He doesn’t say anything at first, and I don’t want him to. What I want is for this ride to be over.
“I didn’t have anything to do with that stuff,” he says as he stops the truck at a stop sign. “The locker, the hair thing, the rumor—I swear I didn’t do any of that.”
"Maybe not directly, but I’m sure you knew what your friends were doing and didn’t stop them?"
When I turn my head back toward him, his eyes are crammed with remorse.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispers in almost desperation. “I wish I could take it all back. If I could, I fucking swear I would… But I… I just wish… I don’t think… God, I just—”
Before I can even process what he’s doing, he leans over and I presses his lips against mine. An uncontrollable moan escapes my lips as his tongue slips inside my mouth. But as quickly as the kiss starts, his lips are leaving mine as I jerk away
Holy effing crap. Did Gaige Irvins just kiss me? And steal my first kiss!
I stare at him, deciding whether to slap him or kiss him. But reality bitch slaps me as I realize something. This is Gaige Irvins the guy who constantly tormenting me and I can’t help but wonder if this is some sort of game.
Some sick, twisted, cruel game, like the one Gaige spoke of on the phone. And I’ve officially become the loser.
Chapter 10
Gaige
“God fucking dammit!” I pound the steering wheel over and over again, until my hands hurt.
I’m so damn frustrated with myself for kissing Willa. For wanting to kiss Willa.
What the hell was I thinking? Kissing her?
I wasn’t thinking and that was the problem. And the really messed up part is that I didn’t kiss her because I’m being blackmailed into getting close to her. I kissed her because I could tell she was hurting, a hurt that I put there. I felt guilty and awful and strangely drawn to her, and the only thing I could think of was to kiss her. Most girls would’ve been okay with that, but Willa isn’t most girls. The horror in her eyes after I kissed her more than proved that.
“This is bad,” I mutter as I drive forward. “I need to find a way to clear my head.”
But the truth is my head feels clearer than it has in a long time. What that means, I have no idea. But it has me really worried.
I need a way to fix this—fix me—before I end up ruining everything for me and my friends.
Chapter 11
Willa
“Oh my God, why the fuck did you do that?” I reach for the door handle and stumble outside.
“Willa, wait,” Gaige calls after me.
I slam the door and run like hell, not toward the school but the house. I run for miles, not slowing down until I can barely breathe. Then I power walk the rest of the distance back to my house, throwing the occasional glance over my shoulder. I don't know why, but part of me hoped Gaige would chase me down and tell me everything will be okay, that he really did want to kiss me. But he probably drove straight to the school to tell everyone some absurd story about how I kissed him. That I'm a freak. And maybe I am.
By the time I make it to my house, I’m on the verge of tears. But I don’t let the waterworks spring free until I lock myself in my room. Then I lie down on my bed, take out the map Brecken gave me, and cry freely as I sketch my finger over the heart.
“Brecken,” I sob, my chest heaving. “Brecken, where are you?” Hot tears spring from my eyes and stream down my cheeks. “Please answer me… I need you so badly.”
The silence only makes me cry harder.
“You said you’d always be there for me,” I whisper. “Why did you leave me?”
When all I hear is silence again, rage begins to overpower me. I grab the first thing I can find—a unicorn statue my mom gave me for my birthday—and fling it across the room. I mean to hit the wall, but I’ve never had a good aim and end up shattering the mirror.
“Oh no.” My stomach burns with vomit and my eyes stream with tears as I rush across the room and look at the shattered glass and the broken mirror. “God, no, no, no.”
I can’t believe this. I can’t believe I broke the mirror Brecken gave me.
I collapse to my knees, preparing to cry until my eyes run dry when something I see stops the waterworks. In the middle of the broken glass is an envelope. Drying my eyes, I pluck it up, open it, and pull out a note stuffed inside.
Willa,
If you found this letter, then either I finally spill the beans to you or something bad happened to me and you had to follow my map. If the latter is the case, then I’m so sorry that you have to do this alone and that I’m putting this secret on you. But I have to tell someone. The Perfect Rebels can’t get away with what they did, to that girl or to me (the latter only applies if I’m gone, which hopefully, I’m not!). They hurt someone, Willa. Really, really badly. An irrevocable kind of hurt. And if you go into my private email, there’s a video in there that will show what they did. I was planning on going to the police with what I found, but again, if you’re reading this, I didn’t make it there. So please, please be careful and go straight to the police.
