Chapter Six
The next morning, Bryna awoke to an empty bed. She sat up, clutching the bedsheet to her chest, and looked around the dark room.
No Jude.
She scooted off the bed and winced as she stood. Her body reminded her exactly how much physical exertion it had endured last night. She shimmied back into her dress, grabbed her shoes, and walked out into the living room.
“Jude,” she called out.
No response.
She ducked her head into the guest bedroom and the kitchen, looked into both bathrooms, and even decided to peer into the closets.
Empty.
What the fuck?
They’d had an incredible connection and an even more incredible night. Then, he had ditched her? What kind of scumbag would do that to her? Had he been playing games the whole time? Had she been a conquest?
She was not just some conquest!
She quickly made arrangements for a cab to come pick her up and then stormed to the door. On her way out, she noticed a piece of paper on a table next to the exit. She snatched it into her hand.
I got called into work and didn’t want to wake you. Stay as long as you like, but I don’t know when I’ll get back to the apartment. Sorry to run out on you.
– Jude
Contemplating, Bryna rolled the paper over in her hand. This could be the truth. She didn’t know what line of work he was in, but her father worked most Saturdays. It was a reasonable assumption that he worked a lot to have amassed such a fortune.
She ground her teeth. She didn’t want to think it was okay for him not to even say good-bye. But he had left a note. Well, if it were all true, then he would get in touch with her again. She scribbled down her number on the bottom of the paper and signed it Bri.
She was sure she would hear from him soon enough.
* * *
After leaving Jude’s apartment, the cab took forever to get back to her dad’s place. She had to be at school soon for the away football game tonight. It was weird even thinking about going back to high school after being with Jude.
Her life felt upside down and inside out. There was the most fulfilling night of her life, where she had been completely free, and then there was the rest of the world. If Jude hadn’t more or less left her high and dry, she wouldn’t have ever wanted to come back.
Bryna walked in through the kitchen door in an attempt to avoid all human contact and nearly ran smack dab into her stepbrother, Pace. Another person she definitely did not want to come back for.
“Where the hell were you last night?” Pace asked.
She ground her teeth and turned away from him. The only person she wanted to see less than Pace was his stupid fucking mother. At least the twins would leave her alone.
When she didn’t answer, he asked, “Huh, Bri?”
She closed her eyes to try to get her emotions under control. She needed her hard exterior right now to deal with this bullshit.
“Only my friends call me Bri.” She swung around and fixed him with a frosty glare that told him he was very far from a friend. “For you, Bryna will do.”
“Yeah, whatever. You can’t dodge my question, Bri.”
“I don’t have to answer anything. You might have left the Valley, Pace, but you’re still trash to me,” she spat in his face. “So, stay out of my business and out of my life.”
She turned on her heel and stalked away. Thankfully, he didn’t follow her. He had been a thorn in her side since he moved in. Not to mention, he was a disgusting pervert who had spent so much time gawking at her when she walked around the house that she started covering up in sweats every time, fearing she would run into him.
Halfway to the stairs, she heard the voice she had been dreading.
“There you are, Bryna, dear.”
Bryna cringed and kept walking. God, she hated her stepmother.
“Mom, don’t you think it would be nice if I drove Bryna to the game today?” Pace called, stepping out of the kitchen doorway.
Bryna stopped dead in her tracks. Oh no, he did not just say that!
“That would be great!” Celia said. “So sweet of you to suggest, Pace.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Bryna said. Her eyes were icy as she scowled at the pair.
“Now, Bryna, Pace is being generous,” she said as her son walked over to her.
He stared at Bryna as if he were the picture of innocence instead of the disgusting pig that he was.
“Pace wouldn’t know what generous was if it bit him in the ass.”
“Don’t use that tone of voice with me,” she said crossly.
Bryna slowly counted to three in her head. She hoped it would calm her down, but it didn’t work. The anger that flooded her every time she thought about this woman in her mother’s place erupted out of her.
“You are not my mother!”
Celia covered her mouth at the outburst, but Bryna took the opportunity to climb the remaining stairs and slam the door to her room. She had just had the most incredible night of her life, and now, she had to come back to this bullshit. As soon as she graduated, she was getting the hell out of here.
She grabbed her cheerleading uniform out of her closet and slid into the tiny gold skirt and red-and-gold cheer top. She pulled her blonde hair into a high ponytail, threw her pom-poms into her cheer bag, and then slung it over her shoulder. She was leaving now. She couldn’t stand to be in this house with that woman for one more minute.
As she was tying her white shoes, Pace barged into her room.
“Ever heard of knocking, asshole?”
“Nope.” He tossed himself face down onto her bed and lay there, watching her.
“You’re a fucking creep. Stop staring at me like that.” She stood quickly and tugged on her skirt.
“Like what?” he asked. He rolled over onto his back and stared up at her with the same greedy expression on his face.
He made her skin crawl.
She shook her head in disgust. “Why don’t you get the fuck out of my room? I could have been changing.”
“We’re all family here.”
“Just because your whore mother married my father doesn’t make us family. It does make your ogling more disgusting though.”
Pace just kept his eyes locked on hers. He didn’t even have the decency to deny it.
“I’m getting out of here.”
“You just got back.”
“And?” she snapped.
“Come on, Bri. We’re going to the same place, and we have to be there at the same time. Just let me drive you,” Pace said.
He stood up, his six-foot-four frame towering over her. Football had padded his arms and shoulders, and standing near him made her feel tiny. She shot him a look that she hoped would make him feel just as small. Then, she left the room.
He followed her downstairs and cornered her again in the massive garage that housed all her father’s prized luxury cars.
“God, what do you want?” she screamed.
“To take you to the game, Bri. Haven’t you been paying attention?” He sounded so calm and controlled.
All she wanted to do was punch him in the face, but she needed to get it together. She couldn’t let Pace see her flustered.
“Pace, I don’t know how to make this any clearer.” She balled her hands into fists. “I never want to be in the same place as you if I can ever help it.”
He started laughing loudly and smiled at her revolted reaction. “It’s so fun to press your buttons, sis.” He winked before walking back inside.
She was seething.
If looks could kill, he’d already be dead.