Jaded (Jaded #1)(62)

She leaned back again and added, “I’ve talked to a lot of students and the three of you are always mentioned as the top dogs in this school. I’ll be honest, until the last few days, I would’ve thought the worst about you two, Bryce and Corrigan. But I’ve also heard some great things about you guys. You protect Sheldon. The two of you are incredibly loyal to your friends. So I’ll just say, and this is for you Sheldon, that these two best friends you have will not leave you if you talk to them. It’ll draw them closer to you. You will not break down if you cry about Leisha. And that’s it for today. I want all three of you back in here in two days. Have a good day and don’t skip any classes.”

Miss Connors dismissed us and we left, slower than when we’d entered.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

After our session with Miss Connor, neither of us wanted to be in school. After we saw the majority of teachers wandering around, comforting students, and only a handful of students were actually attending classes—Corrigan had bailed. Bryce and I gone after that.

And now I tilted my head back as Bryce’s lips settled on my neck where he sucked, licked, and generally made me melt. One of his hands held my hip while the other slid up and down my thigh in a slow caress. His legs rested on the bed to my side, but the rest of his body lightly rested over me. He traveled up my jaw and found my lips again. I gasped as his fingers worked the inside of my jeans and his tongue swept inside.

We’d taken our time, but twenty minutes of foreplay stretched our limit and Bryce abruptly sat up and quickly rid himself of a shirt. He started on his jeans when I unzipped my own and shimmied out of them. Shirt and bra had already been stripped away, but when my fingers found the straps of my thong, Bryce groaned and stopped me. His hands left his pants and he bent to kiss my hip, just above my thong.

“Bryce,” I moaned, but could only lay there, helpless, against the onslaught of pleasure.

He slipped the thong off and five minutes later, I shoved him away and desperately reached for his pants.

Bryce kicked them off and fell on top of me as he reached for my nightstand.

His body froze as he reached inside and I blinked in confusion, still dazed from lust, when he straightened away from me and sat back.

“What are you doing?” I cried out and moved to him.

Bryce kept me off and raised his head.

“Oh.”

He held my dad’s Colt.45 in his hand.

“What the hell is this?”

Busted. I sighed and said flatly, “What do you expect? My house was broken into and I have some freak sending me twisted letters. Not to mention…Leisha.”

“Jeez,” Bryce breathed out and looked from me to the gun and back again. He cursed softly underneath his breath and laid down next to me. He cursed again. “You’re not staying here anymore. Not alone,” he declared.

I scoffed, “And what? You’re going to stay every night? Keep lying to AnnaBelle?”

He shrugged, “If I have to.”

“I can stay at Corr—”

“No,” Bryce interrupted me coldly. “I’m not okay with that.”

I quieted and moved to lay beside on him, on my side. I moved one hand to his chest and I swept it softly up and down in a caress.

He sighed again. “This is…” Screwed up.

“I know,” I muttered. “Believe me. I know.”

Bryce took a breath and sat up. He leaned over me again as he replaced the Colt in my nightstand. I moved to my back and Bryce stayed above me, staring at me.

“What?”

He raised a hand to cup the side of my face and shook his head, somber.

“What?” I asked again.

“Nothing,” he whispered and bent for my lips again.

I grinned against them and tugged him to fall on top of me.

He did and the next time he reached for a condom, he actually pulled one out.

We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon in bed, just like we tried the week before. Bryce wanted to watch some ESPN after we’d retired from the shower and I was okay with that. My legs felt a little wobbly from lack of food and the continuous onslaught of gasping, clenching, and groaning.

I was in the kitchen when I heard the front door open. Dressed in a pair of scrub pants and a skimpy white tank-top that didn’t cover anything, I grasped a butcher knife for protection as I tiptoed around the doorway and waited.

The person wasn’t alone and our coat closet was opened. I heard the sound of metal hangers and knew they shuffled through the coats so I tiptoed around the dining room table and into the back hallway that had saved my life before. I circled around into the back sitting room and crept to the end of the main floor hallway where a second stairway had been built, but rarely used.

I hurried to my bedroom and it only took one look for Bryce to scramble out of bed. He put on a pair of jeans, moved in front of me and grasped the butcher knife instead. When I moved to the nightstand, he caught my hand and shook his head.

I was too scared to argue and I trusted him.

I felt a slight bulge in his pocket and recognized the feel of his phone. I turned back and grabbed my own as well as a set of keys. At the door, Bryce led the way first and we moved to the second stairs, but I shook my head and pointed towards my parent’s bedroom.

Bryce frowned, but he followed me through their room and neither of us stopped short at the destruction I’d overhauled before. We moved to the back patio and just as the door clicked shut behind us, the bedroom door was swept open and we both heard a short scream of horror, “Oh my god!”