Love you forever,
Brecken
PS. My password is sexythangnumberone, which we both know is the perfect password for me.
Normally, I’d chuckle at the last sentence, but my heart is pounding in my chest. Digging my phone out of my pocket, I log into his email. It takes me a second to find the folder where the video is. Or well, was. But when I click on the link, I get a video deleted message.
Fear pulsates through me. Did Brecken delete this? Or did someone else?
One thing’s for sure. I’m taking this note to the police and then I’m going to find out what’s going on, and what Gaige and his friends did, no matter what it takes.
About the Author
Jessica Sorensen is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who lives in the snowy mountains of Wyoming. When she’s not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.
Also by Jessica Sorensen
Other books by Jessica Sorensen:
Sunnyvale NA:
Isabella Anders
Isabella Anders 2
Isabella Anders (coming soon)
The Perfect Rebels:
Finding Wonderful
Untitled (coming soon)
Lexi Ashford:
The Diary of Lexi Ashford
The Diary of Lexi Ashford 2
The Diary of Lexi Ashford 3 (coming soon)
Shadow Cove Series:
What Lies in the Darkness
What Lies in the Dark
A Deadly Little Game (coming soon)
Mystic Willow Bay Witches Series:
The Secret Life of a Witch
The Secret Life of a Witch 2
The Secret Life of a Witch 3 (coming soon)
Unearthly Balance:
Captivate
Captivate 2 (coming soon)
Rebels Revenge:
The Opposite of Ordinary
The Heartbreaker Society: The Deal
Standalones:
The Forgotten Girl
The Illusion of Annabella
Confessions of a Kleptomaniac
Rules of a Rebel and a Shy Girl
Fire Breather Series:
The Allure of Madness
The Allure of Madness 2 (coming soon)
Broken City Series:
Nameless
Forsaken
Oblivion
Forbidden (coming soon)
Guardian Academy Series:
Entranced 1
Entranced 2
Entangled 1
Entangled 2
Enchanted 1
Enchanted 2 (coming soon)
Guardian Academy, Dash’s Series:
The Forest of Shadow and Bones
The Forest of Shadow and Bones 2 (coming soon)
Sunnyvale Series:
The Year I Became Isabella Anders
The Year of Fal
ling in Love
The Year of Second Chances
The Year of Kai & Isa (coming soon)
Unraveling You Series:
Unraveling You
Raveling You
Awakening You
Inspiring You
Undoing You (coming soon)
Sins & Secrets:
Sins & Secrets
Sins & Secrets 2
The Coincidence Series:
The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden
The Redemption of Callie and Kayden
The Destiny of Violet and Luke
The Probability of Violet and Luke
The Certainty of Violet and Luke
The Resolution of Callie and Kayden
Seth & Greyson
The Secret Series:
The Prelude of Ella and Micha
The Secret of Ella and Micha
The Forever of Ella and Micha
The Temptation of Lila and Ethan
The Ever After of Ella and Micha
Lila and Ethan: Forever and Always
Ella and Micha: Infinitely and Always
The Shattered Promises Series:
Shattered Promises
Fractured Souls
Unbroken
Broken Visions
Scattered Ashes
Breaking Nova Series:
Breaking Nova
Saving Quinton
Delilah: The Making of Red
Nova and Quinton: No Regrets
Tristan: Finding Hope
Wreck Me
Ruin Me
The Fallen Star Series:
The Fallen Star
The Underworld
The Vision
The Promise
The Fallen Souls Series (spin-off from The Fallen Star):
The Lost Soul
The Evanescence
The Darkness Falls Series:
Darkness Falls
Darkness Breaks
Darkness Fades
The Death Collectors Series (NA and YA):
Ember X and Ember
Cinder X and Cinder
Spark X and Spark
Unbeautiful Series:
Unbeautiful
Untamed
Finding Wonderful (The Perfect Rebels Book 1) Page 7
