“Lila. Stop it!” Derek shouted.
“How could you let them take her?” she shrieked. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye. Get. Off. Me. Let me go.”
That son of a bitch.
My hands balled into fists and I took the stairs two at a time. Without even stopping to think, I ripped Derek away from her, spun him around and flung him across the hallway. He slammed into the wall, knocking a picture from a hook and it crashed to the floor, the glass in the frame shattering.
I pinned him to the wall with my arm and got right in his face. “Did you touch her?” I asked, my voice shaking with anger.
“Get the hell away from me.” He tried to shove me away but he was no match for me. I had a good three inches on him and had muscle in the place of his beer gut.
I fisted his T-shirt in my hands and looked him in the eye. His face had turned an alarming shade of beet red. “I’m asking you a question,” I seethed. “Did. You—”
“Jude. Stop. He didn’t do anything. Just... stop making a mess of everything.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me away from Derek who glared at me and rolled out his shoulders.
Not entirely sure what had just happened, I looked to Lila who was down on her knees, holding the picture that had fallen from the wall. In the photo, Lila was blowing out the four candles on her birthday cake and her mom was right next to her with a big smile on her face. Caroline looked so young and so healthy, her green eyes vibrant and her dark hair glossy, and there was so much joy and love on her face while she watched Lila that I nearly cried just looking at it.
“Go home, Jude.” Her voice was quiet. Resolute.
“Was he—”
“He wasn’t doing anything. Just go. I want to be left alone.”
I took a few steps back from Derek. “Sorry,” I mumbled, running my hand through my hair. I cleared my throat. “I thought...”
He shook his head in disgust. “I know what you thought. You heard her. Go on home.”
But I couldn’t go home and just leave her so I followed the trail of blood down the gray-carpeted hallway to her bedroom. Her knees were bleeding from where she’d knelt in the broken glass. “Lila. I’m sorry. I—”
The door slammed in my face. I pressed my forehead against the wood and heard the lock turning on the other side like she was so desperate to keep me out that she had to lock herself inside. My eyes drifted shut and I placed the palms of my hands flat against her door.
“Let me in, Lila. Please.” I was pleading. Begging. And I knew I sounded pathetic but fuck that. She couldn’t shut me out. I was her best friend. I was the guy who loved her more than anyone on this planet. Caroline was gone but I was still here, begging for her to let me in.
And I did. I loved her. I’d loved her forever. I’d loved her since we were nine years old and I was scared she was going to drown in the creek. I’d loved her when she punched me in the fourth grade.
I’d loved her when I gave her my favorite hoodie in ninth grade.
I’d loved her in tenth grade when she cheered for me from the bleachers at my football games even though she was the sad girl.
After she quit the cheering squad, she still went to the games because the entire town went. She usually sat with my family or with Brody if he wasn’t away at one of his rodeos. One Friday at school, on a game day, I tried to give her one of my jerseys to wear to the games but she’d thrown it back in my face.
“Is this supposed to mean something?” She looked down at the blue jersey in her hand, my name and the number ten emblazoned in gold.
“Uh, yeah. It means you’re on my team.” It means you’re mine and nobody else’s. How could she not have figured that out?
She’d tossed the jersey back in my face and walked away.
But I’d loved her anyway.
Unfortunately, dumb shit that I was, I’d let my dick do the thinking and somehow it had found its way inside Ashleigh’s mouth and somehow my mouth had found its way to... yeah, you get the picture. I’d like to say that was a one-time thing but I’d be lying.
Goddammit.
“Rebel. Open up.” I smacked the palm of my hand against her door. “Let me come in.”
You need me.
Lila didn’t answer. She didn’t unlock the door. I stayed where I was, glued to her door and I waited. And I listened for signs of life inside. My heart thrashed in my chest when I heard her footsteps crossing the room, getting closer. I breathed a sigh of relief and took a step back from the door, waiting for it to open.
My hopes were dashed when two seconds later, “Move Along” by the All-American Rejects blasted from her speakers. I jumped back realizing why her footsteps had come so close to the door. She’d put a speaker right on the other side of it and had cranked up the volume. Her music was so fucking loud it shook the walls.
Move along. Cute, Rebel, cute.
“I’ll camp outside your door until you let me in,” I yelled over the music.
“Go. Home.”
I sat outside her door and leaned my forearms on my bent knees. I was still sitting there, listening to her angry-girl emo music when my dad’s work boots appeared in front of me. I lifted my head and met his glare. His jaw was clenched and he looked as if he was two seconds away from losing his shit.
“It’s time for school.”
“I’m not going.” I kicked my legs out in front of me, crossed my arms over my chest and leaned my back against the
