Bittersweet (Redemption Book 3)

by Jessica Prince

  “You heard me.”

  I shot up, rushing to Jensen’s side and grabbing hold of his arm. “Jensen, stop. He’s not worth it.”

  Ronny kept on going, pushing harder and harder for a fight. “Bet she’s a shitty lay too. Waste of time if you ask me.”

  Jensen had Ronny by the throat before I could react, shoving him back so hard the jerk slammed into the table behind him.

  Everyone in the cafeteria was suddenly on their feet, shouting and chanting “fight” like they couldn’t wait for it to happen.

  Ronny stood up and grinned, just waiting for Jensen’s hit. And he was about to get exactly what he wanted before I stepped in the middle of them, placing my hands on Jensen’s chest and pushing him back. “Stop it!” I shouted, giving him another shove. “If you fight him you’re gonna get expelled!”

  He didn’t budge. He didn’t take his eyes off Ronny. Hell, I wasn’t even sure he’d heard me. His eyes had taken on a glazed look, the storm brewing in them so dark they’d turned nearly black. His face had gone red with rage and his chest was rising and falling like he’d just run a marathon. I was looking at a boy I barely recognized, one who was out for blood. He was laser focused on Ronny like a shark that smelled blood in the water.

  “It’ll be fuckin’ worth it.”

  “Jens,” I said softer, reaching up to cup his cheeks. I pressed my fingers in and pulled his face down so he was looking at me. “He wants you to fight him. He wants to get you in trouble. If you’re expelled I won’t get to see you every day.” He blinked, his gaze beginning to clear as he looked down at me. “I want to see you every day,” I continued softly. “Please don’t do this.”

  My words finally penetrated. I’d gotten through. I breathed a sigh of relief when he took my hand in his and turned, starting for the exit.

  “Always knew you were a pussy,” Ronny called from behind us.

  I don’t know what came over me in that moment; it was like I’d stepped out of my body for a second. But hearing that jerk call Jensen a pussy set something off. Whipping around, I balled fingers into a tight fist and put every ounce of strength I had into my swing, punching Ronny Culpepper in the nose so hard it made a sickening crunch.

  “Oh shit!” Jensen cried as blood began to spew from Ronny’s nostrils. “We gotta get outta here, sunshine. Let’s go.”

  He grabbed my hand once more and dragged me out of the cafeteria. His loud laughter bounced off the lockers as we ran down the hallway as fast as we could.

  By the time Jensen pulled me into the janitor’s closet and slammed the door closed behind us, I was hyperventilating.

  “Oh my God,” I gasped, my eyes bugging out. “I can’t believe I just did that.”

  His smile was almost manic as he said, “I can’t believe you did that either. Jesus, Shane, I think you broke his nose. That was awesome!”

  “It wasn’t awesome!” I cried. “What if I get in trouble? Oh my God! What if I get expelled! I’ll never get into a good college. I don’t know what came over me. I just snapped, and now I’m gonna get called into the principal’s office and they’re gonna kick me out—”

  Jensen took my face in his hands and hunched down. “Shane, relax.” I clamped my lips together to cut off my rambling. “You aren’t gonna get in trouble. I promise. Ronny’s a dickhead, and there’s no way he’s gonna admit he got his nose broken by a chick.”

  My heart no longer felt like it was going to beat out of my chest as I whispered, “You really think so?”

  “I know so. You’ll be fine. I promise.”

  I took some time to let that sink in as a calm started to wash over me. “I can’t believe I broke someone’s nose,” I finally admitted a minute later. I had to slap my hands over my mouth to silence a hysterical laugh bubbling up my throat.

  “That was epic. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

  “I didn’t know either! It was just that he called you a pussy and I kind of lost it. I mean, I couldn’t just stand there and let him call you names. No one but me gets to do that.” I meant it as a joke, but something suddenly shifted across Jensen’s face, making the air in the little closet stuffy. “Jens?” I asked hesitantly. The way he was staring at me was making me nervous. “Are you okay?”

