Giving It to the Bad Boy (19 page)

when they took a step closer.

“Regardless, I just wanted you to see that you are no more special than any other girl he’s

fucked.” Andrea leaned in and spoke slowly. “And you have let him fuck you, right?” It was a

question, but then again it wasn’t. Before Kiera could walk away Andrea held out a set of photos. “I took the opportunity to print these out for you, seeing as I was the one that snapped them.” Her grin was malicious. “Thought maybe you’d like to really get a look at them, and really know what you’re

dealing with. Because, honey, if you plan on being Reese Trenton’s flavor of the week you need to

know where you stand.”

Kiera looked at Andrea and down at the photos. They were grainy, but clear enough that she

could see Reese and another guy fighting.

“I have no desire to see pictures of Reese fighting.” She went to move again, but Andrea

blocked her path. Kiera felt her blood pressure rise. “I’m done here, Andrea. Move the fuck out of my way.” A look of surprise flared on Andrea’s face, and Kiera admitted she was surprised at herself as well.

Andrea schooled her features and said, “No, I think you’re going to want to see these.” Andrea

shoved the photos in Kiera’s chest again and walked off. For a moment Kiera just stood there and

contemplated tossing them away, but curiosity got the better of her and she looked down at them. The first few were just of Reese and some guy fighting. The look of rage on Reese’s face was downright

frightening, but that wasn’t what had her heart stopping. The picture she stared down at showed Reese in a chair with a redhead in his lap. They were definitely kissing, and by the way Reese held her to him it was clear he was enjoying it. If not for the date and time stamp at the bottom of the photos she would have ignored them and just thought they were from before they got together. Clearly she

wouldn’t be thinking that now, though. The rest were of them kissing, and bile rose in her throat. Was it that easy for him to just forget about her? Tears slid down her cheeks, and she heard the high-pitched giggle just feet from her. She didn’t need to look up to know Andrea and her lemmings had

stayed behind to watch her realize she had been nothing to Reese. As she ran out of the school the last thing she heard was the cackling laughter and cruel words of Andrea.

“I told you Reese didn’t want you for more than a piece of ass.”

Once outside she quickly called Alex to come pick her up. Ten minutes later he pulled in front

of the school, and she ran to the truck. Tears were a steady torrent down her cheeks, and she hoped

Alex didn’t drill her for why she was upset. No such luck, though, because as soon as she shut the

door he started with the questions. At least he kept driving, because she couldn’t handle seeing Reese right now, and had worried the entire time she waited for Alex that he would come outside looking

for her. Her phone vibrated, but she didn’t bother looking at it.

“Kiera, what the hell is wrong?”

She didn’t respond, just stared out the window and tried to force herself to stop crying. Another

few minutes passed before he was asking her again.

“Kiera, tell me what the fuck is wrong.”

She sniffed, not wanting to talk about it, but knowing that Alex wouldn’t relent. He veered the

truck off the side of the road so abruptly she had to brace her hands on the dash or she would have

slammed into it. “You’ll tell me what the fuck is going on, Kiera.” His voice had dropped to a low

growl, and she looked at him. She forgot how scary Alex could look when he was upset.

She whispered, “It’s nothing.”

His face grew darker. “Bullshit.” His jaw worked, and he looked out the windshield. “Was it

Trenton? Did he hurt you?”

When she didn’t answer right away his head snapped forward again. The muscles under his jaw

worked back and forth, and she could tell he was barely controlling his temper.

“That’s it. I’m going to that school and beat the shit out of that motherfucker.”.” He slammed the

truck into gear and pulled back onto the road. She reached out and placed a hand on his forearm.

Tears continued to stream down her face, and that just pissed her off even more.

“He didn’t hurt me, not in the way I’m sure you’re thinking.”

“Kiera, you’re crying because of him. I don’t care if he snubbed you in the cafeteria. He hurt

you, and I’m going to make him realize that if he fucks with you, he fucks with me.”

