Page 80 of Broken Butterfly
I get Jules’ attention. “Forward those to my phone.”
“How likely is the possibility that the guy who attacked her is behind this?” Shit, it never occurred to me. Julien and I look at each other.
Fallon leans back in his chair. “Not likely. This online shit is juvenile and petty. My bet’s still on Marshall.”
Liz hasn’t come back yet, and for the life of me, I don’t know why Ry hasn’t gone after her. “I’m going to check on Liz.” I don’t wait for a response.
As soon as I open the exit door, Liz’s jasmine scent hits me. I go down a few flights of stairs, but I stop when I see her sitting on the bottom stair facing a wall that’s painted with a small mural of the campus bell tower. She’s lost in thought and playing with the locket I gave her. I quietly make my way down the remaining steps and sit beside her, arms resting on my bent knees. She tilts her head and lays it on my shoulder.
“I may join you tonight. I feel like pummeling something.”
My arm goes around her, her floral scent surrounding me. “I don’t think you’d like getting punched in the face much. It’s such a beautiful face too. Wielding a baseball bat like a mafia enforcer is more your style.”
Liz snorts. “There is a campus intramural softball team I can probably join. Or maybe work as a money collector so I can bust some kneecaps.”
“I’m sorry shit keeps happening to you, princess.”
“Yeah, well, life sucks donkey balls sometimes.”
“That’s really gross.” We look at each other and start laughing.
“I wish I could understand why someone would do this. But at least now I know why people have been staring and sniggering at me the past two days.”
I nudge her elbow. “First, only you would find something positive about the situation. Secondly, who says ‘sniggering’ nowadays?”
Liz exhales a quiet laugh, then turns serious again. “But having those guys today come up to me and, well, I’m not going to repeat what they said. I felt violated.”
“We’re going to handle this. Just like we did before.”
“Not without me this time, Jayson. I appreciate what you said to Ryder, but I also made him promise me no more secrets. You guys kept so much from me in high school. I’m not that girl anymore. I can handle it. I need my eyes wide open so I’m never vulnerable to anyone ever again.”
I shift to my left so that I can see her better. The pink streaks and tips in her hair are no longer visible, her long mass of pale blond hair is hanging down in messy waves. I smooth a strand behind her ear.
“You’re the strongest person I know, Liz. I have and will always do whatever I can to protect you.” I lift her locket up and kiss it before tucking it back under the collar of her shirt.
“You’ve always been my best friend, Jayson. I’ve missed being able to talk to you.”
I don’t think I’ve ever hated two words more.Best friend. I have to remind myself not to stray from my game plan in winning Liz back, even though I want nothing more than to sink my lips and my body into hers. Scenes from the night she came to me when her memories returned are still fresh in my mind.
“Come on. Let’s go grab the guys and get you to class. Have I told you that I’m happy you’re coming tonight?”
“Once or twice.” She grins. “You’ll actually have a full audience. Everyone’s coming.”
“I guess I’ll need to make sure I win then.”
“I’m betting a hundred dollars that you do just that.”
Chapter 23
“Sweetheart, I wish you’d talk to me about how you’re feeling.” I roll my head on the headrest and take in Ryder’s concerned profile.
Jayson texted me about an hour ago to let me know the fights would be happening at an old junkyard about twenty minutes from campus. Fallon, Trevor, and Meredith are meeting us there. After the library, I finished up my classes for the day and went home with Ryder. All the guys basically stuck to me like glue the entire day, and just like high school, someone escorted me to each of my classes. Hell, I wasn’t even allowed to go to the restroom without an escort to the door. By late afternoon, I was fed up with it. I knew they meant well, but it was overbearing. I felt suffocated. After the morning’s fiasco, things seemed to have settled down with the staring and the whispered comments. That doesn’t mean they stopped altogether, but it was manageable. As soon as Ryder and I got home, I escaped to the bedroom, telling him I needed some space. I hadn’t had time to fully process everything. Someone had painted a target on my back, and I was not going to play the damsel in distress. That was Old Elizabeth’s way of handling things; let someone else fix the problem. That wasn’t me anymore.
Ryder glances my way and meets my gaze before turning his eyes back to the road. “What did you and Jay talk about at the library?”
Oh, that’s a can of worms if I ever saw one. Ryder has been upset about the online photos and stewing ever since Jayson and I emerged from the stairwell. Even after all the times Ryder and I talked and poured our feelings out to one another since the day he showed up in Barcelona, there’s a lingering sense that part of him still doesn’t trust that I’m completely, totally his. That he’s it for me. I’m not going back to Jayson. Ryder is the love of my life. Can I blame him for his insecurities though? It’s my fault things got so screwed up to begin with.
I reach my hand over the console and trace the side of his face from temple to jaw with the back of my fingers. I love this man more than life itself. I need to remember that he is as affected by things as I am. We’re in this together through the good times and the bad.