  “You punched him for me.” It wasn’t a question, but I could still hear the confusion in his words.

  I started to ramble again. “Well . . . yeah. I mean, I know you don’t need me to defend you, that you’re more than capable of defending yourself, but I didn’t want you getting in trouble. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t get to see you at school every day. It would be miserable. I didn’t mean to embarrass you, I just couldn’t—”

  My words were cut off when his lips slammed down on mine. It was so unexpected that, at first, I didn’t understand what was happening. Then my brain got with the program and my lips parted on a surprised gasp. The second that happened, his tongue drove inside, flicking against mine.

  The feel of it, the taste of Jensen, the smell of his cologne filling up the room, lit my insides up like a fireworks display. I lifted up on my tiptoes to deepen the kiss, suddenly consumed with a need to get as close to him as possible. My hands wrapped around his neck, my fingers tangling in his silky-soft hair as I moaned and tilted my head to the side to allow him better access.

  It wasn’t my first kiss, but it was my first with Jensen, and it was by far the best I’d ever had.

  His fingers pressed deep into my skin as he slid his hands down my ribs, my hips, my butt, where they came to a stop and squeezed. He used his hold to pull me tighter against him, bending me backward as he ramped the kiss up even more.

  I was breathing erratically by the time he pulled back. My lips felt swollen and bruised. My skin tingled all over, and I felt a pulse between my thighs.

  “Shit,” he hissed, resting his forehead against mine as he desperately gulped at the air. “Knew it would be that good. You got no clue how long I’ve been wanting to do that.”

  “Really?” I asked, slipping my fingers down to the nape of his neck and gently running my nails along his skin. It made him shiver so I did it again with a smile.

  “God, sunshine. I’ve been dyin’ to kiss you. You have no idea.”

  I felt positively giddy and my smile reflected that as I let out a sigh. “I thought you weren’t into me anymore. When you stopped hitting on me and quit making jokes about getting what you wanted, I thought you’d lost interest.”

  He gripped me harder, pulling me against him so I could feel just how interested he really was. My lips parted on an exhale. “Not for a second. I knew if I didn’t want to push you away, I needed to play it cool.”

  “Well . . .” I swallowed, my throat suddenly feeling dry and scratchy. “I’m glad you did. I’m not sure I’d have gotten to know the real you if we hadn’t had these past couple months.”

  He lifted his head, his eyes bouncing back and forth between mine as his expression turned serious, even . . . concerned. “And now that you know the real me?”

  “I really like you,” I confessed in a soft voice.

  He gave me a smile that didn’t hold an ounce of arrogance. It was all genuine and it was the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen. “I like you too, baby. A whole fuckin’ lot.”

  For what had to be the first time in my life, I emitted a girly little giggle. I would have been embarrassed, but I was too damn happy. “So we’re . . .” I hedged, needing him to say the words so I knew they were real.

  “Together,” he finished for me. “We’re together. If you need a label that’s cool. You’re my girlfriend.”

  “Ooh! Jensen Rose has a girlfriend,” I singsonged. He tickled my ribs until I begged him to stop, laughing so hard tears had formed in my eyes.

  “And you have a boyfriend, sunshine. Don’t you forget it.”

  “I won’t,” I said on a blissed-out sigh. “And even if I did, my boyfriend’s kind of a hothead. He’ll be sure to remind me.”

&n
bsp; “Damn right he will.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Shane

  Sixteen years old

  Looking at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, I brushed the strands of hair off my forehead and studied my face closely, trying to find any signs that I looked different. Because I certainly felt different.

  Shane Hendrix was crazy, stupid, head-over-heels in love. And as of a few minutes ago, she was also no longer a virgin.

  At the thought of that, my reflection blushed pink and smiled goofily.

  It had been . . . incredible. The pain I’d always heard about was there in the beginning, a nasty pinch then a brutal burn. But he’d been so gentle. He worked me up beforehand, making it so I was good and ready before pushing himself inside. He’d gotten me to a point where I was comfortable, but I hadn’t been sure I’d be able to get off. He’d set those doubts aside, using his hand between my thighs to make me come while he was inside me.

