All Pepped Up (Pepper Jones) (14 page)

I shrug. “Sure, why not? I’ll just take a quick shower here then. Jace can give me a ride when he gets done with practice.”

“They might not be done for a bit
, so we’ll wait on you outside,” Kayla says before standing up. Lisa and Andrea follow her out the door and I shake my head, uncertain about being included with their group. They weren’t so bad on Saturday night. I had fun, actually. Sighing, I strip down and wrap myself in a towel on my way to the showers.

Dorothy Sandoval stands in front of the only open shower stall wearing a tennis skirt and
a sports bra. Her arms are crossed over her chest and the pursed lips tell me she isn’t blocking my path by accident.

“What’s up, Dorothy?” I ask tentatively. Dorothy runs on the cross country team in the fall, but plays tennis in the spring. She idolizes the Barbies and constantly gossips about them.
We’re teammates during cross season, but not exactly friends. I don’t think any of the girls on the cross team are considered friendship-eligible by Dorothy’s standards.

“So, you have new friends now, I see?”
she asks bitterly.

I roll my eyes and try to squeeze past her. I’ve never been a big Dorothy fan, bu
t I don’t mind tolerating her. She’s been fairly nice to me in the past because of my friendship with Jace. But now that I’m becoming friends with the same girls she’s wanted to be friends with for the past four years, all pretense of cordiality has gone out the window. This petty jealousy is not something I want to deal with.

Dorothy moves to the side, forcing me to look her in the eye. “How’s tennis going, Dorothy?” Maybe diversion will work.

“Kayla and I are on a doubles team together.”

“Oh, that’s great.”

“But they never invite me to Lou’s. Now that you’re dating Jace Wilder, you’re suddenly good enough to be their friend, is that it?”

“Good enough? You know I don’t care about that.”

“Maybe you’ve changed.”

“No. I hang out with Jace’s friends more now that we’re together, that’s all. If you want to come to Lou’s with us you can.” Not that I want to hang out with Dorothy, but maybe inviting her will get her off my back. Who cares if Kayla gets pissed I included someone in their exclusive group?

“I don’t need your pity invite, Pepper.” She knocks my shoulder as she brushes past me and I have to cover my mouth to contain my laughter.

I really hope that girl gets over her social climbing obsession when she leaves high school. It’s just sad.

Thirty minutes later I’m sitting at a large circular booth at Lou’s with the Barbies and a pitcher of beer. “So, how come they didn’t card you guys?”

“My uncle owns Lou’s,” Kayla says. “You didn’t know that?”

I shake my head and grab a stick of garlic bread. Apparently Kayla didn’t get the Italian genes with her blonde hair and blue eyes.

I suppose if I was a Barbie-wannabe like Dorothy that would be good information to know.

“That was her cousin who took our order,” Lisa tells me.

“She has some fiiiiine cousins,” Andrea says with a giggle. 

I smile. The waiter was hot, no question. Dark hair, olive skin. It was probably the similarities to Jace that had me looking him over. Normally I wouldn’t look twice at a guy in his twenties.

“What the hell is Dorothy Sandoval doing here with
them
?” Lisa asks darkly.

We turn our heads to the entrance and watch Dorothy slide into a booth next to Madeline, Serena, and Emma.

My heart rate picks up. This can’t be good.

Kayla sends a warning look in their direction. It would probably make most girls squirm, at the very least, but Madeline ignores her. She bats her eyelashes at Kayla’s cousin, and he leans over the table to get a better look at her cleavage.

I had no intention of drinking beer tonight, but it suddenly looks very appetizing. And I don’t even like beer. I pour myself a full pint and chug down half of it in one go.

The pizzas arrive just before the guys join us. Jace raises his eyebrows at me in question when he sees me drinking beer.

He slides in next to me. “You don’t have to drink beer, you know?”

