Page 7 of Still Jaded (Jaded 2)

me, Bryce."

Bryce glared for a moment, and then he started to laugh. "God, you just—you make me so angry. No one else can do that, Sheldon."

I felt the sudden break from the tension. "Yeah, well, I love you too."

The laughter vanished, and he whispered, "I love you—you know how much."

"Oh god. We're becoming one of those cheesy teen movies. Can we stop? Please. I'm not going to proclaim how I'll name my seventh son after your grandfather's grandfather."

Bryce grinned and laughed.

When she delivered our food, Dorothy eyed us in confusion. She asked once if she could get us anything else, but Bryce answered when he saw me look down. I didn't want to talk to her. I wasn't sure why, I just knew I didn't want to deal with her. He could, and he did. After taking a few bites, he stopped eating and sighed.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "You haven't touched your potatoes."

"I don't like 'em."

Bryce snorted but took another bite of his burger. After a mouthful, he gestured again. "I can get her back. You could get a salad."

I shook my head. I had lost my appetite at some point. But then a different idea came to me. "Corrigan's playing sloshball at the house. Let's go."

Bryce frowned. "What?"

"Sloshball. If we go now, we can still make it." I was burning up inside. I needed to get out of there.

"Am I supposed to know what that is? And they're playing at your house?"

"At the frat house. Let's go. Now." I stood up, but Bryce hardly looked at me. He stopped eating as something dawned on him. Then he nodded and stood up to pull out some money. As he placed a twenty on the table, he murmured, "Okay. Let's go."

Bryce placed his hand on the small of my back. Something inside of me felt settled inside. I could breathe again.

As we got into the red Miata, I looked up and saw Dorothy at the door. There was a blank look in her eyes. She knew that I had caught her staring, but she didn't look away. A shiver went down my spine.

"What's wrong?"

I jumped in my seat. "Huh?"

"What's wrong?"

I reached for my seatbelt. "Nothing. Let's just go."

I didn't want to think of the empty look on Dorothy's face. It reminded me of someone else.

As we drove closer to the college, I gave Bryce directions, and it wasn't long before we turned the corner to find the street packed with cars. The frat house, in all its three story paint-peeling gloriousness, was crawling with bodies. The front lawn was packed with students. Most of the girls wore bikinis, halter-tops, and mini-skirts. The majority of guys were shirtless.

Bryce paused in front of the house but started to pull away just as a guy flung himself into the street and jumped on top of the Miata.

We found ourselves staring into the drunken features of one of Corrigan's frat brothers as he slurred, "We were told to stop any red Miata that drove past the house. Brother Corrigan gave us strict instructions, and if you are the homosapiens named Bryce and Sheldon, you are ordered to relinquish control of this automobile for the pleasure of valet parking."

I snorted. Bryce laughed and handed over the keys.

As we headed inside, conversations quieted. People stopped and stared, and I knew it wasn't because of my sparkling demeanor. Bryce had grown immune to the attention when he was ten, but I'd just had a year of invisibility and was out of practice. I jumped when Bryce's hand found the small of my back again.

Raz marched over to us and flashed a stupid grin. He wore a white tee shirt that, after one whiff, I knew was soaked with beer. His jeans were ripped and soaked as well.

"Hey, Rad Girl."

Bryce glanced at me from the corner of his eye. I shrugged. "There was coffee."

"And a Dorothy chick, but she's going down."

I added, "It's the mafia way."

"Oh yes. The preacher will come calling." Raz scratched his forehead. He thought a moment, frowned, and then flashed his pearly whites once more. "Would you like beer?"

Bryce replied, "That would be great."

"Beer will come."

"We are homosapiens," I joked.

Raz started laughing. "You must've met March. He's always talking about evolution and where we'll be in twenty thousand years."

"Still drinking beer," Bryce pointed out. Raz laughed again and clapped him on the shoulder. "You're a funny dude. Good at soccer and funny. I like that."

Bryce looked at me. I shrugged. It was increasingly apparent that Raz was an odd guy.

Then a shout rang out and Corrigan hurled himself through the crowd to launch himself onto Bryce's back. He wrapped his legs around Bryce's waist and clasped his arms together over his chest. Bryce grabbed Corrigan's feet and hoisted him higher so that he wouldn't fall.

"My best friends." Corrigan greeted us with a cheeky smile as he settled his chin on Bryce's shoulder. I leaned closer and saw the hazy look in his green sparklers. He'd been doing a lot more than playing sloshball and drinking beer.

Matt and Leah pushed their way through the crowd after him. Matt wore a similar beer-soaked shirt over Hawaiian board shorts, and Leah had on a leopard print bikini. The strings tied between her breasts with beaded ends that hung down to her navel, which was pierced with a sparkling little diamond.

"Hi, Sheldon."

And there was Matt's normal greeting, odd and filled with excitement.

I caught Leah eyeing Bryce up and down and remarked, "He's not a baboon that's going to pound his chest and whip out his dick. Stop hoping."

Raz and Matt spit out their beer. Bryce and Corrigan watched me. They both knew there was more to come. Leah's cheeks flared in anger. "You are one of the most vile, disgusting—"

I stepped forward. Leah didn't back up, but her eyes widened. I saw a tiny bit of fear as she glowered back at me.

"I am not like you. I'm not sleeping my way through an entire fraternity house. And I don't like you, so whenever you come up to me or my friends, you need to remember that we'll be having this conversation every single time."

I stepped back, and Leah opened her mouth, but I interjected, "And you're right. I am a vile person, but I don't care. I'm better at this game than you."

Everyone waited, but Leah stood there in silence. Then she tore through the crowd.

I didn't feel triumphant. I didn't feel anything, but when I looked at Corrigan and Bryce's knowing looks, I snapped, "What? She asked for that."

Corrigan slid off of Bryce's back and nodded. "Uh huh. Because no other girl has ever looked at Bryce. That's awful."

"Shut up."

Matt and Raz chose not to comment.

Bryce injected, "I get when you come out swinging, but you weren't backed into a corner there. What's with you? She didn't say anything before you laid into her."

Corrigan moved forward. "Were you looking for a victim, and it happened to be her? You did it yesterday too. And you did it to Grace."

"You're still pissed about what I said about Grace?"

"No," Corrigan replied. "I'm worried about you. Is this about your issues with killing that guy? Is all this stuff coming out because Bryce is back in town? The last time he was here was when it all went down. I thought you dealt with that crap, Sheldon. I'm disappointed in you."

It took a second before his words sunk in, but then—

Bryce whirled to him and pushed him back. Corrigan fell a few steps but ignored his best friend. His eyes were glued to mine, and just for a second, I felt the world fall away. Then I heard his words again.

'I'm disappointed in you.'

My stomach clenched, and I lunged at him.

Bryce caught me, but I tried to crawl over him.

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