Apart from warning me not to crash his Lexus and asking to stop at a twenty-four-hour gas station, Jace hasn’t said a word since we got in the car.
On the bright side, he’s looking much better after puking all over Britney.
He flips the hood of his sweatshirt up—the one he asked me to fish out of his trunk while he got cleaned up in the bathroom. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go in for you?”
He steps out of the vehicle, slamming the door behind him.
Guess that’s a no.
Between the black hoodie and his indignant expression, you’d think he was about to commit a crime as he walks into the tiny convenience store.
Two minutes later he comes back out, carrying a can of ginger ale and a bottle of water. “Let’s go.”
Shifting his Lexus into drive, I mutter, “Are you allergic to manners?”
All I get in reply is a grunt.
We’re almost to his house when he gestures to my side of the road. “Make a left here.”
“That’s not the way to your house.”
“We’re not going to my house.”
That isn’t ominous or anything. I slam on the brakes. “Why?”
“I’m not in the mood to go home yet, all right?” He crosses his arms. “Start driving…or I will.”
I step on the gas pedal and make a left. “As you wish.” Dick.
I’m not sure where we’ll end up, but the narrow, winding road combined with the pouring rain gives me the creeps.
“Turn right,” he instructs.
“Where exactly are we going?”
I have my answer as we approach what appears to be a run-down park.
I pick a spot and turn the car off. “I didn’t know there was a park here.”
“They built it after you left, but the rich pricks on our side of town weren’t interested in it.” He lays his head against the seat. “So now it just rots.”
“That sucks.”
We sit in silence for what feels like forever before I find my proverbial balls. “Jace, can we—”
“No.” There’s a dark note in his voice, a warning not to poke the beast. “I can’t fucking go there. Not tonight.”
I don’t know where there is, but I don’t want to upset him on his birthday, so I drop it. “Okay.”
Shifting ever so slightly, I turn to look at him.
He’s reclined in his seat, with his legs spread out and his hood covering half his face…it makes my insides swoop, but my heart hurt.
It’s clear he’s battling some demons…but he’s doing it all alone.
I hate it.
Reclining my own seat, I relax against the plush leather. “Hey.”
He tilts his head a little, his gaze moving over me like lava. “Hey.”
Lifting my hand, I trace the curve of his brow. “It’s kind of crazy.”
His gorgeous face is all hard edges, chiseled bones, and full lips, but in this moment, his eyes hold a softness and vulnerability I haven’t seen in years.
“What is?”
I run my thumb down his cheek. “That it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, but being this close to you still…”
The reality that we’re no longer friends sinks its claws into my heart and I stop talking.
His fingertips trail up my outstretched forearm. “Still what?”
Makes me want to merge my broken pieces with yours.
“Cracks me wide open,” I whisper, because friends or not, I’ll never be able to keep anything from him. “I guess my broken pieces missed yours as much as I missed you.”
He exhales sharply. “You say the weirdest shit sometimes.”
I can’t help but laugh. He’s not wrong.
He’s also the only one who ever truly got me.
“Yeah, but you love it.”
He grins before his expression turns serious. “Yeah…I did.”
I wish I knew what caused that change, or how to fix it, but Jace has built his walls so high, they’re impossible to climb.
However, I’ve never been the kind of girl to give up. The locks to his fucked-up kingdom might have changed, but I still remember the layout.
“Cole said you left in the middle of your birthday dinner.”
A muscle in his jaw tics. “Cole has a big fucking mouth.”
He does, but that’s beside the point. “We were worried about you.” I hold his gaze. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but your secrets have always been safe with me. No matter how much you hurt me.”
After Jace confessed to doing all those awful things, I could have retaliated by spilling everything he ever told me when we were kids, but I didn’t.
We were best friends before we were enemies, therefore my love for him will always be stronger than my animosity.
I can feel the ice around him thaw a little before he speaks. “My father keeps pushing me to go away to college. Then tonight at dinner he mentioned me working for Trust Pharmaceuticals and starting an internship next year.”
“But that’s not what you want to do.”
It’s not a question, it’s a fact. Jace has never expressed any interest in working for his father’s company. He’s always had his sights set on being a video game developer.
He shakes his head. “Fuck no. I don’t know shit about what he does, and I have no desire to.”
Not to mention the elephant in the room. Why would Jace ever want to work for the company responsible for his little brother’s death?
Granted, it was an accident, but still. It would be a punch-you-in-the-face reminder of your grief, day in and day out.
“It’s really messed up of him to push that on you.”
“I know.” His throat bobs on a swallow. “I’m not sure I even want to go to college in the first place. But if I did, I’d go to one close by so I can be here for Cole and Bianca.” He shrugs. “I was planning on getting an apartment after graduation with the money I made from Z.I. anyway. And if I’m not taking classes, I’ll have time to develop and sell more games.”
Pride swells in my chest. “You sold a game? That’s awesome.”
