Page 10 of Broken

Well, fuck.

Chapter 4

TUCKER

I was furious. Like beyond pissed livid. At Zane. At Izzy. At my fucking cousins if it was true. I somehow BS’d my way around Coach Riojas and barely even remembered sitting through sixth period before I was headed to my last class. Grabbing a seat by the back window, I dropped my stuff in the seat beside mine for when Izzy arrived. Just like the rest of the damned day, guys fist-bumped me as I confirmed I was with Izzy as girls either looked pissed off or discouraged at the news. I just struggled to keep the bite out of my voice now. I hoped Izzy was getting this shit as bad as I was. Well, not really. But fuck was I pissed at her if she’d kept that shit from me.

At the same time, I didn’t trust Zane as far as I could throw him, so I was giving her the benefit of the doubt. The issue was…why the fuck would Zane lie about that when I could just ask her?

I was outright scowling when she walked in, and her brow rose. With effort, I schooled my features. The rest of the damn school didn’t need to know if we were about to be in a fight, but fuck if I didn’t still feel the steady tick in my jaw. I pulled my bag down so she could sit, and she tucked her hair behind her ears, worry in those bright green eyes.

Apparently, my poker face sucked.

“Are you okay?” she whispered.

Why? Tired of fucking lying to me?I shoved the thought back before it could slip out and bit the inside of my cheek. I shook my head instead. Lisa came in then, a smirk forming on her face when she saw the tension between us.Fucking pain in the ass. I seriously had no clue how I’d messed up with her. Twice.

Leaning over, I wrapped an arm around Izzy’s neck, pulling her close. Her breath hitched as I tucked my nose to her ear. To others, it would look like I was giving her a kiss, when instead, I whispered, “We’ll talk after class.”

Izzy swallowed at the grate in my voice, and I felt like an ass. I placed a kiss on her temple and sat back, not looking over again the rest of class.

The second the bell rang, I was out of my seat, and Izzy scrambled to follow. I draped an arm around her shoulders, just to keep Lisa from getting any stupid fucking satisfaction, because I knew the chick would find a way to throw it in Izzy’s face the second she sensed trouble in paradise. But Izzy knew something was wrong. I could tell from her stance. She was stoic, almost shaking with worry written across her face as we headed out to my truck. I helped her in, but the second my door was shut, I couldn’t hold back anymore.

“Did my cousins do something to you the other night?”

Izzy sucked in a breath, the sound all I needed to hear to know it was true. “What?”

I shook my head, now royally pissed by tenfold. “Don’t fucking lie, Izzy. Not anymore. Not about this. I had to hear it from fuckingZane!”

She jumped when I yelled, and her shoulders dropped, tears immediately prickling her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

My heart dropped at seeing her tears, but I wasn’t ready to let it go. Not yet. Not this. Not after all they’d already done.Why doesn’t she trust me?

I shook my head and started the ignition. We needed out of this parking lot before any more eyes were on us.

The ride home was silent, aside from Izzy’s sniffles. Each swipe at her eyes was like a knife to my gut, but this didn’t feel like something I should just let go of. We couldn’t start off like this, hiding things from each other. It might be ugly, but we had to deal with it.

“Are you ever going to say anything?” Izzy asked when we finally pulled up in front of my house.

I hopped out and went around for her door. “Let’s go in.”

Grabbing our bags, I followed her inside and up the stairs to my room, where I dumped our things by my desk. Izzy stood awkwardly at the center of my room, the house still silent and empty aside from us. It was about to get loud.

I watched her hands shake as she tucked her hair behind her ears. She clutched them over her stomach and then at the frayed ends of her skirt at her sides. I was just trying to figure out how to start.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“How much do you know?”

The fuck? “Does it matter?!”

Izzy grimaced. “No, not really. You’re right. I hid it.”

“Why, though?! After everything we’ve been through together. Aftereverythingthey’ve done, why didn’t you trust me enough to tell me?!”

“It wasn’t that I didn’t trust you. It was…”

“It was what?!” I begged when she paused.

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