Chapter 27
Jayce
Dad: He’s getting served this weekend. Hoping everything goes smoothly, but when does it ever?
Slipping the phone back into my pocket, I tried not to think too much about it right now. It was their case and I would help where I could but if I got too involved, I might consider removing Mike from the picture altogether to make it easier. I had to keep a grip on myself or people could start disappearing at an alarming rate.
“Mr. Weste,” Mia greeted with a massive smile. Her eyes basically devoured me as I made my way over to her.
“Hey, Mia. I bet you’re glad it’s Friday.”
“You have no idea. I think it’s because of the holiday next week. These kids are freaking insane right now.”
“I bet. They’ll be a riot for you.”
“Oh, god. I might need something to de-stress.”
I licked my lips to hide the way her insinuation made me cringe. “I’d say the break might help, but some families tend to cause more stress.”
“What about yours?”
“Nah, mine are great. I’m lucky.”
Her expression morphed into something familiar. “Is this the first Thanksgiving without…”
I offered her a smile. “Yeah. At least we’ll all be together to get through it.”
“Will Ms. Monroe be there?”
“Of course. She’s family.”
“That’s so nice.”
Yes, it was so nice that I would bring the woman I loved to Thanksgiving with my family. In fact, if she ever tried to back out of it, I’d duct tape her, throw her over my shoulder, then chain her to a dining room chair so that I could force feed her mashed potatoes. At the end of it, I’d call her my good girl and she’d realize she was being needlessly obstinate.
“Maybe I’ll see you next week,” she went on.
“You know I’ll be here at least once.”
Stepping away from her, I pushed through the double doors into the hallway. When I passed Alana’s classroom, I peeked inside quickly. She was sitting at her desk with the coffee I’d had delivered for her. From the frown on her face and the way she was staring at it, I figured she didn’t care for the note I had them put on it.
If you drink it, you’re mine.
-E
I continued to watch, even though I didn’t want her to see me. She would probably drink it. She was a fiend for coffee. I needed to know for sure, though.
Her fingers tapped on the desk repeatedly as if this was the hardest decision of her life. Maybe it was. Just like when she let me fuck her, she knew I wasn’t playing around and her acquiescence was locked in. She was very aware that I was both dangerous and a bit unhinged. I loved that, despite knowing those things, she begged me to make her cum.
One day, I’d bend her over that desk during lunchtime and make her stay completely quiet while we roleplayed some weird teacher fantasy for the hell of it. Anything this woman wanted to do, I was game.
I smiled when she sealed her lips around the straw and took a drink. As discreetly as I could, I snapped a picture through the window on her door before I headed toward my real target.
“Hey,” I said when I saw Kyle peeking out of a classroom. I leaned against the wall beside it. “You good in five?”
“Yeah. I got you, Jayce.”
I held out my hand and he shook it. After he took the three hundred I gave him, he jogged down the hall. I walked the rest of the way to Mike’s room and knocked to be polite. When he looked up from his desk, I wanted to throw cordiality to the wind and punch him again, but I smiled instead.
“You got a second?”
His apprehension was clear but after a moment, he nodded. I closed the door behind me but didn’t latch it, leaving a small crack. The closer I got, the more nervous he looked. I grabbed a chair and moved it to the desk, then sat down, kicking my legs out in front of me.
“Let’s have a chat, Mike.”
“Is this business or personal?”
“Does it look like I teach kids?”
His jaw clenched. “No, but I think it’s strange that you came to my place of work to talk to me.”
“Well, I don’t have your number and, as you know, I often visit Alana here. It’s convenient more than anything.”
“Okay. You have…” He glanced at his cheap gold watch. “Fifteen minutes, although I’d prefer if it was faster.”
“The disrespect is noted.” I resisted the urge to glance toward the door and pressed my palms against my thighs. “I’ll make it short and sweet, then. You need to stay the hell away from Alana.”
To my surprise and annoyance, he laughed. “This is one of those things? Jesus.”
