by Jenika Snow
She smoothed her fingers over his bigger ones and stared into his eyes. “What do you mean?” She shouldn’t have asked, because he was intoxicated, and his ramblings probably wouldn’t be coherent.
“Too good for this fucking town, for the people that live here, and for…” He closed his eyes and pulled his hand away, rubbing his forehead. “I’m too drunk. I need to keep my mouth shut.” He opened his eyes and looked at her again. “Thanks for getting me to bed, Rosie.”
She loved how he said her name, all thick and sleep-like. His wall of reserve wasn’t as high right now, but if she didn’t leave she might find herself saying something she’d regret, something he may even remember come morning.
“Anytime. I just wish you’d go easy with the drinking and partying.” That was true, but on the other hand his wild side was an aphrodisiac. Rebel was not the type of guy to be messed with, that was for sure, and everyone knew it in school. But whatever demons he was fighting, made him lose control.
“I know, Rosie,” he responded and gave her a smirk. “I needed a different painkiller, that’s for fucking sure.” And then he turned to his side and within a few moments she heard him sleeping once more, the sounds of his breathing deep and even.
Yeah, she was so lost in this boy.
I love you so much, Rebel, and it’s in a way that would probably have condemnation coming down on me. But none of that would matter if you loved me back.
Chapter Three
Two days later
Rosie grabbed her backpack off the kitchen table just as Rebel came walking in, bags under his eyes and his blond hair disheveled.
“Morning, sunshine,” he said in a husky voice, his focus on the floor despite the fact he addressed her.
“You look like crap,” she said, teasing.
He lifted his head and glared, but he was smiling. “I forgot I had some shitty report to finish for today.”
“Wait, you, Rebel Bronson, stayed up to do homework?” Rosie started laughing.
He flipped her off goodheartedly as he made his way over to the fridge. “Believe me, I wouldn’t have given a shit if it was done or not, but if I didn’t turn something readable in I would have failed the damn class.” He grabbed the container of orange juice and braced himself up on the fridge door. “As it is I’m barely scraping by in that class.” He opened the carton and drank straight from it. Her mother came in and lightly smacked him on the shoulder.
“Aidan, just a glass.” Her mother and his father never called him Rebel, which she knew he hated.
Rebel took one more long drink from it, closed the lid, and put it back in the fridge.
“Annabel, the jug is almost empty anyway,” Rebel said, addressing her mom. Despite the fact their parents had gotten married when she and Rebel were only six, she didn’t call Lawson “Dad”, and he didn’t call her mother “Mom”. Rebel glanced at Rosie, smirked, and gave her a wink.
If he only knew what that did to her, how it made her heart race and her panties become moist. She felt her cheeks get hot and looked away, embarrassed by her reaction over something as simple as a damn wink. But this tingling on the back of her neck had her looking at Rebel again. He was staring at her, his brows pulled down low in confusion.
“You taking your sister to school today?” her mother asked Rebel.
“Annabel,” Rebel said in a disgusted tone. “Rosie isn’t my sister. We’ve told you that, damn.”
Her mom turned and faced them, a coffee cup in hand. She rolled her eyes. “I swear, you two and the weirdness you get from me using that terminology. “Are you taking Rosie to school?”
“Don’t I take her every day?” Rebel said and winked at Rosie again. “Come on, girl. Wouldn’t want your smart ass late.” He grinned and walked past her, and the scent of the cologne he wore struck her deep, and only in a good way.
She waved goodbye to her mom, figured Lawson had left to go to the office early since she hadn’t seen him, and followed Rebel out to his car. His cell went off and he stopped to answer it, but Rosie kept making her way to the car. She opened the passenger side door, but heard Rebel starting to speak on the phone.
“Nah, man. I think after this past weekend I’ll stay in.” He glanced at Rosie, and she felt embarrassed that she’d been caught listening to his conversation.
She got in the car, and even though the door was now shut she could still hear him speaking as he made his way toward the vehicle.
