The Naughty List (The Naughty List #1)(55)

No. Not Aiden. Not him.

I began to cry but didn’t look away. I felt Christian’s fingers touch my knee, and they were warm. He shouldn’t have been touching me, but I was too sick to care. My heart hurt.

I stared out the windshield, mumbling to myself, wanting to curl up into a ball. Aiden was looking down at Chloe, his hands at her shoulders, near the thin straps of her dress, while they talked. I wished I had audio. She was all over him, and at least Aiden had the sense to not do anything in his driveway. At least he had that much respect for us.

Then he put his arm around her waist and moved her away from the car so that he could shut the door. What was he doing?

“So sorry,” Christian said next to me, squeezing my knee and moving his hand to rub at the skin just above it. I looked over at him. He turned quickly to me and apologized again. I would have thought his concern for me was sweet if I weren’t having a complete breakdown. I couldn’t even feel his touch.

I focused back in on Aiden. He led Chloe up the stairs to his big front porch as she clutched onto him, his T-shirt balled in her fist. I hated her. I’d never hated anyone in my whole life, but at this moment, I hated her. And if I talked to her, I’d tell her as much.

Aiden turned back, looking over the street guiltily. One hundred percent. One hundred percent of the time, they cheated. I thought that maybe Aiden could be the one exception, but it sure as heck didn’t look that way.

As Aiden walked into his darkly lit house with Chloe and shut the door, I covered my mouth with my hands. He’d brought her inside! He was cheating on me. I was too stunned to move.

I was Mary Rudick. I was just like her when she found out about Kyle. I’d become her. I’d become the meaning behind SOS.

“Tessa?” Christian asked softly, his hand moving dangerously close to the hem of my skirt. But I didn’t tell him to move it. I didn’t care. And I wasn’t going to answer him either. Instead, I just stared at Aiden’s house, hoping he’d come marching outside and walk over to this car and yank me out. He would tell me he loved me and that this was all a big mistake. That nothing happened or was even going to happen.

The light in his upstairs bedroom flicked on, and my heart officially broke.

No.

No.

Not my Aiden. Not him.

I bent over, sobbing violently. This wasn’t real. It was some nightmare, and I was still in Aiden’s room, letting him hold me like he did last night. He wouldn’t hurt me. Never.

Christian’s hand moved off my leg and touched my shoulder. He wasn’t Aiden, but I wished he were. I let Christian pull me into him, and I cried against his shirt. Hard.

I’d lost everything. I reached up and wrapped my hands behind Christian’s neck as I continued to shake. What would I do? What could I possibly do now?

“Don’t cry, Tessa,” Christian whispered into my hair. His voice was soft. I liked it.

“I don’t understand,” I choked out, letting go of him to wipe my face. Christian was holding me tightly, and although I knew I needed to pull away from him, I didn’t. I felt so lonely. So dead.

“He’s an ass**le,” Christian said.

“No,” I mumbled, trying to let the numbness take me over. I didn’t want to cry anymore. I didn’t want to hurt.

Christian slid his hand from my shoulder to hold the back of my neck. It was actually very comforting. I suddenly felt protected.

“Shh …” he said into my hair. His breath was warm on my ear.

It made me feel special, the way he wanted me. I didn’t love him. He wasn’t Aiden. But Christian liked me even without the pep. I sniffled and looked at him.

“I want to go home,” I said, and slowly began to pull away. Only, when I moved back, Christian kept his hand on my neck, tilting my mouth toward his.

His face was slightly blurry as I tried to look back at it, blinking through my tears.

“You said no touching,” I whispered.

“I’ll take care of you.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head. While his one hand was on my neck, Christian’s other touched my leg again. I looked at him, ready to tell him to stop, when he leaned forward, pressing his mouth against mine. He held me to him as his tongue slid into my mouth.

He wasn’t mine. And although I wanted to stop, I found myself kissing him back, letting his tongue touch mine. My body was responding despite myself as his hand moved from behind my neck to my shoulder.

He was making out with me, and I was letting him. Why the flip was I letting him?

“I’ve wanted you since that first day in class,” he murmured in between my lips. His hand moved up my leg, but the minute I felt it touch me, touch me in the place where only Aiden had been, I pushed him back, breaking our connection. Wait. What was happening?

Oh. Heck, no! My mind cleared, and I moved to my side of the car and stared at him, pressing myself to the door. My face was on fire, and my breath was coming out in gasps. There was a tingling between my legs, but it wasn’t because I was hot for him. I felt … violated.

My eyes were wide as I watched him lick his lips. Bloody Mary! He’d just totally taken advantage of my distress, and he didn’t care. He didn’t care about me. Only one guy did, and I needed him. I needed Aiden!

Desperately, I grasped the handle of the car door and pushed it open, dashing out. Christian called my name in a loud whisper from the driver’s window, but I was a cheerleader. I knew how to hustle.