Still Jaded (Jaded 2)

focused on something else, someone else. Grace.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

As we crouched in the bushes and crept forward, Denton poked me in the side. "Ow! Don't do that," I hissed at him over my shoulder.

I had enough problems getting all the girls under control around him. I didn't need him to draw more attention. They'd all gone into hyper-swooning alert when Denton had gotten out of the car. After the hundredth picture and thousandth hug, or so it seemed, we'd finally gotten the show on the road.

He grinned and huddled closer to me. "I feel like we're in some show like Buffy the Slayer or whatever that name was. Should I have a pokey stick?"

"We're breaking into a house, not—who?"

"It was on the CW. Don't you watch those shows? Mena loved them."

"Shhh!"

I dug my elbow into his side. "Be quiet. If I'm shushed by one more person, I'm going to take it out on you. I hate being shushed."

"You hate being told anything."

"Same thing."

"Not really, but…" At my glare, he sighed. "I can't believe you never watched those shows. I was offered a part, but I had another project. My agent made me turn it down. It's too bad. It turned out to be a—"

"Why are you talking so much? Shut up!"

He frowned. "Never mind."

The group scurried forward around some bushes and through a few hedges. Two girls went up a tree. Denton followed close behind and whispered again, "Corrigan told me to talk. He said to never shut up, despite what you would say. He said it helps distract you. This is the new you."

I pushed him back. "Corrigan was messing with you. He knew I'd probably punch you."

"What?" Denton stood upright. "That—you guys are not nice. Mena was right. And you think it's funny. You guys are cruel."

I jerked him back down. "Chill. You're acting like a girl. It was a prank, bucko. Take it with a grin and get him back. Corrigan might like you a little more if you did."

A few of the girls shot around the backyard. I knew they'd be entering through the backdoor, if it had been left unlocked. A moment later they came back, and Carolina approached where we were hidden. She slipped around our bush and knelt beside us. "All the doors are locked."

"Windows?" I asked.

Carolina shook her head. "You talk like you've broken into a house before. Do you know how? We won't judge, but none of us know how to do it without actually breaking a window. Cadence seems like the type to have an alarm system. We don't want cops coming. Do you think you could do something?"

"I usually get lucky with an open door. I don't know what to tell you. Corrigan could get in there, but not me." At her look, I added, "And I'm not calling him. No way."

Denton nudged me with his shoulder.

"Stop." I shoved him back.

He bent his head so he was almost resting his chin on my shoulder. Then he grinned. "What did I hear before? Something about a locally grown gangster?"

I groaned, "We are not calling Hoodum. Hell no."

"Why not? Mena talked about him like he was your personal crime lord. I bet he'd help you."

I rotated so I could fully glare at him. "I am not calling Hoodum. Yes, he'd help, but he'd call Corrigan. By the way, when he asked you to watch me, did he say anything about keeping me at home?"

Denton started to shake his head and then a thought flashed over his face. He closed his mouth instead.

"That's what I thought. Corrigan wouldn't want me here. You don't want to see him pissed off. Contrary to most opinions, he is not pretty in those moments."

"Why'd you come then?"

"I was going crazy in that fortress." I rolled my eyes because I knew Denton was thinking about how I'd asked to stay home. I had lied to myself. I needed to do something else besides hiding. It was slowly suffocating me.

"Sheldon, please? We need to get in there—"

Someone yelled in a whisper, "Carolina! A basement window is open."

"Shut up!" she whispered back, just as loud.

A girl scooted into our small circle. She opened her mouth, eager to spill the beans, but stopped as she saw Denton staring back at her. A seductive gleam came over her and she curved her mouth into a flirtatious smile.

Carolina nudged her.

The girl started, then remembered why she had come. "Oh right." She flashed a sheepish grin. "It's a really small window. We're going to need the smallest girl to go in there, and she can unlock the doors for us."

"Who would know the inside of their house? We don't want someone getting lost."

"I do." Then I grimaced. Why had I said that?

"You do?" Carolina looked surprised. "You're not small, but you're slender. Beth, could she fit through the window?"

The girl's eyes raked me up and down. "I think so. I bet she could. Yes, she could!"

Denton clamped a hand on my arm. "She's not doing it."

"What?"

Carolina shot us a look. "Sheldon offered."

"No!" Then he looked at me. "You think I'm going to let you go into some house alone? No way, and especially if you say Corrigan is as scary as you say, but not just because of him. What if someone's in there? You do have someone to be concerned about, remember?"

Carolina looked between us and then asked, "Well…?"

I sighed. He was right. Corrigan would be furious. "Someone else will have to go."

"I'll go!" the little girl piped up. "I'm small. I'm not scared."

I narrowed my eyes. She might not have meant to insult me, but her words came off twisted. However, Denton was right. But I wasn't scared.

It was decided, so I waited with Denton breathing down my back as the girl went inside. It wasn't long before she found the back door and unlocked it for everyone else. When they started going inside, I followed behind. I didn't care what the other girls were doing. I wanted to see Grace's room. Carolina pointed it out in the hallway. It was in a back corner. It could've been easily overlooked. It was fitting to how Grace was as a person, easily overlooked and in the corner.

Entering the room, I stopped in awe. I'd never been in her room before. I'd never even been in her home before. There were pictures everywhere. Her brother, whom I'd forgotten about, smiled back at me from poses in his graduation gown. He was with girls, his buddies, and their family. She framed a few of the two of them by her bed. The other pictures were of me, Bryce, Corrigan. One was tucked in the corner of her mirror. It was her and me, just the two of us. I remembered the night it was taken. One of Grace's friends had a bonfire. I hadn't wanted to go. Neither had Corrigan or Bryce, but we all went. It was the week before we left for Spain.

"You look happy in those pictures," Denton noted.

I turned, hearing an inflection in his tone. Something flashed in his eyes before he covered it up and gestured to the picture. "It's hard to believe that you'd been stalked by that guy and everything. In all the pictures, you look happy."

I traced one of the pictures and smiled to myself. "Yeah. I was…"

"Do you miss him?"

"Marcus?!" I whirled to him.

Denton smirked and pointed to the photograph. "Bryce. Do you miss him?"

I realized that I'd been holding a picture of the two of us. "I do."

"You still love him?"