The Next Contestant (34 page)

I haven’t stopped wanting and yearning for him. How sick is that? Even after watching those fucked up videos, I still want him.
After what he said… does he still want more for us? Or have I ruined it?

Taking deep, calming breaths, I park my car, force myself to get out, and let myself into the house. The door is open anyway. There are a lot of people here, but it’s not as packed as it usually is. I glance around nervously for
him
but when I don’t see him, sick thoughts fill my head. He could be locked in his room with… Uh. The bitch. Or some other girl. Would he?

“Firecracker!” I’m blindsided by Jaden wrapping his arms around me from behind and swinging me in a circle. He must not know yet, or he wouldn’t be treating me so… brotherly.

“Jaden, put me down.” He does. I turn to face him, then grab him by the ear, tugging him down to me, and whisper, “Is, um. Is Jax here?”

Jaden pulls back and shakes his head. “Nah. That asshole left me at your show. I had to sit on that fuck-stick, Nick’s lap. Fag. Any who. What’s up?”

How to tell him? “I need to talk to you. In private.”

“My room’s available.” He chuckles lightly.

“No. Not here. Kolby won’t appreciate that and I don’t want him breathing down my neck, or yours. Meet me at The Brewed Force, the coffee shop down the road?”

“Uh, yeah, okay?”

I don’t bother answering his uncertainty. I turn and walk out.

Twenty minutes later, I find an open table and slide into the outside chair, saving the one against the wall for Jaden. I may need a quick escape and being trapped between the table and the wall is NOT a quick getaway. Jaden could easily capture me if he were in the outside chair.

I’m facing a colorful wall with clouds, a darkened sky, stringed lights that form lightening, and a road laced with a fiery background. Normally, I love this place, but right now, I’m nervous. I examine each wall to distract myself. I glance at the wall behind me and analyze it. Jupiter, stars, a math equation, DNA... then I shift to examine the back wall. A parrot perched on a branch does NOT fit. It’s completely out of place and next to it is a set of chemistry beakers. Hmm.

My heart rate spikes when the doorbell jingles, but when I turn to see who has entered, I sigh with relief when I see a couple of girls and no Jaden.

“Firecracker!” Jaden startles me as he grips my shoulders and squeezes tightly. I turn to look up at him. He smirks.

“You ass! You scared the shit out of me. How did you get in here without me seeing you?”

“I’m slick like that.” He grins. “I slipped in with those girlies and quickly darted your way before you turned toward the door.” He eyes the empty table. “What? No coffee?”

“I thought I’d wait for you and get us both some brew. What would you like?” I slide out of my seat to stand. Jaden has one brow scrunched and one raised. “I dragged you down here so I insist. My treat.”

“All right then. I’ll take a cinnamon latte. Tell the barista NO frothy hearts and shit. That’s for girls and pansies like Nick.”

I shake my head and laugh at Mr. I-don’t-have-a-feminine-side. “Only that one guy, Dylan, I think, makes those cool drinks. He’s not here so I think you’re safe, soccer stud.”

Okay, so maybe this won’t be so bad. Maybe Jaden won’t kill me after all.

I step up to the counter and I’m greeted by a sweet African American girl with a nametag Tammy, pinned to her green polo with the tan logo
The Brewed Force
. She’s a little on the chubby side but her smile is so infectious that I imagine everyone she greets instantly feels welcome.

“What can I get for you this fine evening?”

“Um. One regular cinnamon latte without the hearts and pretties on top, and a frozen mocha, please.”

“Small, medium, or large?” she asks and I stare at her stupidly. “The frozen mocha, what size do you want?” she clarifies.

“Oh! Duh. Regular, please.”

“You’ve got it.” She rings up the total and I hand her my credit card. After she hands it back with my receipt, she says cheerfully, “One regular cinnamon latte, no pretties, and a regular frozen mocha coming right up.”