“This isn’t a joke, Mike.”
“And what happens if I don’t? We had a nice date and we get along well. I think I want to see more of her.”
I leaned forward and let a smile slide into place. “You’re so fucking stupid, Mike. It’s kind of funny to think about how much my brother would’ve hated you.”
“Let me guess. He would’ve kicked my ass.” He rolled his eyes at the idea.
“Don’t be ridiculous. He would’ve asked me to do it. Jake didn’t know a lot of things about me, but he knew damn well that I’m the one who’s a little fucking crazier and I can get shit done.”
“So, you are going to beat me up.” There was still an amused glint in his eyes that pissed me off.
I perched my elbows on the desk, flexing a little. He tried to hide it, but his gaze flitted toward my arms a couple of times.
“Let’s make it so that I don’t have to do anything,” I suggested.
“Threats are a funny thing. You can beat me within an inch of my life, but it won’t do any good because you’ll go to jail for assault and I’ll be free to do whatever I like with Alana.”
“I never said I was going to beat you up, just that Jake would want me to. No, that’s the least of your fucking concerns.”
“And what’s the greatest?” he taunted, matching my position as he leaned forward.
“Money seems to be an issue for you right now. It can’t be easy to take care of Alicia on your own, especially without child support from Jake, income from Hailey, and an ass load of money that belongs to a child who isn’t yours. Does that piss you off, Mike?”
His tough fa?ade fell away and revealed the man behind the curtain. He was weak and a coward. The only things that made him feel powerful a moment ago were his secret plans, which he somehow thought were foolproof.
“Did you know the whole time?” I went on. “Or were you under the impression that she was your kid? Maybe she used you when she found out she was pregnant. Did you start dating when she wasn’t very far along or were you already together when she slept with my brother? It must’ve been so easy to say the baby was yours.”
“Shut the fuck up,” he snapped.
“Happy to. And you’re going to leave Alana alone. Don’t talk to her, don’t acknowledge her, don’t even fucking look at her.”
“Getting me out of the picture won’t make her fall for you.”
“Obviously. She fell for me years ago. What this does is protect her from someone who wants to use her so that he can get access to funds that don’t belong to him. Did you really think she’d help you with anything after she found out who you were?”
“I know things too, you know. Things Hailey told me.”
I cocked my head. “I’m sure whatever you think you know was born of delusion. Hailey was a headcase.”
The door swung open and slammed into the wall. Kyle stood there with a frantic expression on his face. He didn’t spare a glance at me, which I found impressive.
“Mr. Everhart, Patrick and Lucas are fighting. They look like they’re going to kill each other!”
“God damnit.” Mike got to his feet and headed for the door. “I’ll be right back.”
When his footsteps were no longer audible, I moved around to the other side of his desk. The computer was unlocked from what he’d been doing before I showed up. I scanned the icons, trying to figure out which one connected to the gradebook. I figured it’d be easy and say ‘gradebook.’ Apparently, I was wrong.
I pulled up his minimized browser, but it was just his school email. Briefly, I scanned it to see if there was anything interesting. There was one to Alana, which looked like random back and forth conversations during class so they weren’t caught on their phones.
Damnit, I had to hurry. I started clicking on random desktop icons that looked like they could be it. Finally, I found the right one. It was confusing, though. I didn’t know which period Carson was in, which didn’t help.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
I froze with my fingers on the keyboard. Raising my gaze, I took in Alana’s horrified expression.
“What are you doing?” I asked. “Another lunch date with micro Dickens?”
She glanced behind her, then hurried toward me. “Seriously, Jayce.” She gasped when she saw the screen. “Tell me what you’re doing right now or-”
“You gonna report me, little… Alana?”
She gave me a weird look but ignored it. I’d almost fucked things up on multiple fronts and it wasn’t even noon yet. This identity thing was a pain in my ass.
“Jayce.”
