Page 105 of Bleed for Me

Anger shot through my veins at the mere sight of them together like that. I’d never been a jealous person, and logically, I had no right to feel this way. But I couldn’t help it.

Blowing out a frustrated breath, I stormed across the clearing, heading toward the water. Fuck him. He didn’t get to act like a jealous asshole one day and turn right around just to flirt with some other girl. That wasn’t fair. Maybe I should cut my losses. He literally choked me out because he thought I’d hooked up with Seven. How would he react when he found out it wasJordanI’d spent the night with instead? Did he even give a shit anymore?

As soon as the water greeted my skin, chills erupted all over my body, freezing me in place. It was colder than I remembered. A shiver shot through my body, shaking me from head to toe.

After a few moments of freezing my ass off, I took a few more steps.

“Your body will adapt to it faster if you dive under,” Tyler told me as he approached. His hair was already wet, and water droplets dribbled down his skin. It was hard not to admire how lean he was.

“I-I d-don’t think I can,” I stammered, shuddering.

A devilish gleam entered Tyler’s eyes, and a grin stretched across his face. “I can help you with that.”

Horror punched through my chest, and I immediately started shaking my head. “Tyler, don’t you dare,” I forced out through heavy breathing. I took a step back, but he was already lunging for me.

His arms circled my waist, pulling me snug against his warm body. A shriek slipped past my defenses as he lifted me like I was nothing and threw me into the water. I barely had enough time to hold my breath before plummeting beneath the surface, the cold biting into my skin furiously.

My shoes connected with the ground, and I used it to push myself up, rising above the water once again.

“Asshole,” I snapped, splashing him.

Tyler just laughed, the sound echoing around us.

I reached up and brushed my hair out of my face, my gaze immediately locking with Archer’s, who still stood on land with Angelina at his side. His eyes were narrowed and his jaw ticked with anger as he stared back at me. He grabbed Angelina’s hand, tugging her toward the water like he was on a mission.

Tyler’s voice snagged my attention, and I turned to him again, relieved for the distraction. “Feel better?” He smirked.

“Fuck off.” I laughed.

Though, he was right. I felt a lot better than I had.

It was easy to get lost in the voices surrounding me and in the water circling my body. Despite everything going wrong in my life, this was a nice reprieve.

Tyler shoved a hand through his brown hair, pushing the damp strands from his eyes. I didn’t know much about him. Just that he’d blown his school up or something along those lines. He seemed like a decent enough guy, but then again, so did Ryder. If what Jordan said was true, I really couldn’t trust anything at face value.

The two of us stuck close together, wading in the cold water, and talking about random shit. It was lighthearted for the most part. We didn’t know each other well, so it wasn’t like we had a whole lot to speak about.

After a little while, Tyler turned to me. “I’m going to head to the restroom. You good here?”

“Yep.”

I needed to find some more shade anyway. The sun was growing hotter against my skin by the second, making me uncomfortable. If I didn’t move now, or put on some sunscreen, I was going to burn.

Once he started making his way toward land, I turned and began swimming to a more secluded area. Trees and large bushes surrounded the place, so it wasn’t like it was a difficulttask. Just as I’d approached some large shrub blocking my path, I paused.

The water was moving a lot more aggressively this way, almost like a current would. The ripples in the water were fast, the liquid rising to meet my ribcage before dropping. Rising and dropping. Over and over again.

A whimper pierced my eardrums, causing my eyebrows to rise. The sound came from right around the bush blocking my path.

My heart started thudding rapidly. What if someone was drowning? The way the water moved around me was consistent with that theory. As fast as possible, I started swimming again.

But when I rounded the corner… nobody was drowning. In fact, it was much worse than that. Much worse than anything I could have thought up.

There was a large rock shooting out of the water—almost like a boulder—and Angelina was bent over it with Archer behind her. He had to have been standing on another rock to get to the height he was at, but it was concealed. He was driving into her hard and fast, one hand on her hip with the other cupping her mouth, trying to keep her quiet.

Tears sprung to my eyes instantly, followed by the bitter taste of betrayal.

He was just like Alex. He never cared about me. I shouldn’t even care whether he did or not. My emotions surrounding him were so complicated. But this…I wasn’t okay withthis.

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