Page 22 of XO

“Don’t know, but I’d do her.”

Urgh. I think I’d rather stay invisible.

I sense Jacob biding his time, and when the bus finally pulls to our stop, he helps me stand. This, for some reason, encourages another slew of comments from the boys.

“The fuck is that?” one asks bordering on hysterics.

“Jesus, fuck!” the other comments.

This pulls Jacob’s full attention, who’s obviously now had enough of their mud-slinging. He quickly steps toward them and then comes to an abrupt stop. I can’t see his face because I’m balancing on the railing, but I see his movements. Quietly, Jacob removes his Panther’s jacket and wraps it around my waist, tying it in a knot at my belly.

“What are you doing?” I ask, confused.

“Just keep it on, Rosie,” he says gently against my ear. “Try to get your way to the front of the bus. I’ll be there soon.” If I weren’t caught off-guard by the jacket, I would have spent more time questioning the fact that for the first time ever in our history together, Jacob actually said Rosie instead of Posie. Doing as he says, I fumble my way to the driver and turn back to see what’s unfolding.

Gasping, I watch in horror as Jacob’s fist smashes into Xander’s nose, sending a luminous spray of blood onto the bus window.

“Jacob,” I cry, but it goes unheard.

Covered in blood, Xander’s friend motions to stand, but Jacob issues a threat I can’t hear, and the boy immediately sits. Holding Xander by the scruff of the neck, Jacob speaks and when he doesn’t get a reply, he violently shakes Xander. With blood dripping from his nose and into his mouth, Xander raises both hands in surrender. Satisfied, Jacob releases the boy and flexes his hitting hand while heading down the aisle.

“What was that?” I ask, bewildered.

“Nothing, babe,” he says, while hooking an arm around my waist.

Rosie? Babe?What in the actual fresh hell is going on?

The doors creak shut behind us, and the bus continues down the street, leaving behind the memories of a ride from hell. Before I have a chance to ask Jacob about the showdown, a wave of nausea washes over me, and I bend at the waist, heaving long, slow breaths.

“Jesus, Rosie, what the hell is going on with you?” Jacob asks, and the genuine concern in his tone is enough to make me cry.

“I don’t know,” I barely manage.

Glimpsing a car pull into my drive, my father’s voice grows closer each second. “Rosie! What’s happened? Jacob, what happened to her?”

While I want to put my father at ease, I can’t. It’s as if my body waited to be home before it really sends me for a tailspin. I struggle remaining upright even with Jacob still holding me tight. I vaguely hear the conversation between he and my dad, the guilt in my father’s voice as he explains traffic delays on the highway prevented him from arriving sooner. How guilt switches to annoyance when he sees Jacob’s hands all over me and his jacket wrapped around my waist.

Somehow, I’m moved from the street, through the front yard, into my house and up a flight of stairs, all without me noticing. I blank out hard, but fight to stay aware because of the terse interaction between the two men wanting to help.

“Thank you, Jacob, but I’ve got it from here. You can go now,” my father dismisses.

“But, Mr. Reign—”

“Jacob, leave me to attend to my daughter.”

“You should know—”

“Leave, Jacob!”

“She needs to see a doctor, now, sir. It can’t—”

“I know what she needs, and it’s not boys like you hanging off her. Now go. I won’t say it again.” Dad pulls at the Panther’s jacket, his eyes following Jacob’s, and for a moment, I become super aware of them both gawking in horror at me.As if I didn’t have enough of that on the bus.

“What?” I ask, but don’t know how audible it is.

I blink hard clearing some blur, enough to see Dad’s face pale, his stare glued to the back of my skirt. “What the hell. Rosie…”

He may have finished his sentence, but I don’t hear it. My stomach lurches, and I vomit over the upstairs wooden floor like theExorciston steroids. The room spins violently and as more sick rises in my throat, my spinning world turns a perfect shade of black.

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