Page 56 of Limbo

She plants her hands on her hips. “I told him he couldn’t come in here, Callie.”

“And I told her I didn’t care, Callie,” he mocks.

“Stop acting like a child, Jordan.”

“Oh, that’s rich, coming from a girl who cries duringBambi.”

Felicia’s jaw drops, and she shoves him with zero results. “Shut up!”

“I have a better idea.”

Before she can react, he snatches her up and carries her out the door. He quickly shuts and locks it. “She’s almost as frustrating as you are,” he says, turning around. His eyes narrow at me again.

After I’ve avoided him for two days, he deserves to barge in and demand an explanation. I set my earbuds and phone on the nightstand and cautiously move to sit against the wall, ready for him to lay into me.

He looks like he will until his eyes grow wide. “Jesus!” The anger turns to panic as he rushes over. He brushes his thumb over the horrific bruise on my thigh. “Tree or four-wheeler?”

“What?” I lean back and grimace until I find a position that keeps pressure off my shoulder blade.

“Trey said you fell out of a tree and wrecked a four-wheeler.”

Four-wheelers confirm we went to Pete’s grandparents’ farm. A frequent stop on our group’s drunk tour of Sutterville and the surrounding areas. I thought we probably had given my memories of the bull and the pond dock. They also have an old tree I would climb to sneak through Pete’s bedroom window and a red barn that matches the door I remember.

“Into a barn door?” I ask to clarify.

He shrugs. “He just said a barn.”

“Tree and barn would correlate to hip and shoulder.” I mentally check injuries one and two off the list and set the ice pack on my hip.

Jordan settles in next to me on the bed and pulls the blanket over my bare legs. “What happened here?”

He traces the burn on my forearm, and I shrug. His touch provides more relief than any ice pack or burn gel. With him here, all the reasons for keeping him away struggle against all the reasons I want him to stay. Maybe it would be different this time.

“What’s going on with you?” His hand slides down to mine.

I pull away from him before my resolve crumbles entirely. “I don’t think we should see each other anymore.” Our eyes meet, and I force out the rest. “I meant what I said about not being able to handle anything else right now. I never wanted anything serious, Jordan.”

I’ve no more than said his name when he pushes off the bed. I think he’s storming out, but he circles back and paces from one end of my room to the other.

“Friday, you were adamant I admit to wanting more, which I did. I do. Then you didn’t answer your phone all weekend and drank so much that you blacked out. You kicked me out because I wouldn’t have sex with you when you were drunk.”

I made him leave fornottaking advantage of me? God, I really am messed up.

But I can’t focus on it for long because he continues, “Which, okay, whatever. Sorry I’m not a creep like those other guys…”

There’s more, but my mind rushes to Brock and Pete and what else Trey would have told him to make him say something like that. I jump up, not caring about the ache that follows. “Other guys?” He walks away, not answering me, so I block his path. “Whatotherguys, Jordan?”

He stops a few feet from me, dragging his hand through his hair and shaking his head. “Felicia and I found your friend Shayna’s pictures from high school online.”

My entire body goes cold, several images popping into mind. All our stupid, drunken escapades, none of which paint me in a flattering light. Not expecting him to know about any of that, I close my eyes to regain my equilibrium.

“You saw those?” I whisper.

“Saw them?” His voice is harsh, eyes even harsher. “They’re all seared into my mind. You half-naked and passed out. Different guys with their hands all over you.”

Even worse, he’s talking about the last leg of my downward spiral. Parties, random guys, and a whole lot of blackouts. So many that, if not for Shayna’s thorough documentation, I wouldn’t even know what happened for the better part of eight months. Unfortunately, they also remind everyone else.

“Over the summer, she said she took them down.”

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