Page 19 of Shamed
But I don’t stop there. I keep running to the elevator, pacing in the little square box all the way down. Then, as soon as the door opens, I run out of there and through the entrance to the building . . .
. . . and straight into another hard body.
I yelp while he lets out an “Oof” as our bodies crash together, me almost falling backward after the impact.
Reaching out, he takes hold of my arms to steady me. “Whoa, you okay?”
My lungs are burning, breaths coming out fast, but when I finally right myself and push the hair off my face, everything comes to a halt, including my air supply.
Almost black eyes, that you could hide a thousand secrets in, stare back at me.
Mase Turner.Jacob’sfriend.
He’s not dressed up for Halloween—wearing only jeans and a faded T-shirt, his black hair being tossed around by a breeze—but the sight of him is still scary.
I quickly step back out of his grip at the same time his eyes flare with recognition. My pulse thrums wildly, and I’m sure he can see it.
The deepening groove between his brows has me edging further back, unsure of what he’ll do, which only seems to make his frown worse.
Does he want revenge for his friend?
Is he just like Jacob?
“Jennifer—”
I don’t stick around to find out what he has to say or what he’ll do. I spin around and run in the opposite direction.
My heart is a heavy drumbeat, but it almost jumps up through my throat when I peek over my shoulder and see Mase running after me.
Oh god.
“Jennifer, wait. I just want to talk to you.”
Lungs tight and fear pumping through my veins, I keep running as fast as I can, turning a corner to try to lose him.
I almost collapse in relief when I see a cab idling by the curb. I don’t even care if someone is in there already or they aren’t working right now, I jerk the handle open and dive into the back seat, slamming the door behind me.
“Go, go, go!”
“What the—” Startled and flustered, the driver puts the car into drive and takes off. Wide-eyed, he looks at me through the mirror. “Is everything all right?”
“Y-yes. Thank you. I just . . . didn’t want you to leave without me.”
He arches a bushy brow that tells me my excuse was shit. “Do I need to make a phone call?”
“No,” I insist, still heaving in breaths. I turn to look out the rear window, tensing up when I see Mase standing on the sidewalk where the taxi was idling, hands in his pockets, watching me drive away. “I just want to go home.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Jennifer
Dad’s exhale is long and loud, rivaling a balloon losing its air. He sits on the other side of his large, cherry oak desk in one of his many offices, looking as put-together as ever, wearing a fitted navy-blue suit. The gray at his temples is new. That or I’m just noticing it now. But it only adds to the intimidation he usuallyexudes.
“Your grades have been declining over the past year.”
Eyes lowering, I fixate on my fidgeting fingers and start picking at the already chipped pink nail polish. I know they have. Week by week I’ve been grappling with this steady descent, stuck on a downward slope I can’t seem to get off of, no matter how hard I try.
I’ve been missing classes.
