Page 13 of Pretty Lies (Watch Me Burn #1)

CHAPTER SIX

RORY

“ A re you okay today?” Jensen asked quietly as he lazily leaned against my locker the next morning. I smiled, seeming to surprise him as I patted his arm.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks for asking.”

“You sure? You seem different.” He peered at my face more closely as he studied me. I didn’t feel any different, so I had no idea what he was talking about.

“Do I?” I asked with confusion, making him nod. He stepped closer and made it obvious he was going to touch me before carefully placing an arm around my shoulders with a mischievous grin.

“Yeah. What happened? Did you bury Holloway in Josie’s garden or something?”

“I was buried somewhere, but it wasn’t the garden,” Caden’s voice said from behind us, and we both glanced over to see him watching us closely with his arms crossed. He seemed irritated, his eyes narrowing, which confused the fuck out of me.

He’d been fine this morning when we’d woken up for school.

Jensen raised an eyebrow, seeming amused by his friend’s mood. “Well, good morning to you too, Sunshine. What’s up your ass this morning?”

He watched me intensely until I started to feel nervous. Apparently, his problem was with me again.

Jensen took my tense body as a sign that his touch was making me uncomfortable, so he dropped his arm from my shoulders as he replied to Caden. “I didn’t do shit. Look, don’t give Rory any crap, okay? You?—”

“Rory and I are good, don’t worry.” Caden suddenly smirked as he stepped closer, grabbing the front of my tie and yanking me flush against him.

My face heated from his closeness, my nipples pebbling as he continued to stare at me.

Jensen didn’t look convinced until Caden ran his fingers through my hair and I gave him a small smile, the nerves melting away with the motion.

I didn’t understand why I’d become so comfortable around him, especially after he’d had his hand around my throat in the kitchen yesterday. I felt like he understood me, and that took a lot for me to admit to myself.

Tyler and Lukas walked towards us, but before I could wave at them, Caden dipped down and kissed me, backing me into the lockers with a solid thud.

People would gossip even more now, but I was beyond caring as he planted his hands on my waist and deepened the kiss, pressing his front firmly against mine.

My skin tingled, and my hands fisted the front of his blazer, his cologne surrounding me and making me forget all about our audience.

“What the hell did we miss?” Tyler asked, his hyena laugh bouncing off the lockers and most likely drawing more attention.

“Fuck knows. I know just as much as you do,” Jensen replied, his voice flat.

Caden was practically fucking me against the lockers with his clothes on, and I had to admit that I liked all of his attention on me. He had a way of making you feel like the only girl in the world.

It was a nice delusion.

When he finally moved back, he tucked my loose hair behind my ear and smiled down at me playfully. “We should’ve just stayed in bed. Right, baby?”

Lukas tensed, but Tyler cackled with laughter. “Holy fuck, you two are actually banging for real now? C’mon, Holloway. She’s your sister!”

People were gawking at us, but Caden just smirked and swatted my butt with a sharp crack.

“No. She’s my hot sister, dude.”

I couldn’t believe he just fucking said that.

“Caden!” I shrieked with horror, both him and Tyler cracking up with laughter.

Jensen rolled his eyes as if he were bored, while Lukas appeared genuinely worried for me.

I knew his concern, but it wasn’t like Caden had forced me, and he had no idea who I could’ve been sleeping with since we’d been kids.

Once they’d stopped laughing, the guys all walked off to their homerooms together, other than Jensen, who walked with me. He snatched my bag and ignored my protesting as he hooked it over his shoulder.

When we were at our desks, he gave me a sideways glance, speaking quietly as he placed my bag at my feet. “So, you and Holloway, huh? You two hated each other yesterday afternoon, so how did it become makeup sex?”

I shrugged, my face heating with embarrassment. “It just did, okay? I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Aurora,” he said gently as concern filled his tone, making me look over at him.

“What?”

He hesitated, a strange look crossing his eyes before he blocked it, shrugging it off as he glanced away from me. “Never mind.”

I had no idea what was up with him but I didn’t have time to ask as Mr. Franklin walked in and started roll call.

Jensen acted strangely for the rest of homeroom and English, Lukas made small talk in Biology, and then it was back to weird looks from Jensen in History as I sat between him and Caden.

People gossiped loudly about me in the cafeteria at lunchtime as I sat on Caden’s lap, but I ignored it, letting Caden feed me. It was a fancy looking rice bowl, and I was pretty sure the students here got better meals than anywhere else I’d been before. They had a whole menu to choose from.