His eyes light up. “Zombie Island. Well, that’s what the company who bought it renamed it. Originally, I called it Zombie Nightmare.”
“Zombie Nightmare is way cooler.”
“Right?” He makes a face. “They wanted to market to younger kids though, so I had to change some things and…” He shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter. Point is, I don’t have to go to college in order to make something of myself.”
“No, you don’t. Not unless you want to. I mean, I’m going so I can have a business degree under my belt—”
“Not a bad idea,” he interjects. “That way when you start your record label, you won’t need to hire a bunch of schmucks who will take you for a ride and run it into the ground.”
“Exactly.” I chew my thumbnail. “Although it will take a lot more than a business degree to get the ball rolling. I still have to find bands—good bands—that will trust me enough to put their dreams in my hands. Plus, with my dad in jail and the authorities sequestering every dime from his bank accounts, I have to find a way…” I suck in a breath. “I’m getting ahead of myself.”
Just the thought of everything I’ll need to do soon makes my head spin. Not to mention the fact that I’ll be so broke, ramen will be a splurge.
But where there’s a will there’s a way, and I’m determined to make it happen.
“I still can’t believe he’s in jail.” Disapproval lines his face. “I’m guessing Savannah might’ve had something to do with it?”
Does a bear shit in the woods? “Yup. However, she managed to get off scot-free by claiming she was an innocent young wife who didn’t know a thing.” Anger plows through me and I sit up. “Meanwhile, she was the one who got him the job in the first place. The CEO was her friend’s husband. And with the way she kept pushing him for more money after we moved—there’s no way it wasn’t part of her big plan from the get-go.”
“What a bitch,” Jace grinds out. “But with her out of the picture now, your relationship with your dad must be better.”
“Not really.” I avert my gaze because what I’m about to say will no doubt make me sound like a heartless bitch. “I still can’t bring myself to answer his phone calls or visit him.”
“Oh.” There’s surprise, but not a hint of judgment. “Why not?”
“Because I’m angry,” I say, swallowing the lump building in my throat. “I guess it’s my way of punishing him for forgetting about my mom and choosing Savannah over me.” I close my eyes. “Jesus, how fucked up is that?”
“No, I get it.” Swiftly, he withdraws inside of himself again, that cold demeanor firmly back in place. “There are some things you can’t forgive.” The look he gives me slices right through my heart. “No matter how much time has passed.”
I can’t take it anymore. I feel like a blind person trying to dismantle a bomb. “Wh—”
“Don’t.” His gaze sharpens. “Drive me home.”
With a nod, I push a button and adjust my seat. The one thing I didn’t want to do was ruin his birthday, and of course that’s exactly what I ended up doing.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper as a bolt of lightning illuminates the sky and the rain comes down harder. “But it’s killing me—”
“Good.” His tone is clipped, lethal. “Now you know how it feels.”
Frustrated, I slam my hand against the steering wheel. “I don’t want to fight with you.”
“And I didn’t want to ever see you again, yet here we fucking are.”
Jesus. No matter what I say or do, he’s determined to make me pay. I need him to get the fuck over his resentment and realize I’m not his enemy.
I know he wants to go home, but I’m the one with the keys. Which means I still have time to get through all his layers of stubborn.
I glance at the clock on the dash. It’s a little after two a.m.
“Technically it’s still your birthday in Hawaii.” Shifting in my seat, I look at him. “If you could have one thing for your birthday—excluding the obvious, because I can’t bring them back—what would it be?”
He looks at me like I’ve sprouted another head. “You think a stupid birthday gift is gonna make it all better?”
“No.” Reaching over the console, I poke his rock-hard stomach. “But the sooner you tell me, the sooner I’ll shut up and take you home.”
Irritation etches his features. “You’re a real pain in the ass, you know that?”
I smile wryly. “Trust me, I’m aware.”
The corners of his lips twitch for a second before they compress, and his expression turns solemn. “I wish I could turn it off.” His gaze snaps to me. “Just for a little while.”
His pain is so palpable it takes the air from my lungs.
Inching closer, I run my fingers along the stubble of his jaw. “Turn what—”
His mouth crashes against mine.
The kiss is vibrant desperation laced with spiteful greed. Our lips soothe and clash like lovers and enemies who are indulging and sinning…trying to see which will win out.
One of his hands hovers around my throat and the other cups my face as he feeds me his tongue with passionate strikes, daring me to join.
He growls when I do, and his hand slithers downward. A shiver courses through me as the edge of his thumb sweeps the curve of my breast.
“Jace,” I pant into his mouth.
He dips his head, sucking and biting his way down the column of my throat. I run my nails along his nape before latching onto the fabric of his sweatshirt. “I need this off.”
Without warning, he breaks the kiss…and gets out of the car.
I sit in confusion for the better part of a minute, trying to comprehend what just happened.
Anger rolls through me like the thunder above when I realize…and I begin shaking with the force of it.
