Reece falling into step beside him without a backward glance.
That familiar emptiness creeps in, wrapping around my chest as it always does. I should feel like I won, like I came out on top. Instead, I just feel like shit.
I toss the unlit cigarette aside and head back toward the school, head down, hands shoved deep in my pockets
Nicole’s voice cuts through the static in my skull. “Jace.”
I stop and glance up.
She’s standing there in her usual skimpy outfit. Her straight blond hair, perfectly in place. The skirt riding higher than the dress code permits. Eyes lined dark, hinting at the kind of trouble that used to get me off.
She’s hot. Everyone fucking knows it.
I’ve been inside her more times than I can remember. Had her mouth wrapped around my cock, her voice breathless, saying my name like it actually meant something.
It never did.
She moves closer, her fingers walking up my arm.
“Where have you been?” she purrs.
Her voice is an invitation into sin and temptation.
A week ago, I would’ve had her pinned against the nearest wall before she finished that sentence.
My cock would already be straining against my jeans just from the way she said my name, knowing exactly what was coming next.
A quick, dirty fuck. Hell, I’ve even fucked her in her bedroom with her parents two doors down, her hand clamped over her mouth to muffle the fake moans spilling out.
Now…there’s…absolutely nothing. Because after having Bells—after one fucking night with her—she’s all I see.
Hair a mess, wild and untamed from my hands. Glasses slipping down her nose. Bottom lip caught between her teeth when she’s nervous. Standing in her kitchen, making eggs as if it was the most important thing in the world. Like I mattered.
Not some cheap fuck in a dark hallway. She is something real.
Nicole presses closer, her body flush against mine. “Want to skip next period? Come hang out with me.”
Her hand glides over my chest, fingers spread as if she owns me and yet, I still feel nothing.
My body doesn’t fucking respond. My cock stays soft. Uninterested. Like it knows the difference now. Like it’s already made its choice.
Her fingers slip lower, reaching for my belt, teasing for a good time.
I catch her wrist. Hard. Not gentle.
Her eyes go wide, confusion flickering across her face. “What?”
“If you fucking touch me again,” I say, voice low filled with warning. “I’ll break your fucking fingers.”
Shock flickers across her flawlessly made-up face, her lips parting in disbelief.
No one talks to Nicole like that. No one ever rejects her.
“What’s your problem?” she snaps, her voice rising.
I release her wrist, letting it drop as if it’s contaminated. “Find someone else to fuck,” I say flatly. “I’d rather jerk off than have my cock anywhere near you.”
Her mouth drops open, forming a perfect little ‘o’ of stunned disbelief. Then anger rushes in quickly, replacing the shock in an instant.
“You’re an asshole,” she hisses.
“Always have been,” I say, my tone bored.
She scoffs loudly, making sure everyone around us hears her. Playing to the audience like she always does.
“You’ll come crawling back,” she says, her voice dripping with false confidence.
I don’t respond because I won’t. Not this time. Not ever again.
I turn and walk away before she can throw another desperate line at me, knowing that something has shifted inside me, changing in ways I don’t fully understand yet.
I don’t know when it began. Maybe that night I kissed Bells on the couch, or maybe before that.
But I know this much: For the first time in my life, the shit that used to matter—the easy fucks, the reputation, the game to chase pussy—doesn’t mean shit anymore.