A Piece of Heaven (Allendale Four 1)

“You okay?” he asked, distracting me with a kiss.

I nodded, savoring the pain. It was a different sort than I was used to. This was what I wanted, he was what I wanted, and I exhaled when he was all the way inside.

We were all alone when Anderson claimed me. Alone when he pressed his lips to mine and whispered my name. It was just the two of us when he thrusted his hips hard against mine, linking our sweaty hands and mingling breaths.

Anderson groaned, nose wrinkled, jaw tight, and I watched him through his release. His chest heaved and he rolled to his side, pulling out. I felt the loss, but his fingers trailed down my hot skin, over the curve of my hip. He touched the inside of my thigh, nudging me to open and I did, allowing him to relieve the desperate ache between my legs.

Those long, skilled fingers moved the stars.

After, when he pulled me tight against his chest, still sticky with sweat, I finally felt the healing begin on one of the missing pieces of my broken heart.

Chapter 24

After miraculously not getting caught with Anderson, I didn’t push my luck. I did everything I could to gain my mother’s trust. Engaged at dinner. Spoke about school. Never mentioned my boyfriends.

Amber and I came up with a solid plan. One that should flush out Mark and Spencer while redeeming the Allendale Four. Unfortunately, to get everything in motion I was going to have to swallow my pride and do something painful.

I had to call Justin.

“Fuck no,” Hayden roared, when I told him the plan. The others didn’t have the same intense reaction, they also didn’t seem pleased.

“I’m not forgiving him,” I said. We were once again huddled in the bathroom right after lunch. “But he’s my only way into that dance. My mom trusts him.”

“You mom has shitty tastes.” Jackson looked guilty after he said it. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. She’s got this whole thing wrong.”

Oliver slipped an arm around my waist. “To be fair, it’s a complicated, stupid situation. Your mother wants to protect you. I can’t fault her for that.”

I lean into him. “We’ve got three days until the dance. If I talk to Justin tonight, I think we can set this plan in motion.”

“And if he says no?” Anderson asked.

We locked eyes, the heat of our connection burning hard since the prior day. It was impossible to look at him without thinking about what we’d done. I swallowed back those feelings, crossed my arms over my chest and made a promise. “He won’t say no.”

*

Like I suspected, my mother happily allowed me to take her truck to Oceanside and visit Justin. He eyed me warily when I pulled up and it took everything I had not to walk right up to him and slap him across the face.

Okay, it didn’t take everything, because I walked right up to him and punched him in the jaw.

“Ow! Mother fu—” I shouted, doubling over and holding my hand. That was a bad idea.

“Heaven!” He rubbed his jaw. “What the hell?”

My hand throbbed. My fingers were surely broken.

“That was for ratting me out, asshole.”

“And you thought busting up your hand was punishment?” He reached for my hand and I snatched it back. He made a face and I reluctantly held it out. It really hurt, but he checked it over and said he thought it was probably just bruised.

“Did you really come here to beat me up?”

“Actually, I didn’t, but seeing your smug, traitorous face made me snap.” I grimaced and we had a long staredown. Justin had dark, soulful eyes that when he felt bad made him look like a shamed puppy. Even though I did nothing wrong, it felt like a punch in the gut. “No. You don’t get to make me feel bad.”

“I’m sorry, Heaven. I thought I was doing the right thing.”

His apology sounded genuine but it didn’t change the raw, jagged wound he left on our friendship. “You hurt me, Justin. I never thought you’d betray me. Never, not after what I did for you. I protected you and took the abuse from everyone at school for you. You. And I found something good in all of it and then you just went and epically fucked the whole thing up.”