Priceless (Forbidden Men #8)(12)

Pissed at Chloe, I took it out on her, typing: Chloe Hilliard, biggest skank whore in the entire middle school. And now, friend thief.

My heart raced as I typed those words. Before befriending Brandt on Facebook, I never would’ve dared say something so mean. But after reading all his inner potty-mouthed thoughts, it seemed almost...liberating. And yep, as soon as the words showed up on the screen, I felt...freer. Better.

As Chloe asked Brandt what grade he was in, I rolled my eyes over how freaking phony she sounded.

Blah, blah, blah, I typed. BTW, she’s sticking her chest out like that because her boobs just came in, and she wants all the boys to look at them.

Above me, Brandt laughed.

I looked up just as Chloe asked him, “What’s so funny?” only to realize he’d been reading what I’d been typing.

Oh, crap.

Busted.

I slapped the computer closed so Chloe couldn’t see what I’d called her. My gaze went to Brandt, begging mercy.

Instead of ratting me out, however, he tightened his lips, lifted his eyebrows and sent Chloe the worst innocent expression ever.

“Uh...nothing. Sorry.” He scratched his ear and sent me a quick glance before flashing her a bogus smile. “What’d you say again?”

She seemed momentarily uncertain before she blinked and repeated, “I, um, I just wanted to know if you’d like me to show you around, walk you to your first class, you know, stuff like that.”

“Oh.” His eyebrows lifted, but instead of thanking her and taking her up on her offer, his expression turned to a wince. “Sorry, but Sarah already agreed to do all that for me.”

“What?” Chloe asked, her smiling falling flat.

Yeah. What?

Both Chloe and I gaped at him as if he’d lost his mind. He eased a wary step back, looking at me, then back to Chloe, who’d just slapped her hands on her hips and glared.

“Sarah who?”

“Sarah...Arnosta,” he answered slowly, pointing me out.

Chloe finally looked down. Every instinct in me wanted to shy away, to lower my gaze, run and hide. But seriously...Brandt had just chosen me over her.

That felt powerful.

Instead of cowering, I lifted my chin. Victorious.

She sniffed her disgust and let out a little laugh, letting Brandt and I know she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Really?” she asked him dryly. “You want to hang out with the school freak?”

All the power and bravery I’d been feeling deflated like a popped balloon. My body twitched out of my control, making me feel even more like the freak she’d labeled me. I lowered my face to hide the tears pricking my eyes.

Brandt didn’t abandon me and leave with her, though. He said, “Actually, yeah. I’d much rather hang out with Sarah any day of the week than the school’s rudest skank whore who can’t seem to keep her tits out of my face. Now if you’ll excuse us...” He grasped my shoulder and turned my wheelchair, steering me down the hall away from Chloe. “We have class to get to.”

And right on cue, the first bell of the day rang.

I barely heard it, though. I was too busy gazing up at my new hero in awe as he kept moving us along with no idea where he was going.

He sent me a rueful grin and leaned in closer to admit, “I can’t stand bullies.”

My nostrils flared as I inhaled his woodsy scent. Then my head went woozy with joy as I stuttered, “I...I can’t either.”

His expression exploded into the most amazing grin ever. “Then we’ll get along just fine.” Lifting his gaze, he took in the students around us. “Where the f*ck are we going, anyway?”

I laughed. Chloe Hilliard had just called me the school freak, yet I couldn’t seem to care. Brandt had chosen me over her.

Life was amazing.

“The other way completely,” I instructed, making him jerk my chair to an abrupt halt.

“Shit, sorry. Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

As he wheeled me around to go back the way we’d just come, I could only smile. There was a lot I hadn’t told Brandt in that moment, like the fact I’d just fallen flat irreversibly in love with him.





BRANDT

AGE 14




Colton was having nightmares. About our mom.

It’d been almost a year to the day since Noel had arrived at our trailer house and moved us all to Illinois with him and his now-wife Aspen. Ergo, it’d almost been a year since we’d last seen Daisy. She hadn’t once tried to contact any of us in all that time.

So why in the ever-loving f*ck was Colton still dreaming about her?

It worried me.

I mean, what if she’d done the same thing to him that she’d done to me? Just thinking about it made me want to hyperventilate with fear and see red with rage all at the same time. But seriously...not Colton. Not my innocent, nine-year-old baby brother. I would hunt the bitch down and snap her neck if she’d touched him.

Problem was, I didn’t know how to find out the truth without outing myself. The very last thing I ever wanted to happen was for anyone to find out what she’d done to me. I would rather die. I hadn’t even confided in Sarah about it, and I told her everything. It was just too...yeah, I didn’t even like thinking about it.

Blocking it out and forgetting it had ever happened was totally the best plan of action.