It felt strange buying food, but Caden threatened to tell Josie about how I was only taking a measly sandwich from home, so I caved.

I joined in with the guys’ conversation but was distracted thanks to Jensen. It was unlikely he’d tell me what was wrong in front of the guys, so I didn’t bother asking.

The guys wanted to hang out in the gym after lunch to skip classes, and Caden walked off ahead with Tyler and Lukas to workout, giving me the opportunity to corner Jensen alone at our lockers.

“What the fuck is your problem?” I hissed after earning another side-eye from him.

He snorted, not bothering to look at me again as he rummaged in his locker. “I don’t have a problem.”

“You’ve been acting weird all day, so start talking before I make you,” I warned, fisting my hands by my sides.

He raised an eyebrow and smirked at me with amusement, finally giving me his attention. “I seriously don’t have a problem. I just don’t want the girls having more ammo to throw at you. Banging your stepbrother is serious fucking ammo for them. You’re hot when you’re mad, Donovan.”

“Jensen!”

“What? It’s true,” he shrugged, turning to close his locker but I shoved him hard, getting in his face as his back hit the metal with a bang.

“You’re being a fucking?—”

“You’re turning me on, babe,” he replied with a slow sarcastic groan as he rubbed his crotch, pissing me off more.

“Stop it!”

“Nope. I can’t touch you, but I can tell you all about the things I’d do to you if I could,” he said in a low voice, his expression faltering when I frowned at him with confusion.

“Why can’t you touch me?” I wasn’t even sure if I wanted him to touch me, but his words had thrown me. He seemed the type to just take what he wanted.

“You don’t like to be touched, but you’re with Holloway, so?—"

“I’m not with Caden!” I bit out defensively, and he blinked at me as if he was trying to figure me out.

“You sure?”

“We fucked once, and everyone knows Caden doesn’t date,” I scoffed, my breath catching as he reached up and cupped my chin gently in his hand. His beautiful, blue eyes stared into mine, his voice barely there.

“I can’t touch you, Rory. I won’t do that to you.”

“What do you mean by that?” I whispered, watching the fight in his eyes. I wouldn’t have stopped him if he wanted to touch me right now. My heartbeat was smashing against my ribcage, and I was lost in his surprisingly affectionate touch.

This wasn’t sexual, it was something else.

“I just— fuck.” His brow creased as if he was confused too, his hand leaving my face to play with the tips of my black hair.

“What’s going on?” I asked softly, his messy hair flopping over his eyes as he shook his head.

“Nothing. I just won’t hurt you like that.” He wasn’t making any sense.

“You won’t hurt me.”

“Yes, I will,” he argued, the muscles in his chest flexing as I placed my hand over his pec. His heartbeat hammered under my palm as I held his gaze, swallowing hard as I tempted fate all over again. These boys were fucking with my head.

“I trust you not to.”

His mouth collided with mine in a heated frenzy, and I moaned, my fingers bunching in the front of his blazer as I tried to somehow get closer to him. My back hit the lockers, and his hands squeezed my waist, his dick hardening in his pants as he ground against my hip.

It felt like an eternity passed before he pushed himself back and gave me a hard look, ignoring the surprise on my face from the kiss that wasn’t at all unwanted.

“Then you’re stupid. Don’t trust anyone, Rory. I fucking mean it. Not even me.” He stalked off towards the gym, leaving me alone in the empty hallway.

I cleared my throat and straightened my clothes, glancing around to make sure no one had noticed our moment of weakness. Jensen was right, people already gossiped about me fucking Caden, so I didn’t need to add his friends into the situation too.

What the hell had I been thinking?

I headed to the library to cool off and skipped my afternoon classes, not at all surprised to find the guys still in the gym when I’d finished. They could spend hours there, which I thought was stupid since they all had their own gyms at home with much newer equipment.

I leaned against the wall as I entered, watching as Caden and Jensen appeared to be racing each other on the treadmills at high speed, sweat drenching their toned bodies as their arms kept pumping. Neither had a shirt on, and I struggled not to drool as beads of sweat dripped down their muscles.

Tyler, on the other hand, gave me the side-eye as he lifted his weights, but he didn’t say anything. Neither did Lukas, who was using an exercise bike.

When Caden finally noticed me, he slowed his machine and gave me a naughty wink. “Hey, baby. You ready to head home?”

“I can take a bus if you guys aren’t done,” I offered, but Lukas rolled his eyes dramatically, letting out a scoff.