Christina and the Rebel Affair (Scandalous Series Book 6)

by R. Linda

  I crossed the hall and handed her bag over, and dropping a kiss on her head, I said, “I’ll see you in English.” And then I turned and walked straight in the direction Christina was standing with her arms folded and eyes narrowed.

  Chapter Seven

  Christina

  He had the balls to smirk as he walked by. “Ms. Brown,” he said and nodded once in greeting. His eyes never left mine. Meanwhile, I was plotting all the ways I could separate him from his little girlfriend. I didn’t like the way he was with her. The way his eyes sparkled in amusement whenever she spoke. The way he always touched her. Held her hand. Draped an arm around her shoulder. The way he was putty in her hands.

  I stormed down the hall to the bathroom just for something to do until class began. Inspecting myself in the mirror, I wondered whether I was too old. If things were different and I wasn’t his teacher, would he have got bored of me and moved on to someone younger, like her? Did he want her? The way he looked at her and how he protected her made me think there was more than friendship going on between them.

  It was all too confusing. Too complicated and not worth it. He was just a guy. He helped pass the time, and that was it. There was nothing more to it. There couldn’t be more to it. But…

  The bathroom door opened, and I looked up. Audrey stood with her back to the wall and her eyes closed. She seemed to have no idea I was there as she rocked back and forth on the spot. Her fists clenched and unclenched, and she gasped for breath.

  What the hell was wrong with her?

  I took in her appearance. There was really nothing special about her. Compared to half the girls in this school, she dressed like a freaking nun, covered head to toe. I had to give her props for her boots, though. They were killer. Other than that, I couldn’t see what had Bennett so obsessed with her.

  The bell signalled the beginning of class, and Audrey still didn’t move. A small part of me wanted to ask if she was okay. But a more significant part of me—the part that was jealous and insecure and wanted to keep Bennett handcuffed to my bed—didn’t care and thought maybe, if I left, she might get in trouble, and it would put some distance between her and Bennett.

  I opened my mouth to ask if she needed help but stopped. The more prominent, jealous part of me won out, and I walked straight past her and out into the hall without a second glance.

  I headed for Bailey’s classroom, to observe again like I was the damn student and not going to be taking over the class at the end of the week. It had briefly occurred to me that maybe she was forcing me to sit quietly in the corner of her class as a way of getting back at me for everything I did to her growing up.

  I was a bitch. And Chace was so gorgeous, with his tanned skin, muscular arms and chest—nothing compared to Bennett, though—and his golden brown, sun-kissed hair. I practically melted at his feet every time he smiled, and I wasn’t the only one. But I was the only one to act on it. I’d always been the type of girl to get what she wanted, regardless of the consequences, and Chace was no different. Only he was dating Bailey at the time. But back then, all I thought about was myself.

  Would I do it again? That depended.

  With Chace? No. Hell, no.

  I was so stupid and naïve. I thought he loved me. I thought he wanted me more than Bailey, but the only person he loved was himself. He turned me into a horrible person, one I hardly recognised, and I hated who I became when we were together. I only wished I saw his hold on me earlier.

  On the other hand, would I sleep with Bennett behind his girlfriend’s back? Abso-freaking-lutely. But you couldn’t hold that against me. He was perfection. I may feel a little more guilt about it than I did with Bailey and Chace, though something told me Bennett would never allow that to happen. If he had a girlfriend, that would be it. He’d commit to her, and no one else would stand a chance. Audrey was fortunate if she ever managed to get her head out of her ass and lock him down.

  I slowed my approach when I spotted Bennett looking around the hall. Bailey walked over and smiled. “Bennett, what are you doing out here? You should be in class.”

  “Looking for Audrey.” He turned again and scanned the hall.

  “Maybe she stopped on her way somewhere. I’m sure she’ll be here in a minute. Come inside.”

  Bennett gave her an incredulous look. “Where the hell could she have stopped on the eight steps from that room,” he pointed across the hall, “to here?” He pointed at Bailey’s class.