  Jensen and I had officially been a couple for four months, and not once had he pushed me for sex before I was ready. The decision was all mine to make, and he’d been so patient. It felt like we’d been together forever. Our relationship didn’t feel like a naïve, clichéd high school relationship. It was intense and magnetic and consuming, sure. But it was also so much more. I might not have had a real boyfriend before him, but I’d been observant. I saw the drama that came with being part of a teenage couple. The fights, the drama, the constant breakups just to make up the very next day. I’d never wanted to be any part of that.

  But that wasn’t what Jensen’s and my relationship was like. Our need for each other was so extreme it sometimes scared me, but whenever I started to feel overwhelmed, he’d be there to talk me off the ledge. We didn’t fight, at least not really. He could still be an ass from time to time, that egotistical side rearing its head, but I didn’t hate it like I thought I would. It had actually become something I liked. Most of the time I thought it was funny. On the times I didn’t, I’d throw attitude his way until he stopped acting like a jerk, and then we’d move on.

  The only drama we’d experienced in the past few months was from other people. Rina and Ronny might not have been together anymore—not a shocker—but that hadn’t stopped either of them from trying to push our buttons. Unfortunately for them, it didn’t work. It was easy to ignore the annoying bullshit that didn’t matter when you had someone at your back, and that’s what Jensen and I did for each other. I had his back and he had mine, always.

  We were solid in a way I’d never seen with the other kids at school. In fact, I’d only seen it once in my life, with Aunt Caro and Uncle Scooter.

  There was only one issue we had that was niggling at me. Unfortunately, it was a big one.

  “You fall down and crack your head in there?” Jensen called from his bedroom. “Knock once for no and twice if I need to call an ambulance.”

  I pulled the bathroom door open and rolled my eyes at him, trying to hide my blush and the fact that I suddenly felt really nervous behind a curtain of my hair as I moved through the surprisingly clean room to his bed. He was sitting on the edge in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs, watching me with a soft, gentle smile on his face as I padded my way to him, tugging at his T-shirt to try and cover more of my exposed legs.

  “Hey,” he said quietly, grabbing my hips as soon as I was within reach and spreading his legs so he could pull me in between them. He locked his arms around my waist so I couldn’t get away and tipped his head back to get a better view of my face. “You okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I? I tried to be careful, I swear.”

  “No,” I said quickly, placing my hands on his bare shoulders, letting the heat of his skin seep into me. “No, you didn’t hurt me. It was . . .” I tried to find a word that would encompass everything I was feeling, but nothing seemed big enough, so I settled on, “great.”

  “Then what’s goin’ on in your head?” It always amazed me how easily he could read me, given we really hadn’t been together all that long. “Something’s obviously bothering you. I want to know what it is.”

  “It’s not about what just happened,” I said meekly, glancing to the bed where we’d just had sex for the first time. “It’s just . . .”

  He gave me a little jostle. “Just what?”

  “This is the first time I’ve been in your house since the day we met. Are you—” My voice broke. “Are you embarrassed to be with me?”

  His whole body rocked backward, causing me to sway with it. “What?”

  “It’s just that I’ve never met your parents. We’ve been together four months, were friends for two months before that, and you’ve never once brought me over to meet them. The only reason you brought me here today was because they aren’t home. I can’t help but think—”

  “It’s not you,” he said sharply.

  My forehead pinched into a frown. “What’s not me?”

  “I’m not embarrassed to be with you. You’re the best fucking thing that’s ever happened to me, Shane. I love you more than you’ll ever understand.”

  My chest fluttered at his admission of love. “I love you too, bunny,” I said, using the nickname I’d come up with for him as a joke. He rolled his eyes every time I called him bunny or Snuggle Bunny, but he never asked me to stop, and I thought maybe he secretly liked it. “But if you aren’t embarrassed to be with me, why haven’t I met them? I mean, you’ve met my family. Hell, you spend more time with them than you do here.”

