Jaded (Jaded #1)

Wow. They really had come to vandalize the house, not to kill anyone. Shocker, but not a relief.

Denton started, warily, exhausted, “I’m…the truth was that she left a group home because she turned eighteen. They thought she was good enough to come home, but I wasn’t too sure about that. I made the mistake of telling her about our neighbor, about the ‘free champagne’ that I got that night and…Mena just grabbed that, I don’t know. I don’t know why. She just…I mean, you and me—that happened awhile ago, you know, but Mena idolized you for so long. She thought you were cool, sophisticated, and suave. You name anything worth aspiring for and you were it for her. She got a picture of you and that sealed the deal. She was coming home and she was going to be friends with Sheldon Jeneve.”

“What’s wrong with her?”

“There’s nothing really wrong with her, but…she witnessed some trauma when she was younger and I think it altered who she grew up to be. Mix in some fancy neurotransmitter language and poof—the psychiatrists gave us a handy mental diagnosis for her.”

“What is it?”

“Does it matter?” Denton asked, more to himself than towards me. He shook his head, saddened, “It’s just a label that she got slapped with. That’s all the therapists look at for them to figure her out, but…she’s more than some psychological assessment that was dictated by some graduate intern.”

“I think if I got my assessment done, they’d say I’m a psychopath,” I remarked, dryly.

Denton laughed and shook his head, “No. You’re fine. You just have trust issues.”

“Is that my problem? My only problem? I thought I was just a bitch. Is that a mental disorder? They can write progress reports on me.”

His laugh was genuine as he tipped his head back.

It brought a smile to my face.

“See,” Denton pointed out. “This is why I want to hit on you and why I want to take you into the backseat of this car and peel down your—”

I interrupted him, before I was tempted, “I have said the sacred word. The ‘l’ word and I can’t take that back.”

Denton quieted and asked, “Is it…Brian?”

At my pointed look, he shrugged and said, “Mena’s told me all about you guys.

It’s petty of me to pretend that I don’t know his name.” He sighed and straightened from the car. “Another time, without a Bryce in it, I’d have you on my arm for every gala and Hollywood party.”

“That would’ve been fun.”

“It might be. You tend to have a charisma that can’t be squashed. People hate you, but they also love you.”

The Queen of Geneva…

I sobered and noted, “So I’m told.”

“When you and Bryce break up—call me?” Denton requested.

“It might be sooner than you think,” I remarked. “Bryce is going pro-sports. He won’t be around for much longer.”

“Well…even though I have a hard time believing that you’d let him go without a fight, if that does happen—you have my number.”

I nodded and asked, “Is she going to be okay?”

Denton sobered instantly, the flirting vanished, and he remarked, heavily, “This just means that her progress isn’t as far as we’d hoped. She might have to go back to a group home and she’ll need weekly counseling sessions.”

“Is she…can you cure that stuff?”

“Therapy can work wonders. I think so—if the person is willing to do the work.

I’ve witnessed some miracles with Mena so far, but…she’s had a relapse that she needs to go through again. We’ve got some work ahead. She crumbled when she wasn’t approved by your two guard-dogs, but she’s convinced that you liked her.”

“I did.” I didn’t know why. I remembered Grace and murmured, “She should let Grace Barton visit her.”

Denton looked up, confused.

I shrugged and gestured outside, “That girl outside, the blonde. She’s kinda loser-ish, but…she really cared about Mena. She even risked her neck and came to me a few times about Mena because she was concerned.”

Denton nodded. “I’ll tell Mena that you think so.”

“And maybe I’ll come too,” I offered, though I needed to make it through the night first.

“That’d be good. Mena would like that.” Denton smiled kindly.

I wrapped my hand in a circling motion and asked, “So is our talk done? Because we’re going to get interrupted anytime soon.”

Denton smiled dashingly as the garage opened.

Corrigan stood, smirking on the pavement, as a crowd formed behind him.

Denton Steele’s name was whispered with revenue and awe and I laughed, “Oh god. I forget half the time that you’re a celebrity.”