I glance over my shoulder as Tammy works on my order. Jaden is watching me, wary and suspicious, I think. He smiles and shakes his head, then turns his attention to his phone. I watch him while I wait. His dark hair is unruly in a just fucked kind of way. God. I hope I didn’t ruin any plans he might have, like sacking some chick, but then I’m sure he wouldn’t have agreed to meet me if he had someone to bag tonight.

“Your cinnamon latte and frozen mocha, ma’am,” Tammy says and startles me. Gah! I’m so freaking jumpy, my nerves are going to be fried before the night is over.

“Thank you.” I drop some bills into the tip jar, and take our drinks.

After setting our drinks on the table, I slip into my seat. Jaden’s eyes lock on mine. He’s got some amazing long dark lashes and he’s blinking, no doubt he’s pondering over this little encounter.

“So. What’s going on? You in trouble or something?” His curious brown eyes instantly change to worry.

“Um. I don’t know. I just did something that was wrong but it was one of those things that I couldn’t stop myself from doing. You know what I mean?”

He sniggers. “Uh, yeah, I do that shit all the time.” God! He’s smiling so sweetly, so brotherly at me.

I lean over my drink, my hair tumbles down creating a curtain, and take a few swigs of my mocha, searching for the right words to break the news to Jaden.

“Hey,” he says as he leans forward and rests his hand over my fisted hand on the table. “I don’t know what’s bothering you, but you can talk to me. I know you want to or we wouldn’t be sitting here in this coffee shop. Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad, and if it is, well, I’ll help you work through it, okay?”

“Even if it has to do with you?” I mumble, still unable to look at him.

“Even if it has to do with me,” he says, his voice low but I hear the waver of uncertainty in his tone.

“I took something.” There! I said it.

“All right. So you took something. It has to do with me. I’m all ears, Kimber.”

Why can’t he just figure it out? I took something, he’s missing something. His damn computer. But no, he continues to sit quietly and wait for me to respond.

“I know what you guys are doing upstairs. At Muze,” I say barely above a whisper.

Jaden’s silence is eating away at me, so much that I lift my head to face him. He smiles smugly at me. “And…?”

And? Is that all he can say?! “And,” I repeat. “Is that all you can come up with?”

“Kimber, everyone knows we bring chicks up there to bang. That’s no surprise.”

I stare at him. I’m angry and no longer feel bad for swiping his damn computer. “We? Oh no, Jaden. Not we as in all of you brothers. I know what YOU do, what you watch, what you monitor, and what certain brothers are in, what they forked out for… said bet. Five fucking grand to be exact.” There. I’ve given him enough to figure out how I know.

We’re in a stare down. Jaden’s previously tender eyes shift into small slits as he puts the pieces together. His body goes rigid, his chest heaving up and down. Okay so now I’m a little frightened and consider bolting but then he grabs my wrist and he’s squeezing it so hard it hurts.

“You… you took my computer?” he hisses through gritted teeth.

Incapable of forming words, I nod my response.

“Why the fuck would you do that? Why. The. Fuck!” He releases my wrist and shoves it away from him. “Does anyone know… have you told or…” he stops speaking and begins to laugh. What a dick. “Of course you didn’t share. No way could you access my login. Now where the fuck is it?”

His attitude is pissing me off. “You’re not the only genius, Jaden. I hacked your password. I saw the disgusting videos.” I glare at him glaring at me. “Five points for this, ten points for that. Jax, Kolby. My own brother. I don’t know which is more disgusting. What they were doing or the fact that you were listening, watching, and getting off on it!”

“Shut the fuck up. There are people here,” he bites back in a much lower but threatening tone. He leans back, closes his eyes, and rakes his hands through his hair several times before he eyes me again. “What do you want, Kimber? I know you didn’t
steal
my computer for shits and giggles. What’s on there could destroy your brother, Jax, our reputations and me. It could also get our asses kicked off the team. Is that what you want?”

