Chapter 24
It’s Friday, which means I’ve somehow managed to survive my first week at Twisted Pine.
Well, not quite. I still have to get through today, but I’ve made it this far.
I can get through one more day. My classes suck and I don’t like any of my teachers, but at least I didn’t have to deal with Ms. Pruitt this week.
She had some kind of family emergency and had to take time off. I’m hoping she never comes back.
So far, my plan to take down Braden is going better than expected.
I’ve got Braden’s friends right where I want them.
They like me and seem to trust me, especially Dante.
If I ask him something, nine times out of ten, he gives me an answer.
I’m trying to be careful about what I ask so it doesn’t seem like I’m fishing for information.
A text pops up.
Are they gone?
Yes, I text back, my heart beating faster knowing he’s just outside my door.
The slider opens, and I run over to Jackson, who looks so damn hot in a white t-shirt and faded jeans. He smells almost as good as he looks.
“Miss me?” he says as I jump into his arms.
“Maybe a little.”
He sets me down and gives me a kiss. “I missed you too. How much time do we have?”
“Not enough. Trystan will be back in ten minutes. He just went to get breakfast.”
Braden leaves early every morning for practice, so I ride to school with Trystan.
He hasn’t said much to me lately, which I’m a little concerned about.
He usually talks a lot, so either he’s just quiet because he’s tired from the first week of school or he doesn’t want to say anything because he doesn’t trust me.
I keep thinking he’ll notice something’s going on with the cameras, but so far, he hasn’t mentioned it.
Jackson hired his friend to alter the videos from the security cameras to replace the parts that show Jackson sneaking in or me sneaking out.
We usually only sneak out at night, so it’s only a few minutes of footage the guy has to cut out and replace.
Unless Trystan was studying every second of the videos, he wouldn’t even notice.
This morning, Trystan said he was going out with a friend to get breakfast, so I texted Jackson to get over here. Brock left for LA yesterday and is spending the weekend with Morgan.
“I like seeing you in the morning,” Jackson says, laying me on the bed.
“I like it too.” I grab his face and kiss him, loving the feel of his body over mine. We haven’t done it yet, but I want to. Maybe tonight.
“You feel so freaking good,” he says, kissing my neck as his hand moves up my leg, under my skirt.
I gasp when his fingers slip under my panties.
It’s another thing Axl never did. Pleasure me like this.
Make me come. He only cared about himself.
He never considered my needs. I thought all guys were like that.
I had no idea guys like Jackson even existed.
Guys that actually care about the girl they’re with and want her to be happy.
“Not now,” I say, closing my eyes as pleasure warms me from just his touch. “We won’t have time to finish.”
“We will if I hurry,” he whispers in my ear, his hand moving faster.
I arch back as the feeling builds. “Oh, God.”
“That’s right, baby. Just relax,” he says in his deep, sexy voice as his fingers push deeper. “Let it come.”
I’m panting, grabbing his shirt, getting closer by the second. The buildup is almost as good as the release, which is why Jackson prolongs it, knowing exactly what to do to make it last. But today we don’t have time.
Seconds later, he sends me over the edge, my body practically shaking from how good it feels.
As I lay there in a state of bliss, I’m amazed at how much better I feel now than when I arrived here a couple of weeks ago.
And it’s all because of Jackson. I still hate my school.
I still miss New York. I’m still struggling with the loss of my mom.
But Jackson is making it all better. Each day I’m with him, I feel less alone. Less sad. More hopeful.
He slides his hand back down my leg, then tugs my skirt down, smoothing it. “Ready for school?”
I smile at him. “I think I need a nap now.”
He leans down to kiss me. “When can I see you again?”
“Tonight. Braden and Trystan will be gone, and Brock’s in LA all weekend.”
“I can’t tonight. We have a game.”
“Shit, that’s right. I forgot it was Friday.”
“You need to go to Braden’s game.”
I nod. “I will. I just need to find someone to go with.”
“Go with Kristen,” he says, leaning against the headboard. “She’ll be there tonight.”
I sit up and look at him like he’s lost his mind. “You’re joking, right? The girl hates me.”
“She doesn’t hate you. She just doesn’t know you. That’s why you should go to the game with her tonight.”
“Assuming I wanted to go with her, which I don’t, there’s no way she would agree to it. I’m telling you, she hates me.”
“That’s not what she told me.”
I cock my head. “You talked about me with Kristen?”
“I didn’t bring you up. She did. She said you seemed nice and that you were fitting in and making friends, which isn’t easy at Twisted Pine.” He reaches over and holds my hand. “You’re doing an awesome job. You must’ve got your acting skills from your uncle, not your dad.”
“Wait — why was Kristen talking about me? Did you tell her we’re dating?”
“No. She figured it out on her own.”
“How?”
“She’s seen you at my house. More than once.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. I told her we’re just friends.”
“Trust me, she knows we’re together.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because of our agreement. We said if either one of us found someone, the friends-with-benefits thing ends. It ended right after I met you. She knows what that means.”
“She doesn’t know it’s me.”
“You’re the only girl she’s seen at my place.”
“Jackson, why aren’t you freaking out about this? If she knows about us, she could tell Braden, or someone else on the team. Our whole plan would be ruined.”
“She wouldn’t tell.”
“She might. I’m telling you, she hates me.”
“If she told on us, she’d be doing it to hurt me not you, and she’d never do that.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because we have a history. I’ve covered for her plenty of times. She’s not gonna turn on me. She owes me.”
“You’ve covered for her? For what?”
“Can’t say. The point is, she’s not going to tell. I trust her.”
“I don’t. And you shouldn’t either. Telling you she likes me? It’s a lie. That should prove you can’t trust her.”
“How do you know she doesn’t like you? What’d she do?”