  “I don’t know. Maybe her locker.”

  “Not without me.”

  I hated the way he was so sure she wouldn’t do anything without him. Like he expected she would wait for him, or they couldn’t do anything alone. Co-dependency wasn’t a good thing. It was bad. I knew from experience.

  “She’s just in the bathroom.” I sighed as I stopped in front of them. Bailey narrowed her eyes at me, and Bennett sighed in relief. “She was leaning against the wall with her eyes closed, making fists with her hands.”

  “And you just left her in there?” Bennett growled, his posture changing instantly, and pushed past me, almost knocking me over.

  “Unbelievable,” Bailey muttered and followed Bennett. I wasn’t sure whether she was talking about me or the way Bennett stormed off when he should have been in class, but I was willing to bet it was me.

  I stood there staring at the bathroom door as it swung back on its hinges, wondering what I had missed. They had both looked at me as though I had kicked a puppy. And Bennett was currently in the female bathroom with a student. Unable to stay in the dark anymore, I walked to the bathroom again and pushed open the door.

  Bailey stood to the side, while Bennett had Audrey cradled to his chest, rubbing her back and whispering in her ear. I felt like I was intruding, but I couldn’t look away. I didn’t know what was going on.

  Bennett looked at Bailey and angled his head to the door. She nodded, placed a hand on his arm, brushed Audrey’s hair, then walked out, not saying a word to me. His gaze landed on mine. It was cold, hard. And the tightness in his jaw told me he was pissed.

  Whatever.

  I shrugged and walked out.

  I didn’t know what was wrong. I didn’t understand why she was hiding in the bathroom. I didn’t care.

  Not entirely true. Some part of me was curious. But mostly, I figured if she wasn’t bleeding or crying on the floor, it was none of my business.

  I made my way back to Bailey’s classroom.

  She was already in full teacher mode as she stood at the front and gave the students instructions and handed out more worksheets. I had to give it to her, she was prepared and organised. It would make my job easier once she left. It used to drive me crazy how much she liked her routine when we were growing up. Who’d have thought I’d come to appreciate it?

  My phone buzzed in my bag, and I pulled it out discreetly, trying not to be caught by Bailey, to see a text from Bennett.

  Bennett: Question the second…How could you leave her alone?

  That was his question. He must have been pissed.

  Because I didn’t care. She was fine. A little dramatic, maybe. She really knew how to work him to her advantage. I’d never seen anyone go running after another like that. That bitter, jealous part of me reared its ugly head and wondered if I caused a scene, would Bennett run after me to make sure I was okay. I doubted it, though. I didn’t have what she had. We didn’t have that connection, that bond they seemed to share. All we had was explosive chemistry in bed, but one look at Bennett, and you knew he could find that anywhere. I wasn’t special.

  Audrey was.

  Christina: Because I didn’t know anything was wrong.

  Bennett: Bullshit.

  Christina: It’s true.

  Bennett: I saw your face earlier.

  Bennett: Are you jealous?

  I dropped my phone back into my bag and ignored his text. I was utterly jealous, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that. Instead, I turned back to Bailey and paid atten
tion to what was going on.

  Bennett and Audrey returned about ten minutes later, with Audrey—surprise, surprise—nestled safely under Bennett’s arm.

  I rolled my eyes.

  May have snorted.

  And refused to meet his gaze. I didn’t want to see the smug look on his face.

  “Sorry Ms. M. We, ahh…got held up.” Bennett lifted a shoulder and explained to Bailey why they were late like she didn’t already know.

  “That’s okay. Take a seat.” She smiled and observed Audrey.

  The girls sitting in front of me began laughing behind their hands and whispering to each other.

  “Yeah, I bet they got held up.”

  “I saw him go into the girls’ bathroom.”

  I cleared my throat and raised an eyebrow at them.

  They shut up.

  It wasn’t that I cared they were talking, I just didn’t particularly want to listen to them spout rumours about Bennett.

