***
“I think you should know…” a snippy female voice came up beside me the next day at my locker. I turned to see Piper, whose last name I had yet to discover, giving me the stink-eye right before she slammed my locker door shut, missing my nose by centimeters. “…that Jared is not interested in you. Back off.” Her warning came with a raised eye brow and laughable duckface lips.
Really? She was making this too easy.
“So are you naturally insecure or just with Jared?” I innocently inquired, enjoying a weaker opponent a little too much.
“I’m not insecure. I just protect what’s mine.” I could see up her nostrils with how high she held her sharp nose. She stuck her hands in the back pockets of her jeans, pushing her D cup chest further in my face.
Taking in her look, I felt insecure. She was sexy in her skin tight jeans and red halter top shirt. My look screamed goodie-goodie in my tight but not too tight jeans and black peasant blouse. She was stylishly adorned with silver bracelets and high-heeled sandals. Really? Sandals in October? My wrists were covered in rubber bracelets.
I wouldn’t change for any guy, but I could see why guys found girls like her attractive. My skin burned to think that she had slept with Jared. He’d been on her body, inside of her.
My head started to ache. I fought the urge to give in to my jealous rage when I really just wanted to rip her hair out.
I picked up my bag from the floor and stuffed my Physics and French books inside. I opted to spend lunch in the library today, since I wanted to avoid Madoc and let K.C. have some time with Liam.
When I didn’t say anything, she continued, “Every time I turn around, there you are making a spectacle of yourself, getting his attention.”
“He’s yours?” I asked calmly, remembering Jared’s and my two-almost-three kisses. “Does he know that?”
Her expression faltered, but she quickly recovered. “Jared’s a bad boy. He is what he is, and I can handle that. But if you come after him, you’ll have to deal with me.”
“He is what he is, huh?” For once, I felt no nervousness. My attack matched hers, and I wanted to see it out. “What’s his favorite color? What’s his mother’s name? His favorite food? When’s his birthday? Why does he hate the smell of bleach? Which band could he listen to every day for the rest of his life?”
Piper narrowed her eyes at me. Clearly, she was at a loss. Moreover, she was annoyed, because I was insinuating that I had the answers to these questions while she didn’t. And I did.
I put my hand up before she retorted. “Rest easy, kitty cat. I’m not after him. But don’t ever threaten me again, or I’ll make a real big spectacle of myself. Got it?” Without waiting for her comeback, I twisted on my red ballet flat and headed toward the library.
“I do know where he goes on the weekends,” she called behind me. “Do you?”
I turned around, the hairs on my neck prickling with interest. Piper seemed satisfied with my puzzled expression and gave me a smug smile before turning around and walking away.
That’s right. He was gone most weekends. But where?
As far as I knew, he spent most Friday nights at the Benson farm, but the rest of his weekend was a mystery. There was usually a party at his place on either Friday or Saturday nights, so it’s not like he’d disappear all weekend. But she was right. I had no idea where he was during the days. I assumed at work.
Damn, Piper!
The rest of the school day I was a shadow in my classes as my mind was consistently preoccupied with ideas about Jared’s whereabouts on the weekends, his scars, and that summer three years ago.
His constant stare on me during Themes was my only distraction as I tried to form a mental list of what I knew and what I didn’t. And what I truly knew about Jared wasn’t much anymore.
An idea popped in my head, sending a thrilling heat through my chest. It was Tuesday, and I had my lab after school today. But some afternoon this week I needed to do a little recon work. Hopefully, he still kept his window unlocked.
Chapter 29
“Are we heading into Chicago to dress shop this weekend? We’re already behind. The selection probably sucks by now,” K.C. pointed out as I drove her home from school Friday afternoon. She was heading to the races tonight, and although Madoc had invited me to be his “co-pilot,” I had other plans.
“I have that meet tomorrow morning, but it’s local. Can you come? We can get a late breakfast afterwards and head into the city.” Downshifting to second as I slowed and rounded the corner to her house, I noticed Liam’s car parked in front of her two-story red brick colonial.
“Yeah, that sounds good. Text me the time later, and I’ll be there. And you’re getting a red dress, Tate.” She pointed her electric blue finger nail at me and smirked. This was an old argument. She thought blondes rocked it in red, whereas I thought I looked best in black.
