Usually, I spent most nights alone in my massive fucking house, but now I at least had her noise in the background to make me feel less lonely.
Mom worked her ass off, so it’s not like she was running off to party.
I had a good life because Mom made it for me.
I was lucky, I guess.
Tyler was always alone because his parents were shit, and Jensen’s dad was the only parent around in his life, but even that was a rare occasion.
Lukas’s mom was basically always home, but she was fucking weird.
We didn’t spend a lot of time at his, mainly because she wouldn’t fuck off and leave us alone.
I knew everyone noticed me move to Rory’s other side at school to stop Claire from tripping her in the cafeteria the other day, but I didn’t give a shit.
I had to play my cards right.
Rory jerked in her sleep, making me frown.
She seemed to have nightmares whenever she slept, but she obviously wasn’t going to tell me why.
Jensen offered to tie her up and scare it out of her, but Lukas had a few things to say about that plan.
I didn’t see the problem.
It’s not like we were going to actually torture her.
I was an asshole, not a thug.
Lukas claimed he couldn’t tell us what demons she was trying to hide behind that tough girl mask, but I called bullshit.
He says the shit between them was old news, but it’s definitely the reason she fucking hated him so much.
The moment one of us mentioned trying to get it out of her, he either changed the subject or flat out told us we were imagining shit.
I couldn’t wait for her to finally break, because she was going to.
One way or another.
Chapter four
Rory
“Hey, you okay today?” Jensen asked quietly as he leaned against my locker lazily the next morning.
I smiled, seeming to surprise him as I patted his arm.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks, Jense.”
“You sure? You seem different,” he frowned, peering at me more closely as he studied me.
I didn’t feel different, so I had no idea what he was talking about.
“Do I?” I asked with confusion, watching him nod.
When I didn’t flinch back from him as he moved closer, he carefully placed an arm around my shoulders and smiled as if we were buddies.
“Yeah. What happened? Did you bury Holloway somewhere?”
“I was buried somewhere alright,” Caden’s voice said from behind us, making both of us glance over to see him watching us closely with his arms crossed.
He looked pissed off, his eyes narrowing into a small glare which confused the fuck out of me.
Jensen raised an eyebrow, seeming amused by his mood.
“Well, good morning to you too. What’s up your ass this morning?”
“You,” he muttered, his eyes watching me intensely until I started to feel nervous.
Jensen took my tense body as a sign that he was making me uncomfortable, so he moved back from me as he replied to Caden.
“I didn’t do shit. Look, don’t give Rory any crap, okay? You…”
“Rory and I are good, don’t you worry,” Caden suddenly smirked, hooking a finger through the belt loops on my denim shorts and yanking me flush against him.
Jensen didn’t look convinced, until Caden ran his fingers through my hair and I gave him a small smile, the nerves melting away with the motion.
I didn’t understand why I’d become so comfortable around him, but I felt like he understood me, and that took a lot for me to admit to myself.
Tyler and Lukas walked towards us, but before I could wave at them, Caden dipped down and kissed me, backing me into the lockers with a solid thud.
People would gossip even more, but I was beyond caring as he planted his hands on my waist and deepened the kiss, pressing his front firmly against mine.
Holy fuck, I could do that with him all day.
“What the fuck did we miss?” Tyler’s hyena laugh asked from close by, but Jensen shrugged.
“Fuck knows. I’m completely and utterly fucking confused.”
Caden was basically fucking me against the lockers with his clothes on, and I had to admit, I liked that all of his attention was on me in that moment.
When he finally moved back, he tucked my loose hair behind my ear and smiled at me cheekily.
“We should have just stayed in bed, hey baby?”
Lukas tensed up, but Tyler cackled with laughter.
“Holy fuck, you two are banging? C’mon Holloway, she’s your sister!”
People were gawking at us, but Caden just smirked and swatted my butt with a sharp crack.
“No, she’s my hot sister, dude.”
Oh my god.
He did not just fucking say that.
“Caden!” I exclaimed with horror, both he and Tyler cracking up with laughter, but Jensen rolled his eyes as if he were bored, while Lukas looked genuinely worried for me.
Eventually, Caden simmered down and headed off to class with Tyler and Lukas, leaving Jensen to head to class with me.
Once in the classroom, he gave me a sideways glance, speaking quietly.
“So, you and Caden, huh? You two hated each other yesterday afternoon, so how did it turn around to make-up sex?”
I shrugged, my face heating with embarrassment.
“It just did, okay? Now shut up.”
“Aurora,” he said gently with concern in his tone, making me look over at him.
“What?”
He hesitated, a strange look crossing his eyes before he blocked it, shrugging it off as he glanced away from me.
“Never mind.”
What was with him?
He acted strangely for the rest of class, and he kept glancing at me during lunchtime as I sat on Caden’s lap at our table.
I’d fucking had enough of his attitude by the end of that, and the moment the others had headed off to the gym for a workout, I cornered him by his locker.
“What the fuck is your problem?” I snapped, a snort coming from him without looking up at me.
“I don’t have a problem.”
“You’ve been weird all fucking day, so start talking before I make you,” I growled, fisting my hands by my side.
He raised an eyebrow and smirked at me with amusement.
“I seriously don’t have a problem, I just don’t want the girls having more ammo to throw at you. Fucking your stepbrother is serious fucking ammo. You’re hot when you’re mad, Donovan.”
“Jensen!”
“What? It’s true,” he shrugged, turning to close his locker but I shoved him hard, getting in his face as his back hit the lockers with a bang.
“Stop it! You’re being a fucking…”
“You’re turning me on, babe,” he replied with a slow sarcastic groan, pissing me off more.
What an ass.
“Cut it out.”
“Nope. I can’t touch you, but I sure as shit can tell you all about how I’d like to,” he grinned, his expression faltering when I frowned at him with confusion.
“Why can’t you touch me?”
“Well for starters, you don’t like to be touched by anyone except Caden, but you two are dating, so…”
“We aren’t dating!” I replied with alarm, making him blink at me as if he was trying to figure me out.