  His arms released me as he let out a heavy sigh and collapsed back onto his bed. I crawled over him, straddling his sides and resting my behind on his thighs as I poked at his chest. “Talk to me. Something’s obviously bothering you, and I want to know what it is,” I said, repeating his earlier words back to him.

  I let out a little yelp when he moved fast, flipping me to my back. He propped up on one elbow, hovering over me and brushing the hair off my face. “I haven’t brought you here before because I don’t want you to meet them.”

  A sharp, piercing pain like I’d just had a knife shoved into my chest shot through me. I pulled a breath in through my nose and worked to beat back the burn behind my eyes as I pushed at his shoulders. “Get off,” I muttered. “I want to go home.”

  He grabbed my wrists and pinned them to the mattress on either side of my head. “Shane, stop. Listen to my words. I didn’t say I don’t want them to meet you. I said I don’t want you to meet them. If there’s anyone alive that I’m embarrassed of, it’s them. I love you so much it sometimes hurts to breathe, so please, please, baby, don’t think for a second I’m ashamed of you,” he pleaded, desperation filling his eyes. “You’re everything to me. I can’t lose you. Not now. Not ever. You’re it for me, sunshine.”

  “Why are you ashamed of your parents?” I asked in a watery whisper, emotion coating my throat and making it thick.

  “I don’t wanna talk about them right now,” he stated, leaning in close enough to run his nose along the side of mine. “Right now I can think of about a million other things I want to do to you, and none of them require talking.”

  He released my wrists so he could slip one of his hands beneath the hem of my shirt, keeping his touch featherlight on my belly as his lips moved down to my neck. I let out a stuttered breath. I was still sore, but that didn’t stop the heat from pooling between my thighs or my core pulsating as he sucked and licked my neck and slowly, slowly, slid his fingers toward my breast.

  I opened my mouth, prepared to beg when a throat cleared from across the room, startling a shriek from deep inside my chest.

  “Jesus Christ!” Jensen barked, grabbing the covers and whipping them up to cover both of us as he rolled, hiding me behind his back. “Why the fuck didn’t you knock? You can’t just barge into my room whenever the hell you want.”

  I looked over his shoulder and saw a woman standing in the now-opened doorway. She was put together in a way you usually didn’t see around our little town. Her long hair hung stick straight just past her
shoulders, the blonde a little too brassy to be her natural color. Her long-sleeved vibrant red wrap dress was pressed to perfection and clung to her body, which looked really underweight, dipping down into a V so low in the front her cleavage was on full display. Her breasts didn’t match her frame at all, leading me to believe they were fake, and I could tell by looking at her artfully made-up face she was probably in her early forties, but had enough Botox pumped into her in an attempt to shove that age down.

  She didn’t look like she belonged in a tiny little biker town in the mountains. She looked like she belonged in a big city like New York, going out to restaurants where you spent a hundred dollars on an appetizer the size of a golf ball.

  “And what have I told you about bringing your little sluts into my house?”

  Oh my God! That was his mother! Mortification made my neck and chest flush a deep, unnatural red.

  I’d just been caught in Jensen’s bed by his own mother after we’d had sex. And she’d called me a slut! I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

  “Don’t call her that!” he snapped viciously, making his mom’s eyes widen in surprise. “You aren’t supposed to be here right now. Isn’t this usually the time you’re hooking up with your tennis pro or massage therapist or something?”

  Her eyes narrowed, and for a brief moment I thought I saw disdain behind them, but that couldn’t have been right. “Get your little friend out of my house,” she hissed. “And make sure she doesn’t steal anything on her way out.”

  She spun around on her pencil-thin heel and disappeared from sight as Jensen jumped off the bed and stormed across the room, slamming the door with a rattling bang.

  “Oh my God,” I breathed, covering my face with my hands. “That was so humiliating.”

  He rushed back to the bed and pulled my hands away, his face full of contrition as he frowned down at me. “Shit, baby. I’m so sorry.”