  My phone vibrated again, and my eyes immediately searched for Bennett. He lifted his chin a fraction, as though challenging me to look. I turned away and crossed my arms over my chest.

  Bailey was talking about an essay, and I tuned out. I couldn’t focus with him in my class. Against my will, my gaze travelled to Bennett again, this time to see Audrey leaning against him, forehead pressed into his shoulder while he stroked her hair.

  I swallowed the lump in my throat and reluctantly pulled out my phone.

  Bennett: How about now?

  I shook my head. I wasn’t playing his games.

  I was done.

  Chapter Eight

  Bennett

  “Wanna get out of here?” I asked Audrey the moment English was over. I didn’t want to hang around any longer. She was one step away from having a breakdown, and I didn’t even know why.

  It hurt walking into that bathroom and seeing her slumped against the wall with her head between her knees, trying to catch her breath. I hated seeing her that way. It had been a while since she’d had a full-blown panic attack, and she was still jittery.

  “Please.” She smiled and nodded.

  I reached for her hand and picked up both our bags before dragging her out of Bailey’s class, straight past Christina, without a word to anyone. I was sure Bailey knew we’d leave and would try to cover for us, but who knew about Christina. She was impossible to read sometimes.

  Just when I thought she couldn’t possibly be as bad as Audrey had made her out to be, she went and did something like that. She left Audrey alone in a bathroom when she was having a panic attack. She probably wouldn’t have even mentioned it, had I not been looking for Audrey at the same time Christina left the bathroom.

  We skirted around the students taking their time in the hall and darted out the front doors, not stopping to check whether anyone had seen us. I half expected to be stopped by my father. It was like he waited for me to screw up most days, always there when I didn’t want him to be and never around when I needed him. But we made it to my car without an issue.

  I helped Audrey in, dumped our bags in the back, and raced around to my side, eager to get the hell out of there.

  “Where do you want to go?” I asked.

  “Anywhere?”

  “Hungry?” I asked as I pulled out of the parking lot.

  “No.”

  “Liar.”

  We drove in silence, straight to the roadhouse on the outskirts of town. It belonged to Johnny and Julie, an older couple, but they retired and left it in the hands of their nephew Jeremy and niece Harper.

  Jeremy was dating Ryder’s sister Kenzie, and Harper just so happened to be dating Nate, Brody’s cousin. Nate was a great guy. I liked him. He was kind of like Audrey’s foster brother.

  Nate’s parents had taken Audrey in almost a year ago after the fire that killed her family and nearly killed her. He didn’t live at the house, though. He had shared an apartment with Brody for a while, until Brody discovered Nate was banging his ex-girlfriend, Harper, behind his back, and Brody moved out and straight into the Kellermans’ house. It was all a big deal and lots of drama, and they didn’t speak for a long time until Brody got over it and realised he’d fallen in love with Audrey during all the time they spent together.

  As much as I didn’t like to admit it, they were perfect for each other. He and Nate saved her life in that fire, and now they had an unbreakable bond, and that was something she needed.

  “The diner?” She screwed her nose up when I pulled into the parking lot.

  “Best burgers in the state,” I reminded her. They were pretty amazing. “It’s quiet,” I prompted after looking around and not seeing too many cars. Bailey’s husband Ryder’s car was parked around the side near the garage where he was talking to Jeremy. He helped Jeremy run the place when he wasn’t busy running a bookstore in town. Who’d have thought studying business would actually pay off?

  “Okay. But only if I can get a rainbow milkshake,” Audrey replied, and I tried not to gag at the thought of the milkshake Johnny had made up for her one day. It was purple and blue and pink with edible silver sparkles and whipped cream, and sure, it looked pretty—pretty disgusting—but she loved it.

  “Anything you want.”

  We got out of the car, and Audrey came over to my side immediately. I pulled her in the direction of Ryder and Jeremy, and she groaned, apparently not wanting to see anyone.

  “Can’t be rude, bro.”