“Fuck,” I muttered, dropping my head back. “It’s for Ben.”
“Ben?” she hissed. “Why are you doing something for him?”
“Because I owed him a favor. Your cousin is failing and if he wants to play basketball, he has to pass this class.”
“You were going to fudge the grades. That’s insane. You know that’s insane, right?”
“It’ll be more insane when your brother hangs me in a meat locker and sells my muscled thighs to some rich prick cannibals.”
Her eyes widened comically. “Does he do that?”
“I don’t know. Ask him.”
“No. I don’t want to be part of all that. Besides, he doesn’t give a shit.”
“He does. He just doesn’t know how to deal with everything that’s happened. Ten years makes for a lot of shit to swim through.”
“Whatever. It’s not important right now. Scoot.”
I stared at her for a moment. “No.”
“What? We need to hurry.”
Patting my lap, I pushed the chair back a little so she’d have room. Her mouth opened and she looked toward the door. I raised a challenging brow as I waited. Her cheeks pinked before she gingerly sat on my leg. I gripped her thighs and rolled us into the desk, which forced her to sit back further.
Now that I’d been with her, I just couldn’t help myself. I needed at least a little bit of contact with her.
Leaning forward, I stared at what she was doing. My cheek was level with her forehead and I could hear the shaky breaths coming from her nose. She typed away, adjusting every assignment slightly until Carson’s grade reached a barely passing level. When she exited out, she pushed backward. I fought the urge to groan at the way her ass rubbed on my cock.
“Jayce.”
I rolled us away from the desk and she immediately stood. When she bent over, my eyes were locked on her perfect round ass in her jeans. She pulled open a drawer and touched the files until she found Carson’s. After removing the entire thing, she motioned for me to follow her.
We were nearly to the door when Mike turned into the room. Alana took a step back, thrusting the file behind her. I came closer so that it was hidden between our bodies. To make it look less suspicious, I wrapped an arm around her, flattening my palm against her stomach. With my hand on the other side of her, I took the folder and held it in place so that she could drop her hand.
“Alana,” Mike said, sounding annoyed from the fight he’d come from. “What’s going on?”
“Just came looking for my lunch date,” she replied. “He was taking longer than I thought he would.”
“Ah, I see. Are you okay?”
She squirmed when my hips pressed against her. “Yeah, totally fine. I’ll see you after school.”
He said something, but she was already scurrying out of the room with me still pressed against her back. When we got into the hall, she pried my hand away and walked briskly toward her classroom. Yeah, I was probably going to pay for my antics in there.
Once I closed the door behind us, she whirled on me. “What is your deal?”
“I don’t have a deal. I was just trying to get us out of there.”
“You came into my school to commit a freaking crime, Jayce.”
“Is it a crime?”
“I don’t know! You can’t do that kind of stuff. I can’t just have a day of goddamn peace anymore.”
“Me being here had nothing to do with you, so don’t act like it did.”
“I had to get you out of that mess, otherwise he would have caught you.”
“Then let him. I knew it was a risk. You shouldn’t try to protect me. That’s my job, Alana.”
“No. You’re just supposed to be my friend.”
She wrapped her arms around herself and it made her look small. I stepped toward her, but she shook her head.
“I don’t want to talk to you right now,” she said. “You’re doing shady shit with my brother and making me uncomfortable.”
Narrowing my eyes, I closed the distance between us regardless of her protests. I ran my hands down her arms, wishing I could do more than this.
“It was just one thing,” I assured her. “Now it’s done. No more shady shit.”
“Why’d you owe Ben a favor, Jayce?”
I set my jaw as I thought about what to say. Telling her the truth might come across as stalker-ish, which I couldn’t afford for her to think. Pieces would start fitting together and she’d figure it out before we got to a place where she’d accept both sides of me.
“Jayce,” she prompted.
“He found something for me.”
“It must’ve been pretty damn important.”
“You could say that.”