“Of course not. It was a stupid thing to do, but you stepped away leaving it right there, on the side of the chair, and I had to know if Jax was a part of it. Obviously you already know I was seeing him, but before you make assumptions, it was all my doing. I lied to him when we first met, said I was… Uh. Timber. I couldn’t tell him who I was. He would have walked away and never looked back. So technically, he didn’t break the oath and Kolby shouldn’t kick him out of the fraternity.” What else can I say? I’ve given him the truth but all he is doing is staring at me and I have no idea what he’s thinking.

“Say something, anything.”

“How did you gain access? The door leading upstairs is locked at all times.”

“Well, genius, I stole Kolby’s key and replaced it with a similar one of my own. Obviously he has a spare because he’s never questioned me.”

Jaden’s stoic face suddenly changes and I’m not sure if his wicked little grin is good or bad.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You, little firecracker, have just given me the ammo I need to fire back at your brother. He doesn’t know my laptop went M.I.A. Only Jax knows because he was there, but you already know this. So. I have a little proposition for you. A win-win situation for both of us.”

“Are you bartering with me, Jaden? Bribery is a crime, you know.”

“Stealing a five-thousand dollar laptop is a felony, ‘you know’,” he mocks me.

“Fine. Bribe away.”

“Give me my laptop back and never mention you’ve seen the videos.”

“Jaden—”

“Uh-uh. That’s not all. I want something in return. What I want is Ella, the hot little blonde who is on your dance team. Set me up with her and we’ll forget you stole my laptop. Simple.”

What a jerk. Does he really think I’m just going to cave without asking for something in return? “Your laptop will be returned but don’t think I haven’t copied the files. Now, in order for you to get it back, I want details. When is the winner announced of said game, and where. Who announces this and who tallies up the points? You give me this and I’ll set you up with Ella.”

“And give me my—”

“Uh-uh. That’s not all. I want something in return. You need to get Kolby to break that stupid fucking oath and not kick Jax out of the fraternity.”

“Fuck, Kimber. You don’t play fair. How the fuck am I gonna do that?”

“All right. I’ll make it easier for you. I’ll work on Kolby and make him let Jax stay since it was my fault he got wrapped up in my little white lie. If you can’t get Kolby to break the oath, then I will blackmail him.”

Jaden frowns at me. “Kolby is not going to break an oath because I ask him to. He’s going to know something is up and then he will question me, beat it out of me if he has to. You know how he is. Fuck.” He drags his palm over his face and then stares at me.

“Fine. Then you give me the details of the where and how and I’ll work it out. After the winner is announced, I’ll give you your laptop back.”

“Goddammit, Kimber. Give me my damn laptop now. You can give me the copy you made so I can destroy it after all is said and done. That is the only deal I will accept, not because I want to, but because I have to.”

I feel sort of shitty for stressing Jaden out, but then he is shitty for being a part of that fucked up shit.

“Fine, but don’t you think for one second that you can break into my dorm and steal the copied file. It’s on a flash drive and it is NOT at my dorm. Or in my car.”

He mugs me with a jacked up smile. “Deal.”

We shake on it then leave The Brewed Force. Jaden follows me to my car and I retrieve the laptop. I go to hand it over but snatch it back.

He stares at me.

I grin wickedly at him then hand over the goods.

Jaden turns to walk away but halts and turns back to face me. “You know, firecracker, you’re not so sweet after all. I’m going to have to change your nickname to Snake.” He laughs as he walks away.

A snake? If he ever calls me that in front of anyone, I’ll have to slug him. I pat my pocket where the dirty little flash drive is tucked safely.

TWO WEEKS LATER,
I’m driving toward Diana’s house when I get a text from Jaden. I glance at it after I come to a red light.

“Shit!” Change of plans! Of course the announcement of said winner is at Muze.

I speed to get there before they start the announcement. Thank gosh I didn’t get pulled over.

I park my car and nervously rush inside. I have to pause to take a few breaths, to talk myself into marching into the private room.

Pulling myself straight, I take another deep breath and push through the door. Fifteen pairs of eyes snap in my direction. The room is instantly quiet.

I spot Kolby. He pins me with a death glare. Like what the fuck are you doing here, Sis¸ stare.