Jaden (Jaded #3)(62)

“So,” she started.

I smirked. She sounded careless and deceptive, but an attack was imminent.

She asked, “Which one was in your bed last night?

Yep. There it was.

I let out a sigh and stood. “I’m good to start running again.”

Carolina barked out a laugh, falling in line next to me. “If you think running is going to make me not ask these questions, think again, Jeneve. I run marathons. A one-miler to me is like walking to you.”

I gave her the middle finger.

She laughed and only nudged me with her elbow. “Out with it. Just tell me what’s going on.”

“There’s nothing to tell.” And there wasn’t. I had told her earlier about my night with Corrigan, but she thought it was only messing around. She didn’t know that he’d given me an ultimatum. I had to get in touch with my repressed feelings about Bryce first, and then more activities could ensue after that.

It was f*cked up. That was my opinion of the whole thing, but I only said to Carolina, “I have no clue what I’m going to do.”

“No more evening activities with either of them?”

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

“Really? Have either of them said a word to you about that night?”

“Nope.” That was true, too. Bryce saw Corrigan enter my room. He heard me choose, but the next morning I took it back, and there’d been no Corrigan in my room. I had no idea what he was thinking. The only thing I knew was that it was checkmate. I had to drop my wall blocking Bryce, and then everyone could go from there.

“That’s so weird.”

I kept my mouth shut. If I wasn’t ready to deal with my emotions, there was no way I was going to start being a chick and sharing them with another girl. I let out a frustrated groan and put forth a burst of speed. Maybe I could run this shit out of me? That might help.

Carolina laughed, matching my pace again. “You want to sprint the last bit?” She pointed farther down the sidewalk as it weaved out of the park. “There’s a coffee shop up above.”

I almost fell down from the relief. Thank god for coffee. When we turned the corner, heading out of the park, the coffee shop was two stores down.

We never got there.

“Oh.”

Carolina saw them first, then touched my arm, drawing me to a halt.

Then I saw them. Bryce and Corrigan. Both were standing next to a car, wearing baseball caps pulled low and their shoulders hunched forward. They were trying to be inconspicuous.

They were idiots.

I rolled my eyes and strolled over to them. “Really? Are you trying to fulfill the definition of shady?”

“Shut up,” Corrigan grumbled, straightening from the car. He nodded at Carolina. “Nice to see you, Royal Princess, but,” he opened the back door for me and gave her a polite smile, “this is where your road ends with Sheldon today.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Why am I not getting a good feeling about this?”

“Not to be mean.” Bryce fielded this one from across the car. His arms stretched over the hood. “But the less you know, maybe the better for you.”

I took a quick reevaluation of them now. They were here, waiting for me. How they knew we’d end up at the coffee shop, I didn’t want to dissect, but both were grim and serious. Then it clicked—Michael Reveritt got out of jail.

“Oh.”

They both nodded, knowing what dots had connected in my head. “Yep,” Corrigan murmured. He nodded again to Carolina. “See ya, Smalls.”

“For real? You guys are just taking Sheldon and leaving me here? I ran here.”

Bryce opened his mouth, but I shot a hand up. Flashing him a grin, I winked. “I got this one.” I turned around to my friend. Yes, my friend. She was my female friend, but she wasn’t a part of our family. The only person who’d been allowed in was Denton, but since he wasn’t in the car waiting, I knew serious damage was going to go down.

Carolina was a friend, but she wasn’t my family.

A delicious shiver worked its way up my back and through me as I thought that last statement. Family. I could call Bryce and Corrigan family again. It felt damn good.

But Carolina. She had to be let down in the gentlest of ways so I said, “Uh, Miss-Professional-Marathoner-that-was-just-bragging-how-one-mile-is-a-walk-in-the-park-moments-before,” I gave her the sweetest of smiles, “a walk back to your house won’t put you out.”

She stiffened. “Sheldon,” she hissed. “Seriously?”

“Okay, seriously.” All jokes aside. “Like Bryce said, the less you know the better.” I emphasized, “For your sake.”

“Oh.” She moved back a step, frowning.

Corrigan pounded on the roof of the car, turning for his door. “All right then. We’re off. See you at the mixer this weekend.” Then he placed his hand on the top of my head and shoved me into the car before he hopped in himself. Bryce got behind the wheel, and all doors shut in an instant.

That was the end of the exchange.

I knew what was going to happen next, and I didn’t ask questions. I didn’t need to know where they had Ritt, but the farther we drove to the outskirts of the city, the more my adrenaline was kicking up.

I wish I could’ve gone on that run now. I had a feeling the one mile would’ve been a cakewalk for me, too. Then Bryce turned into a storage facility and wound the car around a bunch of tall warehouses. He pulled up to one on the end. When we got out, I asked, “Whose is this?”