Jaden (Jaded #3)

“Nope.” She kept laying meat on the bread. “This is for you guys and your pool party.”


Okay. Enough was enough. I stepped back, turned my back so I was leaning against the counter and folded my arms over my chest. “What’s the game here?”

She stopped and turned around. “What do you mean?”

“What are you doing?” I pointed behind her. “You told me where the big glasses were, then helped get everything out for me, and now you’re feeding us? You’re acting like an upper-class mom who’s desperate to be friends with her children. For the record, that’s not what this is. I’m not your kid. My friends aren’t going to look at you like you’re suddenly the House Mommy. We’re not in high school anymore, hanging out at the house.”

“Sheldon,” she started, pressing her hands together in front of her.

It was the pity. That’s what I was sensing from her and it was grating on my nerves. I didn’t need her damn sympathy. I wasn’t asking her to be hateful, either, but I’d rather we go back to where she pretended I wasn’t around. I shook my head, cutting off whatever she’d been about to say and held a hand up. “Stop.”

“What?”

“If you’re trying to develop a friendship with me because of my dad, I’m going to clear the record right now. I don’t know why my dad stepped in to help me. Maybe he didn’t think I could handle it. Maybe he didn’t realize I had friends already coming to post my bail. I have no idea. Maybe it really was because he felt guilty over leaving his daughter and now she’s up for murder, thinking it was his last chance to mend fences. Again. No clue.” I fixed her with a hard look. “But trust me. Once I’m cleared, you and he are heading off again. I have no assumptions that you’ll be sticking around, especially if my mother decides to hunt us down and try to swoop in for some money. He’s for sure going to take off, but you and me . . .” I gestured around the kitchen, “. . .this whole Suzy Homemaker scene you have going on, it’s not going to happen. I will probably never see you again in my life after this thing ends, and it will end.” I had no doubt about it. “There are three ways this will come to a close. I’ll either be free, in prison, or dead. Either way, those are all endings.”

“You’re so jaded.” She looked down, folding her arms over her chest. It was a slight whisper, like she was talking to herself.

“Yeah,” I clipped out. “I am. I have been for a long time, but being jaded doesn’t mean I’m pessimistic. I’m realistic. That’s all. I’m not going to entertain any daydreams about having a father who suddenly remembers he loves me. He broke me years ago. He won’t get the chance to do it again, so please.” My heart was pounding and my voice had risen. I hadn’t realized how loud I was until Bryce came around the corner. He’d been there the whole time. I could tell with one look. There was no surprise, just understanding.

My heart paused, then lunged in my chest.

He was seeing me, the real me, and there was no polished-Bryce between us. The persona he had taken on when he became a soccer player, then became famous, all of it was gone. It was just him, and my god, I had missed him.

I wet my lips, my throat suddenly dry.

He saw my response, and his eyes darkened, but he held himself back, shaking his head in the slightest movement. Beth couldn’t see him. He was standing behind her so as she started to say something, he began walking to the pool area.

“—sorry you feel that way. I am.”

I swung back to her as Bryce slipped out the door without a noise. “What?”

She finished the sandwiches and set them aside. Washing her hands and then drying them off, she stopped in the middle of the kitchen. Lifting her head, she looked at me, and I felt like she was looking inside of me, seeing me how Bryce just had. An emotion flickered in her gaze, and it was that damn pity again.