I glare at him. “Of course I
know that, Jace.” What? Does he think I’ve changed too, like Dorothy suggested? “I’m not a peer pressure victim, don’t worry.” I’m just trying to cope with the anxiety of seeing two girls who seem out to get me sitting together twenty feet away.

Jace slides his arm around me. “Don’t be mad at me.” He kisses the top of my head and I sink into him. “How was practice?” he asks.

I stiffen, remembering the conversation with Coach. I came here to avoid thinking about track. “Fine.”

Jace turns to look at me, tucking a stray hair behind my ear. His phone alerts him to an incoming text message at the same time that I feel a buzz from mine in my back pocket.

Unlocking my phone, I open a picture text from an unknown number. It’s a couple making out on the hood of a Jeep. Ryan’s Jeep. The girl sits on the hood, her arms around his neck, and Ryan’s hands are under her shirt, on her hips. Frowning, I peer closer. It’s a brunette, and definitely not Lisa. The message below says,
Cheaters.

My eyes
bug out when I recognize the purple Converse sneakers wrapped around Ryan’s waist.

“What the fuck?” Jace growls.

When I glance up, everyone is staring at their phones. Except for Lisa, who is staring at me. Her face is beet red, and she looks like she’s going to claw my eyes out. I look around for Ryan, to help me explain, but he must still be at practice.

“That picture, it must be from a long time ago,” I say quickly.

Jace’s hands are clenching and unclenching on the table. I put my hand on top of his, trying to soothe him, but he yanks his fist away.

“I think Madeline sent it,” I say quietly. Lisa shoots out
of her seat, ready to bolt.

Kayla grabs her arm and pulls her back down. “Don’t. You’re just giving her what she wants.”

“I swear, you guys. This photo is from months ago,” I try to explain.

“Why the hell would someone bother taking a photo of the two of you back then? And why save it? That doesn’t make a whole lot of fucking sense, Pepper,” Lisa growls at me. She’s right. It’s super weird.

“I have no idea.” That’s all I can say. It’s really creepy that someone was watching us during that private moment. It was at the park by the high school, and we thought we were alone.

Our phones beep simultaneously and I swallow hard before looking at the message.

It’s in the hallway by the locker rooms and we’re wearing running clothes. Ryan’s head is leaning down to kiss my neck. Jace’s favorite place to kiss. Before I can try to explain, Jace grabs my hand and pulls me roughly out of the booth. It’s all I can do to keep up with him as he barrels through the restaurant. I refuse to look at Madeline’s table, but I notice other kids from Brockton Public gawking at us.

He pushes me roughly up against the back of his
Jeep, away from the prying eyes at the restaurant. His green eyes are ablaze and I can feel his chest rising and falling against mine.

“Pepper,” he says with a croak. The pain in his voice cuts into me. I shake my head back and forth. No, Jace. You can’t believe it.

“When were those photos taken?”

“In the fall
, Jace. Before we were together,” I spill the words out.

The tension in his face, in his stance, relaxes considerably. “Has anyone touched you besides me since we’ve been together?” he asks in a softer voice.

“No. I hardly even talk to Ryan. That time at my apartment is the only time I’ve really talked to him for more than a minute since we broke up.”

Jace’s body sags into mine and he brushes his thumb along my cheekbone. “I believe you.” He presses his mouth roughly to mine, as if trying to show me through a kiss that he trusts me.

When he breaks away, he leans his forehead against mine. “I trust you, Pep, you know I do. And I know there are people trying to come between us. It’s just really hard for me to think rationally when I see…” He clenches his jaw and closes his eyes. “I can’t look at those fucking photos again. Delete them from my phone. Please.”

“I will,” I whisper, slipping the phone out of his pocket and putting it in mine.

A car door slams and Jace turns around quickly to see Ryan jogging toward us. “I take it you got the messages too?” I ask when I see the confusion and distress in his eyes.

“Yeah,” he quickly glances to Jace. “You know those are from months ago
, right? Before you guys” – he gestures between us – “got together.”