“Rowley, man, I got shitfaced last weekend.” A moment of silence passed, and Rebel opened the driver’s side door. He sat down, and she heard his friend Rowley speaking on the other end, the words muffled. “Yeah, I was fine when I left the party, but when I got home that was a different matter.” Rebel glanced at her again, but she didn’t hold his stare, and instead focused out the passenger side window. “Listen, I’ll talk to you at school.” Rebel hung up, started the engine, and for a second the sound of his Mustang purring was almost serene. “Hey,” he said, and she glanced over at him.
“Yeah?”
“Are you okay? You’re acting weird.”
She knew she was. After she’d put him to bed Friday Rebel had been gone the rest of the weekend for work. His job, consisting of doing under the table mechanic work for the local body shop, had him working a lot after school, and every other weekend. He might party hard, but he was also a very hard worker. This was the first time since Friday night that she’d seen him, and Rosie couldn’t deny that the encounter that night had been a little more uncomfortable than normal. Maybe it been the things he’d said … and the things he’d stopped himself from saying? All weekend she’d wondered what he could have told her, but forced himself not to. But then on the heels of those obsessive thoughts she wondered if it had all been because he’d been shitfaced.
“You sure you’re okay? You’re acting weird as hell.”
She waved off his words. “I’m fine. Let’s get to school, because I can’t be late.” She reached over and turned on the radio, hoping the music would dissuade him from pushing her on this.
But there was also a part of her that wished he would push her, because maybe then she’d grow a set and man up to how she really felt.
****
Rosie was acting weird as fuck, but Rebel hadn’t pushed her in telling him what the issue was. Maybe she was sick and tired of seeing his partying ways? There had been far too many times that she’d had to witness his drunk ass coming home, but on Friday night she’d actually put him to bed.
Yeah, he remembered it all, even if he had been so fucking drunk the hangover the next morning had brought tears to his eyes. But he wasn’t going to bring that shit up, wasn’t going to try to tell her what he’d almost said. He might have been drunk, but he’d been smart enough to keep his mouth shut, at least for the most part.
Ten minutes later and he was pulling into the school parking lot. He cut the engine, turned to face Rosie, but before he could say anything, she was out the door.
“Thanks for the ride, like always. See you at lunch,” she said through the open passenger window, and then hauled ass into the school.
Fuck, maybe he’d said more than he remembered? Maybe she felt awkward as hell, sick of seeing him drunk from partying, and tired of all his bullshit? He couldn’t blame her, but not having Rosie in his life, at least as a friend, was not an option.
But he’d starting questioning himself why he felt the need to be so reckless, to be a fucking idiot and drink his life away. At only eighteen that was the highlight of every single fucking spare time he had. Was he such a damn loser that he couldn’t even focus on a future?
What fucking future? You’ll be stuck in this damn town while Rosie leaves and makes something incredible for herself.
He pushed his thoughts away and got out of the car. Rosie was long gone inside, and he saw Rowley and a few of the other guys he hung out with making their way over to him. After clapping each other on the back, they made their way into the school and their first
class. Truth was Rebel fucking hated school, was shit at it, but then again didn’t apply himself. He did the minimum just to pass, and that was it.
Just as class was about to start, the door was pulled open and a guy walked in. Clearly new at school, he had a backpack slung over his shoulder and this arrogant attitude cast along his face. Rebel leaned back in his seat and watched as the newcomer went to the empty seat beside him, and although he hadn’t said one word to the guy everything in Rebel’s body tensed. He was big, tall, and muscular, and had this smirk on his face like he knew something no one else did.
It kind of pissed Rebel off, or maybe that was the asshole side of him rising up?
The guy looked at Rebel, maybe feeling the holes he stared in the side of his head, and smirked wider.
“What’s up, man?” He gave Rebel a chin tilt in acknowledgement, and when Rebel didn’t respond he faced the front of the class again.
