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been inside of him, but he never let it out. It was on the surface now, and I knew it was because of me. He'd been the joker, the player, the never-take-me-seriously guy except when he was angry. Then he was the Corrigan that no one wanted to mess with. That Corrigan meant business, and he was ruthless in doing what he had to do.
"What?" he asked without looking at me. He flipped to another channel and looked bored.
I knew he wasn't.
I squeezed his free hand. "Everything will be okay. I'll make sure that everything's okay."
He squeezed back. "But it can't be, Sheldon. You know that."
"You don't want me to choose. We'll all be okay then—"
"You can't choose. Not yet. Bryce knows that." He looked at me.
I gulped from the intensity in his eyes.
He added, "He should've said his piece, but he should've walked away. I'm just thankful that you couldn't care less if he's famous or not. Any other girl and…never mind. Speaking of stars, what are you going to do about Denton? He's not going away either."
I rolled my eyes. "I like Denton, but come on."
"Denton respects you."
"He didn't before?"
"No. I think he always has, but he was more worried about his sister then. His sister ain't here anymore."
"I know, but he's not family. You are."
His eyes held mine. "So's Bryce."
I gulped and looked away. "I drove here without Bryce."
"What?" he snapped. "He let you? How'd you get here?"
"My dad's car. It's still in the garage."
"He shouldn't have let you. That was stupid, Sheldon. You're so stupid sometimes, and people just let you be stupid. Do you want to get killed?"
"I didn't give him a choice. I ran out."
"You're still stupid. Don't do it anymore."
When I saw the emotion simmering in his eyes, I swallowed back my quick denial. If the situations were reversed, I'd want the same thing. So I nodded. "Okay." Although I couldn't help but think that I'd given that fight up too soon, too easily.
"Thanks." He reached for my hand again.
With our hands intertwined, I sat back and watched television with him. My feet were still on the floor, but I shifted so my forehead was on his pillow, close to him. Corrigan reached up and brushed back some of my hair.
It wasn't long before my eyelids got heavy.
"Sheldon," he whispered.
"What?" I was so groggy.
"Come up here. You can sleep with me." He patted the side of his bed and scooted over.
I snuggled next to him. He tucked me closer and spooned me from behind. Just before I fell asleep, I remember thinking that this wasn't supposed to be how it was… And then I fell asleep.
The next thing I knew, I was blinking awake when a blinding light was switched on.
"Oh! I'm so sorry. Oh goodness. I'm sorry. Go back to sleep." A nurse rushed around the room and a second later the light was turned off.
Before I rolled over and fell back asleep, I glanced at my phone and saw it was blinking. When my hand reached for it, I felt exhaustion through every bone in my body. Then I snapped open the phone and saw the message was from Bryce.Cops called. Call them back. Immediately. Where are you?!
"Oh shit!" I jolted upright.
"What?" Corrigan sat up with me, disoriented. "What?"
I dialed Officer Patterson's number, and a second later she answered, "I'm coming to you. The hospital staff just called me."
"What's this about? What's happened?"
There was a pause. "I'm coming to you. Hold on." Then the line went dead.
"What is it? What's going on?"
He sounded still asleep, but I was wide awake. "Something's happened. Something bad."
Corrigan woke up fast. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know. It's not you or Bryce. That's all I care about." I sounded strong, but my insides were mush. I just knew that I didn't want to hear whatever Sheila had to say—it was bad. But I couldn't run, not anymore. "I'm going to go. I'm going to meet her out there."
"Why not here?"
"Because…" I didn't have a good answer. I shrugged. "Something tells me that she needs to say this to me in private."
When I reached the door, Corrigan stopped me. "Sheldon."
I looked back.
"Come back and tell me."
"I will."
Then I turned, squared my shoulders, and left for the waiting lounge. It wasn't long before Officer Sheila came through the sliding doors. Her ponytail looked haggard with strands falling out and a few framing her face. Her jeans were ripped and her jacket had blood on it. Her badge flashed bright from where she had pinned it on her belt loop.
No one else was in the lounge. Even the clerk had abandoned her desk.
"What is it?" I stood to meet her.
Regret flashed over her face before it was gone. She erased all of it. She spoke in her professional voice, "Where were you tonight?"
"When?" I swallowed hard. This was not good.
"From the time I saw you till now? Were you with someone?"
I frowned and narrowed my eyes. "I was with, I don't know. I talked with Carolina for a little bit. Then Bryce and I went back to my house until I drove here. I've been with Corrigan since. Why? What happened?"
She visibly relaxed. "You can be accounted for every minute?"
"Yes. Why?"
Her eyes darkened. "Because Grace Barton was found murdered tonight."
THE END
I would like to thank those that helped editing this project with me. You were very patient with me and so extremely helpful! So thanks to Miya, Amanda, and Beth! Tijan has six more books published through Amazon.com and for more information on Tijan or her other projects, please go to www.facebook.com/tijans.writings.
A sneak peek to the conclusion of the Jaded Series is below…
JADEN
CHAPTER ONE
The day they arrested me everything happened in slow motion. They came for me outside of my classroom. It was the last day I had Miss Connors as my professor and she had given me a hug. I stepped through the doorway and two plainclothes detectives were there. Another uniformed officer stood beside them, and then I saw the handcuffs. Their eyes were dead. They didn't care who I was, who I loved, or as I looked over my shoulder at an old mentor—who I disappointed.
Miss Connors had a hand to her mouth, but there wasn't shock in her eyes. That's what stopped me. She wasn't surprised. She had counseled me after Marcus tried to kill me and when I had killed him instead. She'd given me advice and listened to my smartass comments.
She broke through my wall. Not many did that.
When they recited my Miranda rights, my head was bent and I concentrated on breathing. Shallow breaths kept me going, but I knew the rest of my class had stopped to watch. I heard Carolina's voice in the distance, but it was faint. A buzzing sounded in my ear and I couldn't shake it away. Then they pushed me forward. The uniformed cop took hold of my elbow and I was led through the courtyard of the campus.
"Sheldon!"
I heard Corrigan's shout and my heart skipped for a moment. There wasn't disbelief in his voice. He still believed.
As they drove me to the station, I focused on each breath I took. One. Two. They were so shallow, but I kept going. My heart was racing and I frowned at my lap. I didn't want to have a heart attack. Could a twenty-year-old have one? I couldn't stop a sadistic laugh from breaking free as I thought about my life. If anyone would have one, it'd be me.
When I was brought through the station, I felt a burning in my stomach and I lifted my head. Officer Patterson was in front of her desk. Her dirty blonde hair was a mess, but when wasn't it? A cup of coffee was in her hand and I wondered if that was her twentieth. She drank too much coffee. I never cared before, but now I wondered if I should voice my concern.
