Page 456 of Tis the Season to be Bullied

Air and life and light flood back into me as he shoves me away from him. I tumble to the ground, vaguely aware that the Impala is kicking up a cloud of dust as the driver slams on the brakes and throws it into a spin.

There’s a yell, the sound of a car’s engine revving, and then shoes hitting the ground as the CA gang runs away.

Then silence.

I push onto my hands and knees, lifting my throbbing head and locking onto the black car. The engine rumbles for a minute before shutting off.

The car door opens, and a dark head emerges.

The moment I recognize Jude, my heart comes apart. He walks over to me, grabs me under the arms, and lifts me like a kid.

“Are you okay?”

I manage a nod, my throat and chest too tight for words. He slings an arm around my waist and leads me to the black car’s passenger-side door. As I’m falling into the seat, I turn and try to get out again. “My bag,” I mumble when he pushes me down with a hand on my shoulder.

He goes back and fetches my backpack, tossing it in the back seat as he gets into the driver’s side.

My head lolls against the seat before I can control it. I’ve never felt this exhausted in my life. I try to keep my eyes open, but I can’t.

It’s relief, too, I guess. Because while I hate Jude and everything he’s done to torment me, there are worse things in the world. Worsepeople.People like Sean. Like those four guys who were about to tie me up.

God knows what they were going to doafterthat.

Jude is malicious and spiteful and downright hateful…but he’s not evil.

At least, not in my experience.

“Did they…” Jude cuts off, clears his throat. A dark look crosses his face. “Did they touch you?”

I shake my head, my eyes drifting closed. “You saved me,” I murmur, and then roll my head to look at him.

His black eyes are intent, his head dipped forward a little as if he’d been trying to look into my eyes before I turned. He studies my face, my throat, my clothes.

“You should sleep. It’s a long drive back.” He puts the car into drive and pulls away.

Chapter 59

Harper

I wake up in the back seat of a car. Memories reluctantly flow back into my mind as I push onto my elbows. “How long was I out for?”

But the car is empty. My stomach twists with panic, then nausea. I barely get the back door open in time before I spew a week’s worth of stomach contents onto the road.

“Glad I didn’t park closer,” Jude says. The front door opens, the Impala creaking a little as he sits. “Make sure you get it all out. I already have to foot the panel beating bill, I don’t want to have to get the car detailed too.”

I manage a strained, “Fuck you,” but that only makes Jude bark out a bitter laugh.

“Yeah, I’m not regretting this at all,” he mutters to himself. “Should have watched to see what they’d do to you.”

At the mention of the guys by the lake, I retch another few times just for the hell of it.When I finally drag myself back into the car, Jude hands me a napkin and a cup of coffee. “Thank you.”

“For the coffee, or for saving your sorry ass?” He looks at me in the rearview mirror and then looks away. “You’re welcome.”

I finally get a chance to take in our surroundings while I sip my coffee. We’re parked way in the back of the Liberation Diner’s lot. It’s dark outside—a glance at the Impala’s console shows it’s nine o’clock.

From my aching head, I’m guessing I was out for a good three or four hours. I take another sip of coffee and then drag my backpack closer so I can get my aspirin bottle out.

Idiot that I am, it’s onlyaftera piece of glass slices open my hand that I remember I broke the bottles inside. Which also explains why my lap is wet. I hiss, whipping my hand free and staring aghast at the white flesh peeking through my sliced open skin.

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