“We have a new student, everyone,” the teacher said, her appearance frazzled, like she might have just rolled out of bed and hastily gotten ready because she realized she was late. She gestured for the new kid to stand. “What’s your name, and where are you from?”
“Charleston,” the kid said.
“Charleston?” the teacher said. “As in that’s where you’re from?”
“No, as in that’s my name. I transferred from River Run.” He sat down without saying anything else, and there were a couple of hushed murmurs from the students.
“Okay, well, welcome, Charleston,” the teacher said again and turned to start class.
Rebel didn’t like this guy already, not with his cocky attitude. Hell, maybe he didn’t like him because Charleston reminded Rebel of himself, and wasn’t that a scary fucking thing?
Chapter Four
Rose grabbed her tray of food and went in search of Rebel, but he wasn’t sitting in his usual spot. So he wasn’t here yet, but she knew he’d be here soon enough.
“Hey, Bookie,” Rebecca, one of the school bitches, said and smirked. Bookie, the stupid nickname Rebecca had decided to give Rosie freshman year because she read a lot. Rebecca was an idiot, though, because Rosie didn’t take offense to the name.
Like reading was such a bad thing? An insult coming from Rebecca, who spent more time in the girls’ bathroom putting “her face on”—Rosie didn’t give a second thought to the girl.
She made her way past the table where all the “popular girls” sat, which just happened to be close to where Rebel and his friends sat.
She sat down, and only a couple of minutes later Rowley and Max sat down across from her, two of Rebel’s closest friends, and just as wild as Rebel.
“Hey, Rosie,” Rowley said. He was the nicest of all of Rebel’s friends, especially when it came to her. The rest usually just gave her a smile that lasted about a millisecond, and then she was invisible to them. Maybe they didn’t like the fact the “nerd” hung around, or maybe they didn’t like that she was a girl and invading in their “guy time”? Either way she didn’t care because it didn’t bother her.
Rosie, due to her unpopular status and the fact she didn’t really have friends, had grown a thick skin in middle school. Being teased had made her realize that this time in her life, where it was all about cliques and reputations, didn’t matter. She’d be out of school soon enough, starting college, and she wouldn’t have to see these superficial assholes anymore.
She started eating, but glanced around to see if Rebel was anywhere to be found. Rebecca was staring at her, but Rosie ignored the daggers being pointed in her direction. Another group of girls entered the cafeteria and started chuckling, and then she saw one guy come in alone. She’d never seen him before, and he looked out of place with his leather jacket, the sunglasses he was wearing indoors, and the hardest look on his face.
“That’s some new kid. Charleston, I think is his name.” Rowley was the one to speak.
“He looks like a douche,” Max said.
Rowley chuckled and shoved half his burger in his mouth. “What the hell kind of name is Charleston anyway?” Rowley had his mouth full, so the words were muffled, but she heard them well enough. Rosie didn’t bother commenting that Rowley’s name wasn’t that “normal” either, or that half the guys they hung out with had nicknames for each other.
Rosie watched as the guy came further into the cafeteria, saw Rebecca sit up straighter and her interest pique, and Rosie had to roll her eyes. That girl was like a damn piranha when it came to the opposite sex.
And then Mr. New Kid gave one glance at Rebecca and kept on moving. She was surprised, and a little impressed. Rebecca was a bitch in every sense of the word, but was gorgeous and had a body that rivaled the ones walking down a runway for Victoria’s Secret. He came closer to her, and although he wore sunglasses she felt his stare right on her. Shifting on her seat and pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, she looked down at her tray of food. He made her feel a little uncomfortable, like if she were staring right in the eyes of a savage wolf.
Really? You used that as an analogy?
He stopped in front of their table, and she looked over at him. The guys stopped eating and were looking at him as well, and for a second no one spoke or moved.
“You got room for one more?” Charleston asked, as he looked right at her.
