Page 172 of Relentles
He got to his feet. “Jaleena called me yesterday.”
That sneaky bitch.
“I’m taking her to dinner tomorrow night. I don’t want drama at school, so we’re going to clear the air.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and lowered his lashes. “Not that it matters to you. You have Nardo.”
Harley’s breath caught. She didn’t like either statement, but the words CJ wasn’t saying regarding Nardo alarmed her.
“Nardo is—”
“A fucking big-mouthed fuckhead,” CJ snapped, and thrust his fingers through his hair. “Hetoldme, Harley. I know you had sex with him.”
At the time, she imagined CJ finding out. She imagined laughing at his pain and gloating at her vindication. He’d scorned her, so she’d returned the favor. But she had never felt as low and as horrified when his eyes brightened, and his agony was almost palpable. She wanted to undo what she’d done.
Therefore, she did the only thing she could: she lied.
She jumped to her feet, stood on her tiptoes, and hugged CJ tighter than she ever had before. “I didn’t,” she insisted, pressing her body into his. “He lied to you! He’s never touched me. We promised to wait for each other.”
It no longer mattered if CJ had kept his word. She’d revenged herself and, in the process, played herself, too. She’d been horrible in her jealousy. If he’d confessed to having sex with Molly or any girl, she would’ve been even worse. She would’ve turned her back on him and swore she’d never forgive him. But he wasn’t doing any of that to her. He was being her friend, the boy she’d grown up with.
He allowed her to sob against him, placing an arm loosely around her. It wasn’t the tight, absorbing kind he once offered, but it was something and it meant so much.
“Nardo lied to you,” she cried when she got control of herself again.
A beat of silence passed. “Did he?”
“Yes, I swear! I swear, CJ.”
He eased her back, took her face between his hands and studied her. “If you’re telling the truth, then he’s dead.”
“No! Don’t. You can’t kill…you’re not a killer.”
“Not yet. Uncle Johnnie had been first on my hit list,” he said darkly. “It’s his lucky day. Nardo takes his place.”
Harley wrapped her arms around CJ. “No, please. Please! I love you. Please, don’t kill Nardo. He wants me and he’s just jealous.”
“The love you feel for me, isn’t the same as I feel for you, Harley,” CJ whispered sadly. “You love me because there’s no Molly. I never betrayed you. You refused to believe me. If she was still here, we wouldn’t have this conversation. You’d still hate me and blame me every time you got into trouble. I want you happy. With me. With Nardo. With someone else.”
Harley blinked. “I-I don’t understand. How can you love me and still let me go?”
CJ sat on his bed and leaned forward, elbows on knees. He was still dressed in black jeans, motorcycle boots, and black Henley, but his hair was disheveled. She’d never seen him look sosexy.
“We belong together, Harley,” he said, and her heart soared. “I want you at my side. I don’t think I can truly ever let you go. But you aren’t mine.”
“I am—”
“You aren’t. I want…I admire my dad more than I admire any other man except Uncle Mort. They arebothbikers. That’s my dream. I want to learn from Dad and Uncle Mort. Whatever they are willing to teach me, but the Dwellers always draw women. A lot of women. Besides the girls who just come for the parties, there are the Bobs and the Dweller girls that belong to us. If you don’t trust me, every time a woman comes near me, you’ll fucking flip.”
She sat and snuggled against him. When she sniffled, he put an arm around her shoulders. “I’ve lost you.”
“I don’t know, Harley. Jaleena—”
“Jaleena is darker than me and her hair is shorter.”
“That’s still ayouproblem,” he barked. “What the fuck has gotten into you with that bullshit?”
“Nardo said—”
“Fuck that asshole. If you don’t want me to fuck him up, don’t mention him to me.”
