What I wasn’t supposed to be doing is giving the man I love an ultimatum.

  That’s the second time I’ve had to ask him to leave over the past few days and it makes me wonder how many times I’m going to get away with it before he doesn’t bother showing up again.

  Chapter 8

  A heavy fist slams into my locker on Wednesday morning. It’s my first day back after a week long suspension and to be honest, I was getting really used to being home every day. I mean, it occasionally got a little boring and I certainly missed seeing my girls and the guys all the time, but I stayed on top of my school work and was able to sleep in every day. By the third day, mom had run out of chores for me to do and I have to admit, that was the best damn part. My last few days were spent reading up on new releases and watching movies while Jesse texted me rude pictures.

  I turn into the fist leaning up against my locker to find a furious Jackson, staring down at me with a glare sharp enough to cut the thickest metal. “Oh, the horror,” I sigh with thick sarcasm. “Please don’t beat me up or total my car.”

  “Not funny,” he grunts. “Did you know?”

  “Know what?” I ask, narrowing my eyes on him in return.

  “About Jesse and my sister.”

  A grin cuts across my face and before a word can even process in my mind, Jackson is slamming his fist into the locker again. “Damn it, Tora,” he demands. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “What?” I scoff. “Why would I? It’s not my business to be telling you who your sister’s been screwing.”

  His eyes widen in horror. “He’s screwing her?” he roars, making his voice bounce off every wall. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”

  Oh, shit.

  Jackson turns and I hurry after him. I grab onto his arm and pull the brakes as hard as I can. “Stop,” I tell him. “He really likes her.”

  “I don’t give a shit,” he says, dragging me along. I mean, if we were on a road and I was a car, my ties would be screeching along, leaving a thick, black line behind. “She’s too good for that piece of shit. No way is he going to defile my baby sister.”

  “Jesse’s a good guy,” I tell him, though I should know better, Jackson isn’t going to want to hear that.

  “Bullshit,” he growls over his shoulder, still dragging me along. “He’ll chew her up and spit her out like last night’s trash, and then guess who’s going to have to clean up the pieces? Me, that’s who. I’m not having it.”

  I roll my eyes at his dramatics and give up. This fight is going to go down whether I like it or not so I might as well tag along and enjoy the show.

  “What the hell is happening?” Brooke asks, walking the opposite way and turning around to watch me pass.

  “Jackson just found out that Jesse is dating Kaylah,” I laugh. “He wants to kick his ass.”

  “Oooooh,” Brooke grins, grabbing Elle’s hand and pulling her along. “I’m not missing this.”

  I laugh as they hurry to catch up and realize, the further we get to the junior hallway, the more people start following along, each and every one of them not wanting to miss a fight between two of the school’s biggest bad boys.

  Jackson storms into the junior hallway and I instantly zone in on Jesse at the other end, completely minding his own business for a change as he throws his shit into his locker. Jackson gets him in his sights and launches forward, until a petite blonde cuts through both our vision.

  “Hey,” Jackson hollers through the hallway.

  The blonde’s eyes widen before she flicks herself around. Within the blink of an eye, I can tell this is Jackson’s sister. Kaylah looks exactly like him, but a pretty, petite version. “What do you want?” she scoffs, studying the intense, pissed off rage deep within his eyes.

  “Tell me it’s not true?” he demands.

  “What’s not true?”

  “That you’re dating that…. that thing,” he says in disgust, indicating down the hallway towards Jesse. Kaylah cringes as she watches her brother. “Shit, Kaylah,” he groans. “Anyone but him.”

  “Leave it alone,” she tells him. “I can date whoever the fuck I want.”

  “Over my dead body,” he roars at her. “Don’t be such a fucking idiot.”

  “Hey,” Jesse demands, angrier than I’ve ever seen him before. He gets up in Jackson’s face and pushes him back a step from his sister. “Leave her alone.”

  “Stay the fuck out of this,” Jackson tells him.

