EVIL QUEEN - Rebel Hart Page 0,54

you to storm your way in here.” I much preferred Nikita’s kind, gentle way of coaxing me into taking care of myself, but she hadn’t spoken to me since I saw her at school on Friday. “Just wait downstairs,” I said as I entered the bathroom and shut the door behind me.

As annoyed as I was that Kyle had burst his way into my room, I was glad for the shower. It was definitely needed. I moved fast, but I made sure to spend a little extra time really scrubbing myself. I’d come home Friday night and quickly fell into a slump that didn’t end until Kyle arrived early that Sunday morning. When I was done, I got dressed in the outfit he picked out, an understated but effective set of navy slacks and a long-sleeved light blue t-shirt. I grabbed a pair of light blue Vans and made my way downstairs.

“See?” Kyle asked, holding his hands out to me. “You look much better like that. Less is better.”

“Sure,” I said.

After a short drive to North Postings, we parked in front of the small restaurant and climbed out. The snow had mostly melted from the winter, and though the grass was still brown and muddy, I could tell in the height of spring, the place had a great view on top of the amazing food. Gerald wasn’t outside with his friends, so we walked into the restaurant, and to my surprise, Jaxon was already sitting at one of the tables.

“Hey,” I said as I walked up.

Jaxon glanced up at me and then looked at Kyle. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing him.”

“Yeah,” Kyle said as he loaded into the table on the other side of Jaxon. “Because you wouldn’t have come if I did.”

“You’re right,” he said. “I’ve spent the last forty-eight hours consoling my heartbroken best friend.” He glared up at me. “So, yeah, if I’d know he was coming, I would have skipped.”

“Exactly.” Kyle slapped the chair next to him, and I sat down at it. “We’re gonna talk it all out. It’s gonna be fine.”

“There’s not much to talk about,” Jaxon said.

“Jaxon, I swear to god, I do not have feelings for Cherri,” I said. “Cherri’s just been in so much trouble already. Nikita has a clean record. I knew Hix would let her off with a warning, and I was right!”

Jaxon was looking at me as if none of my words were getting through. “You’ve done a lot of supporting Cherri and not very much supporting Nikki.”

That hurt to hear. He wasn’t wrong. My main reasoning for everything that I’d done was ultimately for Nikita, but I couldn’t blame her for the way it looked from her perspective. “I didn’t know what else to do.” My stomach sunk as I imagined the answer to the next question, but I forced myself to do it anyway. “Did I mess everything up?”

“You might have,” he snapped back.

“Jaxon, have you ever had the food here? It’s amazing!” Kyle said, and we both looked at him like he was insane. He looked up at us and rolled his eyes. “Fine. Fuck me for trying to break the tension.”

“Sorry,” both Jaxon and I grumbled out.

“What do I do?” I asked Jaxon.

“I wouldn’t ask me,” he replied. “I’d tell you to stay the fuck away from her. You’ve hurt her enough.”

He was right. I shouldn’t have asked him. Nikita was my whole world. I couldn’t just give up on her that quickly.

“Let’s change the subject for now,” Kyle said, looking across at Jaxon. “Have you had any luck tracking down Brayden?”

That seemed to disturb Jaxon more than I was expecting. “No.”

Kyle deflated. “Nothing?”

“Well, I didn’t find him, but I did find something interesting. I think we’re being watched.”

I looked up at him. “What?”

“Couple of guys I’ve been seeing around. I saw them for the first time over spring break. Nikki, Avery, Alistair, and I went out to lunch, and there were some guys in the next booth over, watching us really closely. I thought maybe they just thought Nikki and Avery were hot since they are, so that made sense. I was prepared to beat the shit out of them if they even tried it, but they never did. Not long after they noticed me watching them back, they paid and left. I figured I scared ‘em off. I didn’t think anything else of it, but then Friday after school, I saw them right outside the school grounds. Same two guys.”

“What