  “Shouldn’t you be at school?” Ryder asked as we approached.

  “Student free day,” I answered. I was quick-thinking sometimes.

  Ryder crossed his arms and raised a pierced eyebrow. He sure as hell didn’t look like a guy who had a business management degree. He was covered head to toe in tattoos and piercings. Every time I saw him, I could swear he had more.

  “What?”

  “Did you forget my wife is your English teacher?”

  “You’re married to Christina?” I feigned shock and gasped.

  Jeremy chuckled and muttered, “You’re a dead man.” And that made Audrey giggle, so it was completely worth it.

  Ryder didn’t even acknowledge the comment, he just glared at me. If I’d been smaller, I probably would have pissed my pants from his look alone, but I was taller, broader, and better looking than he was, so I didn’t.

  He looked at Audrey. “You okay, love?”

  Love. Every time he said “love,” the girl’s underwear combusted. I tried it once, and Audrey punched me. Seemed it didn’t have the same effect coming from anyone but Ryder. I didn’t get it.

  Audrey let out a shaky breath. “Bad day.”

  “Hungry?” he asked.

  “Starved.” She rubbed her stomach, and my mouth dropped open.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” I said.

  “Come on, I’ll fix you something,” he offered before asking Jeremy and me, “You guys want something?”

  “No,” I grumbled. I asked her two minutes ago if she was hungry, and she said no. He calls her love once, and suddenly she’s starving and walking off into the sunset with Ryder freaking Jones. Fine, it wasn’t the sunset, it was a grease-filled diner full of burgers and booze. Heaven.

  Girls.

  They were so complicated.

  Women, on the other hand…

  Were just as freaking complicated and confusing.

  I’d never win.

  “Dude?” Jeremy’s voice broke me out of my thoughts.

  “What?”

  “Got a proposition for you.”

  “What’s that?” I eyed Jeremy curiously.

  He was similar to Ryder. He also had the tatts from neck to ankles, but not as many piercings, though. The attitude was almost as bad too. The only difference was he didn’t make the girls swoon like Ryder. And I meant all of them, except for Kenzie, obviously, because she was Ryder’s sister and dating Jeremy. But Bailey, Audrey, Indie, and Harper all melted in a puddle at Ryder’s feet. Even Leanne, Nate and Indie’s mum, couldn’t
help but get a little crazy in the eyes when Ryder was around.

  “A job.”

  Crap. Jeremy was still speaking. “Huh?”

  “I need a little extra help around here on the weekends. Inside is growing. The garage is growing. It’s too much for Ryder and me, and Harper has her final exams coming up, so she needs to focus on those. What do you say?”

  “Does it include burgers?”

  “And booze after knockoff.”

  “Then you have yourself a deal.” I reached out to shake his hand.

  “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”

  For an ex-con, he was pretty polite and well behaved. Seemed to have adjusted well to being on the outside and was making a good life for himself and Kenzie and her son Cole. I respected that. I had to admit, Audrey had a great group of people around her.

  I left Jeremy to it and went in search of Audrey. She was sitting at the counter, head lowered, hair fanned out to cover her face, sipping on her milkshake Ryder must have made.

  “Good?” I asked, taking the stool beside her as the waitress flicked her eyes between us, lips twisted.

  Audrey’s face was drained of colour, pasty white, different than her normal olive skin tone, and her hands were trembling so much she could barely hold her the straw in her drink. “Bro?”

  She shook her head rapidly and squeezed her eyes shut. I had no idea what happened at school to cause her to freak out like this. Her arms were covered in goose bumps, and she was rocking back and forth ever so slightly. Maybe I should call Brody.

  No, screw that.

  She was my friend. I could do this.

  My eyes widened.

  Her arms were covered in goose bumps.

  Her arms were bare.

  Her hair was in her face. Not her hood.

  Her skin on full display.

  Shit.

  “I’ll be right back.” I stood and kissed the top of her head before jogging out to my car and yanking open the back door.