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I crack. My chest heaves and the tidal wave I’d been holding inside breaks free. Tears stream down my cheeks and I can’t breathe. Corey walks away, his shoulder sliding past mine, and I’m left alone again. My arms wrap around my waist, trying to hold everything in me. The audience that had surrounded us starts to dissipate: the damage done. I can’t be here. For the first time in my school-age life, I grab my backpack from my locker and walk out the front doors without looking back.
ChapterEleven
Onyx
Ionly make it halfway into town before I regret leaving Jade at school. Only two verses into today’s recording, and I’m wrapping things up to be with her. If I’m lucky, I’ll make it back by lunch time and I’ll spend the rest of the day in classes with her. Fuck being a celebrity, I’d rather be in high school today. Terrance eyeballed me the entire way back to school but wisely, my cousin didn’t say anything about my choices. I’m ahead of the game anyways. This album will be ready to go before the school year even finishes. Yet another reason to slow down. I want more time here. I need to figure out a way to stay ahead of my grandfather, while also keeping Jade in my life. The fact that she still has another year left in school is a block in my path that I haven’t figured out yet.
After finding the first available parking spot, I half jog inside the building, ignoring the staring and gossip that usually follow me. It’s nothing new. The hallways are brimming with students, while some head to the cafeteria and some are heading back to class. I head to the lunch room and scan the crowd, looking for Jade. A few people avoid my eye contact and I notice more hushed whispers are in the air. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Turning behind me, I lock eyes with Corey. Fury radiates off him, but it’s the cutting look in his eyes that has me pausing. He nudges his friend and they sail on past me to the table they usually occupy. Gage lifts a brow at me as he passes.
“You missed a show,” he murmurs quietly, as if he didn’t really even speak.
Jade isn’t here. I need answers. I search for her friend, Harper, the girl with the curly hair and spot her in line still. She chews her lip nervously and her eyes get as wide as saucers when she sees me coming for her. In four strides, we’re face to face.
“Where’s Jade?”
“She, um.” Harper swallows around her words. I can see that she is trying to keep her eyes focused on me, when really, they want to dart in his direction. I should have known Corey Patterson was responsible in some way.
“Harper,” I say her name half pleading, tired of the bullshit. “Where is she?”
The girl’s face crumples. “I don’t know. She left after the confrontation. She won’t answer my calls or texts.”
“Did Corey say something to her?” I ask, even though I know the answer. The parking lot was full this morning and it wasn’t like I was discreet about being at her home last night. I simply don’t give a fuck if anyone knows that Jade is mine. I forgot myself for a second and believed that Patterson would back down easily. He’s spent years grooming her to be his after all.
“Tell me,” I breathe out the word.
“He insinuated that you were just using her and that she was stupid for thinking she meant anything to you. That you’ll leave her,” Harper says the last part almost as a whisper, and she looks away, unable to hold my gaze.
Everything slows and my gut wrenches. He’s a fucking dead man. I glance at his table, and sure enough, he’s already watching, the fork in his hand clenched tightly. Neither one of us blinks or backs down. He’s issuing a challenge. Little does he know, I already know his hand and I’m holding the winning card. She’s falling for me. He will never have that. With a smirk, I turn on my heel and run out of the cafeteria, ignoring the crashing sound behind me.
Speeding to Jade’s, I send Terrance a quick text to make sure we can make a move against Patterson when the time comes. He’ll go down in flames when I’m ready. I’ll make sure of it.
The apartment complex is practically barren when I get there. I park in the same spot as last night and jog to the doors, buzzing Jade’s number over and over.
“Hello?” I hear her voice over the intercom and my heart leaps.
“It’s me, Little Star.” I suck in air. “Let me up.”
A few seconds later, the door buzzes, and I push through it, taking the stairs two at a time, desperate to get to her. Jade is standing in the doorway when I reach her floor, waiting. I don’t give her a chance to send me away or to break anymore. I’m all over her, one arm wrapping around her waist, pulling her body into mine, the other diving into her hair, pulling her head back so I can kiss her, bite her, finally mark her. She gasps in surprise, the little noise allowing my tongue to breach past her barriers and explore her mouth. I swallow her moans and the little cries. My tongue runs along hers, reveling in the sleek softness and taste of her. She tastes like honey.
Using my body, I push us inside her apartment and close the door, locking it for good measure. That's the only time my hands come off her before grabbing her and holding her body against mine. I want her body to feel the heat radiating off mine, wrapping around her, for her to hear the heart in my chest beating wildly in its cage. Her hands grip my sides, holding on while I practically carry her to her bedroom and close that door too, so it’s just me and her like it should be.
I tear my mouth away, my hands cupping her face and forcing her eyes to mine. “What did he say to you?” Jade shakes her head, and tears form in her eyes.
“Tell me, Little Star.” I place gentle kisses against her pouty lips that are now rimmed red from our kisses. “Tell me, so I can fix it. Nothing he said is true.”
A half sob leaves her mouth and the sound almost tears my heart in half. A single tear falls down her cheek and I swipe it away with my thumb, not caring that a smudge from my inked finger stains her skin. “It’s nothing I don’t already know about, Onyx. This,” she motions between our bodies with her hand, “won’t last forever, and maybe I’ll look like the stupid girl in the end. He was being honest and speaking the truth that everyone is thinking.”
“It’s not the truth.” I grit my teeth, roughly kissing her until she’s breathless again. “Does this feel wrong, Jade? Does this feel like I want to leave you or that I could?”
“You’re leaving in a year.” Her words are small and it feels as if she’s trying to convince herself. I hate it.
“A lot can happen between now and then. I don’t care what anyone else says or thinks. I would never just walk away from you. Trust me. Be brave with me,” I practically beg her, kissing her cheeks, her nose, her forehead, the edge of her jaw. I grip her neck lightly and she angles her head perfectly so my lips can trail down her neck. I can feel her pulse spasm in my grip and I groan. She’s fucking perfect.
“Trust me, Little Star.”
“I will. I will.” Her answer is breathless and it’s all I need before backing her farther into her room until the backs of her legs hit the edge of her bed. She goes down and my body follows hers. I hover over her, barely touching, but the heat between us grows and intensifies. Her legs clamp together and it takes all my will power to keep the cocky smirk off my lips at the sight.
I kiss her again, her hands wrap around the back of my neck, her fingers gripping my hair and holding me to her. I could feast on her for days; her lips were meant for mine. But I want to feel her. Jade’s shirt has ridden up, exposing a sliver of the skin on her tight abdomen. My fingers reach out, tracing patterns on the exposed skin until her chest shudders in response. I nip at her jaw before she reaches down and pulls the shirt off over her head. The smile she gives me is almost wicked and I chuckle in my throat before going back to lay kisses on her neck, trailing a path down to her collarbone. I hear the intake of her breath when my hand starts exploring. My fingers run down the skin from under her bra to her navel, leaving a trail of gooseflesh in their wake.
