Bittersweet (Redemption Book 3)

by Jessica Prince

  I had to say, I hadn’t been expecting that. With the dirty looks and dead silence I got from him every time he brought Brantley to one of our visits and hovered in the background, I figured he would have gladly held my arms back so Stone could beat my kidneys to a pulp. But then I’d let time and distance cloud my memories of the man who’d once welcomed me into his family.

  “My stuff,” Shane mumbled, tilting her head to rest it on my shoulder. “Can’t leave without my stuff.”

  Forgetting all about the standoff with her brother, I tilted my head down and softened my voice. “Where’s your stuff, honey?”

  “Cubby. In the office.”

  I gently shifted her into Gage’s hold and tossed him my keys. “Get her in my truck while I go grab her stuff.”

  “You got it, brother.”

  He started toward the exit while I hustled back down the hall to the office, finding Shane’s cubby and pulling her purse out. By the time I reached the main part of the bar, Stone was gone, having moved back to his friends over by the pool tables, Laeth was off, probably with his face buried in some chick’s tits, and Farah had gone back to work. The only one who remained was Scooter, standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and his face as hard as granite.

  “Girl always does too much. Never lets anyone take care of her. Never asks for help even though she knows we’d all break our backs if it meant givin’ her even a second of peace. She don’t trust. She don’t let people in. And she’s constantly worried about bein’ a burden, scared if she asks for too much the people she cares about’ll walk away.” He arched a single brow. “But you knew that already, didn’t you?”

  He knew the answer to that question. I’d been one of the few lucky ones. One of only a handful that Shane had let past those walls and given a piece of her heart to. I knew just how much that meant. How special it was. And I’d fucked it all up.

  “Yeah,” he said, more to himself than to me. “You know. All too well. So you know this time, you got shit to prove. To earn. She gave it free and clear last time. Won’t be doin’ that again.”

  “I know what I have to do,” I informed him, straightening my shoulders. “And I’m ready to fight for it.”

  He studied me for several seconds before finally hiking his chin in a single nod. “Guess we’ll see. Now get my girl home.”

  With that, he turned and headed back to his table, and I booked it out of the bar, prepared to do just that.

  Shane looked a little better by the time she finished the two pieces of buttered toast I’d made, then forced her to eat. She still looked pale, but at least she was able to stand and sit on her own without fear of falling or passing out.

  Knowing Shane needed someone to look after her, I managed to push down the blinding rage I’d been feeling since the moment I found out my bastard of an old man had broken his word to me. It had taken nearly the entire drive from the bar to her place to get it under control, but I did it. I had every intention of getting to the bottom of things and tracking that miserable fuck down as soon as I knew my woman was good. But for now, it was all about her.

  “You know, you don’t have to hover over me,” she grumbled as I stood beside her, watching to make sure she drank the entire glass of water I’d poured for her. “I’m feeling better, so you can go now.” She’d always been the worst patient in the world. She didn’t get sick often, but the few times she did, she snapped at anyone who tried to help her in any way. Too independent and prideful for her own good, she’d been convinced she didn’t need anyone’s help.

  “Not till your ass is in bed and I know you won’t be getting out of it.”

  She threw daggers with her eyes, but the fierceness in her expression had the opposite effect of what she was going for, making my dick stand at attention. She was just so goddamn cute when she was pissed off and surly.

  Ignoring the look and trying to hide the reaction my body was having to it, I asked, “What about Brant? You need me to go pick him up or anything?”

  She shook her head, reaching up to rub her temples like she was fighting off a headache. “No. Thank you. He’s having a sleepover with Caro tonight since I was supposed to work so late.”

  It suddenly felt as if someone had shoved a white-hot poker right through my gut. She’d said the words with such apathy, like it was nothing, because for her, it wasn’t. This was just how things were for her. She had to work a job that took her away from her son most nights because it was the only way she could take care of him. And it was all my fault.

  But I’d be damned if I wasn’t going to fix it.