  Jesse’s eyes flare as everyone around us starts calling out for a fight. I know the look in his eyes, I’ve seen it a million times before and I need to do something about it. Now.

  I know this is how I screwed up last time, but I’m not about to let two people I care about beat the ever loving shit out of each other, and besides, circumstances were different. I throw myself between the two guys who tower over me. “Cut it out,” I demand of both of them, shoving my hand upon both of their chests and pushing them back as hard as I can, but let’s face it, it’s not much.

  How did my morning become this?

  I look up at Jesse who seems to be shaking. “Cool your jets,” I murmur. “If I get another suspension for trying to break up another fight, Nate is going to have your balls. Besides, this is not a good way to impress Kaylah.”

  “He doesn’t need to be impressing Kaylah,” Jackson growls.

  I turn back to Jackson. “You shut up,” I tell him. “You’re not helping.”

  “I don’t give a shit.”

  “Yo,” a familiar, very pissed off voice says, suddenly right beside me. “What the fuck is going on here?” Nate demands, looking between the four of us and narrowing his eyes on Kaylah, probably having no idea who the hell she is and why she’s just inserted herself into our drama.

  “This piece of shit,” Jackson says, “thinks it’s ok to fuck over my sister.”

  “What?” Nate grunts as Jesse growls, “I’m not going to fuck her over.”

  My eyes widen as I look to Jess. “You haven’t told him?” I demand.

  Nate looks to me in shock. “You knew?”

  Shit.

  “Well, duh,” I scoff. “Who do you think convinced him to find some balls and actually ask her out?”

  “You did this?” Jackson demands with nothing but pure rage.

  “Hey,” Nate growls. “Don’t fucking talk to her like that.”

  Well… this is getting nowhere.

  “Alright,” Tyson says, pushing his way between me and Jess, forcing Jess back a few steps. “This is stupid. Cut the shit.”

  “Agreed,” I tell the boys before looking up at Jackson. “You need to go find your sister and apologize for being such a douche,” I tell him before looking over at Jess. “And when he’s done, you need to apologize for being a douche. She’s not going to appreciate this shit. Trust me, no girl wants to put up with a guy who’s going to beat the shit out of her brother every Christmas.”

  The boys continue glaring at each other and only stop when Tyson physically pulls Jesse away. The second Jesse disappears from the hallway, Jackson’s glare shoots down at me. “You need to fix this.”

  “Fix it?” I scoff. “Can’t you see this is good?”

  “Don’t bother,” Nate grunts as he continues staring at me with a deep betrayal. “Jess will fuck it up soon enough.”

  “Are you kidding me?” I shriek. “Your brother asked out a girl instead of screwing and leaving her. This is a big fucking deal. How can you not see that?”

  “Anyone but her,” he scoffs.

  “What the fuck is wrong with her?” Jackson demands, still extremely pissed off, but more than ready to jump to his sister’s defence.

  “She shares your DNA,” Nate grunts back at him.

  “Jesus Christ,” I groan, throwing my hands up in frustration. “Both of you dickheads stop. Be happy for them and leave it the hell alone.”

  Jackson narrows his eyes on me again, huffs, turns on his heel, and stalks away. I can’t help but grin at his back. Situation resolved without a suspension. Bonus points for me.

  My smug attitude is quickly cut away when Nate turns his glare on me. “How could you not tell me Jess was dating her?”

  “Let’s see…. ahhhh, that’s right. The last time I saw you, you were about to shove your hand down Ashley’s pants for old time’s sake.”

  “Come on,” he groans in frustration.

  “Besides,” I continue, “It’s none of my business and Jesse said he was going to tell you when the time was right.”

  “Bullshit,” he scoffs. “We all know that means he had no intention of telling me at all.”

  “Well then, that’s your business to take up with your brother.”

  His eyebrows pull down as he studies me. The glare disappears and is replaced with concern. He indicates with his head for me to follow and I do just that as his hand finds the small of my back. “What’s wrong?” he questions, leading me towards the side of the hallway so we can have a private conversation out of the center of the hallway.

