Broken Trust A Dark High School Romance - Tate James Page 0,30

out of this group of dickbags that were trying to get a rise out of me. Just as I raised my fists, ready to make good on my promise, the crowd stepped aside, finally allowing me to exit the classroom. I ground to a halt when I realized that they hadn’t moved for me. Beck, Dylan, Jasper, and Evan stood in a row, their faces completely unreadable, but I knew the four of them well enough by now to see the fire in their eyes. That slight rigidness to their jaws. The cut of muscles in Beck’s arms that said he was about to lose his shit.

The memory of his arms around me last night slammed into my mind, and I actually shook my head to try and dispel the thought. I had to stay strong. I could deal with this. I did not need to run back to the guys who had betrayed me.

Jasper took a step forward before he halted and squeezed his eyes shut for the briefest of seconds.

He was remembering that he couldn’t help me here. That none of them could protect me.

It was my choice, and I needed to live with it.

“Hey, assholes,” I said as I strolled past. “Here to join the revelry? Apparently I do a four for one in my whore sessions now.”

There were more beeps across all the phones around us then, and with trepidation, I pulled mine out and tried to mentally prepare myself for whatever was about to happen now.

Only it was blank. As was the previous email that was still sitting in my inbox. Someone had gone through and wiped all of the emails, somehow. That would have taken some high tech hacking to achieve such a feat.

Beck gave me the briefest nod that I knew no one else caught, and then he turned and left, his friends at his side.

Fuck. My chest ached, his actions slicing away at the shield I wore around my heart. The memories, my anger, all fading under the smallest of actions from the Delta guys. Fuck.

11

I made it through the rest of the day without too much trouble. Which only made me suspicious for what they had planned next. That night Beck showed up silently, and before I could even say a word, he strode across and climbed into my bed.

“Uh, what are you doing?” I demanded, trying to figure out if I was seeing him correctly. “Get the fuck out of my bed.”

He shook his head before he reached over and grabbed the back of his Henley, slowly pulling it up over his head. I swallowed hard as his body was revealed, piece by delicious piece. “You don’t have nightmares when I hold you,” he said after he’d finished tormenting me. “Let’s just cut out the middle man here, and start the night how it’s going to end.”

I spluttered and glared and stomped around the room, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to move his stubborn ass, and I sure as fuck was not sleeping on the couch in my own home, so I dressed in my most revealing pajamas—because if I had to suffer, so did he—and I strolled across the room, as slowly and sexily as I could.

I felt a little like a baby giraffe trying to walk for the first time as I swung my hips, but Beck didn’t seem to mind. His eyes dark and glittering as he watched me cross the room. I wore just a tiny pair of boy shorts and a cropped top that revealed my stomach and most of my boobs.

When I crawled into my side of the bed, I swung around and pointed a finger at Beck. “If you touch me, I will rip your dick off. Got it?”

His smile grew, but he didn’t make any promises, and I wondered how the hell I would sleep with this fluttering brush of butterflies all through my body. Being near him was like being near a live wire. I could feel the energy, the buzz, and the danger.

So much fucking danger. Why the hell couldn’t I stay away? Because I was kidding myself to think it was just one sided. I fought him, but not as hard as I should have been. In some masochistic way, I liked torturing myself as long as he was close.

And we were back to needing therapy.

Somehow I slept, and not a single dream came along to bother me. Which did fucking bother me, because Beck was the