  “Come on, sunshine. Let’s get you to bed.” I gently put my hand to the small of her back and began guiding her from the kitchen. The slight shiver I felt go through her at my touch made me want to dig my fingers deeper into her skin, slide my arm around her waist, and pull her soft body against mine while I feasted on her mouth.

  I didn’t do any of those things. It was so goddamn hard not to, my body was shaking with the exertion of keeping myself in check, but thank God, I managed.

  I knew her exhaustion was winning out and she really didn’t feel well when she didn’t fight me, but instead, let me lead her through the house to her bedroom, a space that was so goddamn small her bed took up almost every inch, leaving no room for anything but a rickety nightstand and a cheap dresser.

  “Can you turn around, please,” she asked, her voice small and weary. I did as asked, giving her my back as she began fumbling with her clothes. I realized a second later that there was a mirror hanging on the wall I was facing, giving me a partial view of what was happening behind me.

  A decent man would have averted his eyes, but no matter how many times I told myself to look away, I couldn’t rip my eyes from Shane’s body reflected in the glass. She sat on the edge of the bed, pulling her boots off one at a time and dropping them carelessly to the floor, but it was when she stood up, her hands moving to the waistband of her jeans, that my breathing started to accelerate.

  Her hips were rounder than they’d been when we were younger, her ass fuller. Carrying our baby had changed her body in many ways, and all of them were fucking spectacular. She bent, sliding those pants down her legs, revealing the mouthwatering globes of her ass cheeks encased in a scrap of delicate pink lace and the creamy skin on her soft, shapely thighs. Christ, I loved her body, always had. I hadn’t thought it possible, but she was even better than I remembered, and there wasn’t a single inch of her that I hadn’t committed to memory. Before I left, I’d known her body better than I had my own. Now, I’d have given my left nut to be able to memorize the new dips and valleys I was seeing.

  With her jeans discarded, she climbed into bed, crawling under the covers and pulling them up to her waist. “Jensen,” she said, her voice pulling me from my erotic fantasies and back into the present. “About what you said earlier tonight—”

  I quickly turned, moving to the side of the bed and sitting on the edge. “I don’t want you to think about that, baby. I’m gonna get to the bottom of it.”

  “But I don’t understand.” She lifted her hands, pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes. “You said you made a deal. What deal? And with who?”

  Those were the questions I’d been dreading since I returned to Redemption. I knew I’d eventually have to give her the truth. I couldn’t keep those secrets any longer if I wanted a chance at winning her back, and that was what fucking terrified me. Because if I got her back, and she leaned the truth, I might end up losing her anyway.

  But there was no other choice.

  “I’ll tell you everything, Shane. But not tonight. You need to sleep, baby. You need to feel better.”

  Her light brown eyes held a skepticism that cut me to the quick. She didn’t trust me, not that I could blame her. “You promise?” she asked with trepidation.

  “Yes.”

  “You’ll tell me everything? Because I can’t stand being in the dark like this, Jensen. It won’t work for me. If you
want us to get along for the sake of our son, I need all of it.”

  And she’d get it. Every ugly, brutal detail. Even if it cost me everything. I just hoped like fuck that it wouldn’t. “I swear.”

  That seemed to pacify her, at least for the time being. Her shoulders slumped and her eyelids grew heavy, telling me it was time for me to go—even if that was the last thing I wanted to do.

  Leaning in, taking in the light, sweet fragrance of her skin, I pressed my lips against the corner of her mouth. “Sleep well. I’ll see you Sunday.”

  “Yeah,” she said quietly. “And Jensen?” she called out as I started for the bedroom door. I looked back over my shoulder to see a tentative smile tugging at her lips. “Thanks . . . for taking care of me.”

  “Always, sunshine.”

  With that, I headed out and climbed back into my truck that now smelled just like her. I backed out of the driveway while hitting the speed dial on my phone and setting it to speaker before tossing it in the cup holder.

