And waited some fucking more.
There was every chance she was asleep. But it wasn’t good enough. I needed to see her, to hear her side of what happened.
I needed to know she was fucking okay.
Me: I need her number.
Hailee: No way.
Me: Please. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.
Hailee: If I do this, and I haven’t decided I will yet, you have to promise me not to hurt her. Ever.
Shit. How could she expect me to agree to that?
Hailee: So.... what’ll it be?
Me: I promise to only ever do what I think’s best for her...
Hailee: Jason, that isn’t the same thing.
Me: It’s all I have right now. What’s it going to be, little sis? Am I getting her number or am I breaking and entering your best friend’s house?
Hailee: JASON!!! Don’t you dare...
Me: I’m joking.
For the most part. Because I wasn’t leaving without seeing Felicity. Another text came through with a cell phone number. I added it to my contacts and opened a new message chat.
Me: Open your door.
Felicity: Who is this?
Me: Come find out...
A couple of minutes passed, and I was beginning to think she’d barricaded herself inside while she waited for the authorities to arrive. But then the curtain twitched and a couple seconds later, the door creaked open. “Jason?” Felicity yelped. “What are you—”
“Don’t I get an invitation inside?” I forced my eyes to stay on her face and not her bare legs.
“Why would I invite you inside?” She glared at me. “And what are you doing at my house anyway? It’s late. I was asleep.”
“Just open the damn door, Felicity,” I breathed out. “Hailee told me what happened last night with Thatcher.”
“So you came over here to do what exactly?” Her lips pursed, taunting me. Her eyes daring me to admit it.
“You’re really going to make me say it?”
Silence stretched out before us while Felicity waited for me to make my choice.
“Fine, woman. I came because the second I heard he had his hands on you, I wanted to kill something.” Preferably him.
Bitter laughter spilled out of her soft lips. “So you’re jealous? That’s it?” Her brow shot up in challenge.
“Jealous of Thatcher?” I seethed. “I’m not fucking jealous.”
“No? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you are. Didn’t you like hearing Thatcher and his friend had their hands on my body? They were so close to me, I could feel the warmth of their breath against my skin.” My body began to tremble with rage as she kept talking. Kept describing what Thatcher and his guy had done to her.
“Felicity...”
“What, Jason?” she said, sharply. “Does it hurt to hear they wanted me? That they wanted to hurt me? Because I think he would have. I think he would have taken me right there—”
“Stop, okay,” My chest heaved, and I rubbed my breastbone trying to ease the tightness. “Just stop.”
“Why? Why should I?” Unshed tears collected in the corners of her eyes and I suddenly realized she wasn’t baiting as much as unleashing her own anger at the situation.
“Let me in, Giles,” I said, sliding my foot into the gap.
“No.” A single tear escaped, rolling down Felicity’s cheek. “You need to leave. Just go, Jason.”
“Come on, babe. Let me in.”
“You don’t care about me,” she whispered.
“I care,” I admitted. “I wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t.”
Her eyes flew to mine, searching. Looking for answers I didn’t have. It was a battle of wills and I didn’t know who would break first.
“Fine,” she eventually relented, “but you can’t stay. My parents are—”
“Who said anything about staying?” I smirked as I stepped inside earning me one of her trademark eye rolls.
The door clicked shut behind us and I flinched, the sound like a gunshot to the chest.
What the fuck was I doing? She was okay, I could see that. Maybe a little shook up and angry, but she’d sassed at me the way she usually did. The fight sparking in her sea-green eyes.
“Nice place,” I said, filling the awkward silence.
“It’s not much different to your house.” She smiled faintly, leading me down the hall I knew would open out to the kitchen.
“You didn’t come to the party?”
“I didn’t feel much like socializing.” Her shoulders lifted in a small shrug as she went to turn away from me.
“Hey.” I grabbed her arm and pulled gently, backing her up against the counter. Her breath hitched, her eyes alight with so much emotion I felt winded. How could one girl—one quirky, no-filter, pain-in-the-ass girl—affect me so much with a single look?
“You okay?”
“I...” Felicity slid her hands up my chest, her touch like wildfire, blazing a trail of heat. “I think so.”
“Thatcher just wanted to scare you.”
“Yeah, well, it worked.”
My chest squeezed again. Too many people were being dragged into this thing between me and Thatcher. First Hailee, then Cam, and now Felicity. If I wasn’t careful, soon there would be too many moving pieces for me to keep tabs on.
“What did you do that was so bad?” Her voice was quiet even in the silence.
Shit. She could have asked me any other question and I probably would have answered... but this was the one thing I never wanted her to know about me.
But instead of clamming up and distracting her with kisses and touches, I found myself saying, “There was this girl.”
Felicity tensed, her eyes full of bewilderment. “A girl? Like Jenna?”
“No, not like Jenna.” I grimaced. “Jenna is no one.”
Felicity arched a brow at that.
“She’s just someone to pass the time. A willing body.” Jesus, it sounded so fucking awful out loud.
“Ew, gross,” she mumbled, dropping her eyes.
“Hey,” I slid my fingers underneath her jaw and tilted her face up, “you asked.”
“I know, I just... ugh, I hate her.”
“You sound a little jealous, Giles.” The idea had me feeling a little smug.
“It’s not exactly on my list to watch the guy I’m...” She stopped herself and I found myself wanting to pull the words out of her but I wouldn’t. “It hurt seeing the two of you together is all.”
“Together, me and Jenna weren’t...”
Fuck.
Bell’s.
“That wasn’t what it looked like.”
“You mean you didn’t take her back to the storeroom and fuck her?” Her eyes darted away. “Could have fooled me.”
My spine stiffened; the urge to argue with her strong. Felicity was only half-right; I hadn’t fucked Jenna that night, but she had given me head.
Shame was a feeling I was unfamiliar with, but it didn’t dull the impact.
“I didn’t fuck her,” I said, as if it mattered.
“Whatever, Jason.” She looked at me again. “This, us, it’s all a game. And like I said the other night in your bathroom, I’m not sure I want to play anymore.”