her I wasn’t going to let her bully Archer into anything, that I wasn’t scared of her.” Lowering my voice, I questioned, “Do you want to know what she told me then?”
Bobbi blinked. “Duh.”
“She said when she gets out of the hospital, she’s going to kill me.” The other kids in class were too busy talking amongst themselves to hear what I’d said, and yet that didn’t stop me from whispering it.
If this story ended with Brittany winning, I’d be pissed.
Also dead, but still pissed.
“Have you told anyone?” Bobbi asked, leaning toward me. “That’s not good, Jaz. I bet she’d try it. She’s clearly crazy.”
I shook my head. “If I told, I doubt the police would believe me. Brittany would flip her switch and claim that I did all of that to her, so my plan is to wait and see what she does when she gets out. If she tries to kill me… let’s just say I know a few moves now.”
“Damn, you’re serious. You’re willing to go head-to-head with someone who faked her own death just to make you look bad,” Bobbi whispered. I couldn’t tell if she was in awe or if she thought I was just stupid.
Probably the latter.
The bell rang, and Ms. Haber was oddly on time today, so Bobbi and I had to quiet down. I hoped this meant our friendship could get back to the way it was before. I missed hanging out with someone who didn’t have a dick and constantly wanted to sleep with me. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my guys, I just, you know, sometimes needed a break from the testosterone.
Lunchtime came, and for the first time in a week, I was actually hungry. Go figure. My nemesis came back from the dead and I felt like I could eat an entire hippo. Dante and Vaughn were already at the table, and I sat beside Dante, feeling quite good, considering.
“I know everything is super serious right now,” I declared, unrolling my bagged lunch, “but bring it on. That’s all I can say.”
Dante prickled, busy stealing a fry from Vaughn’s tray. “All I can say is, if that bitch so much lays a finger on you, I’ll make her wish she was dead.” I’d never seen someone eat a fry so violently.
“And all I can say is,” Vaughn started, causing me to meet those black, colorless eyes, “she doesn’t have anything on you. Unless there’s evidence, it’s your word against hers. You have Oliver Fitzpatrick on your side, and if you need it, my family, too.”
Having his family at my back was something that was both relieving and worrisome. How much shit was I in to be relieved to have the Scotts on my side? Their money, their power, their… capacity to break laws. Yet another difference between the old me and the new me. Not a single part of the old me would’ve been relieved to hear that.
And to think, way back when, I wanted to have them investigated because I didn’t feel safe around him. How the tables had turned, huh?
“What he’s saying is we got your back,” Dante spoke with a wink. “That’s a Storm promise.”
I rolled my eyes. Dante and his Storm promises—I still didn’t quite understand why he sometimes referred to himself in third person, but hey, whatever floated his boat, I guess.
My guys were weird, but you know what? I wouldn’t have them any other way. Their weirdness, their psycho, overprotective behaviors and actions, the way they viewed me as theirs even though they knew I was seeing them all—I wouldn’t change any of it. They made me feel alive, wanted, adored, loved.
So when I said what I said next, it shouldn’t have come as a shock to any of us: “Have I told you guys yet that I love you?”
Both Vaughn and Dante stared at me, one pair of dark eyes and one pair of bright blue orbs. Neither said a single thing. Hell, I couldn’t tell if they were breathing still.
Staring at them, watching their reaction to my question, I knew what needed to be done. “I do,” I said. “I love you, and once things cool down with Brittany, I want to introduce you to my mom. She’s going to freak, but you’re such big parts of my life. She should meet you.”
Well, that felt like it had both come out of nowhere and been lingering in my head a little too long.