“I know, man. But I still don’t want to fucking look at you right now. Sorry. You might want to head inside and talk to your girlfriend.” Jace’s voice has returned to a controlled, unemotional tone, but I know it’s taking a lot for him to rein it in. He knows Ryan didn’t do anything wrong, but he’s never been especially rational when it comes to me.

Jace’s grip on the steering wheel on the drive home tells me he’s still shaken. He turns up the radio, blocking out any conversation.

When we turn onto a street out of town, I look over at Jace. “Where are we going?” I’m nearly shouting over the music.

“I’m taking you out to dinner. You didn’t get a chance to eat.”

Jace brings us to a little pub in Alpine, a small n
eighboring town. He doesn’t want to deal with running into anyone from Brockton.

We order burgers, and eat in comfortable silence, sitting side by side in the booth. He steals my fries, and I let him.

When we’re both stuffed and leaning back in our seats, I tell Jace, “I have a feeling this is only the beginning.”

He takes my hand and rubs small circles on the palm. “You’re probably right. But we’ve got something that they don’t understand. Yeah, it pisses me off to see those photos, but I trust you, Pep. I know you.”

I squeeze his hand. His voice wavers a little, and I wonder how true those words are. If pushed hard enough, can that trust be broken?

He raises our hands to his lips and gives my knuckles a hard kiss. “I wish I could take back a lot of the stupid shit I did before,” he says.

That
would
be nice.

“What took us so long to be together
, anyway?” I ask.

He smirks at me, and
I wiggle in my seat. No one can smirk like Jace Wilder. It’s a huge turn-on.

“You weren’t ready for me, Pep.”

I tug my hand away and cross my arms. “What? I think you mean
you
weren’t ready for
me
. I didn’t have a single boyfriend until this year and you” – I wave my hand in his direction – “were with girls all the time. Then, as soon as I get my first boyfriend, you decide you’re ready for me. What’s up with that, huh?”

Jace tries to contain his laughter at my outburst but I see through it. My eyes narrow and I shove him in the chest.

“Okay, okay.” He raises his hand in defeat. “I didn’t want to mess things up with you. How many times do I have to tell you? You’re special, Pep. Too good for me, or anyone. I didn’t want to give something a try and fuck it all up and lose you.”

My head tilts to the side as I take this in. And then I smirk right back at him. “You”
– I point at his chest – “big bad Jace Wilder. Were afraid of losing me” – I point to myself with a huge grin on my face – “little Pepper Jones, the girl next door?”

He grabs my finger and pull
s me toward him so that I’m almost sitting on his lap. “I’m still scared,” he whispers gruffly.

Jace’s
head dips lower, nuzzling my neck. His warm breath sends goose bumps along my spine as his lips skim my jaw line. “Terrified, actually.”

A confession like this from Jace doesn’t come often. But he’s getting better at sharing his feeling
s with me. Well, some of his feelings. I still haven’t gotten much from him about Annie.

Our phones continue buzzing throughout the night, and we distract ourselves by starting a challenging
jigsaw puzzle at Jace’s house. Puzzles have always been one of our favorite things to do together.

I scroll
through Jace’s phone before heading home for the night, deleting the photo messages. Several more came through of me and Ryan together, but all of them are from the fall. It means a lot that Jace trusts me enough to delete all of them without even looking at them himself. But I can understand the motivation to avoid having those images seared in his brain.

***

People stare at me when I walk into school the next day. Zoe warned me what to expect earlier that morning. Everyone knows about the photos. No surprise there. Until word gets around that Jace doesn’t believe I cheated on him – that the photos were from the fall – I have to deal with hostile glares.

But I do
n’t anticipate the lovely decorations greeting me at my locker. The word “slut” is written in big black letters. It’s definitely a girl who did this because the bold writing is very neat. The photos that were texted last night have been printed out – in color, no less – and are taped all over my locker.