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“How many scouts did you have here tonight, Sara? How many colleges had you on their short list but don’t any longer?” I saw Brett’s face darken while I taunted her, but I couldn’t stop myself. Not after everything that she had put me through.
“I hate you.”
Shrugging, I turned around. As much as I wanted to just stand here and watch her continue to melt down, I knew that hanging around much longer wasn’t very smart. At any moment the other harpies could come streaming out of the auditorium to comfort her, and I’d be screwed if they caught me with her, even though I did have my boys with me.
“Just wanted you to get a taste of your own medicine, Sara. See you in class Monday.”
I heard her gasp and pull against Brett again, but I kept walking. There wasn’t any reason for me to turn around and see what she was doing. It was time for me to leave Sara behind me and focus on what was next.
Kelly.
Chapter 11
“Why didn’t you tell us that that was what you had in mind?” I’d made it halfway across the quad before the rogues caught up with me. Kaleb and Jackie slipped next to me, one on my right, the other on my left, while Brett got in front of me to stop me. “Don’t you think that Sara will want to kill you even more now?” Brett was breathing hard, and I could tell that he had to run to catch me after calming Sara down.
Instead of being scared, though, I just laughed. “Are you serious? She’s crushed, Brett. There’s no way that she’s going to come back from that, so, no, I’m not scared. And now the rest of the harpies should have figured out that I’m coming for them.”
“She’s not just crushed, Rose. She’s completely destroyed, and you did that.” Brett’s dark eyes searched my face.
“So?” I spat the word back at him. “Don’t you think that I was almost destroyed last year when everyone at the school was out to get me? This is what she and her friends had coming, Brett. Don’t you see that?”
He opened his mouth like he was going to argue, but then paused, dropping his head down. His shoulders slumped and he looked positively broken for a moment. I wanted to reach out for him and pull him to me, but I was scared.
Even though we had managed to find each other through all of the drama, I was still nervous about where we stood. I knew that Jackie, Kaleb, and I were all okay. We’d built a strong footing, but Brett? I was still a little nervous about losing him.
Stepping forward, I reached up and rested my hand on his chest. His heart pounded beneath my touch. Instead of the usual button-up shirt, he’d changed into a long-sleeve shirt for the concert, and the thin fabric made it possible for me to easily feel the heat from his skin.
He was on fire, and just touching him like this threatened to make everything fall away around us. If I wasn’t careful, I knew that I could easily get lost in Brett. That was the problem since we were little, and it seemed like nothing had really changed.
“Talk to me. What’s wrong, Brett?”
After a moment, he lifted his head to look at me. He looked so much like he had as a younger boy that I gasped and then leaned in, wrapping my arms around him for a hug.
He mumbled something into the top of my hair, and I stepped back. “What did you say? I missed it.”
Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and glanced at the other rogues for help, but neither of them spoke. “I said that I worry that you haven’t really forgiven me. I know that you needed to get back at Amelia so that you could heal, but I don’t want you to feel the same way about me. I can’t…I can’t lose you, Rose.”
“You’re not going to lose me.” Even as I said the words, I could feel how honest and true they were. It didn’t matter to me what Brett did or what had happened in the past. “I thought that we had worked this out, Brett? Why are you worried about it now?”
“Because. Because I saw that you destroyed Sara and you loved it, Rose. And I don’t blame you for it one bit, but part of me wonders if you want to do the same thing to me, even though you say that we’re okay. Even though it seems like everything’s fine and you say that it is, I can’t help but wonder if sometime in the future you’re going to wish that you’d gotten your revenge on me for turning you in to the council and making your life hell at first.”
“Of course I won’t.” My stomach dropped and twisted at the pained look on his face. “How in the world could you think that I would want to do something like that to you? I love you, Brett. I’ve loved you since we were little and we found each other. You’re nothing like Sara and I thought…well, I thought that we were fine.” I dropped my hands from his arms and stepped back, staring up into his face. “We’re fine, okay? We’re fine.”
He nodded and looked at me, his dark eyes clearing a little. Brett had the most amazing storm clouds in his eyes when he was upset, but I knew that they would clear a little in time. We’d be okay, the two of us, we just had to remember the strong basis that we had for our relationships.
“I promise, Brett,” I whispered, taking his hand. He nodded and I turned around, reaching for my other rogues. “I promise you all, nothing is going to tear us apart. I have to do what I have to do with the rest of the harpies, but there’s nothing that will be able to turn me against you three. You’re what I need to survive not only Taylor Prep, but the rest of my life.” Taking a shaky breath, I made sure to look them all in the eyes before I continued.
“I swear to you all that I will never hurt you. I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe and show you how important you are to me, okay? We’ve gone over this, but you have to understand that I need to do this with the harpies. There has to be closure, and I’m the only person who can fight to make that happen.”
For a moment, they were all silent, and then Kaleb nodded his head. “We understand, Rose. We may not like that you have to do this to feel whole and to heal, but we get it.”
“We’ll help you, Rosita.” Jackie’s voice pulled my attention from Kaleb. He smiled at me and then reached out to run his fingers across my cheek. “We’ll make sure that everything is taken care of with the harpies, okay? You’re not alone in this.”
My heart soared but I shook my head. “No, I can’t let you do that, Jackie. Amelia’s is your cousin, and I don’t want you…”
He cut me off by leaning down and giving me a gentle kiss on the lips. “She may be my cousin, Rosita, but you’re my life, okay? I’m on your side of this, now and forever.”
Now and forever. The words gave me chills, and I nodded at him. “Now and forever, all of us, okay?”
