Jaden (Jaded #3)(49)

Her eyebrows shot up.

I laughed again louder, as I stood up and ran my hands down my pants. “I’m not. I’m not crazy.” Seriously. I didn’t need to deal with that. “Don’t put me in an insane asylum. Jail was enough.”

She stood with me, still frowning. Her gaze roamed all over my face, studying me. Then she asked, quietly, “Are you okay? For real?”

I couldn’t answer. Not at first.

She asked that like Grace would’ve. With genuine concern. Without judgment. Like she actually cared.

Carolina had cared. She really did.

The fight left me for a moment. I hugged her, throwing my arms around her. Pulling her in, I squeezed her tightly. “Thank you.” There was so much to say, but I only said, “Just thank you.”

She hugged me, saying, “Thank you, too.” Her hand brushed down my hair to my back. “You’re going to be okay, Sheldon. You know that, right?”

I didn’t. She didn’t. I held her close anyway.

She tightened her hug too. “I mean it, Sheldon. You always survive. You’ll survive this. I have no doubts about it.”

Good. I blinked back more tears. That would make one of us.

There was a soft tap on the door, and it opened. Corrigan poked his head inside, an apology in his eyes, as he said, “Hey, uh, we were wondering if you ladies would join us downstairs?”

Carolina gripped the wine bottle harder, her eyebrows burrowed together. “Why?”

“Uh.” He glanced at me and I saw the stirring in his depths. He was concerned about me. I saw it right away, and I nodded, just a small nod. Instantly, he looked relieved, and his slight grin turned into a typical Corrigan cocky smirk. His head lifted and he stepped more fully into the room. “Well, if you must know, it’s because I think Bryce might need some moral support.”

“Why?”

I bit back a smile. Carolina was acting like Corrigan was asking us to walk across fire. And judging by the grip she had on that wine bottle, I was guessing she wasn’t going to budge for anything.

Corrigan lifted an arm and leaned against the door. “Because we’re having a ‘Who’s Sexier?’ contest downstairs among all the guys. Bryce is going to get stomped. I mean, hello . . .” He gestured to himself. “He might be Mr. Big Stud Six Pack Abs Guy, and Denton might be Mr. Beautiful Movie Star, but the playing field’s all equal now. We’re all chicks tonight, and I don’t know if you’ve checked me out, but I’m some hot stuff tonight.”

“Are you?”

He pressed a finger and made a hissing sound. “Hear that? Sizzling, honey.”

Carolina’s scowl didn’t lift.

My mouth dipped down. I hadn’t expected that.

Corrigan sent me a pointed look and I read the silent plea for help. I nodded and stood from the bed.

Carolina asked me, “What are you doing?”

“Corrigan’s trying to be funny to cover it up, but he’s worried. He wants me to go downstairs so he and the rest of the guys can see me. They’ll be reassured I’m okay.”

“Oh.” The scowl vanished and she stood with me, taking both wine bottles with us. “Why didn’t you just say that in the first place?”

“Yeah.” I beamed up at him as I passed by, following Carolina out of the room. Patting him on the chest, I asked, “Why didn’t you just say that?”

Corrigan groaned, shutting the door behind us and bringing up the rear. He muttered under his breath, “Because I was trying to preserve my manhood.”

“Ha!” I threw him a grin over my shoulder, descending the stairs. “Your manhood’s intact, just not intact while you’re wearing that get-up.”

He glanced down at himself and stopped on the stair. “You have a point.”

“Come on, you two.” Carolina was at the end of the stairs. She turned the corner for the kitchen, leaving Corrigan and I still on the stairs. For a brief moment, it was just the two of us. The house was buzzing from conversation, laughter, and now I could hear good-natured shouts, but the stairs were encased between two walls. I got to the bottom and started to go around to the kitchen, but Corrigan grabbed my hand and pulled me back.

“What?”

He stared at me, not saying a word. A beat passed, and he still didn’t say a word.

“Corrigan?” I stepped closer to him, angling back so I could get a good view of his face. I saw the cloud of worry. It hadn’t disappeared upstairs. He had only masked it. “What’s wrong?” My hand started to lift upward to cup the side of his face, but my eyes widened as I realized what I was doing. I clasped my hands together in front of me, but my god, it would’ve felt so natural to touch him. Placed them on his chest, resting there.

Pushing that need down, my throat was suddenly tight. I rasped out, “Please talk.”

“Look.” His gaze lifted and traveled above my head. “I know you’re here, and you want to rip shit up to find who this guy is, but,” he paused, a soft sigh leaving him. “Can you not?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean—” He cursed under his breath and pressed one of his hands to his forehead. He grimaced as he continued, “I know it’s killing you, no pun intended, not to know who this guy is. I get it. I do, but I have a weird feeling. Nothing about this killer, stalker, whatever this * is, makes sense. Just . . . can you stay within viewing distance? I need to know you’re okay.”