“Her fake smile. The fake nice act she puts on.”
His brows rise. “So she smiles and acts nice to you? That’s proof she doesn’t like you?”
I sigh. “It’s not like that. It’s fake. I know fake from real and she’s definitely not being sincere.”
He gives my hand a squeeze. “Why don’t you just go with her tonight? It’s only for a few hours and you’ll boost your social standing by about a million being seen with her.”
“My social standing doesn’t need a boost. I’m making my way to the top without her. Braden’s friends love me. I think they even like me more than Kristen.”
“They like every girl more than Kristen. They only pretend to like Kristen because they have to.”
“Why?”
“Because of who she is.”
Does he mean because of her money? I’m about to ask, but then he pulls me on top of him and kisses me.
“Why don’t you sneak out later?” he asks. “After the game?”
“What time?”
“Maybe around eleven? I have to go out with the team, but I’ll text you when I’m heading home.” His hand slides under my skirt, gripping my ass. “You’re so damn hot.” His other hand goes to my shirt, unbuttoning it as he kisses my neck, down to my cleavage.
My eyes close. “You have to stop. I’m not going to be able to concentrate in class. I’ll just be thinking about this.”
“About what?” he asks, as his hand runs up and down my inner thigh in a slow sensuous way. I love how he touches me. I can never get enough.
“About how much I want you,” I say, sounding breathless.
“Come over tonight,” he whispers in my ear. “We’ll finish what we started.”
I smile. “I’ll be there.”
As I turn to get up, I see the door swing open. Shayla’s standing there, holding a laundry basket.
“Shit!” She covers her eyes. “I thought you already left for school.”
“Not yet,” I say, rushing to button my shirt as I motion Jackson to leave. He nods and hurries out the sliding door.
“He’s gone,” I say to Shayla.
She takes her hand from her eyes. “What the hell’s going on?”
I race up to her. “You can’t tell anyone! Please. Promise you won’t tell anyone.”
She sighs, shaking her head. “Why are you doing this? You could get any guy to go out with you. Why him?”
“I like him. We get along well. We have stuff in common.”
“What stuff? The guy’s a millionaire. He lives by himself in a mansion. What could you possibly have in common with him?”
“It doesn’t matter. Just promise me you won’t tell anyone.”
“How are you even doing this? How are you hiding this from Trystan and Braden? If they found out, they’d kill you.”
“They don’t get to decide who I date. And I won’t let them find out. Jackson and I are keeping it hidden. I didn’t think we’d be able to, but we’re getting better at it.”
“Like today?” she asks, her brows rising.
“I swear it was locked.”
“You might want to double check next time.” She sets the laundry basket down. “Rumor, I know you don’t want to hear this, but you need to end things with Jackson. The guy is trouble. And he’s Braden’s biggest enemy. You’re playing with fire. Just end it while you still can.”
“Why does Braden hate Jackson so much? Did something happen?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She bites her lip.
“So you know but you won’t tell me?”
“It freaks me out to talk about it.” She shudders. “I know they said he didn’t do it but just being around him makes me nervous. I won’t even go near him at school.”
“Who? Are you talking about Jackson?”
She nods really fast. “Yeah.”
I grab her hand and drag her over to the couch to sit down.
“Tell me what you know.”
She inhales a deep breath and lets it out. “Braden and Jackson used to be friends.”
“Yeah, you told me.”
“I don’t mean casual friends. I mean they were best friends.
Almost like brothers. But they were super competitive with each other.
Jackson was better at football, which pissed off Braden.
When they were both going to Twisted Pine, Jackson was turning the team around, making them win.
There was this other guy, Jason, that was really good too.
Both of them were getting really popular because they were so good at football.
Braden was good too but nowhere near as good as Jackson and Jason. ”
“Jason,” I repeat, remembering the name from earlier this week. “The guy who died?”
“Yeah. Last year. He collapsed on the field.”
I nod. “Someone at school told me.”
Knowing how competitive Braden is and how much he wants to be at the top, a part of me considered that maybe Braden played a role in Jason’s death.
Why my mind even went there, I’m not sure.
Braden can be a jerk, but he wouldn’t kill someone.
Besides, Jason died of a heart problem. He wasn’t murdered.
“So Braden hates Jackson because he’s better at football?”
“He’s jealous of him because of that. He hates him for a different reason.”
“What is it?”
She hesitates. “Everyone knows this but still, don’t tell people you heard this from me. I’m only telling you because you’re messing around with Jackson.”
“Go ahead. What is it?”
“When Jackson’s parents took off and made him a legal adult, he left Twisted Pine and went to Legion.”
“Yeah, I know all that. What about it?”
“Jackson signed up for the football team the summer before school started. The Legion team was already good, but Jackson made them even better. Braden was so pissed at Jackson for leaving and helping the rival team that he stopped talking to him.”
“And that’s why they’re enemies?”
“That’s only part of it. Something else happened. It happened a few weeks after school started.”
She pauses, looking down at her hands in her lap.
“Yeah?” I say, wanting her to hurry up and tell me. “So what happened?”
Her eyes lift to mine. “Did Braden ever tell you about Andrea?”
“Who’s Andrea?”
“His ex. They had a strange relationship. They’d date and then break up and then date again and break up.”
“Wait — is this the girl that fell?”
“So he did tell you.”
“No. Trystan did. He said Braden and that girl had a fight at a party and that everyone thought she took off but she had actually fallen over the railing and died. Trystan said he found her the next morning.”
Shayla shudders. “It still freaks me out.”
“Why? It was just an accident.”
She looks at me. “Not everyone thinks that.”
“What do you mean? They think Braden killed her?”
“No.” She looks me in the eye. “They think Jackson did.”