I stare into Jagger's eyes. I can see something’s eating away at him.
It has to be whatever my brother was referring to. I know he got pissed about what Ridge said to me, but that’s not it. That’s not the reason for his vacant stare. Reaching into his pocket, I grab his keys and unlock the doors. Opening the passenger door, I motion for him to get inside. He frowns.
"I can drive,” he states, not really looking at me.
After a few moments of silence, he sighs and gets in. Walking over to the driver's side, I get in and put the key in the ignition. It's been so long since he's let me drive his car, I hope it comes back to me.
“Don’t grind the gears.” He winces just as I put it in reverse and hear a loud grinding noise.
Giggling, I slowly back out of the parking space before pushing the clutch in and shifting into first. As I press down on the gas, the car jerks, which just makes me giggle harder. I mean, how hard can this be? On the way here, he was driving and shifting with one hand while his other was stroking me.
After a few lurches, I finally get the hang of it and make it safely to my dorm. Jagger still hasn't said a word. As much as it worries me, I try not to focus on it. I let him sit in silence for as long as possible before I pull the parking brake and shut his car off.
"Do you want to come up?" I ask, fidgeting with my hands. I don't know what to say or do, and I hope like hell he doesn't turn me down. I'm not ready to say goodbye to him yet, not after the cruel things my brother said.
Ridge thinks I'm nothing more than a slut. The kind they fuck at parties. I will never be that girl. I have a little more respect for myself than that. The only guy I've ever wanted is the one sitting right next to me. The one who has always done everything in his power to protect me, even when I thought I didn't need him. Jagger Bishop is the only guy I'll want for the rest of my life.
It's always been him.
He reaches across the center console and grabs my arm, tugging me over the damn thing and into his lap. I straddle him, my dress bunching around my hips. If anyone walks by, they will probably see my ass cheeks through the damn windshield. At least his side windows are tinted.
His fingers gently caress my jaw before he cups my cheeks in his hands. "He's right,” he whispers.
I stare into his eyes, trying to piece together what he means. “About what?” I run a finger across his lips.
"That I'm a coward. He's going to divulge my secret, and you'll hate me for it. Bresin, I–"
I press my lips to his, kissing him like my life depends on it. I won't listen to him put himself down. Whatever it is, I know we can move past it. We can get through it together.
Pulling away, I narrow my eyes at him. "Don't. Don't try and tell me how I shouldn't be in love with you. Don't you dare!" I pound my fist against his chest as a tear slips down my cheek. His hands grip my hips as I bite the inside of my lip. I don't know what else to say to him to make him see that I've been in love with him for years. He can't give in to whatever my brother says just to protect me. "If you let him hold that secret over you, you'll never be happy. I don't care what you did. Whatever it is, we can get through it together.” Tear after tear falls down my face. I can’t stop them if I tried.
"I'll never stop protecting you, little girl. It's what I have to do. I can't let my past touch you. You are too damn special for something like this to wreck your life."
My heart starts to pound in my chest. He's going to walk away from me…from us. I just got him. I can't let him go now. I feel sick to my stomach. "Don't do it, Jagger," I beg as tears continue to fall. "You can't leave me now." I stare into his eyes, but I can't get a read on his thoughts. "Please," I whisper, my voice breaking, just like my damn heart. It feels like a million tiny pieces scatter all over the floorboards of his car.
His eyes close for a brief second before they open again. The torment in them is something I've never seen before.
"Just tell me what your secret is. If I can't deal with it, I'll walk away. I'll stay away from you like you want." My lips tremble.
It feels like hours before he says anything. "When we were sixteen, the guys and I thought it would be fun to take my dad's Porsche for a joyride. We had only been driving for fifteen minutes before something ran out in front of the car. It hit the front and ended up flying over it, landing on the ground behind us. Panicking, I stopped, and we all jumped out. At first, I thought it was a young deer because the body wasn't that big."
He sucks in a breath and pales, almost like he is watching it play out in his head. "As we got closer, I saw a man. He had a gun in his hand and blood oozing from his skull. He was dead.”
Swallowing, I use my thumbs to wipe the tears from under his eyes before I kiss both cheeks. It's something he would do for me. As much as it scares me that my brother might spill this secret and Jagger would go to jail, it doesn't scare me away. If anything, it makes me want to hold him tighter, protect him however I can.
"We should have called 911, but we didn't. We just got back into the car and drove away. It had a few dents and some blood, so we took it to the car wash and washed the blood off before returning it to the garage. We never told my dad what happened, but he knew someone had taken it out. There was no denying the dents." He leans his head back against the headrest.
"He took the car in to get fixed, and we never said a word about it again. I have no idea who we hit, and I sure as hell didn't try to figure it out. I was scared and… I don't know.” His eyes meet mine again. He runs his hands up my back, pulling me toward him. "I don't want you to hate me or be disgusted that I left the man there."
I shake my head. “I’m not disgusted. I’m sad that you guys left a man on the side of the road after you hit him, but I remember sixteen. I would have been terrified if it were me. We can get through this. Together.” I kiss his lips before wrapping my arms around him and pulling him closer to me.
“I don’t know how I got so damn lucky to have you in my life,” he murmurs against my shoulder.
"You winked at me when I was thirteen. That was it for me." I giggle.
“I winked at a lot of girls back then,” he states, pulling back. He runs his fingers down the side of my face before tucking my hair behind my ear. “But you’ve always been my favorite.” I grin and he kisses me once more. "I don't deserve you, but I can't say no to you, either."
“Good. I don’t want you to say no. After the night we’ve had, I just want you to come up to my room and hold me tight.”
He sighs. “I can do that.”
I move in his lap, fixing my dress. No need to flash my vagina to everyone in the area.
As I get out of the car, I hear a groan behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I see his eyes on my ass. I shake my head as I push my dress the rest of the way down. When he gets out, I notice him adjust himself quickly before holding his hand out for his keys. Smirking, I drop them in his hand. He shuts the door and locks up before pocketing them.
Placing his arm around my shoulders, he leads me toward the dorm. As soon as we start walking down my floor, it's like the girls know he's here. Some come out of their rooms just to watch us walk by. A few of the braver ones reach out and try to stop him, but he ignores them as we make our way to my room. Unlocking the door, I step inside, turning to him. He grabs me around the waist as he shuts the door behind him.
His fingers trail along my collarbone before reaching behind me to unzip my dress. Slowly, he grips both sides of it and starts to move it down my arms before letting it fall to the floor. His sharp intake of breath is music to my ears. He knew I didn’t have any panties on, but he didn’t know I didn’t have a bra on, either
“Fuck,” he mutters as his lips press against my warm skin.
Placing his hand on my lower back, he brings me into his body. He’s already hard. He doesn't lift me up and walk me to the bed like I expect him to. Instead, he takes his time memorizing every inch of my skin.
He presses me up against the door, holding me against it with his hips. "You're so fucking beautiful." He kisses down my neck. I reach down to grab my heel and pull it off, but he stops me. "Don't take them off yet. I like to have you at this height."
I roll my eyes. "Be careful, or I'll stab you with it," I grumble, leaning my head back against the cold wooden door. My hands run up his stomach, pulling his shirt over his head. I let it drop at my feet as he goes back to kissing his way over my skin.
Jagger's phone rings in his pocket, but he doesn't make a move for it. When he sucks on my neck, I close my eyes on a moan. Fuck, his mouth feels so damn good on my skin.