BROKEN & SCREWED (BS #2)

Chapter 2

2

Kara’s eyes widened, and she sucked in her breath, but she pivoted to her friend. “Chandra, this is Alex.” Her eyes held a special meaning as she stressed to her, “She knows Cord.”

The hostility doubled. “I’m aware. How do you know him?”

I opened my mouth, unsure what to say, but Kara forced out an awkward laugh. “They went to the same high school together.” She was mum on the rest, which piqued my interest. Her friend must’ve been a jealous sort.

“Really?” Chandra’s eyes snapped to attention. “So you know Jesse Hunt, as well?”

Well, f**k. I hadn’t expected to be linked with him this quickly. I wasn’t going to hide that I knew him, but I wasn’t ready for everyone to know right away how connected I really was to him.

Cord saved the day.

He popped out of the stairwell and handed me his phone. “Call for you.” Then he saw who had joined the conversation and groaned. “You’re here, too?” Disappearing into my room, Chandra followed him inside.

Kara motioned to the hallway behind her. “I’ll leave you be. I should get back to the other girls. Oh, before I forget, we have a floor meeting in my room at six tonight. So, I’ll see you in three hours.” She started to leave. I started to lift the phone, but her head appeared around the corner. “And we’re all going to eat in the cafeteria tonight. I want to show everyone how to get there and register your identification card. That’s all. See you in a few hours.”

Then I heaved a deep breath. I knew who was on the phone. My stomach took a sudden dip, and I pressed a hand against it. Was I ready for this? The nerves had my hands shaking, but I swallowed tightly and croaked into the phone, “Hello?”

There was silence on the other end.

I closed my eyes and turned into the corner. My forehead rested against it. Though he couldn’t see me, a part of me was cowering from him. A storm swept through me and left me shaking. I felt like vomiting as I asked, “Can you please say something?”

“You went to the house?”

There it was. Jesse’s voice slid over the phone, smooth and sensual, sharp and cutting. He was angry with me. My chest tightened, and my heart pounded against it. Would it ever lessen? He held so much power over me. Already, even with how he had ignored me for months, a flame ignited in me for him. It was simmering in my depths, and I knew the longer I talked to him, the more it would become.

“Mary gave me your address. Nice place.”

I hadn’t paid attention, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

“You didn’t tell me you were coming to Grant West.”

I sucked in my breath. His tone was so biting. “Would it have mattered?”

“No.”

I fell silent. My hand tightened its hold on the phone. I was pressing it against my ear so hard I knew there’d be an indentation from it. “What do you want, Jesse?”

“What do you want?” he lashed back. “I haven’t heard a word from you since Vegas and now this? Cord texts me that you were at the house? You’re the one playing games, Alex.”

“What are you talking about?”

He laughed into the phone, harshly. “I might not have been the nicest to you in the past, but there were reasons. What’s your reason? Are you doing this on purpose?”

My back straightened and my voice rose, “What are you talking about?”

“Stop it. Seriously.”

“Seriously,” I bit back. “Tell me what you’re talking about. I called you. You’re the one who didn’t call me back. You ignored me. You don’t think that hurt me?” My voice dipped as searing pain ripped through me. I had needed to know what happened. He’d been on the phone with Ethan that night, but he hadn’t said a word. There’s been no response and that hurt more than I could’ve imagined.

He grew quiet again. Then he softened his tone, “What are you talking about?”

I bent over and drew in a shuddering breath. It hurt to breathe. “I talked to Barbie. She told me about Ethan. You called him that night, Jesse. Why didn’t you tell me that? I called you over and over again. I left messages. I texted you, but you never replied to any of them. Do you have any idea what that did to me?”

Agony stabbed at me.

He choked out, “What? When? Wait—I lost my phone. I had to get a new one. When did you call me?”

I shook my head as I felt tears sliding down my cheeks. “You got a new phone, but not a new number. My calls would’ve come to your new one. Stop lying to me, Jesse.”

“I’m not.” His voice rose, and I heard a twinge of desperation. “I’m not. I swear. It took me almost two months before I finally got one. The guys talked me into it. I didn’t want to, but I figured if you ever called me again, I needed to keep that number.”

A harsh laugh ripped from me. “You got a new phone because of me?”

“Yeah.” He sounded serious. “I see Coach every day. The guys live with me. Who else do I care about? Mary learned how to use the Internet, so that’s all she does now. I keep a chatting window up just for her. I don’t give a damn about my dad. If he wants to talk to me, he can come see me. I got the phone for you. You don’t believe me?”

