These Thorn Kisses (St. Mary’s Rebels 3)

And so that’s the other reason I called Reed today.

Because he’s already helping me out. Because he’s the only person I know who can help me out. Because Reed Jackson has connections.

Or rather his father, the wealthiest man in Bardstown and four towns over, does.

And I need those connections, that influence to go up against a DA.

I need leverage.

“So what’s the damage?” I ask him.

“What damage?”

“For bailing me out today. And for finally getting your hand on the jackpot. What do I owe you?”

He stares at me like I’m talking gibberish. “Nothing.”

I frown. “Nothing.” He nods in response and I continue, “So you’re saying that you walked into the room and they let me go. And that guy of yours isn’t going to charge you anything?”

He smirks again. “Well, I know this is the first time for you, seeing the dark side of Bardstown, but these guys, they’re my minions. My dad’s minions. They just do the things I tell them to do. And well, it usually helps that my father is filthy rich.”

I study him, his arrogant face.

His attitude has always bugged me. He used to be my player when I coached Bardstown high and I always thought that he had talent. More so than a lot of kids I’ve coached. And I’ve always thought that it was thoroughly and utterly wasted on him.

“You tell Callie?” I ask.

All his cockiness and smirk and arrogance, everything that I’ve always hated about him, melts away at my sister’s name. “Fuck no,” he replies almost angrily. “And no one is going to tell her anything. She’s already under a lot of stress, all right? Her back is bothering her. She can’t move around a lot. She’s always angry and hormonal. And she’s got fucking finals on top of it. No one is going to tell Fae anything. She doesn’t need that shit right now.”

Fae.

She calls her by his own name, which I have to admit really bothered me in the past.

But not anymore.

Especially when he somehow has the same level of protectiveness toward her like me. Like all my brothers.

I mean he’s never going to win against us, against how much we care for Callie, but it’s good to see that he’s right up there.

Not to mention, I’ve finally come to see that he’s got more to him than what he portrays. So yeah.

“Good,” I say, agreeing.

Callie doesn’t need to know anything right now; that was the other reason why I wanted to keep everything with Principal Carlisle and St. Mary’s quiet. I’ll tell her everything myself when the time comes but not before.

I feel Reed studying me for a beat before folding his arms across his chest and asking with his typical smirk, “So who’s she?”

“Who’s who?”

“The girl,” he says. “For who you got arrested.”

I shove my hands down my pockets to hide the immediate effect at her mere mention. “Why does it have to be a girl?”

“Because when men do stupid fucking things, things they never thought they’d do in a million years, things they never even dreamed of doing, there’s usually a girl involved,” he answers. “A pretty one too. You’re looking into the DA, the DA had you arrested and I’m pretty sure even though you made bail for now, he’s coming after you. I mean, until he sees what we’ve got against him. So who is she? The lucky girl. Who got Coach Thorne to break all the rules and go to jail for.”

Lucky girl.

Yeah, I don’t know about that.

I don’t know if she’s lucky or if this is a cruel joke.

I’ve been dreaming about her, yes. But I don’t know if she should be dreaming about someone like me.

Someone as hard and rigid and so still. Whose life is so limited and small.

For someone as old as me, I haven’t seen much of the world, have I?

I haven’t done anything. I haven’t gone anywhere.

I haven’t achieved anything of my own.

That’s why I stayed away. For three whole weeks.

Despite getting over my cowardly fear of dreaming, of wanting things. I wasn’t protecting myself for the past three weeks, I was protecting her.

From me.

Because her future is out there. Her future is big and bright and in New York.

How could I be selfish with her when I knew I wasn’t good enough for her? When I knew I couldn’t give her the things that she deserved.

That’s why I pushed her toward Ledger.

Even though it killed me. Even though for the first time in my life, I felt jealous of him. Of my own brother.

So much so that I wanted to punch him and punch him until he gave up the idea of going out with her.

And not to mention, how could I go to her when I lied to her?

Like an asshole, I took advantage of her trust yet again. I told her the one thing that would get her to back off. That would get her to move on. To live her life. To forget about this short lived dream fever of a time we had. To forget this teenage crush on me.