Chapter 20
M yles
Today had been a mess, and I was happy to get back to campus and kiss my Snowflake. Maybe I could talk her into letting me cuddle her all night. The emotional break I had last night wasn’t pretty, and I wasn’t subjecting anyone, least of all her, to what that looked like.
I spent the morning driving cars to pick-up and drop-off locations, moving product for Lawrence.
Good thing I was available, I guess. Fucking Lawrence.
My Da was acting sus and called again. I told him I hadn’t seen anyone, and no one had come to the house, but the nervous energy he was giving off penetrated the phone connection.
Just once, it would be great to have my Da worry about me the way he worried and cared about Devin.
I hoped my brother was in Cali, strung up and being tortured by now. I’d told Nathaniel before we left that I didn’t care what he did to him. My phone dinged as I pulled onto school property and nodded to the guard on duty. Parking, I picked it up and opened the message from the school text chat.
Myles’s girlfriend is a cheating S_ _ T.
The picture that accompanied the message was Nash kissing Ren.
I glared at the image of that dirty bastard locking lips with my girl.
What the hell was it with everyone? I went to delete the photo but stared at it a little longer.
As annoyed as I felt, there was no anger, which seemed strange.
I should be livid and fuming, but I wasn’t.
Either last night fucked me up more than I realized, or I was cool with Nash kissing Ren.
Shaking my head, I got out and stuffed my phone into my pocket. I really wanted to get shitfaced. The doors opened to my floor, and I could hear the screaming before I opened the second door to the girl’s dorms.
“What the hell,” Blake said right behind me. I jerked at the sound of his voice.
“I was about to ask the same thing.”
The yelling and crashing were coming from down Ren’s end, and the hallway was packed with gawkers. We began pushing people out of the way, and as soon as we were free from the crowd, we dove into the mess to separate Ren and Vicky. They looked like they were going to tear each other’s eyes out.
“I’m going to kill you,” Ren yelled and thrashed. She hadn’t even been this angry the first day of school. She fought in my arms, her hands reaching for Vicky.
“You’re a boyfriend-stealing cunt,” Vicky snarled back as Blake held her off the ground.
“Stop it, both of ya are gonna get kicked out,” I said.
“I don’t care. That bitch tore apart my journal.” Ren was shaking, her fury turning into tears. “Those are all my memories of my mum!”
“She’s better off dead,” Vicky said, and Ren screamed bloody murder as she lunged.
“Get her out of here,” I said to Blake, and he immediately dragged a yelling Vicky down the hall.
I looked over my shoulder at the crowd. “Well, go on. The show is over. Get out of here,” I growled at them.
I held Ren to my chest as she panted and didn’t release her until the last of them had disappeared.
She walked to the open door of her room and dropped to the floor, tears trailing down her cheeks as she picked up the torn pieces of paper, and my heart broke in two.
My mouth dropped to the floor when I stepped into the room. Papers were strewn everywhere, and a cardboard box on Ren’s bed was capsized. Thongs of every color and material made a colorful breadcrumb trail across the floor.
Bending down, I picked up all the pages and took them to Ren, who was still kneeling by the door.
“Are ya okay,” I asked softly, touching her shoulder. She shook her head. I’d never seen her look so torn down. I gathered the rest of the pages and gently took the leather-bound book from her hands to place them inside.
“She ripped apart my mum’s photo.”
“Do ya have more?”
She nodded slowly. “In my phone, but…she gave it to me. It was a gift.” Ren wiped away the tears, and as her eyes lifted to mine, I wanted Vicky’s blood.
“Come on, let’s get ya off the floor.” It took a minute, but Ren finally let me help her stand up. I smoothed back her beautiful hair and growled at the sight of the scratch on her cheek. “What happened? What is all of this?” I held my hand out to the underwear, and Ren rolled her eyes.
“Nash. Your friend is trying to kill me, I know you said he isn’t, but I’m not so sure.
He dumped Vicky in front of all of the cheerleaders, and when she refused to believe it, he grabbed me and kissed me.
She was furious before, but then I came up here and saw a box on my bed…
from Nash.” Ren bent over and started picking up the thongs: silk, cotton, and everything in between, including leather and rhinestones.
She tossed them in the box. “Vicky, being Vicky, of course, opened the box before I got to the room, and this was inside.” Ren handed me a small card.
Princess,
Here are some new thongs since I owed you some.
You’ll find these much nicer than the granny style you had before.
You’re welcome.
Nash
If this hadn’t caused such a devastating explosion, I would’ve laughed. Well, that explained everything, including Vicky’s angry mass text.