I wanted to believe him. So much. It was killing me. “Are you serious?”

“Yes,” he stressed. “And yes, I called Ethan that night. He was with Benson and Barbie that night. I didn’t think he should be with them. That crew wasn’t good for him. They were into drugs, and I didn’t want him taking any of that crap. We fought, Alex—” He stopped abruptly, but I heard his deep breathing. Then he wrung out, “I’ve felt so damn guilty about that night. I told him to stay away from Barbie, and he told me to stay away from you.” An ugly laugh came from him. “Look at how that worked out. I seduced you the first night I could.”

“No, you didn’t,” I whispered into the phone. “I wanted you, too.”

He grunted. “Well, whatever. It’s done now.”

I bit my lip. I wanted to plead with him, but I held back. I couldn’t handle the rejection, if he turned his back on me. I couldn’t take that after everyone else had left me.

“Isn’t it?” he asked.

My breathing became labored.

“Alex?”

A groan escaped me. My eyes clasped shut, and I could only hold the phone. I was struggling to keep from begging him.

Then he asked, his tone dipped low, “Are you with Eric?”

“No,” I wrenched out.

“You’re not?”

“I never was.” I slid down and bent over my knees. I wasn’t on the ground, but I was close. I curled into a ball, right there in the corner of the hallway. I didn’t care who saw me. I couldn’t do anything else in that moment. The need for him was paralyzing me. “Jesse.”

He murmured, “You didn’t call on his anniversary.”

“I wanted to,” I rasped out. “I thought you had turned your back on me.”

“No. Never. Where are you?”

“At my dorm.”

“Is Cord with you?”

My throat grew thick so I couldn’t talk. I nodded instead.

“Alex?”

“Yes,” I squeaked out. “Yes.”

“Look, I’m coming back right now.”

My head rose. Where had he been? I wanted to ask him, but my throat still couldn’t work. I grunted instead.

“Give the phone to Cord.”

Wordlessly, I went to my room. Cord was sitting on the bed, and Chandra was on my desk. Her feet had been resting on my chair, but she jumped up as soon as I entered the room. Ignoring her, I handed the phone to him. Cord stood from the bed and left the room. I heard him say, “Yeah?”

As his voice faded, my chest lifted up as I struggled to push the emotion away. This was almost embarrassing. I couldn’t even speak. One simple phone call and I was close to being a blubbering mess.

“So.”

I stiffened.

Chandra gave me another serene smile. I wondered if she used it on all the people she considered her minions. “You seem close to Cord? I thought you only knew him from high school. That’s what Kara said.”

I jerked my head in a nod and moved to one of the boxes. Lifting it from the floor, I set it on the desk. She had to jump out of the way, but I was able to stand with my back to her. As I started to unload the pictures and books. “I don’t live in the dorms.” She said, ignoring the fact that I clearly didn’t want to talk to her. “I only came to see Kara. She’s one of my best friends, her and Tiffany. We’re all juniors this year, with Cord. I was upset. I thought Cord was cheating on me.” She heaved a deep breath. “He’s not, right? I mean, you’re not . . .cheating with him? Are you?”

I didn’t say a word. I should’ve, but I kept my lips shut. When I heard the bed squeak, I knew she had sat down. Her voice rose higher, shrill now, “Not that Cord and I are dating, but I care about him, and you already know that he and I are more than friends. Or, at least, I hope we are. Oh my God. Why am I saying this stuff to a freshman?”

My shoulders stiffened, but I still didn’t say anything. She kept talking, which surprised me, but I went with it. As she laughed at herself, the ball of emotion left my throat. I felt more in control of myself, but I continued to listen to whatever she was going to spill.

“You have to admit, I have reason to be thrown for a loop here. I mean, Cord is on the basketball team. He’s a starter. He’s at the top, and here you are, some little girl that waltzes into his house. He doesn’t say a word to me about who you are. He doesn’t explain anything. Cord doesn’t do that. Ever. Not even with me, he doesn’t do that stuff. But you’re someone important to him, obviously. I mean, he’s helping you move in. He wouldn’t even help me move in, and he’s done most of the work for you, some freshman. Who the hell are you?”

I whipped around and snapped, fed up, “Ever thought that I’m none of your business? Maybe that’s why he hasn’t ‘explained’ me to you? It’s none of your business.”

She jerked to her feet. Her eyes flashed in anger. “Are you kidding me? Anyone that’s connected to Cord is my business. He’s my boyfriend—”

“Chandra!”

