Breathless (102 page)

I shook my head. I could already hear Angie’s protests, but I tuned them out. “He was arrested last night.”

“What?! How? What happened?”

“I don’t know. That’s all I know.”

“Alex,” she pleaded.

“That’s really all I know.”

“Wait, how do you even know that? Cord was going to see some of his old friends. Do you know Jeremy Benson and James Mazel? They graduated two years ahead of us.”

“No, I don’t know them.” But I knew of them. They were the gods of the school before Jesse firmly took that reign over last year. I should’ve remembered they were friends with Cord. But I remembered now they were known to break a law or two.

My heart shuttered. I didn’t want Jesse mixed up with them.

“I have to go, Marissa.”

“What? Wait! What?”

But I hung up over her pleads and turned my car onto the road. My life might’ve been frozen at a standstill over the last year, but I wasn’t going to let Jesse let his go down the drain. He might’ve been an ass at times, but he was a gifted ass and he was meant for better things than the rest of us. I felt that in my bones.

My palms were sweaty as I drove to Jesse’s house. And I felt ready to vomit at any moment. Everything in me was queasy and quivering. I took a deep breath as I pulled into their driveway. When I got outside, I smoothed my hands down my clothes. It was then that I cursed at myself. I was still dressed in my pajama pants and sweatshirt.

Good one, Alex.

I made a note to pack an extra bag of clothes for the next time I felt haunted by Ethan’s presence.

And then I knew I had to stop stalling, so I marched up the front steps and rang the doorbell. Like the last time, their housekeeper answered the door, but unlike the last time, she shook her head at me. “Not here, Miss Alex. He not here. He here.” And she shoved a piece of paper in my hand.

I looked down and saw an address scribbled on it. When I looked back up to ask more questions, the door had already been closed.

Well, then.

I retraced my steps and turned my car around. It took me thirty minutes, but I followed the direction from my phone after I searched for the address online. Finally, I pulled up to a large brick home. Every window had light shining from it and I heard male voices and bass music as I got out of my car.

“Alex?”

I turned. Marissa was at the end of the driveway. She frowned at me as she pulled at the end of her hair with a hand.

She always did that when she was nervous.

“Hey.” I crossed the street to her. “Whose house is this?”

“Jeremy Benson’s.” Disgust flared over her face. “I can’t believe Cord is friends with him. He’s become a loser. All he does is work at his dad’s company and hang out at The Pub every night.”

“Cord’s in there?”

She sighed and dropped her hand from her hair. “I’m really sorry, Alex. I really am. I was just stupid and insecure. I kept calling Jesse like a stalker. I think a part of me hated the idea that you could get a guy I couldn’t, and I know, I know. That makes me sound like scum. I am scum. I am. I will do anything to make it up to you. I swear!”

She stopped and held her breath.

I didn’t say anything. What could I say to that?

Then her head dropped. “And can you believe the worst part of it? I got his number from your phone.” A pathetic giggle escaped her lips. “He doesn’t even give his number out anymore, but I knew you would have it. That’s how sad I’ve become as a friend.”

I didn’t know if it was the tear she wiped away or the hitch in her voice, but I crumbled. I wasn’t one to hold grudges, but I knew I had let her back in. “Stop blubbering. I got it.”

“Really?” She wiped a second tear again as her face lit up.

I nodded. I wasn’t going to hug her or anything, but I knew we’d be okay again.

“Oh, thank God,” she breathed out in relief. “I was so scared that you were going to do the distance thing to me. I’ve seen you do it and it scares the hell out of me.”

“Distance thing?”

She nodded and wiped a third tear that slipped down her cheek away. “Uh huh. You don’t ever get mad at people, but you freeze them out. Once you put up a wall to someone, you don’t take it down. I was so scared that you were going to do that to me.”

“That makes me sound horrible.”

“Oh, no, Alex. Please, no. I don’t want you to think that. It’s just you.” A sudden understanding came over her.

I backed away. I didn’t want her to understand me. I didn’t want anyone to understand me.

Her eyes widened, but then her arms dropped to her sides. And she forced a bright smile on. “Okay. So, are you going in there with me? I came over to make sure Cord was okay and chew him out for not calling me. I called Amanda Sherman. Her mom works at the station and she was there waiting for her to get off work last night. She said that she saw Jeremy and James Hazel get arrested, too.”