  “Nothing,” I tell him. “I’m just tired from having to put out the fires that you three idiots keep causing. I mean, how am I always in the middle of this shit?”

  A perfect smile takes over his face as he wraps his arms around me and pulls me in. “Because that’s what happens when a whole bunch of guys can’t resist having you in their lives. You’re just that incredible that even douchebags like Jackson can’t keep away.”

  “Careful,” I warn him. “People might accuse you of still being in love with me.”

  “Fuck ‘em,” he smiles. “Because I do. More than ever.”

  “Are you telling me you’re going to find another way to get your revenge?”

  “Uh huh,” he murmurs with his lips pressed against the sensitive skin of my neck.

  Hope starts rising within me. “Does this mean we can get back together?”

  He pulls back and looks down at me before shaking his head ever so slightly. “No,” he whispers. “I wasn’t lying about the whole protecting your future thing.”

  “You know,” I say as a smile begins creeping across my face. “It seems I get into a lot more trouble without you.”

  “I’m starting to realize this,” he says as his eyes sparkle, completely pulling me in and melting me from within. “Well then, just for future reference,” I tell him. “When that mystical time comes when you decide to pull your finger out of your ass, it’s not going to be easy. I’m going to make you work for it like you’ve never worked for anything in your life.”

  “Is that a challenge?” he questions with his eyes sparkling like diamonds.

  “I guess you’ll have to wait and see.”

  We walk back down to the senior hallway and I slip out of his arms when he stops at his locker. I grin when I see Jackson walking around huffing and puffing and laugh at how much things have changed over the last few months. Jackson is quickly turning into a friend, a friend who likes to throw temper tantrums when just before that, I couldn’t be in the same room as him without trying to claw his eyes out.

  “Why do you look so happy?” Brooke questions as I reach her locker. She closes the door and turns to look at me with narrowed, curious eyes. “Did Nate finally accept the inevitable?”

  “No,” I laugh, “but I doubt it will be much longer. He’s coming around, and besides, who could resist all this?”

  She rolls her eyes as the bell rings loudly through the school. “Come on, princess,” she laughs. “Let’s get this whole school bullshit over. I just found a new show on Netflix and I need you to watch it with me so I can talk about it to someone.”

  “Fine,” I tell her. “But you better bring treats.”

  “Don’t I always?”

  I can’t help but grin as we go our separate ways at the end of the hallway. I guess today might just be a good day after all.

  ----------

  I lay on my bed, looking up at my TV, cringing at this ridiculous show Brooke is forcing me to watch. I mean, this shit doesn’t even make sense. I swear, it’s like some ridiculous zombie apocalypse on steroids. I can’t understand how Brooke is glued to it.

  Brooke shovels popcorn into her mouth in a way I’ve never quite seen before and I can’t help but stare. I mean, she looks like an animal starved of food. My whole face scrunches up as I watch her performance. This shit couldn’t be normal.

  “Damn,” she grunts a moment later as she jams her finger in her mouth and starts picking. “I got a corn kernel stuck in my tooth,” she grumbles around her finger.

  “Ugh,” I groan. “That’s the worst.”

  I watch as she works on freeing the kernel and not a second later, she shoves her slobber covered hand back in my bucket of popcorn. “Ewww,” I whine, handing her the bucket. “You’re so freaking gross.”

  She grins triumphantly and continues shoveling food into her gob. “What’s going on?” she questions when I pull my phone out and start playing Farmville.

  “Can’t get into it.”

  Her eyes widen as though I’ve committed the greatest betrayal. “Why not?”

  “Ummmmm… because it’s one bad scene away from that dude turning into a zombie and eating the other dude. You know I don’t like this shit.”

  “I know,” she pouts. “But I do and I needed someone to actually understand when I talk about it all day tomorrow.”

  I groan and drop my face into my pillow. “Haven’t I seen enough?”