He doesn’t get to keep doing this to me.
One minute he’s hot, the next he’s ice. I’m sick of it.
I’m not a damn video game he can turn off and on whenever he pleases.
I’m not someone he can keep punishing because he can’t get a handle on his emotions.
Jace Covington wanted a fight…but he’s going to get a whole lot more than he bargained for.
Because I’m about to give him a motherfucking war.
My chest heaves and my blood pressure soars as I step out of the car.
The rain is coming down in buckets, but my eyes stay locked on his tall form as I march toward him.
“Yo, Covington.”
Another bolt of rage lights me up when he ignores me.
I pick up my pace. “Hey, asshole!”
The muscles in his back tense and he turns. “What?”
“Fuck you,” I scream.
Then I launch my fist into his face.
He staggers back a little, no doubt caught off guard.
Then he straightens his spine. “Do it again.” Lightning zaps through the sky, illuminating the dangerous look he’s pinning me with. “I fucking dare you.”
I must be full-blown crazy because the threat isn’t enough to stop me.
If anything, it spurs me on, and I punch him again.
He’s downright seething as he takes a step in my direction. “Harder.”
So I do, hard enough to split his lip.
Nerves pluck at my belly as he spits blood on the ground and advances forward, backing me into his car. “Done yet?”
Not even close, but I give him a small nod.
“Good,” he rasps as his hands latch onto my hips. “Now it’s my turn.”
In one fell swoop, he jerks me around, bending me over the wet hood. “Don’t start something you can’t finish, Taylor.”
“Who says I’m not prepared to finish?” I grit through my teeth.
He unzips my jeans and shoves them down. “I guess we’ll find out.” His hand slips between my thighs and he snaps the crotch of my panties before ripping them off. “Won’t we?”
“Do your worst.” I look over my shoulder at him. “I dare yo—”
I gasp when two long fingers slip between my flesh.
He chuckles. “I knew you’d be wet for me.” The hard swell of his cock nudges my ass as he pumps his fingers. “So nice and tight.”
The nerves along my skin prickle and I grind against him, needing more. “Take it out and fuck me.”
He removes his fingers. “Nah, baby. You gotta earn this dick.” Shifting, he lowers himself on top of me. His agitated breath tickles my ear as he tugs on my ponytail. “Spread your pussy.” He nips my earlobe and my body jolts in response. “I’m in the mood to eat.”
Warmth rushes through my veins as I step out of my jeans and kick them to the side.
With a grunt, he wedges his leg between both of mine, nudging them apart as far as they’ll go.
A flush creeps up my cheeks when he kneads my ass, exposing me. “Much better.”
Pushing my t-shirt past my ribcage, he nibbles and bites his way down my spine, striking his tongue ring along each vertebra he passes until he’s on his knees.
Another flash of lightning zaps across the sky and he makes a low hum in the back of his throat. “Look at you, all pretty and pink for me.”
Jesus. His mouth is a weapon in more ways than one.
I hiss when his stubble prickles my flesh and he inhales me.
It’s so intimate. So dirty and illicit.
My breath comes out in quick, short pants as his face settles between my thighs and he licks the length of my slit.
A low, strangled grunt leaves him. “Fuck, that’s good.” His tongue plunges inside and he proceeds to eat me like a filthy, ravenous animal.
He’s so gluttonous, so perverted. So…
“Oh, God.”
I’m growing lightheaded with every wicked stroke. Falling faster into his abyss.
Adjusting his hand, he massages my clit with his fingers as he coils his tongue, flicking the metal against my wetness.
“Jace.” I’m wound like a slingshot, preparing to launch wherever he wants as he works me to the edge of oblivion. “Fuck, that’s it.”
Reaching behind me, I grip his head, keeping him there. “Don’t stop.”
A guttural sound rumbles in his chest and his movements speed up. The sensation that whips through me is so intense, it vibrates through my bones as I shudder and shake around him.
Snarling, he laps at my orgasm. “That’s all you got for me?”
“I—”
He rubs a slow circle around my clit, causing aftershocks that have me jerking and thrashing. It’s like being on a non-stop roller coaster.
I’m so sensitive, I can’t take it. A pained groan rips from my vocal cords when he flips me over and sinks two fingers inside me…right before fastening his mouth on the spot that makes my toes curl.
My thighs tremble around his head as I whimper and squirm. It’s too much. Too intense.
Emotion clogs my throat as I choke out his name.
It’s a struggle to draw in air as my body seizes and I fall apart again, only unlike the last time, this one is quick and raw. Pleasure tinted with splatters of pain.
I feel so vulnerable, like I just shared something private and sacred. Until now, I was the only person able to make myself orgasm, but I’ve never had such a visceral response before.
Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he stands up. His eyes rake over me like two hot coals, making me feel even more naked than I am.
I open my mouth to speak, but I don’t get the chance…because he takes off.
