I smirk at that, knowing she’s fishing but giving her nothing. If she wants to know if I’m the one who left her that birthday card on her car last night, she’s gonna have to come right out and ask me.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” I tease, not missing the way she stares at my mouth while I step closer to her, only stopping when our bodies are almost touching. “And to answer your question.. yeah, it’s gonna feel fucking amazing when it touches your clit.”
Her jaw drops and she looks around to check no one’s listening, her cheeks glowing the cutest fucking shade of pink I’ve ever seen. “I.. I wasn’t thinking that.”
“But you are now.”
She swallows and cuts her eyes back to mine, but instead of walking away like I expected her to, she shocks the shit out of me and wraps her hand around the back of my neck, yanking me down to her until our faces are level. My brows jump and I rest my hands on the hood of the car either side of her head, silently waiting for whatever she’ll do next. Her pastel blue eyes shine with a new found confidence and she smirks – fucking smirks at me – then she brushes her thumb over the corner of my mouth and pinches the cut there, forcing a pained groan from my throat while she pulls me in further.
“You think you’re so hot, don’t you?” she whispers against my lips, clicking her tongue while she digs her sharp nail into the sore spot. “Think again, new boy.”
Fucking tease.
She kisses me once and shoves my head back just as quick, casually slipping away from me like she didn’t just make my dick hard. She shakes her ass for good measure and I reach down to readjust it, sliding my tongue over the fresh blood coating my lip.
“Hey, Jordyn?”
“It’s JJ,” she grits out, stopping half way up the front steps to face me fully.
“You were wrong before.”
“About what?”
“I don’t want a princess,” I tell her, shamelessly moving my eyes over her sexy little outfit. “That little devil inside you? I wanna play with her.”
8
Jordyn
“You know Penelope’s been calling you, right?”
I roll my eyes at that, not even bothering to look her way while I continue taking notes from the board. “Yes, Sienna, I’m aware.”
Her and Noah have been blowing up my phone for the last ten days, but I haven’t answered or read any of the messages they’ve sent me. Honestly, I’m this close to blocking their numbers just to get a little peace and quiet.
“Will you at least talk to her?” Sienna whispers, leaning over the desk between us to catch my eyes. “She’s sorry and she misses you, but she can’t tell you that if you keep shutting her out like this.”
Fucking hell, really?
It’s not like I was expecting our mutual friends to take my side or anything – they all knew she was fucking him anyway so it wasn’t exactly a surprise to them – but I didn’t think they’d try to make me out to be the bad guy, to make me feel like I’m the one who needs to step up and fix it.
It fucking sucks.
The last bell rings and I drop my pen, thankful I don’t have to answer her. I take my time packing my books up and head for the door, keeping my eyes forward and my head held high while I make my way to my locker.
Never show weakness.
My mother’s words ring through my head and I keep walking, flexing my fingers around the strap of my purse when I connect eyes with Xander Reid in the hall.
I don’t know what the hell came over me in the parking lot last week, but instead of torturing myself by dwelling on it, I’ve decided to ignore him.
Indefinitely.
The bastard smirks like he knows it and I look away, making a quick stop at my locker to drop my books off before heading outside to my car. Ignoring the stares and whispers pointed my way, I jump inside and start the ignition, resisting the urge to bang my head against the steering wheel while I drive away towards home.
I can’t wait to go to college next fall.
I won’t be doing what I want to do, but at least I’ll be somewhere other than this suffocating town.
I pull up on my driveway a few minutes later and head inside, jumping out of my skin when I hear my name being called out from behind me.
“JJ.”
“Mom,” I say back, breathing a long sigh of relief when I realize she didn’t bring the Miami man home with her.
Last time she did that I earned myself a bridesmaid’s dress and a bratty younger stepsister.
“Did you miss me?”
