Page 87 of Bleed for Me

I dropped into a seat at Cheyanne’s table, refusing to look in the guys’ direction. My fingers curled into fists within my lap. On the bright side, I had my first art class in a couple of days, so that should help take my mind off some of it. This upcoming weekend was the spiritual retreat, and while Archer would probably be going, he wasn’t the worst of the three.

“I’m surprised you could sit with us,” Shay commented, raking her disapproving gaze over my body. “Thought you ditched us forthem. Or did they already get tired of you?”

I reeled back in alarm, not at all prepared for the hostility in her words. I’d only sat with them a couple of times, and Archer sat with us sometimes. I didn’t understand why she suddenly had an issue with it. She’d never said anything about it before, and she was always kind to Archer when he sat with us.

Cheyanne sighed, pinning her friend with a glare. “Shay,” she warned.

“No. She’s been warned time and time again about those assholes, yet here she is. Probably fucking all of them.”

My chest constricted, unease coiling around my stomach. She wasn’t far off, but I figured that what I did with my body was my own choice. It shouldn’t have offended anyone. Not unless she had a thing for one of them—or all of them. Which was confusing as hell, because I thought she liked Tyler.

“That’s enough, Shay.” Ryder rolled his eyes, picking a chip up from his tray before plopping it in his mouth.

“Tell me I’m wrong then,” she demanded, glancing around at her group of friends.

Tyler dropped his face in his hands, clearly done with the drama happening right in front of him. “Why does it even matter?” His words came out muffled, but we could still make them out.

“Maybe because Jordan is the same asshole who just beat you to a bloody pulp,” she hissed. “All because he’s a paranoid psycho. Not to mention, Archer has been following her around like a lost puppy. Do I need to remind everyone about what happened to the last girl he was obsessed with? What if he thinks one of you guys like her, just because he’s just as unhinged as Jordan? You think he won’t snap and kill you, too?”

My stomach curled in on itself, guilt slamming through me with ruthless ferocity. Maybe she was right. Sure, her delivery needed some work, but I did get involved with them in some way or another, and they were feared here for a reason. My gaze raked over Tyler. His face had mostly healed, but there were still some bruises littering his skin and some spots had scabbed over.

Jordandid that…

During an episode from the sounds of it.

“I can sit somewhere else,” I offered, my voice coming out much smaller than intended.

“It’s fine,” Cheyanne assured me. “Shay is just being a jealous little bitch right now.” She narrowed her eyes at the girl in question. “She’s had the hots for Jordan since she first saw him.”

Tyler lifted his head, frowning at the declaration. “You like Jordan?”

Shay’s eyes widened, her gaze whipping back and forth between Cheyanne and Tyler. “What?” she spluttered. “I do not.”

My head spun, confusion building in the back of my brain. “Either way…” I trailed off slowly, trying to put whatever this was to a halt. “I haven’t done anything with Jordan. So, if youdolike him, you don’t have to worry about anything there.” Even as the words left my mouth, I couldn’t help the sting of resentment that formed from the mere thought of her pursuing him. There was just something about him that intrigued me, that made me want to learn more about him and his diagnosis.

But Shay was right.

These guyswerebad news. If they were this terrified of them just because I was allegedly involved with them, then that kind of spoke volumes and solidified all my original fears.

My gaze skipped over to their table at last. Seven had what appeared to be a busted lip and a black eye, which did give me some satisfaction. Archer must have gotten him good. Jordan was seated beside him with the twins in the other free spots. Archer’s chair was vacant, and my eyebrows dipped in confusion at that knowledge. Then again, if I was fighting with my best friend/lover, I wasn’t sure I’d want to be near them either.

“I don’t like him,” Shay said again, drawing my attention back to her. “Like I said, he’s bad news. They all are.” She stabbed her fork into her baked potato a little more forcefully than necessary.

I sucked my lower lip between my teeth, my head spinning as my mind flashed back to the time I’d spent in Seven’s room. Archer in my pussy while Seven drilled into my ass. Jordan sitting off to the side with his massive, tattooed cock in his hand as he pumped himself up and down.

A spark of desire shot through me at the reminder, my skin flushing from the mere memory alone. It couldn’t happen again. Seven made sure of that. Nothing had changed between us, not really. In fact, it seemed to piss him off even more.

I blew out a breath, pinching the bridge of my nose. I’d already had enough of today. First, Seven tore up Beary, and now Shay was starting drama with me in the cafeteria because she was allegedly jealous?

Tyler was still frowning down at his food, processing everything that had apparently come out. It was obvious that he liked her, in his own way at least. Either she was that oblivious, or maybe I’d been reading the signs wrong this entire time, and he wasn’t the one she wanted. Either way, it wasn’t my business. I just wanted to get through this in one piece. I’d already messed up enough by running into not only Archer’s arms, but Seven’s too. There was no way I was taking on Jordan. Plus, he made it abundantly clear that he wanted nothing to do with me. As soon as I repaid my debt to him, that was it.

After dinner, I trudged back to my room. The thought of being alone weighed heavily on me, causing my chest to heave. Maybe it was anxiety, or even PTSD. Nothing good ever came from being alone. That’s when my thoughts were the worst. That’s when I heard things andsawthings.

I slipped through my bedroom door, resting my back against it. My room was still in disarray. I hadn’t had the energy or willpower to clean any of it up yet.

My mind flashed to Daisy, as it always did when I was alone. Her bright smile beaming back at me along with a pair of sparkling blue eyes. My heart stuttered in my chest, acid beginning to build more potently in the back of my throat.

At one point, my life had been completely mapped out. Now, I didn’t even know what the hell I was doing. Could it even be called ‘survival’ at this point? It certainly didn’t feel like I was surviving—just getting by, trying to make it through without dying a painful death. My mom still hadn’t reached out to me. It wasn’t like we’d ever been the perfect mother-daughter duo, but it still hurt more than I cared to admit. Then there was Alex.My stomach twisted at the mere thought of him. He would never have sex with me but had been so quick to do it with someone else. If it weren’t for Archer and Seven, I might have thought there was something wrong with me—thatmaybeI wasn’t attractive. And maybe, I wasn’t. It was very possible that I was just fresh meat to them, something convenient they could play with. For Seven, he’d wanted my virginity. He probably wouldn’t have even touched me again had I not jumped him that day in his room. Archer was harder to read. I wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted from me.

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