“Uh,” Rosie managed to say, and glanced at Rowley and Max. She didn’t want to make this call given the fact she wasn’t the only one at this table, but she also didn’t want to turn someone away. “I don’t have a problem with it, but it’s not just up to me.” Rosie smiled. She knew all too well the feeling of being pushed aside by people that wanted to be assholes. She wasn’t like that, and never wanted to make anyone feel like they weren’t welcome.
“Move along.”
The sound of Rebel right behind her had Rosie turning in the plastic seat and staring up at him. He was glaring at the new guy, his big body tense, and the annoyance coming from him as clear as if it was a neon sign flashing on his forehead.
For a second Rebel and the new guy just stood there staring at each other, and then finally Mr. New Guy looked at Rosie, smiled, and turned and left. She was confused as hell as to what was going on, and when Rebel sat down beside her she didn’t bite her tongue.
“What was that about?”
Rebel just shook his head.
“He just wanted to sit down.”
Rebel turned and looked at her. “He rubs me the wrong way, Rosie.”
He had this thing about “going on instinct” when it came to people. Maybe he was right at times, but without any interaction, especially in this instance, she kind of got annoyed with him.
“Rubs you the wrong way?”
Rebel nodded and started eating, that wall he always had around him seeming even thicker than before. She may love him, but surely he knew how she’d been treated in the past, with little to no interaction from the assholes that were rude to her. Hell, she’d said a only few sentences in the entire time she’d known Rebecca, but the bitch was on her constantly.
“But you didn’t even get to know him, or speak to him?”
Rebel sighed and stopped eating to look at her. “Rosie, you know I go off of my gut, and the moment I saw that kid, with his arrogant attitude and smirk he wore, he just rubbed me the wrong way.”
“Really, Rebel?”
He lifted a brow after she spoke. “What?”
“It’s true, Rosie,” Rowley said. “That kid had this cocky smirk plastered on his face. He totally thought he was better than all of us.”
All she could do was roll her eyes, stand, and shake her head. “You guys are unbelievable and ridiculous.” Looking at Rebel, she didn’t know what had gotten into him, but she hated this side. She loved him so much, was so head over heels for him, but he had a lot of issues to work out. If the guy had started shit with Rebel right off the bat she could have understood, but they hadn’t even spoken. Not one word.
She went to leave, because she was anno
yed now, having been cast aside from her peers in the past, and feeling pretty shitty because of it. But Rebel reached out and grabbed her hand, stopping her.
“Don’t be pissed at me, Rosie,” he said in a low, deep voice.
She smiled at him, but she knew it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I just need to go. If not I’ll start a fight and I don’t want to do that with you here.” She pulled her hand away and left the cafeteria, wanting to talk to Rebel more, to really break down his wall, but needing some air, too.
Maybe she’d let this get to her too badly, or maybe she was being overly sensitive? Either way if she didn’t leave she would have started shit with all of them, and a scene was not what she wanted.
****
“Fuck,” Rebel said, staring down at his food.
“Man, she got upset fast,” Max said, and Rebel lifted his gaze to look at the other guy.
“Yeah, because you know people have been shitty to her before, and me turning away the new kid probably triggered that for her.”
Max didn’t respond, and maybe it was the glare Rebel cast in his direction.
“She’ll get over it, man. Give her some time. Rosie’s a tough girl,” Rowley said.
All Rebel did was look at his closest friend. He was in love with Rosie, was a chicken shit for not telling her, but the last thing he wanted to do was make her feel uncomfortable or upset. But that new guy, yeah, he did rub Rebel the wrong way. He always went with his gut, and for some reason the cocky air that surrounded that kid had Rebel on alert.
“I need to find out more about that kid and see why just looking at him pisses me off.”
“It’s not just you, man,” Rowley said in between shoveling fires in his mouth. “He seems arrogant as hell. I noticed that right off the bat.”
Rebel’s appetite was gone, and he pushed his tray away.
Max eyed it. “You not eating that?”