I nod and wrap my arms around her waist, resting my head on her chest to inhale her familiar scent. Her body stiffens and she lifts her hands, awkwardly patting my back when I don’t release her right away. Those stupid tears fill my eyes but I force them back, silently pleading myself not to cry in front of her.
She doesn’t handle emotion well.
“Are you alright?” she asks, gently pushing me back by my shoulders to brush the creases from her dress.
“Yeah.”
“Are you sure?” She frowns, bouncing her eyes between mine. “You look.. I don’t know. Are you sad?”
I laugh lightly at that, surprised she cares.
But that’s not fair.
My mother does care about me, just not in the way I want her to. She cares about my social status and my popularity and my weight, whether or not I get accepted to an Ivy League school, whether or not I marry into the family she picked out for me when I was nothing more than an idea.
As for me and the way I feel, though..
I’m pretty sure she couldn’t care less.
As long as we’re good looking, rich and respected, nothing else matters.
“JJ?”
“Are you staying for dinner?” I ask, nervously wringing my hands together while I lead the way to the kitchen. “Maryanne’s not working today but she left me a salad in the fridge. You can have half if you want.”
“But it’s Thursday.”
“So?”
“So.. don’t you always have dinner with Noah and his parents on Thursdays?”
I nod and chew my lip, hesitating a second before I decide to bite the bullet. “We broke up.”
“You what?!” she screeches, making me cringe. “Why?”
I keep my mouth shut and grab two plates from the cabinet overhead, busying myself dishing the food out and grabbing two waters from the fridge.
“JJ,” she sighs, clearly displeased with me and my silence. “Whatever you did wrong, you need to fix it and get him b–”
“Jesus, he cheated on me with Penelope, Mom,” I cut in, dropping down at the island to stab a piece of chicken with my fork. “I broke up with him.”
Her jaw ticks and she props her hands on her hips, her obvious embarrassment for me reddening her cheeks and the tip of her nose. “Does everyone know?”
“Yep.”
She exhales an aggravated breath and takes the seat across from me, folding her hands on the counter like we’re about to negotiate a business deal. “Look, honey, I know this is hard, trust me, I know, but I need you to find a way to move past this. Your entire future depends on it, sweetheart.”
A bitter laugh leaves me and I drop my fork on my plate, leaning back in my seat with my arms crossed over my chest. “You’re joking, right?”
“No, I’m not joking, and I don’t appreciate your tone.”
“Yeah, well I don’t appreciate you telling me I need to stay with the guy who’s been sleeping around on me just to fulfil your big plan. I have my own plans, Mom.”
“What plans?”
“Washington,” I blurt out, swallowing my fear when I catch the look on her face, but I don’t stop talking. “I wanna move to Seattle to study photography.”
“Photography?” she echoes, scrunching her nose as if the thought insults her. “Since when?”
“Since always!” I shout, struggling to calm my sudden temper. “If you paid even a little bit of attention to me and my li
fe, maybe you’d know that.”
“And if you paid even a little bit of attention to your boyfriend, maybe he wouldn’t have to go looking for it elsewhere!”
My jaw drops and my eyes burn with tears, my throat burning with a mixture of disgust and shame. She opens her mouth to say something else but I’m already gone, snatching my purse from the counter to make a beeline for the entryway.
“JJ!” she barks. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Out.”
“I’m not finished talking to y–”
I slam the heavy front door behind me and jog down the front steps, fumbling with my keys to unlock my car. I jump inside and speed off towards the beach, hitting the breaks just as quick when I realize pictures won’t cut it today.
I need to vent.
Hit something.
I turn around and drive down to the gym on the other side of town, barely paying attention to my surroundings while I grab my duffel bag from the trunk and sling it over my shoulder. Still wearing my school uniform, I walk inside and swipe my membership card over the scanner, pushing the bar to let myself in. Kian’s older sister spots me through the window in her office and walks out to greet me, her warm smile fading when she catches the look on my face.
“Back room’s all yours, babe.”