“Oh.”

“Wait, why are you here?” Her eyes narrowed. “You didn’t come to chew Cord out for me?”

I bit the inside of my lip. I could’ve taken that, but I knew she’d see him anyways. I shook my head. “No. I came because of—”

“Marissa?”

We whirled around. My heart was in my throat, but I relaxed. Cord was coming from around the house with his arm around a slim blonde. She wore skintight white jeans and a bright blue top that flowed over her breasts. They were clearly outlined underneath and it was obvious she wore no bra.

Marissa drew upright. A grim look came over and her eyes hardened. “Are you kidding me?”

“What?” He glanced at the girl who hung on him. “This is Ariella. Have you met her before?”

Marissa’s neck vein stood out. For a second, I waited for her to launch herself at him. She wouldn’t go after the girl, she’d go after him and I already knew I’d back her up. My arms fell down. My knees bent slightly and I loosened my muscles, ready for anything.

“Cord told me he was so nice to go to your little school dance with you. That’s so sweet of him.” The girl tipped her head back and flipped the platinum hair over her shoulder.

Marissa bared her teeth.

“I just gave him a reward for being so sweet to you,” Ariella laughed.

The sound traveled down my spine. It was sugary sweet and so fake I had a hard time holding back some laughter. The girl was a plastic bimbo. It was so clear that I wondered why Marissa hadn’t unleashed her claws and verbally stripped the girl down. She could do it. I had witnessed many times where I had been uncomfortable by how far she would take the verbal beating.

And then she drew back and turned away.

“What?” My mouth fell open as I watched her walk away. Her head was down and she hugged herself as she hurried to her car.

It wasn’t long before she drove away.

And then my claws came out. I turned around with heated eyes and glared at Cord. “Are you kidding me?!”

The bimbo giggled with delight, but Cord’s smirk dropped an inch. “What?” He glared back at me. “Your friend is hot. What do you expect from me? I wanted to bang her and I did. I never pretended otherwise with her. She knew exactly what I was about when I got a ride down here.”

“Why did you agree to go to the dance with her? If that’s what you were after, why play it up as some romantic gesture?”

“What romantic dance? I was coming anyway. The dance happened to be the same weekend Hunt was coming, so I told her sure. She knew this wasn’t anything more than a hook up.” He rolled his eyes and then patted the bimbo’s rear. “Come on, Ariella.” As they walked past, he saluted me. “See you later, Princess.”

When they got into a car and drove off, it was then that I felt the cold air for the first time. I shivered under my coat and hurried to the door. Then I really thought about what I was doing there. I didn’t know if Jesse was actually there. And this was a stranger’s house. This was Jeremy Benson’s house. He was a criminal.

I wanted to throw my hands in the air from frustration, but then I pushed away all the nerves and pressed the doorbell.

It wasn’t long before it was thrown open. Some guy in only jeans stood there with a dazed smirk on his face. His hair fell over his eyes and he yelled over his shoulder, “It’s a girl!”

A smatter of laughter sounded from inside. Someone yelled back, “Is she hot?”

He looked me up and down. “Yep!”

“Then bring her in!”

More faces peered around the corner and one of them scrunched up in shock. “Holy hell! That’s Ethan Connor’s sister.”

The guy straightened abruptly. His cocky demeanor vanished. “Oh, hi. I’m Nick. I didn’t know who you were.” Then he gestured inside. “You can come in, if you want.”

I stepped inside. He flattened himself against the wall so there were a few feet between us and closed the door behind me. “Uh, so do you want something to drink?”

“She ain’t twenty one, Jr.”

“Oh, yeah.” He grinned at me, flustered at the same time. “I think we got soda. Jer!”

“What?”

“We got anything that ain’t alcoholic?”

“You want to mix something?” The voice sounded from down a hallway. It was growing closer. “Otherwise why would you want something that ain’t alcoholic?”

I turned.

Jeremy Benson stood in front of me. His jeans were ripped and unbuttoned. As I glanced around the living room and kitchen, there were a bunch of guys who weren’t wearing shirts. Most of them were lean and tanned. A few were built like body builders, but all of them had a beer in hand. The handful of girls I counted dressed similar to the bimbo from outside. Revealing shirts and revealing pants, if they wore pants at all.

