Getting Schooled (The Wright Brothers #1)(53)

I made my way out of Jason’s bedroom on shaky legs, still struggling to breathe. It seemed like the harder I tried, the more my lungs constricted, the more nausea ripped through me. I looked around, frowning at my unfamiliar surroundings, and sank to my knees as my heart thumped erratically in my chest. Another roar of thunder, and I covered my ears, trying not to scream as heavy rain beat down on the house.

My eyes closed, but immediately wrenched them back open, shaking my head. I was back in that seat, back in that concrete drain, screaming for help, not for me, for him, and—

“Reese?!” I flinched as a hand came down on my shoulder, but didn’t look up. Suddenly Jason’s arms were around me, enveloping me in warmth. “You’re having a panic attack. You’re okay. Just breathe. Breathe, princess, breathe,” he murmured in my ear, over and over, as his hands made soothing circles on my back.

I don’t know how long he stayed with me like that, but eventually, I came back down. My breathing leveled, heart stopped racing, nausea dissipated. Little by little, I was able to calm down.

“Talk to me about what’s going on with you,” he insisted, but I shook my head.

“I’m exhausted, and we have class, and it’s late. We can talk about it another time. Not tonight, please.”

Jason let out a little sigh, but didn’t push it. Once we were back in his bed, I snuggled close and cautiously closed my eyes, hoping to only see blackness. That hope was fulfilled – my desire for sleep was not. Jason managed to drift off, but I tossed and turned, shaken out of my calm by every clap of thunder or jolt of lightning. Instead of soothing, the sound of the rain was like nails on chalkboard tonight, grating to my ears.

“Have you talked to anybody aboutt this before?”

I flinched at the sound of Jason’s drowsy voice in my ear. I hadn’t realized he wasn’t still asleep.

“Yeah,” I said, nodding in the dark. “It hasn’t happened in a really long time, but yeah… I talked to somebody. They gave me ways to cope, ways to get to sleep.”

Jason grunted. “You definitely need some sleep. You’ve been tossing for hours. Is there something I can do?”

“Not really. If I was home, I’d probably take some melatonin, and I have tea.”

He sat up. “Give me your keys. I’ll go—”

“Hell no!” I exclaimed, sitting up with him, blindly feeling for his arm. “You can’t go out there in that.”

“It’s just rain, why—”

“Because it’s not just rain! You can’t go out in that storm, not for me. What if you… no. Just no, okay? Please?”

Jason pulled away from me, and then suddenly the lamp was on, and his eyes were filled with concern as they scanned my face. “Reese… what aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t do that shit right now.” He hadn’t snapped at me, but his voice was firm as I looked away. “Just tell me.”

I swallowed hard, closing my eyes as they welled up with tears. “I was in the car with him. I… was so stupid. Dating this guy who slipped something in my drink one night. But I knew as soon as I tasted it that something was off. I locked myself in a bathroom, called my dad to come and get me, and he did. I was the only one there once he got to house, boyfriend was gone. My dad was driving me home, back to my mom’s when the storm started. Somebody hit us on the driver’s side, so hard that the car rolled into one of those drainage ditch things.”

Jason’s face fell as he reached for me, pulling me against his chest. “I’m so sorry.”

I sniffed, hard. “I know I’m not supposed to think this, but he’d still be here if it wasn’t for me. I walked away without a scratch, and he—”

“Shut up,” he rumbled softly in my ear. “I’m not gonna sit here and listen to you blame yourself for that. You did what you were supposed to do, call your father to get you out of a situation like that. It was not your fault that there was a car accident.”

“I know. I know. But sometimes it really, really feels like it.”

He drew me a little closer, holding me tight while I cried quiet tears. After a while, they subsided, and I buried my face against his chest.

“I’m not usually like this, I promise,” I mumbled, my voice muffled against his skin. “The thing with the necklace, and then hearing that accident earlier, and the storm… It was just a tough day for me. I’m sorry.”

He chuckled, then kissed my forehead. “You don’t have to apologize for showing a little vulnerability, especially about something like this. Hell, I’m glad to see it. Reminds me that you aren’t as Teflon-coated as you pretend to be.”

“You trying to say I’m not tough?”

“That’s not at all what I’m saying.” I smiled as he used the pads of his thumbs to swipe tears from my face. ”You’re the toughest princess I know.”

“Why do you call me that?”

“What?”

“Princess.”

Jason groaned, and then laid back. “I mean… that was my first impression of you. Sitting in front of the class, not saying anything to anybody except the professor, with this sophisticated look on your face. Clothes, jewelry, shoes, always perfect. You already seemed to have that bougie vibe, and then we bumped into each other, and your reaction just sealed it in.”