Kiera closed her eyes, not wanting this to escalate. This was the last week of school. She could

tough it out. Her cell continued to vibrate with texts, and when she obviously wasn’t responding the calls started coming. “I just want to go home.” She pleaded. “Please, Alex.” The breath she had been holding came out of her in a rush when, after several long seconds, Alex finally started heading to

their home. “Thank you, Alex.”

“Don’t thank me yet, Kiera.” She didn’t need to ask what he meant, because the unspoken threat

was there.

As soon as he pulled into the driveway she didn’t wait for him. Running into the house and

slamming her bedroom door behind her, Kiera squeezed her eyes shut as the tears fell harder now that she was alone. She locked the door and face-planted on her bed. Taking a deep breath she screamed

into her pillow as loud as she could. It felt good, but didn’t help much more than giving her a second of relief. Her phone rang for the hundredth time, and she pushed herself up and grabbed her phone.

Molly’s smiling face illuminated the screen. She thought about ignoring it, but no doubt by now

everyone in the school knew of her humiliation. Swiping her finger across the screen, she answered.

“Hello?”

“God, Kiera. Ian and I have been trying to get a hold of you. Where are you?” The worry in

Molly’s voice was clear. She could also hear Ian rattling off a string of questions in the background about if she was okay.

“I’m fine, and I had Alex come and get me.”

“Kiera.” Molly’s voice dropped to a soft volume. “Are you
okay
?”

The tears started again, and dammit, Molly heard.

“I am so sorry, Kiera.”

“How did you find out?” She really wasn’t surprised, and maybe she was a masochist for

wanting to know the details. A beat of silence passed, and Kiera asked, “Everyone knows, don’t

they?” Molly’s deep exhale answered her question.

“Some texts were sent, but there were also pictures.”

Kiera closed her eyes, not shocked, but feeling the humiliation all over again.

“Andrea was right, Molly. I was nothing but a piece of ass to him.” Kiera hadn’t told Molly yet

about losing her virginity to Reese, but by the sharp inhalation over the line it didn’t need to be said.

Her best friend knew.

“I’m so sorry, sweetie.”

Kiera sniffed and laughed, but it was forced and hardly humorous.

“He went crazy, Kiera.”

“What are you talking about?” She grabbed a tissue and wiped under her eyes.

“Reese. He went crazy when he found out Andrea took those pictures and that you left. He

peeled out in his car like five minutes ago.”

Kiera shook her head even though no one saw her. “He was upset that he was caught.”

“I don’t know, Kiera. I’ve seen him upset, but this was something that was damn near toxic. His

expression … God, Kiera. It was scary as hell. He was cursing and screaming, but I couldn’t really

make out what he said.”

She talked for a few more minutes with Molly, but she was suddenly so exhausted. After she got

off the phone she tossed it aside. She stared at the ceiling and took a deep, calming breath. Yeah, it didn’t do shit to help. She should have believed the rumors, and known that Reese wasn’t the type to only be with one girl, but she loved him, dammit. Yes, she fucking loved him. That slammed into her

head, and she squeezed her eyes shut and covered her face with her hands. She loved him, and it was

clear he didn’t share the same feelings. Hard, wracking sobs stole her breath, and she wished the pain could magically disappear.

Maybe she should talk to him, get his side of the story. It seemed so unlike him after spending

time with him and seeing how he treated her, but the pictures had been clear and unmistakable. Her

phone started ringing again, but she let it go to voicemail. Minutes later the sound of tires squealing right outside had her sitting up and rushing to the window.

Oh God.

Reese slammed the car into park and was storming to her front door, calling her name in the

process.

