Jaded (Jaded 1)

"Or was it one guy that I know about?"

"No," he answered. "It was just one guy. She dated him for a year and they never had sex."

"How do you know that?"

"I just do." Denton shrugged. "She's not ready for the world that you live in, Sheldon."

"What world is that?"

He gave me a knowing look. "I learned tricks from you that time. You didn't learn anything from me and I'm the famous actor. That says something."

"Maybe she could learn to toughen up," I challenged, but my heart really wasn't in it.

Denton stiffened. "Look, I'm going to be honest with you. Our family has its problems, but we've got two parents in each home. Mena has serious anger problems against her biological dad, but she's got her parents. And you…" Don't.

Oh, whoa. That was a slam. "What exactly are you saying, Denton?"

"I really didn't come over here to piss you off or hurt your feelings."

"But you are, so say what you came to say."

Denton sighed and studied me a moment. I felt like everyone did that when they picked their words with caution. People did it a lot around me.

He broke, "I don't want my sister to become a girl that screws her movie star neighbor because she's pissed off at her parents."

I felt a punch to my gut. "You're in luck. You don't have a movie star neighbor. You just have a girl that screws her movie star neighbor because she's bored and he's pretty good in the sack."

He grinned tightly and shook his head, then raked a hand through his hair as he considered me again.

The silence was thick, but he broke it when he murmured, "I'm out of line. I know that. I know I had no right to say what I did and if a guy ever said that to my sister, I'd beat him down."

"Was that an apology?" Was he kidding?

"Yes. No. Kinda." He shook his head and chuckled in disbelief. "I cannot believe how I'm stumbling over my words. I'm an actor and I never stumble over my words. It's one of the reasons I’m so good."

I didn't care.

He caught my look. "But then again, you probably don't care."

I tilted my chin up.

"Okay. Look—I don't want Mena to become as tough as you."

That was different. I sighed and stepped back. "For what it's worth," I murmured, "I think that's why your sister wants me as a friend. I'd give her protection at school."

That caught his interest.

"She's your sister," I added. "That's going to get out and she's going to be eaten alive by some of those girls in there." Mena might've thought otherwise, but she was wrong. In fact, she was delusional.

"I never thought of it that way." He skimmed his eyes over my figure again. "You're hot when you're pissed off."

I lifted an eyebrow. "I'm not that girl who screws her movie star neighbor because she's pissed at her parents anymore."

Denton barked out a laugh. "Wow," he whistled. "That was good."

Just then the door shoved open and slammed again.

"Sheldon," Bryce called out before he turned the corner. "We gotta go. Corrigan's in jail…" His voice trailed off when he saw I wasn't alone.

Denton sent me a frown as he glanced between the two of us.

This was ironic.

I said weakly, "I'm not in jail. It's my friend who…"

"Would be Mena's friend too," Denton finished. He walked past Bryce and threw over his shoulder, "Just talk to her and let her down gently, please?"

When the door shut again, Bryce asked, "What was that about?"

"Big brother thinks I'm not a good example for his precious little sister," I muttered.

"You haven't even met her yet."

Never mind. "What's Corrigan in jail for?"

Bryce hesitated, but said, "Fleeing the scene of an accident."

"What accident?"

"Corrigan smashed up Yerling's car. When he tried to leave, the police flashed their lights and he took off." Bryce chuckled. "He led a high-speed chase. He's so proud of himself for that one."

I sighed, but darted to my room and changed. Again.

I threw a bulky sweatshirt on and replaced my pajama pants with a pair of baggy jeans. "I'm ready," I said as I moved back downstairs.

Bryce nodded and held the door open when we moved to his car.

I caught a glimpse of his knuckles as my motion-detector flared on. They were bloody and bruised.

"Whose blood?" I asked, but I already knew. "Is that what you guys did? You beat up Yerling and Corrigan beat up his car? For what? For good measure?"

He shrugged and started the car.

I shook my head. "Is this just because of me? I just had one older brother come to my house and tell me that he doesn't want his little sister to grow up and have a life like mine."

"What?" Bryce shot me an incredulous look as he pulled into traffic.

"Nothing. How much money do we need?"

"A thousand cash, just to be safe." Bail varied on the crime.

"Stop at the ATM at Garrity's. You can wash your hands off in the bathroom."

When he pulled into the gas station, he murmured before either of us got outside, "Look. This wasn't just about you. A lot of the guys were behind this. Yerling's been off lately and he's made some of the guys nervous. And the girls."

"I was the last straw?"

"Something like that."

"What if he presses charges?"

Bryce shrugged, "He won't. He knows better."

"Or what? He'll get beat up by everyone else?"

"Something like that."

"I'm starting to hate that phrase," I muttered as I threw open the door and moved to the ATM machine.

When I got the cash, I bought a soda and an energy drink. In the car, I handed the energy drink to Bryce and drank my soda.

"Thanks," he murmured as he opened it and put it in the cup holder.

A moment later, we pulled into the jail and approached the front desk.

"Can I help you?" A deputy glanced up and raked his eyes over each of us. His eyes lingered on Bryce's bruised knuckles.

"Yeah. I'm here to post bail for a friend of mine," I spoke up.

When he asked, I gave Corrigan's name and a moment later we were given some paperwork to fill out. It seemed to take forever, but in truth it was probably fifteen minutes before we saw Corrigan