  “Yo. Everything good?” Gage answered after two rings, the loud sounds coming through the phone telling me he was still at Bad Alibi.

  “Fuck no,” I clipped through gnashed teeth. “Everything’s far from good.”

  “Whaddaya need.”

  “Need you guys back at the office as soon as you can. I’ll put on the coffee to sober Laeth up, ’cause I’m gonna need your help with some pretty serious shit.”

  “He’s good. Kept it in check ’cause we figured this call might come. We’ve just been waiting.”

  And there it was, just one of the reasons why Laeth and Gage were my family, why I’d take a bullet for either one of them.

  “All right then. See you in a few.”

  “In a few,” he repeated.

  I hung up and choked the steering wheel so hard it was a wonder it didn’t break as I let loose the rage I’d been bottling up, letting it flow through me, into my bloodstream,.

  I didn’t know what was happening, but I would soon enough. And if it was what I expected, I was going to make Whitman Rose pay.

  Before I destroyed his fucking life.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Shane

  Sixteen years old

  The past two months had been completely unexpected, and it was all because of Jensen Rose.

  The boy I couldn’t stand upon our first encounter, the guy I’d misjudged at the very beginning, was now the one person I couldn’t wait to see every day. He was the first thing that popped into my head every morning when I woke up, and the last thing I thought about when I went to bed at night. It didn’t matter the amount of talking at school or on the phone, or the number of texts we shared when we weren’t together . . . I couldn’t seem to get enough.

  I hadn’t spoken a word to Rina in the months that had passed after our fight in the cafeteria, but I wasn’t upset by that at all. I didn’t miss her, not only because she’d been a terrible friend, but also because she’d been replaced by Jensen, who’d all but forced himself into the role of best friend, giving me no choice but to accept.

  He made each day exciting. I laughed more with him than I had in forever. He’d somehow snuck behind those walls I kept up to protect myself without me even noticing. By the time I realized what had happened, it was too late. He was already firmly ingrained in my life.

  The more I’d gotten to know him, the more I’d come to realize he wasn’t anything like what I’d initially thought. He was smart and thoughtful, caring and funny. He tended to be a hothead, however I was starting to think that his anger came from something deeper. He hadn’t opened up much to me about his family, but I got the sense that his relationship with his parents wasn’t good. No, that wasn’t right. I got the feeling that it was bad, volatile, and the root cause of the rage that was always simmering beneath the surface.

  There was only one problem I’d encountered in the past two months that was really starting to weigh on me.

  My friendship with Jensen was starting to change. That pull I’d felt for him in the beginning was something that had become impossible to ignore. I had feelings for him. Big feelings. The kind that turned me into an anxious, girly mess. And he hadn’t made a single move. It was as if a switch had been flipped, turning the attraction off for him. He’d gone from hitting on me constantly to treating me like nothing more than a friend, and I hated it.

  I comforted myself with the knowledge that I hadn’t seen him hitting on other girls, and with how much time we were spending together, I didn’t think he was hooking up with anyone, but it wasn’t enough.

  “Yo. Earth to Shane.” I blinked, startled out of my unhappy thoughts by Jensen’s big hand waving in front of my face.

  The sounds of the crowded cafeteria came back to me as I looked over at him in confusion. “Huh?”

  He gave me that smirk I was beginning to love. “Did you hear a word I just said?”

  “No, sorry. I spaced out there for a second. What were you saying?”

  His grin got wider as he rested his elbows on the table and leaned in. “What were you thinking about?” he asked in a low, teasing tone. “Whatever it was must’ve been good ’cause your cheeks got all pink.”

  At his mention of my blush, my skin burned even hotter, and I had to look away. “It was nothing,” I mumbled in embarrassment. “I was just thinking about the paper that’s due in Ms. Kleiner’s class tomorrow.”

  “Liar.”

  I shot him a killing look. “I’m not lying!”