“Kiera.” He stopped and looked up at her window. The anguish on his face was clear, and she

wanted to go to him, desperately, but fear and pain kept her rooted to the spot. Before she could make a decision on whether or not to go to him Reese whipped his head toward the front door. A moment

later she saw Alex making his way toward Reese in fast, angry strides. With the window shut she

couldn’t hear exactly what they said, but by Alex’s expression he was furious. Before she could tear herself away from the window Alex reared his arm back and slammed his fist into the side of Reese’s

face. Reese fell back, clearly blindsided by the punch, but was up on his feet seconds later. Blood

started to form in the corner of his mouth and trickle out his nose. He wiped it away with the back of his hand and turned his head to spit out a mouthful of blood. He held up his hands, a clear act of

surrender, but the anger on Alex’s face was like lightning across the sky. He punched Reese again and again, sending him to the ground once more. Alex was on top of him seconds later and kept hitting him like a madman. Everything was happening so fast, yet it felt like it happened in slow motion. What

shocked her most was that Reese refused to defend himself. Kiera rushed down the stairs and out the

front door.

As soon as she was outside she could hear the rage-filled words Alex spoke. They were vile

and harsh and like nothing she had ever heard her brother say.

“Alex. Stop, please. You’re going to kill him.” She screamed over and over again, but her

brother was like a machine. She ran up to him and grabbed his arm that he had reared back. In the next second she found herself sprawled on her ass several feet away. The air left her
,
and stars danced in front of her eyes. For a moment she didn’t know what happened, but then she realized her mistake.

She shouldn’t have gone to Alex when he was clearly that upset. The sound of Alex grunting had her

looking over at the guys and watching Reese slam his fist into her brother’s gut.

“You can hit me all you want, but when you put your hands on
my
girl, then me and you have

some real fucking problems.”

Alex picked himself off the ground, and the two men stared at each other. Alex was by her side

a second later and running his hands over her hair.

“Kiera, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to push you back like that. I was just so angry and didn’t

even realize it was you that grabbed my arm.” He helped her up and pulled her into his chest for a

hug. “You’re okay?”

“I’m fine, Alex.” She looked around his shoulder and saw Reese watching her with his

emotions so raw and tangible she couldn’t stop the flow of tears.

“Kiera.” Reese’s voice was strained, and he cleared it before talking again. “If you’ll just talk

to me, let me explain.” His face was bruised and bloody, and he favored one hand close to his chest, but his sole attention was focused on her.

“There isn’t anything to talk about, asshole. You hurt my sister, and that makes you my

problem,” Alex said without untangling his arms from him. She internally winced at her brother’s

words. Reese closed his eyes and grimaced.

He opened his eyes again, and she swore she saw tears brimming in the corners. “Please,

Kiera. Just give me five minutes, and then I won’t bother you ever again.”

She knew this needed to be resolved now. Pulling away from Alex, she looked up at her

brother. “I’ll be okay.”

He shook his head. “I’m not leaving you alone with him.” He cut a nasty glare at Reese before

looking at her again.

“Alex, I’ll be fine. Just give me a few minutes of privacy, okay?” It took her brother several

moments to agree, and when he went back in the house she felt the weight of the awkwardness hanging

in the air.

“Kiera, baby.” He took a step forward, but she held her hand out to stop him.

“Please, don’t, Reese. Just don’t.” She angrily wiped her cheeks and brushed the tears away.

He looked away, anger and hurt crossing over his features. Kiera had seen the photos, and it was hard to think they were anything but true, but the time she spent with Reese had her wanting to her believe anything he said. She loved him, but her rational thinking told her what could he possibly say to make everything like the way it was?

“I know what you think you saw me doing in those pictures, but I swear it isn’t what they seem.”

He took another step, and she took one back.

“Please, Reese, just stop.”

His nostrils flared, and he ground his teeth before nodding. “I know it looked like I fucked up,

but I swear on everything, Kiera, I did
not
cheat on you. She came up to me, and before I even knew what she was doing she was in my lap and kissing me. I tried to push her away, and that’s why it

looks like I was holding onto her.”

Kiera dropped her gaze to the ground and closed her eyes. He sounded so sincere, and she

couldn’t help but believe him. How could she not when he made her feel so good about herself, well,

aside from right now.

“Baby, you have to believe me.” He sounded closer, and she lifted her eyes and looked at him.

His emotions were out in the open for all to see. The vile thoughts that what they had couldn’t