Page 53 of Vengeful Sins

Instead of letting me hurry off the way I want to, Tucker holds me in place. “Get out of the way. Sorry if you’re jealous—though I’m really not sorry,” he confesses with a smirk. If anything, it’s actually sort of nice hearing him act this way with her. Now I know I wasn’t the only one he was capable of being so cruel to. And maybe if she hadn’t been so unforgivable toward me, I would feel sorry for her. I know what it’s like, being publicly humiliated by him.

But this is Tiana in front of me. Tiana who has never missed an opportunity to torment me. When I think about it that way, it looks like she’s getting exactly what she deserves.

“Jealous?” she scoffs. “It would be pretty fucking sad if I was ever jealous of this?—”

He lifts his chin. “Watch what you say about my girlfriend.”

Well, that did it. Her jaw falls open and a chorus of gasps and excited murmuring erupts around us. All she can do is gape, her eyes going wider all the time until I’m pretty sure they’re going to fall out of her head and roll across the ground before much longer. “Get the fuck out,” she mutters. “I know you didn’t just say that.”

“I’m pretty sure I did. Deal with it or don’t. I don’t care.” He lifts a shoulder and starts walking again, meaning I have to walk with him.

But Tiana has other ideas. She steps in front of me, hands on her hips now, giving me a narrow-eyed, cold stare. “You think you’re good enough for him? We both know you’re not. We both know what a pathetic loser you really are. You’ll never be good enough for him or anybody at this school.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m the one who decides that, not you,” Tucker reminds her. Before I know what’s happening, he pulls me close and drapes an arm around my waist. He likes this, I realize. He’s sort of getting off on it, knowing he can get under her skin. I wish I could feel the same way, but this is Tiana I’m dealing with. She was already completely determined to make my life hell.

And that’s why, when Tucker presses his lips against mine in a deep, long kiss, I can’t help but stiffen in his arms. There are whistles around us, people reacting to what they’re witnessing, but it’s Tiana’s gasp of surprise that rings out the loudest in my head. She can’t believe it, but then, neither can I. It’s like I’m still dreaming, like I never got out of Tucker’s bed this morning. Or maybe I’m still at the club, and I only dreamed of him coming to my rescue. That would actually make a lot more sense than the reality unfolding around me.

The world spins a little by the time he lets me up for air, wearing a smug grin. Tiana isn’t grinning, though. “Watch your back, bitch,” she warns before storming off. I almost want to tell her I don’t have anything to do with this, that he’s making all these decisions on his own, but then there is something about watching her melt down. It’s pretty damn gratifying after everything she’s put me through. Maybe I could learn to like this, as twisted a thought as it is.

“I’ll pick you up after your last class,” he offers once we reach the sciences building. “And don’t worry. I’ve got everything under control.” If what happened back there is his idea of having things under control, maybe I need to buy him a dictionary or something.

Still, it’s nice to be stared at with something like awe for once. There’s no laughter, no dirty looks. Everybody’s too busy wondering how the hell things got to this point with Tucker. They’re not the only ones. I’m still completely baffled, myself.

Somehow, I manage to pay attention in class and, by the time the hour is up, I can almost forget what happened last night. It’s like a dream that’s fading away a little more with every minute I spend awake. I can almost be happy and feel secure, knowing Tucker is on my side. No, I still don’t have the first clue why or what’s in it for him. You’d think he would want something from me in return, but what? It’s not like I’m going to be his personal sex slave or whatever.

But I don’t have to go back home, and that alone is enough to lighten my step as I leave the lecture hall, ready to find something to eat in the cafeteria before my next class. And if anybody has anything to say to me, all I have to do is remember, I have Tucker on my side. It’s beyond bizarre, but he’s the only thing able to bring a smile to my face right now. When I remember the way he talked to Dad, I have to bite back a grin. If only I could have seen the look on his face. For once, somebody was standing up to him. I’m sure he doesn’t have the first clue what to do about it.

“Hey. You.”

My head snaps back at the sudden, sharp sound of Tiana calling out to me once I reach the hallway. Dread slithers through my stomach, but I will not let it take hold. There is nothing she can do to me. She has to know that. It’s probably half of what makes her so mad in the first place, knowing shecan’t really hurt me now. I have Tucker on my side, and she must know he won’t accept any of her shit.

Right now, it doesn’t seem like she cares, pushing herself away from the wall she was leaning up against while waiting for me to get out of class. Has she been waiting here all this time? “I don’t have anything to say to you,” I announce. One of us needs to be the bigger person through all of this. I’m not going to sink to her level.

“That’s fine, because I don’t want to hear anything you have to say,” she snaps, looking me up and down with disgust in her eyes. “So, what? Do you think you’ve won now? Is that what’s going through that stupid head of yours?”

It’s amazing, actually. I’ve always known she was sad and pathetic—I mean, who devotes so much of their life to making somebody else miserable if they have anything good going for themselves? But now it’s like I’m looking at her for the first time, really seeing her for who she is. Insecure, jealous, petty. I have to wonder what’s happening in her life that she feels she needs to be this way toward me.

Then again, my life has been fucked for years, and I don’t go around making it everybody else’s problem. There are only so many excuses to make for a person. “First you say you don’t want to hear anything that comes out of my mouth, then you ask me a question. Which one is it? Do you actually want an answer?”

Her head snaps back slightly like she didn’t expect me to retort. Maybe those days are gone. Maybe I can stand up for myself, after all. I’m not so alone anymore. Finally, I don’t have to be alone.

I lift my chin, meeting her gaze without blinking, silently daring her to do something about it. Let her try. It won’t go well, because at the end of the day, this is all about Tucker. She won’t gain anything by tormenting me.

“You disgusting, filthy fucking piece of trash,” she spits, getting in my face so I can feel the heat rolling off her. “It’s time for somebody to put you in your place.”

“Well, I guess you would know trash when you see it, right? I mean, you look in a mirror every day, don’t you?”

She can’t hide her shock any more than the people around us can hide their laughter. For once, the sound of it isn’t directed at me. I feel stronger, braver, and I can rest easy knowing this isn’t my fault. I didn’t approach her. I would be happy if I never saw her again.

Narrowing her eyes, she growls, “You bitch.”

It happens before I can brace myself. The force of her slap against my left cheek is hard enough to snap my head to the side. I’m only vaguely aware of the surprised gasps that ring out around us, a little too busy registering the sudden pain that explodes across my face and inside my skull.

What does she expect me to do? Am I supposed to crumple in a ball and beg her to stop? Or maybe she thought I would burst into tears and hide.

The truth is, she has no idea what she’s done because that is it. The final straw, the one that breaks the camel’s back for good. White hot, boiling rage explodes in my chest, consuming me.

Slowly, I turn my head, glaring at her, and she has the nerve to smirk… before I curl my fist and shoot it out as hard as I can.

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