“Thanks,” I mutter, cursing myself when I hear the pathetic crack in my voice. “Hey, Kelly? Can you, uh, not tell Kian about this? Or anyone?”
She nods and I walk away, ignoring the eyes of the members working out on the main floor while I head through to the private room reserved for boxers. It’s dark and cold in here, the only light coming from the sun creeping through the tiny, rectangular windows across the top of the back wall. I drop my bag down in the corner and change into my gym clothes, quickly tying my hair up into a messy ponytail at the top of my head. I leave the lights off and plug my phone in to crank the music up, then I slide my gloves over my hands and fasten the velcro with my teeth.
And then I vent.
9
Xander
“Dude, pay attention,” I scold, quickly snatching the bar from Kian’s trembling hands when he looks like he’s about to fucking choke himself with it. “What the hell are you looking at?”
“Nothing,” he rasps, tipping his head back on the bench to look at me upside down. “The view’s pretty good from down here, though.”
I raise a brow and lift the bar back up to the rack, walking around him to grab my water bottle from the floor. I take a sip and he struggles to sit up, resting his elbows on his thighs to drop his head in his hands.
“You guys do this every single day?” he asks, wincing while he rubs his sore muscles. “It hurts.”
I chuckle and toss him a drink, still amused by his hot pink boy shorts and matching headband. He turned up at the house just as me and Travis were leaving for his sister’s gym, said he wanted us to take him home to change so he could tag along and play with the big boys, as he put it. I don’t know the guy well, but I’m pretty sure the heaviest thing he’s ever lifted is his thigh to shave his scrawny little chicken legs in the shower.
Travis finishes his set and sits up to wipe the sweat from his forehead with his t–shirt, smirking to himself when he catches Kian’s eyes on his abs. Kian drags his bottom lip out through his teeth and I cock my head at him, bouncing my eyes between the two boys who can’t seem to keep their eyes off each other.
“Are you two fucking?”
Travis chokes on his water and Kian blushes like a nun, telling me all I need to know.
Boy’s no fucking nun, and it seems my cousin knows it.
“Dude, will you shut the fuck up?” Travis hisses, quickly looking around to check no one heard me.
“Sorry.”
He glares and I smirk, frowning when he swallows and scrubs a hand over his mouth. “Xan, listen–”
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Explain yourself to me like it’s something that needs an explanation,” I say simply, rolling my eyes when he stares at me like I’ve grown two heads. “I know what fucking is, Trav. I do it all the time.”
“That’s different.”
“Why is it different?”
He sighs out a breath and looks at Kian, smiling a little bit when he catches the look on his face. It’s relief, but it’s not the type I would have expected. He’s not relieved over my no fucks to give reaction to their secret relationship, he’s relieved Travis didn’t panic and go off on me for bringing unwanted attention to it.
“I need a shower,” Travis says, hitting me with a quick look that says keep your fucking mouth shut or die, then he stands and tilts his head for Kian to follow.
Kian jumps up like his ass is on fire and I shake my head at them, deciding to hang back a while because I don’t feel like hearing my cousin fuck his boyfriend against the bathroom wall. “How long should I wait?”
“Thirty minutes.”
“Fifteen,” Kian calls over his shoulder. “And that’s only because it takes him ten minutes to prep m–”
Travis smacks the back of his head and Kian yelps, making me laugh. The two of them head for the changing rooms down the hall and I move for the fountain to refill my water bottle, doing a double take at the door in the corner when I catch sight of the girl working out through the rectangular window. Her face is shadowed in darkness and she’s got her body turned away from me, but I know it’s her.
Jordyn fucking James.
I hesitate for all of three seconds before I’m moving, quickly checking to make sure no one’s looking before I slip through the door. Teardrops by Bring Me The Horizon blares from somewhere and I look around, grinning to myself when I spot her phone plugged into the speaker set up in the corner.
I knew she liked this type of music, saw that sneaky little smile on her face when that emo vampire song came on at her house that night.
