“You sure?”
“We fucked once, and everyone knows Caden doesn’t date,” I snorted, my breath catching as he reached up and cupped my chin gently in his hand.
“I can’t touch you, Rory. I won’t do that to you.”
“What do you mean by that?” I whispered, watching the fight in his eyes.
I wouldn’t have stopped him if he wanted to touch me.
I was starting to think maybe I actually trusted him.
“I just… fuck,” he muttered, his hand moving to play with the tips of my black hair as he obviously argued with himself.
“What’s going on?” I asked softly, his chocolate hair flopping over his eyes as he shook his head.
“Nothing. I just won’t hurt you like that.”
Huh?
“You won’t hurt me.”
“Yes, I will,” he said sternly, a shiver going through his body as my hand lifted to rest on his tense chest.
“I trust you not to.”
He let out a growl, swooping down and kissing me hard for what felt like an eternity before he pushed himself back and shot me a hard look, ignoring the surprise on my face from the kiss that wasn’t at all unwanted.
“Then you’re stupid. Don’t trust anyone, Rory. I fucking mean it,” then he stalked off after the others, leaving me alone in the empty hallway.
What the fuck was that about?
I headed to the library to finish my homework, not at all surprised to find the guys still in the gym when I’d finished.
I leaned against the wall, watching as Caden and Jensen appeared to be racing each other on the treadmills at high speed, sweat drenching them as their arms kept pumping.
Tyler on the other hand gave me a strange glance as he lifted his weights, but didn’t say anything, and neither did Lukas, who was using an exercise bike.
When Caden finally noticed me standing there, he slowed his machine down and gave me a naughty wink.
“Hey, baby. You ready to head home?”
“I can bus it if you guys aren’t done?” I offered, but Lukas rolled his eyes dramatically.
“Trust me, we’re done here. I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” then he bailed off the bike and stalked off, making me frown with confusion.
Caden noticed the expression on my face and smiled.
“Don’t worry about him, he’s just pissy about you and Jensen locking tonsils.”
Wait, what?
My entire body tensed up, and he gave me an amused look as he grabbed his sweat towel.
“Did you think Jense would just keep it to himself? He’s my best friend, Rory. We don’t keep secrets.”
“No, I just wanted to tell you myself,” I grumbled curtly, making him frown at my discomfort.
“Hey, relax. We aren’t together, like you told Jense, so it’s okay. Maybe don’t parade it around in front of people though. Save yourself some drama.”
Jensen finally climbed off his machine and snatched his towel off the bench before stalking right past me with his jaw clenched.
Fuck that.
His body went completely rigid as I reached out and rested a hand on his arm, a slight snarky tone in my voice.
“Why are you mad at me?”
He swung his gaze to mine, his expression softening as his blue eyes clashed with mine.
“I’m not, babe. I just can’t do this shit with you, okay?”
“Okay,” I replied softly, watching in confusion as he gave me a sad smile and left without another word.
Tyler followed, leaving me and Caden to walk out to his Challenger alone.
Once we were inside it and ready to go, he sighed.
“Give Jense some time. He’ll come around.”
I gave him a look of surprise, a bit confused about him not being mad.
“You want him to come around? Do you guys normally mess around with the same girl?”
He shrugged, starting the car and causing the engine to roar to life, Pull Up by L.A Leakers blasting instantly and almost deafening me.
He reached over and turned it down a bit as he drove out of the parking lot and towards home.
“There’s nothing wrong with it. Ty would climb you like a tree too if you let him.”
“Really?” I was confused about everything now.
Tyler was always fucking around about shit, but he’d never actually shown any real interest.
Had he?
Caden was quiet for a moment before glancing up at me, his green eyes suddenly serious.
“What happened with you and Lukas?”
I looked out the window and clammed up instantly.
I wasn’t ready to talk about that.
It was still too raw, and it had nothing to do with him.
“Nothing that matters.”
“Well, it does fucking matter because it’s causing a rift between the guys. You and Lukas can’t be in the same fucking house together without starting a fight, and the guys are starting to think the worst. Do us all a fucking favour and start talking, Aurora.”
I glared at him, feeling defensive at the tone he was using on me.
“Excuse me? It’s none of your fucking business, Holloway.”
A nasty smirk hit his face as he turned a corner, not looking over at me.
“Everything is my business, babe, so tell me what happened. You two dated and he cheated on you? He broke your heart? He…”
“Stop the car,” I forced out at a whisper, making him snort.
“No.”
“Stop the fucking car, Caden!” I shouted as panic and rage overtook me.
I unbuckled my seat belt and threw myself out of the car the moment he slammed on the brakes, the door slamming behind me.
He followed, angrily grabbing my arm and yanking me back sharply.
“You want a repeat of the other night? Get back in the car and talk, for fuck’s sake.”
“Let me go, asshole!” I shouted, but his hand clamped over my mouth and he shoved me against the side of his car.
He didn’t flinch, but I cringed and hoped it didn’t put a dent in it.
“No. You listen to me, okay? No one gets between me and my guys. The fact that you’re making everyone turn on each other is starting to piss me off. Just do as you’re fucking told, and everything will be peachy. So…”
I bit his hand hard as a last resort in my panic, an angry growl ripping from him.
When he pulled his fist back, I closed my eyes and waited for the impact, but it never came.
I finally braved a peek at him to find him watching me, his hand by his side again as if it had never happened.
Maybe it hadn’t and I was finally fucking losing it.
“Are you going to get back in the car and talk, or do I fucking leave you here?” he asked in a low voice, frustration in his intense gaze.
“I’m not getting back in that car,” I snapped, feeling proud that my voice didn’t shake, despite feeling like a panic attack was forming.
He wasn’t going to shove me in there and kidnap me, was he?
“Suit yourself,” he shrugged to my relief, climbing back into the driver’s seat and revving the engine, taking off with a screech of tires like the asshole he was.
I flipped him off as I snatched my phone from my pocket, texting Jensen to pick me up, hoping he was over his tantrum.
Rory: Hey, can you pick me up from the old tree just down from the school? Had a fight with Caden.