“Then…she…she sent a text to the whole school with a picture of me kissing Nash.” Ren sat on the edge of her bed.
“I can’t even imagine what you must think of me right now.
First, I kiss your best friend.” She wiped away more tears as her bottom lip trembled.
“Now this. And don’t think I asked him for those.
” She pointed to the box. “Because I didn’t. ”
“I know, it’s fine…it’s Nash. Ya can’t stop him from doing what he wants,” I said and knelt in front of her.
I knew better than most what Nash could be like when he decided he was going to do something, and all other opinions or feelings be damned.
“Why don’t ya grab some stuff and come stay with me tonight?
Ya can’t stay in here until this blows over, and there is no way that Vicky will let me spend the night without being a narc. ”
“Won’t we get into trouble?”
“Naw, I know our floor monitor. He doesn’t care. Just for the night, and we can figure out somethin’ else tomorrow. What do ya say?”
She bit her lip and looked around before nodding. I was a terrible person, but my pulse doubled, and my heart pounded hard at the thought of holding her all night. One night, ten nights, whatever I could get, I would take.
Ren cupped my cheeks, and I hated that there was so much pain in her eyes. I wanted to wipe away anything that would ever put that look there. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she leaned her forehead against mine.
“Thank you for being so awesome,” she whispered.
There was a soft knock at the door, and I looked over my shoulder to see Blake standing in the doorway. “Are you okay?”
I wasn’t sure if he was asking me or Ren, but his eyes were on Ren. “I will be,” she answered and then excused herself to the bathroom.
Blake wandered over. “What happened? I mean, aside from the kiss?” I pointed to the box, and Blake opened it and pulled out the note. “Oh yeah, that would do it.”
“Where’s Vicky,” I asked.
“I left her with a couple of her friends and ordered her to cool off. She was fired up to come back here, but I threatened to call the dean. Words I never thought I’d use.”
“I invited Ren to stay with us for the night. Are ya okay with that?”
Blake’s face changed ever so slightly as it lit up, but he blinked, and it was wiped away. He cleared his throat and looked down. “Yeah, of course, as long as she needs.” Reaching out, he picked up her journal. “Vicky was gloating about tearing this up, fucking bitch. That’s just low.”
“It gets worse.” I pointed to the desk and the smashed frame with the torn little pieces of a picture that now looked like confetti.
“What the fuck is wrong with her?”
“Nash dumped her ass, then made a spectacle of it by kissing Ren in front of her, hence the photo.”
Blake shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Only Nash could get away with that and still have his balls intact.”
“They may not be by the time I get through with him,” Ren said, making us jump. She looked better. Her hair was up, her face was less red, and the fierceness was back in her eyes.
“Yer so fuckin’ beautiful,” I said, and her eyes went wide. “Did I say that out loud?” She smirked and blushed. “Come on, let’s get yer stuff.”
She was quick about packing a bag like she was used to living on the go. I wanted to know so much more about her life before coming here, but as open as she was about almost everything, she hardly talked about Canada.
“I should clean up before we go.”
“Naw, can’t chance her comin’ back tonight. This is all too raw,” I said.
“I’ll clean up,” Blake offered, and we turned to look at him. He shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I could use a project.”
“Are you sure,” Ren asked.
“Yeah, get going. There isn’t much to do.
” I glanced between the two of them as they stared at one another.
I’d never shared anything that I really loved.
I never even let anyone drive my car. Ren was far from being my car, but it was the closest comparison I had.
I couldn’t remember ever sharing a girl with him at a party.
In fact, we’d never been in the same room, but could I share Ren with Blake?
“We better go,” I said, breaking their silent staring contest and wrapping my arm around her waist.
“Yeah, okay. Thanks, Blake.”
Walking out of her room, I loved that she held her head high and glared at everyone who stared at us.
No one was hanging around in the halls of the boy’s dorm, and we slipped into my room unseen.
Before she could say anything, I spun her around and kissed her hard.
She opened immediately for me, and I loved that she wrapped her arms around my neck, holding me tight.
I wasn’t a poet. Hell, I was lucky if I could say three words together without looking like an idiot, but when I looked at her, I felt something I couldn’t describe.
My Snowflake had seeped through my skin, into my soul, and melted my heart. If Vicky wasn’t careful, she was going to end up on the wrong side of my gun, her notorious family be damned.
“Do you want to cuddle?”
I knew I was a goner when I didn’t laugh like that was the most hilarious thing I’d ever heard. I smiled.
“Thought ya were never gonna ask.”