  “Just one more episode?” she begs.

  “Fine,” I huff, getting straight back into my Farmville game as she fast forwards through the end credits like a puppy on crack.

  “So,” she says as she studies the screen closely as to not miss hitting play. “Are you about ready to talk about it?”

  I look over at her and scrunch up my face in confusion. “Ready to talk about what?”

  “Why the hell you crash tackled Ashley like a confused linebacker?”

  I look away, unable to meet her eyes in fear of her seeing right through me. “What do you mean?” I question. “You heard what she said. She called me trash and then admitted to slashing my tire. My car’s been in the shop for a week.”

  Her eyes narrow. “No,” she says. “That’s bullshit. Girls like her have been calling you all sorts of shit since you started dating Nate and it just slides straight off you. This is different. Did Nate get with her? I heard they were at Carter’s the other day.”

  “It’s…it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Bullshit,” she grunts, sitting up and hitting pause on her stupid zombie show. “What did she do?”

  I cringe, not wanting to tell her but then, she’s been my best friend for years. She knows exactly how to push the buttons I don’t want pushed just like I know she won’t give in until I come clean.

  I let out a breath and sit up on my bed. I swivel around to face her front on as I prepare to tell her something that I know she’s not going to take well. “So,” I start off slowly. “Ashley was the one who set the fire in the boat shed.”

  Her mouth drops open in surprise as a silent ‘What,’ comes out. “Are you… what? How do you…?” Her brows pull down and her eyes start flicking around the room as she becomes immersed in her thoughts.

  “The initial police report said there was a jacket at the scene which had looked as though it was used to attempt to put the fire out, but there wasn’t enough evidence to support it and the cops couldn’t figure out whose jacket it was.”

  “So… how does that tie in with Ashley?”

  “Well,” I cringe. “Jesse stole the jacket from evidence an-”

  “What?” Brooke cuts me off. “How the hell did he do that?”

  “I, ah, don’t actually know. I wasn’t really asking questions at the time, but my guess would be that he knows a guy.”

  “Tyson’s uncle is a cop,” she suggests.

  I shrug my shoulders. I absolutely adore Jesse and I don’t doubt that whatever he did to get that jacket was illegal, so the less I know, the better. “Anyway, you know Sarah McKay?”

  “Yeah, the chick who’s always taking pictures?”

  “Yeah, that’s her. I thought she might have been there and she always uploads her pictures to Facebook, so I had a look and in the background of one of the pictures was Ashley wearing the jacket.”

  “Shit, so she actually did it?”

  “Yep,” I grunt.

  “No wonder you tried to kick her ass,” she murmurs. “Why don’t I know about this already? You should have gone to the police the second you found out.”

  “And get Jesse in trouble for stealing evidence? No thanks. Besides, she would have cried ‘accident’ and gotten away with a slap on the wrist. Nate wants her to pay for what she did.”

  Her eyes widen as the situation actually dawns on her. “Shit,” she gasps. “This is going to be huge.”

  “Yep.”

  “Does she know that he knows?”

  I shake my head. “What do you think?” I grunt. “If she had even the slightest inkling, she’d be hiding out in Mexico somewhere, not strutting around school like Queen B picking fights with me.”

  “True,” she murmurs as she looks up and studies me. Hurt flashes across her features before she manages to right herself and I instantly know where this is going. “How come I’m only finding out about this now?”

  “Well… first, Nate doesn’t want anyone to know so word doesn’t get out. That way when he does whatever it is he’s going to do, she’s going to be completely blindsided, just like we were in that boat shed.”

  “And second?” she questions.

  “And second,” I repeat. “I’m not sure you have it in you not to try and beat the shit out of her when you see her next.”

  “Shit,” she sighs. “You’re right, but I promise. I’m more excited to see what Nate is going to do to her. It’s going to be brutal. I mean, she’s responsible for nearly killing you. Nate isn’t going to take it easy on her.”

  “I know,” I grin. “He’s going to destroy her.”