“Oh, yeah?” I challenged.
“You’ll see,” she chirped as if she’d already won our impending argument.
Shifting into neutral and pulling up the e-brake, I turned down Five Finger Death Punch on the radio and asked, “Did you know Liam was going to be here?”
She looked ahead of her outside the window at his Camaro. “Yeah. He’s invited for dinner tonight before we head to the race. My parents don’t really know what went down between us. Just that we had an argument and split up for a while. If they knew—“
“Yeah,” I cut her off. I could only imagine Sgt. Carter’s reaction.
“Alright.” She opened the door and climbed out. “Text me later, okay?”
“Sure. See you later,” I called out as she slammed the door to my dad’s Bronco.
The drive home took less than two minutes. A few twists and turns, and I was in my own driveway pulling into the garage. I took note that Jared’s car was parked inside his garage before I noticed him and two other guys crowded under the hood.
Ignoring the tingling that started in my belly and drifted downward, I stomped into the house with a heavy sigh.
Spending the rest of the evening tied up in any menial activity I could think of, I passed the time waiting to hear the rumble of Jared’s engine as it left for the Benson farm. I’d already swept and vacuumed, finished the laundry, and eaten dinner. I was about to go defrag my hard drive when the vibrations of Jared’s Boss caused me to jump.
Finally!
My bare feet got rug burned as I leaped up my stairs. I looked out my French doors to see his car peeling out of the driveway. The black machine raced down the street, and my heart started thumping with what I was about to do.
His house was dark, so I assumed his mother was already at her boyfriend’s for the weekend.
I climbed out of the doors and through the tree, using my bare feet to clutch the branches. I swayed with the déjà vu flooding me. It’d been a long time since I’d made this trip.
My body weight had increased over the past three years. Branches creaked, and I hurried to his window, since there was no longer much density with the leaves. Most of them had already fallen for the upcoming winter, and I was sure to be seen from the street if I lingered too long.
Clutching his window sill with my fingers, my nails chipped the white paint as my muscles strained to work the window up.
Yes! It’s unlocked.
Pushing myself over the edge, I swung a leg over and crawled through the window. Rising to my feet, I let my eyes adjust to the near pitch darkness of the room. My pulse pounded so hard in my ears that I thought they’d bleed, and I was shaking with nervousness. I left the window open just in case I needed a quick escape.
Taking a survey of the room, I noticed he’d changed the furniture around since I’d last been in here. The room seemed clean, but it was messy. Clothes were strewn across the floor and on the bed. The top of his dresser was two inches deep in random junk, money, and receipts. The walls were still painted a midnight blue, though.
When he was younger, his mom had decorated the room in a nautical theme. From the looks of it, he’d tossed all the boat and lighthouse d??cor. Now, the walls boasted some posters of bands and flyers for events coming up in the area.
I started tiptoeing around, but stopped short. Why am being quiet? No one’s home. Perhaps I was feeling a guilty.The little angel in my head whispered its disapproval at my dishonest snooping. But the little devil screamed its urgency.
Keep going!
I walked to his closet, and threw open the wooden doors. Anything of interest would probably be hidden in here. I still wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but at this point, I was interested in anything that would give me insight into his life now.
I closed my eyes at the sudden rush of Jared’s scent. Wind, rain, and man. I briefly ran my fingers over his shirt sleeves and sweatshirts before bending down to look for anything of consequence on the floor.
Shoes cluttered the bottom of the closest and a couple of shoe boxes filled with pictures. As I sifted through the boxes, running into pictures of Jared as a child, I realized not a single picture of me was among them. That’s not right. Jared and I were joined at the hip for four years before our fallout, and there had been pictures. Lots of them. I still had some. Had he gotten rid of his?
Placing everything back the way I found it, I closed the closet with more force than needed and spun around. Jared’s chest of drawers sat across the room, so I walked over and started sifting through the gas station receipts crumpled up on top. I noticed several were from Crest Hill, about an hour from our suburb of Chicago. Crest Hill? What would he be doing there?
A search of the drawers revealed nothing, so I walked to his bed and knelt down to peer underneath.
Jackpot! I drew out a shallow box with no lid that was stuffed with file folders and papers. Heaving it into my arms, I placed it on my lap as I sat down on his bed.