Bittersweet (Redemption #3) - Jessica Prince Page 0,48

water.

“It’ll be fuckin’ worth it.”

“Jens,” I said softer, reaching up to cup his cheeks. I pressed my fingers in and pulled his face down so he was looking at me. “He wants you to fight him. He wants to get you in trouble. If you’re expelled I won’t get to see you every day.” He blinked, his gaze beginning to clear as he looked down at me. “I want to see you every day,” I continued softly. “Please don’t do this.”

My words finally penetrated. I’d gotten through. I breathed a sigh of relief when he took my hand in his and turned, starting for the exit.

“Always knew you were a pussy,” Ronny called from behind us.

I don’t know what came over me in that moment; it was like I’d stepped out of my body for a second. But hearing that jerk call Jensen a pussy set something off. Whipping around, I balled fingers into a tight fist and put every ounce of strength I had into my swing, punching Ronny Culpepper in the nose so hard it made a sickening crunch.

“Oh shit!” Jensen cried as blood began to spew from Ronny’s nostrils. “We gotta get outta here, sunshine. Let’s go.”

He grabbed my hand once more and dragged me out of the cafeteria. His loud laughter bounced off the lockers as we ran down the hallway as fast as we could.

By the time Jensen pulled me into the janitor’s closet and slammed the door closed behind us, I was hyperventilating.

“Oh my God,” I gasped, my eyes bugging out. “I can’t believe I just did that.”

His smile was almost manic as he said, “I can’t believe you did that either. Jesus, Shane, I think you broke his nose. That was awesome!”

“It wasn’t awesome!” I cried. “What if I get in trouble? Oh my God! What if I get expelled! I’ll never get into a good college. I don’t know what came over me. I just snapped, and now I’m gonna get called into the principal’s office and they’re gonna kick me out—”

Jensen took my face in his hands and hunched down. “Shane, relax.” I clamped my lips together to cut off my rambling. “You aren’t gonna get in trouble. I promise. Ronny’s a dickhead, and there’s no way he’s gonna admit he got his nose broken by a chick.”

My heart no longer felt like it was going to beat out of my chest as I whispered, “You really think so?”

“I know so. You’ll be fine. I promise.”

I took some time to let that sink in as a calm started to wash over me. “I can’t believe I broke someone’s nose,” I finally admitted a minute later. I had to slap my hands over my mouth to silence a hysterical laugh bubbling up my throat.

“That was epic. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“I didn’t know either! It was just that he called you a pussy and I kind of lost it. I mean, I couldn’t just stand there and let him call you names. No one but me gets to do that.” I meant it as a joke, but something suddenly shifted across Jensen’s face, making the air in the little closet stuffy. “Jens?” I asked hesitantly. The way he was staring at me was making me nervous. “Are you okay?”

“You punched him for me.” It wasn’t a question, but I could still hear the confusion in his words.

I started to ramble again. “Well . . . yeah. I mean, I know you don’t need me to defend you, that you’re more than capable of defending yourself, but I didn’t want you getting in trouble. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t get to see you at school every day. It would be miserable. I didn’t mean to embarrass you, I just couldn’t—”

My words were cut off when his lips slammed down on mine. It was so unexpected that, at first, I didn’t understand what was happening. Then my brain got with the program and my lips parted on a surprised gasp. The second that happened, his tongue drove inside, flicking against mine.

The feel of it, the taste of Jensen, the smell of his cologne filling up the room, lit my insides up like a fireworks display. I lifted up on my tiptoes to deepen the kiss, suddenly consumed with a need to get as close to him as possible. My hands wrapped around his neck, my fingers tangling in his silky-soft hair as I moaned and tilted my