Her palms flattened on my chest and my eyes closed. I couldn’t help but lean in closer, relishing the way her fingers felt on my body. Then, the pressure increased. She shoved hard and when I didn’t budge, she slammed her hands against me. I caught her wrists and put them back where they were, keeping my eyes locked on hers. It felt like something was trying to explode out of me.
“Don’t be angry,” I said firmly.
“You need to go. My class starts soon.”
She tried to pull out of my grasp, but I held on. I was fucking tired of this. Withholding. Keeping myself at arm’s length. It hurt me, but there was nothing I could do about it.
Maybe… Maybe I’d been overcomplicating it. It could backfire if I gave it a shot, but the game I’d been playing had that chance as well. Possibly more so. It rode on twisting and breaking her, which I had no issue with as long as it worked.
Fuck it. I physically couldn’t stop myself.
I released her and wrapped an arm around her waist. She gasped when I pulled her flush against me. With my other hand on the side of her neck, I kept her firmly in place and kissed her. I’d planned this exact moment for so long that it felt familiar. This was right. It was everything I would ever want in this godforsaken world and I’d been denied it for half my fucking life.
She didn’t even fucking hesitate. Alana melted into me easily, molding her lips to mine and following my movements like this was a choreographed dance. This was natural, the easiest thing I’d ever done.
She belonged to me. Mine. Fucking mine. She always had been and I should’ve stolen her from Jake the moment he brought her home. Fuck him, fuck Preston, fuck Mike. Fuck Alana, even, for acting like she didn’t know who she truly belonged to. My name was etched into her soul and her blood flowed through my veins with every beat of her heart. As long as she was alive, that wouldn’t change. It couldn’t change. Some things were fixed, set in stone. That’s what we were.
I pressed her back against the desk as I delved into her mouth. My hand on her waist dipped underneath her shirt to feel her soft skin. I squeezed her tightly, trying to leave my mark on her. Moving my fingers into her hair, I cradled her head while I tipped it back, giving me full control over her lips.
God, she was so malleable. She was independent and never would have been submissive for Jake, but for me she was. For me, she’d be anything I wanted. She knew I’d take care of her, protect her, kill for her, so she trusted me to hold her most broken pieces.
She whimpered against me and I tightened my grip as words long silenced tried to burst free. “Alana, I-”
With a sharp intake of breath, she turned her head. I swallowed and tried to steady my heart.
“You need to go,” she whispered.
“No. No, Alana, I’m not gonna fucking go.”
“My class…”
“That’s not what this is about.” My teeth ached from how hard they were clenched.
“I can’t give you what you want. It’s not fair to you.”
“What I want?” I repeated, my voice rising. “Tell me what you want.”
“I can’t do this, Jayce.” She squeezed out from between me and the desk. I watched her stop at the window and stare out at the field.
“It’s because you feel guilty.”
“Go. Please. I can’t do this.”
“Stop feeling guilty for loving me, Alana!”
She flinched and her shoulders rose. I stared at her back for another moment before I swiped a hand down my face.
“You saw him? Felt him? Heard him?”
All she did was nod and it was enough to fucking destroy me. It was too soon. I’d made a mistake by kissing her so quickly. I got lost in fanciful thoughts of things working out because that’s how it was supposed to be, right? True love always finds a way, true love’s kiss will fix everything.
Yeah, thanks, Disney. Maybe it was time to teach kids something realistic. Life didn’t always go your way and things didn’t just work out because they were supposed to. They sure as shit wouldn’t make a movie about a stalker who tried to force a woman’s hand, even if it did result in a happy ending.
Without another word, I exited the classroom. The bell rang and a gaggle of teenagers began scrambling toward their classes. I wished life were this simple again.
Whatever I had to do, I would get my happy ending. You can bet your ass that I wasn’t going to give up. I just had to return to the old plan and hope things on this side could be salvaged.
She didn’t get a fucking choice. She never had one. With Erebus, she understood that, so that’s where I had to focus my attention.