  He lifted his hands in a placating gesture. “If you say so,” he laughed, but I could tell by his expression he wasn’t buying it. Fortunately, he let it drop. “You got a shift after school today?”

  I picked up the slice of pizza I’d gotten from the lunch line and took a big bite, talking through a full mouth as I said, “Nope. Today’s my day off.”

  “Good. I just got this new movie I think you’ll like. I’ll come over to your place so we can watch it, and after, I’ll help you with your “paper”.”

  I hadn’t been to his house since that one and only time I’d gone with my aunt to clean it. Usually, when we hung he came into the ice cream shop while I was working, or we’d hit up the diner in town, or he’d come over to my place.

  My uncle hadn’t been all that cool with it in the beginning. He was really protective of me and didn’t like that I was hanging out with a guy, especially one with Jensen’s reputation, but when Jensen started asking him about motorcycles, Uncle Scooter had warmed up. Now, any time he came over, he and my uncle would spend at least an hour in the garage, just the two of them, talking about bikes.

  Aunt Caro, on the other hand, was a totally different story. It was like she sensed something in Jensen, a sadness that was only there if you looked really hard. After his first visit, she’d started to mother him like crazy—in her own way, of course, which meant cleansing his aura by waving sage in his face when his ‘energy was off’, as well as feeding him and fussing over him constantly. I thought for sure it would send him running for the hills, but to my surprise, Jensen loved it.

  “It’s not one of those stupid romantic comedies, is it?” I asked, scrunching my nose up in distaste, making him laugh.

  “Please. Like I don’t know you better than that. It’s got enough violence and blood to satisfy your psychotic little heart.”

  I gave him a big, closed-mouth smile, my cheeks puffing out like a chipmunk’s from the enormous bite I’d just taken. “Good. You know I prefer action over anything else.”

  A shadow suddenly fell over the table, and when I looked up, my smile fell. Ronny Culpepper was standing there with a couple of his asshole buddies at his back and Rina under his arm. “Aw, aren’t you guys just the cutest,” Ronny mocked, his and Rina’s eyes both full of malice as they sneered down at us. I shouldn’t have been surprised that she’d go for a guy like him after Jensen shot her down the way he did. Ronny was a dick and Rina was the female version of that. I wished it hadn’t taken me so long to see it.<
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  “Fuck off, Ronny,” Jensen growled, his face getting red.

  “Or what?” Ronny goaded.

  Jensen’s fists clenched on the table and my belly began to twist with anxiety. He’d already gotten into two fight at school. The second was with a jackass from Ronny’s crew who felt the need to get revenge for his buddy. It hadn’t worked out well for him since he’d gotten his ass handed to him as well. If Jensen got into another, I wasn’t sure there were enough strings for his dad to pull to get him out of trouble. It would be his third strike, and Ronny knew that.

  “Why don’t you stand up and make me,” Ronny continued, and I got the sick feeling he was intentionally trying to push Jensen into taking a swing, knowing if he threw the first punch, he’d be expelled no matter what.

  “Just ignore him,” I whispered, placing my hand on Jensen’s fist to try and calm him down.

  “Just ignore him,” Rina mimicked derisively. “Saint Shane. Little Miss Perfect. Always so damn boring.”

  I cut my eyes to her. “Don’t you ever get tired of being a raging bitch all the time?”

  Her overly glossed lips twisted up in a malicious smirk. “At least I know how to have fun.”

  “Sure are puttin’ in a lot of work for some pussy, Rose,” Ronny cut it with a slimy grin. “She let you tap that yet? Probably not, huh? Heard this one’s totally a prude, keeps her legs crossed tight, man.” He jerked his chin in my direction. “Gotta work hard if you wanna get in her pants. Not sure she’s worth the effort.”

  My cheeks heated again, but this time it was in embarrassment. Rina started to giggle, and I knew exactly who it was that told him I was a prude.

  Jensen was on his feet in an instant, ripping his hand away from mine as he pushed up against Ronny, bumping him with his chest. “What the fuck did you just say about her?”