Right before she saw me for the first time.
Right after she helped that mousy haired girl get away from Penelope and Sienna.
Jordyn’s good.
Way too good for me, but I don’t give a shit.
I want her so fucking bad.
I stick to the shadows and lean back against the wall behind her, enjoying the way her hot little body moves while she beats the shit out of the bag hanging from the ceiling like it did her wrong.
She looks mad.
Ready to kill someone.
Sexy as hell.
She’s wearing a black and green pair of camo sweats and a black sports bra, showing off her toned stomach and those tiny little bones on her hips. Her skin is hot and covered in a light layer of sweat, her cute little baby hairs sticking to her forehead while she lays it all out there, barely stopping to breathe between punches before she starts up all over again. My hands twitch with the urge to touch her and I almost fucking do it, almost step forward and snatch her waist to scare the shit out of her just because I can, but then I look at her face and catch the thick tears falling over her cheeks.
Fuck, is she crying?
My brows crash in the center and my stomach drops, the increasing need to take her in my arms coming from a whole new place this time.
I don’t like that look on her face.
It’s even worse than those fake ass smiles she hands out like party favors.
I watch her for another few seconds while I try to decide between asking her what’s wrong and leaving her be, but then the door swings open and I look that way, rolling my eyes when Noah Campbell walks inside like he owns the damn world.
Fucking cockblock.
10
Jordyn
My chest heaves with the exertion but I keep going, ignoring the way my lungs are screaming for air and my body screams for me to stop.
Ignoring him.
Wishing he’d fuck off and leave me alone so I can sort through my rampant emotions in peace.
My song suddenly cuts off and I hit the bag one more time, spinni
ng to look at the asshole who just pulled the cord from my phone. Noah hits me with that stupid golden boy grin of his and I openly glare at him, lifting my forearm to wipe my hair from my face.
“How did you find me?”
“I saw your car in the parking lot on my way home.”
“So you followed me in here?”
“You won’t talk to me, JJ,” he fires back, throwing his hands out in annoyance. “You avoid me at school, you don’t answer your phone or text me back, and your stupid staff won’t even let me through your fucking door. What the hell do you expect me to do?”
I don’t give a shit what he does, but I don’t tell him that.
He sighs and steps closer to me, eyeing the traitorous tears still leaking from my eyes. “What happened?”
“My mom,” I choke out, glaring at the ceiling with my gloves on my waist while I fight to compose myself.
Stop crying.
I take a deep breath and force my body to comply, cutting my eyes back to Noah to find him staring at me and my form, but it’s not out of want. He doesn’t like it when I wear sweatpants to work out, says they make me look like a twelve year old boy.
“What do you want, Noah?” I ask, no longer in the mood to answer his question.
“I want you back.”
I laugh lightly at that, lifting my gloves up to my mouth to work on the velcro with my teeth. “I told you it’s done. We are done.”
“But we don’t have to be,” he argues, gently taking my wrists to help me with them. “If you can just let this go, we can get through this. We can be us again.”
I open my mouth to argue but he shakes his head, dropping my gloves to the floor before moving in to take my face in his hands.
“Come on, JJ,” he says. “Let me make it up to you.”
I remain still and he takes full advantage, slowly sliding his hands down to my waist to pull me into him. He kisses the corner of my mouth and I tense, squeezing my eyes shut to banish the disgust at myself for allowing him to touch me. The weak, broken hearted little girl inside me begs me to cling to the only boy I’ve ever known, but instead of ignoring her like I should, I wrap my hands around his neck and smash my mouth on his. He exhales a relieved breath and I bite his lip, digging my nails into his flesh to encourage him to move faster. He winces and removes my hands from his neck, sweetly linking our fingers together while he moves his mouth down to my jaw. I roll my eyes and grit my teeth, silently begging the ceiling for patience while he continues to tease me with his lips.
Little Devil Page 5