I didn’t register the tone, but I looked up, expecting Kara. I saw another golden beauty instead. This one was even more stunning than Kara. What was it with this school and all the blondes? Kara’s hair had been platinum blonde, but this one was a golden wheat color. Her hair fell down to her waist and she was dressed in similar clothes, with white khaki shorts and a blue polo instead. The material clung to her like a second skin, but it wasn’t tight. It fit her perfectly.

I wasn’t ready for all these girls. Even Chandra was beautiful, though hers was more from her makeup and tanned skin.

All of them looked like sisters.

“Tiff, what are you doing here?” Chandra stumbled over her words.

The girl’s eyes narrowed before they rested on me.

I felt branded. She had scorched me with some meaning behind her gaze. I wasn’t sure what it was, but my skin crawled from it. She didn’t have a good opinion of me. That much I knew, but I had no idea why. She didn’t know a damn thing about me. My chin lifted. My shoulders rolled back, and I rose to my highest height. For some reason, I didn’t like this girl, and she didn’t like me.

She murmured to her friend, but her eyes hadn’t thawed as she stared at me, “I came to check on Kara and see if she needed help with any of the girls. What are you doing here?”

Chandra moved around me to her friend’s side. She gestured to me. “This girl walked in on me and Cord. I was upset and came to cry on Kara’s shoulder.”

“She walked in on you guys?” She scanned the room. “And she lives here?”

“Yeah.” Chandra seemed miffed about that.

I had no idea why.

“That’s . . . odd.”

Her entire attitude toward me was odd. I glowered back at her. “Can you two please leave? I need to unpack.”

“No, you don’t.” Cord swept an arm around each of the girls. He squeezed them together and lifted them from the doorway. Chandra squealed, delighted by the attention. The other girl’s eyes widened, startled from the sudden movement. As he deposited them back down, away from my door, he motioned for me. He threw an arm around my shoulder. “Well, little Connors. It’s been riveting. I’ll be seeing you.”

My mouth dropped. That was it?

“Where are you going, Cord?” Chandra spoke up.

He shrugged. “I’ll call you later, Chandra. Family matters first.”

“Family?” Tiff’s tone sent chills down my back. Her eyes narrowed as she pierced through me. “Whose family, Cord?”

He stiffened next to me but forced a carefree chuckle out. “Not my secret to tell, Tiffany. See you later.” He tapped my shoulder. “And you’ll have a package arriving . . . tonight . . .” He scrunched up his nose then nodded to himself, and handed me my phone “Yeah, sounds right.”

Before he could leave, Tiffany folded her arms over her chest and stepped forward. “We’ll be seeing you tonight. Did you forget?”

“Oh yeah. Forgot about Jamie’s thing.”

“I’m coming over in an hour to start setting up.”

Her tone sounded casual, but I felt like it was more of a warning. I wasn’t sure if it was to me or Cord, but he lifted a hand before he shot down the back stairway. “Well, see you two in an hour then.”

Chandra’s smile relaxed, and she nodded. “Bye, Cord.”

One gone. I looked back at the girls. Two more to go.

“How do you know Cord? You’re not really his family, and what was he talking about, that he had to go and do something for family? He left you here.” Tiffany spoke for the both of them. “Do you know the rest of the guys?”

I swallowed. This wasn’t a girl I’d want to meet in a back alley, but then I paused. Who the hell was this girl? She hadn’t been in my shoes. She didn’t know anything about me and she had no right to intimidate me.

My chin lifted and I stepped close to her.

Her eyelids twitched.

Oh yes. Trying to intimidate me.

“What’s your name?”

She frowned but grinned. “Tiffany Chatsworth. Look me up.”

“Who are you related to?”

The grin slipped a notch. “None of your business.”

“Who are you screwing?”

Her lips were pressed together. “Like I said, none of your effing business.”

My eyes narrowed to slits. “Then who are you to ask about my business?”

She leaned closer, barely an inch away, and gave me a chilly smile. “I’m your nightmare. That’s who I am.”

“Tiffany!” Kara had come around the corner and skidded to a halt. Her eyes were wide and her mouth fell open. “Stop it. This girl is one of mine. It’s my job to look out for her.”

“Then you better start looking out for her.” Tiffany stared her friend down. “Because she just pissed me off.”

As she left, the other stayed behind. She’d been biting her lip the whole time but turned her eyes to the floor.

“Chandra? What the hell?”

She jerked a shoulder up. Her gaze never lifted. “The girl talked back to her. You know how Tiffany is.”

Kara groaned, tipping her head back. She was hugging her clipboard to her chest. “This is great. Just great!”