Black Promises (Blackwoods College)

Last and certainly far from least was Robyn’s cousin, Jarrod Hale. He was the biggest of the group and the quietest. Messy, curly hair, dark eyes, stubble on his cheeks and chin, clothes like he couldn’t have cared less about what he was wearing, and still he was handsome as sin. His reputation was dark and dirty, and Robyn didn’t talk about him much, mostly because she’d grown up with the bastard spending most of his waking hours torturing her.

They were the hottest men on campus and the most dangerous. Robyn looked like she wanted to get the hell out of there, but it was much too late. Addler spotted her and waved, and Jarrod pushed past his friends to stalk toward us with a malicious glare.

“Aren’t you late for class, cuz?”

Robyn let out a frustrated breath. I knew that tone. Jarrod was in a bad mood, and he wanted to take it out on her.

“Yeah, I am, so can we walk past without getting shit from you?”

“Oh, damn, Jarrod, she finally fights back.” Des laughed and took out his phone. “I should get a picture for posterity.”

Jarrod flipped him off, then gazed at Robyn. “What did I tell you before we left this morning?”

“Seriously, Jarrod—”

“What did I tell you?”

Robyn turned red. I seethed with anger, but I felt the eyes of three of the Four Horsemen staring at me like they wanted to rip off my clothes and take a piece right then and there.

“I’m leaving you alone. I can’t help it if we bumped into each other on a public walking path.”

“See, that’s the thing, cuz. If you would’ve turned and walked away, we could’ve avoided all this. Instead, you had to step up and act like I exist.”

“Don’t be an asshole, Jarrod,” I said finally, unable to help myself. Robyn had put up with his random bullying for way too long, and I was getting sick of it. “What is with you and torturing her, anyway? You get off on it? Pretty fucked up considering she’s your cousin.”

Des and Addler laughed loudly while Calvin glanced up from his phone with raised eyebrows.

Jarrod’s attention turned to me. His gaze was hot, like a dagger shoved down my throat. Most of the time, he acted like I didn’t exist—and I preferred it that way. He lived with Robyn, but he kept to himself, and I didn’t hear her parents mention him very often. He was like a stranger in their house, even though they’d taken him in when he was ten. He had some dark and depressing backstory, but I didn’t know the details, and I didn’t give a shit.

He was an asshole. Robyn was sweet as hell, and most of the time she was accommodating and extremely patient with him, but I was disgusted by his constant harassment. They were family, and her parents had done him a favor by giving him a place to live. He could’ve at least tried not to be a total bastard to her in exchange.

Jarrod stared at me like he’d never seen me before but found me very interesting. There wasn’t anger or malice in his gaze like I’d expected, but his eyes made me squirm, regardless. The asshole had a reputation, and I didn’t want to find out if the rumors about him liking pain were true.

“So my cousin’s lapdog finally speaks. I was wondering when you’d start yapping.” He took a step toward me. “Would you rather I focused all my energy on you, little Cora?”

“Stop, Jarrod,” Robyn said. “She’s just sticking up for me.”

I lifted my chin in defiance. “Go ahead, big guy. Get your rocks off torturing me instead.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” His eyes sparkled as he looked me up and down like he’d only just noticed that I was a girl—despite the fact that we’d known each other for years. “I’m not sure you could handle it.”

“I can take a lot more than you can give.”

That seemed to delight him. He suppressed a smile. “All right, then. If that’s what you want.” He stepped forward faster than I could follow and grabbed my backpack, pulling me hard against him.

“Stop!” Robyn hopped around us like a squawking bird. Jarrod’s friends watched intently, Addler’s eyes wide with fascination, Des’s face twisted into excited horror, and Calvin showed only the barest hint of interest.

Jarrod twisted my arm back and held me tight against his chest. I breathed hard as pain lanced down my wrist and through my elbow. It burned and I wanted to cry out, but instead I mastered the pain and embraced it.

That was the trick: you couldn’t make pain disappear, but you could become a part of it, make it flow through you like water. I’d learned how to accept that things would always hurt a long time ago.