“Hey.” Nick lifted his chest up and pointed at me. “This is Ethan Connor’s sister.”

“So?” Jeremy skimmed me over with a sneer. He was tall and still had an athletic physique, but he had a military style haircut. “I’m not surprised Connor’s sister grew up to be hot. You sure you don’t want something good to drink? We’ve got beer, darling, but I’ve got some good old fashioned whiskey too. That’s what Barbie drinks.”

“Barbie?”

He pointed into the kitchen and a girl with smoky eyes and dirty blonde hair lifted a hand. “Hi, there.” Her voice was hoarse and she grimaced. “I’m a little hungover. Any friend or relative of Connors is welcomed around here.”

“Why?”

She frowned, but looked over my shoulder.

Jeremy belched out a laugh. He scratched idly at his chest. “What do you mean why?”

“I don’t remember any of you being friends with Ethan.”

Then a wide smile spread over his face and he burst out laughing. Nick laughed with him, along with Barbie and a few others. He shook his head and coughed to clear his throat as his continued to laugh. “Man, I haven’t had a good one like that.”

“I’m serious.”

The smile was wiped away. “Are you kidding me? We were some of the best friends your brother had.”

“Jesse was his best friend.”

The smirk that appeared over his face made my stomach drop. Dread started to build in me.

“I’ve got a feeling, darling, that there’s a lot you don’t know about your big brother.”

Barbie draped herself against the doorframe and smirked as well. “I think there’s a lot you don’t know about the night your big brother died.”

Then someone hurried down the stairs. I turned around and froze. Jesse was at the bottom of the stairs behind me and his eyes were wide as he saw me. The blood drained from his face.

My heart sank into my stomach.

His hand gripped the banister tighter. His knuckles whitened, but then he clipped out, “What the hell are you doing here?”

Nine

“Hunt!” Jeremy’s voice boomed out. Everyone’s attention was now solely on us. He threw his arms wide. One came around my shoulders and he pulled me tight. “It’s Ethan’s little sis. You been hiding her from us? What kind of a buddy are you?”

Jesse’s eyes narrowed and he straightened to his fullest height. “Get your hands off her.”

A shiver went down my spine.

The air in the room had been entertaining, but now it grew tense. Jesse’s voice was low, deadly low, and the threat of violence filled the room. His hands were clenched together and his eyes sparked with the promise that he would follow through with his threat.

“Well, now.” Jeremy’s voice grew serious. His arm fell away and he moved to the side. “No need for that. I had no idea she was your girl.”

Jesse took two steps and latched onto my arm. He dragged me out the door.

Jeremy hollered from inside, “You don’t need to leave, Hunt. We’re all friends here.”

He gritted his teeth, but refrained from responding.

“What are you doing?” I panted as I tried to keep up with him.

His hold on my arm was going to leave a bruise, but I bit my tongue. Jesse looked murderous as he took me to his Ferrari. He opened the door and stepped back. When I didn’t get in right away, he snapped, “In! Now.”

Anger boiled up inside of me, but I got in anyways.

When he got into his own side and took off, I glanced back at my car. Now was not the time to remind him that we’d have to come back. I only hoped that Jeremy or anyone else didn’t know it was my car. I hoped they wouldn’t do anything to it.

As he sped through town, he took a few corners that had his back end sliding across the highway. He didn’t slow down. He went faster. The murderous rage in his eyes never diminished either. As he pulled up to his driveway, he punched a button and a bottom gate slid open. Instead of driving up the hill towards the house, he drove underneath it. It was an underground parking garage and it was filled from one corner to the other with sparkling vehicles.

Jesse pulled up to the front slot and got out. When I shut my door, the sound echoed throughout the lot. It only added to my amazement at how big Jesse’s home was. Then he went to a door and an elevator opened for him.

I groaned. I couldn’t believe this. My family’s house was a typical suburban home, but it seemed like an anthill compared to his. And then I caught the fury again in his eyes and I stopped my thoughts.

The elevator opened to a small hallway and Jesse led us around the corner. We came from a back entryway into the dining room and kitchen area. All the lights were off, but he flipped them all on before he went to one of the large refrigerators behind a huge steel grill.