“Not sure who you think you’re talking to,” I snapped before feeling a shift in my lap. It took me a moment to figure out my surroundings, but then I glanced down and saw the peaceful side of Gemma’s face with a piece of brown hair over her eyes. I almost moved to brush it away before Cade spoke again.
“Isaiah, get the fuck up. Now. Get into the closet. Mrs. Fitz is seconds from walking in, and if she finds…” The words stalled out in the air as I sprung to my feet.
Fuck.
After Gemma and I…I couldn’t even put a word on what we’d done last night because it was so much more than a fuck…we didn’t talk. Not much, anyway. I got us dressed, and she seemed to be in a daze, and I felt the same. There were things I was feeling that were so unknown to me that I knew I needed to keep my mouth shut. So, instead of saying anything or discussing the fact that I took her virginity, I wrapped her up in my arms and sat on the floor against Mrs. Fitz’s desk. I kissed the top of her head as I ran my hand over her arm, and eventually, her breathing evened out, and she fell asleep.
I fell asleep too, but not before I took her arm and pushed her sleeve up, inspecting the marks around her wrist. That was the last thing I remembered before this moment right here as I rushed us to the supply closet with Cade right at my back.
“What’s going on?” Gemma’s sleepy voice hit me right in the chest, and I hated that I couldn’t see her face in the dark.
“You two are playing with fucking fire,” Cade whispered, but I heard the bite in his tone. “Mrs. Fitz is on the fu
cking SMC, Isaiah. What do you think she’d do if she found you two half asleep in here when, number one, it’s obvious you’ve been here all night, fucking on her desk. And two, you’re on probation! Don’t you remember that all this bullshit with Gemma is to keep you here? The tutoring? Getting your grades up? She’s your cover for the nights you’re out past curfew! You can say goodbye to that if they know you two are fucking. Of course she’d lie for you and say you two were tutoring when you were actually sneaking out of St. Mary’s. They aren’t stupid. In fact, I’m surprised they even believe your act in the first place.”
“Cade, back the fuck up.” My blood was pulsing through my veins as fast as the rapids. Gemma stilled against my chest as Cade’s hoarse whisper grew stern, and it was most likely because what he was saying was right. We were stupid to fall asleep in here. But with Gemma, my mind became messy. Things didn’t seem so urgent and testy. I forgot that we had a plan. I forgot about everything the second I touched her. “Don’t you think I know all of this? My number one priority is to stay at St. Mary’s so my father doesn’t ship Jack off just to be the biggest fucking dick in the world. I understand why I’m here. I know what my future holds.”
“That isn’t your only priority anymore, Isaiah. And you fucking know it.” He scoffed as I saw the light underneath the door shine through. Gemma sucked in a breath, and I ran my hands down her arms. Cade leaned in close and whispered, “It’s a good fucking thing you have me now, isn’t it? Or you’d be trying to explain to Mrs. Fitz why you and Gemma are in the art room at six in the morning, half undressed. It’s obvious you two were not studying, unless you two take human anatomy very seriously.”
I clenched my teeth, angry with myself that I let us get into this situation. Cade was right. My priority wasn’t just with Jack anymore but with Gemma, too. I didn’t quite know what I was going to do with any of the knowledge I’d learnt of her this far, but protecting her was high up on that list, and us getting caught like this would bring shit down on both of our shoulders. I was sure of it.
The three of us stood quietly as we heard Mrs. Fitz shuffle around, getting ready for her day. We were lucky no one had alerted a teacher that we were missing last night. I wondered what Sloane was thinking since Gemma was her roommate, but I had to hope she wasn’t stupid enough to go to someone other than my uncle if she were concerned. Sloane was observant, and she knew much more about the Rebels and me than she let on. After all, she was Journey’s roommate.
“How the hell did you even know we were here?” I asked in a whisper so low Cade had to lean into Gemma and me to hear.
Cade held up a finger that I was barely able to see in the darkness of the supply closet. He pulled out his phone, the screen giving way to some light before he turned it in our direction.
A cold hand wrapped around my throat and squeezed as I looked at the newest blog post on Mary’s Murmurs. “What the fuck,” I muttered, snatching the phone out of his grip. Gemma’s hand went up to her mouth. There, staring back at us, was a clear-as-fucking-day photo of Gemma curled up in my arms with her shirt half undone and my pants clearly unbuckled. Her hair was a sexy mess, and it was obvious that she’d been thoroughly fucked, not only by our appearance but by the slightly bruised hickey on her neck.
I quickly pulled the phone up, and my cool hand landed on Gemma’s warm skin. I pushed her hair off her shoulders as she tilted her head, and sure enough, there was a mark on her neck. I had fucking marked her. Fuck, when did I do that? Was it my subconscious that came out of hiding when I was buried inside of her?
“Jesus Christ,” I growled, nearly snapping the phone in half. I shoved it into Cade’s hand and seethed under my breath. “That was taken no less than a few hours ago.”
He quickly put it back in his pocket and leaned in close. “It popped up twenty minutes ago. After the last blog post, I signed up to get an alert when they went live again so we wouldn’t have any more surprises. Once I realized you weren’t in bed, I jumped out and banged on Mica’s door. He was able to get in there and take the post down, but Bain is missing from his room, so my guess is the photo came from him.”
I silently belittled myself for falling asleep with Gemma. If my phone wasn’t currently dead in my pocket from my night spent in the art room, I would have seen that photo—or better yet, the photo wouldn’t have been taken in the first place.
It didn’t surprise me that Bain was missing this morning. He’d been snapping photos of Gemma and shoving them into his little hiding spot in his room, which was why I didn’t want her alone. And surprisingly enough, I wasn’t nearly as upset that we were on the blog as much as I was over the fact that he’d seen her with her shirt unbuttoned and in my arms. I didn’t like that he was spying on us, just like I was spying on him.
That started a whole new chain reaction in my head concerning Bain. Things were beginning to stand out, and I had a feeling that there was a reason behind every one of Bain’s moves. Pushing that thought aside for the moment, I brought Gemma’s soft palm into mine and rubbed my finger over her delicate skin. What was she thinking?
“So what’s the plan? How do we get out of here without Mrs. Fitz seeing us? Usually, I wouldn’t care but—”
“But you’re on probation, and I cannot, under any circumstances, get in trouble and get sent home,” Gemma’s voice broke through Cade’s and my testosterone-filled circle. We both shifted uncomfortably. “Please tell me you have a plan, Cade.”
The whites of his teeth stood out, and I rolled my eyes. “Of course I do, Good Girl. I told you I had your back, didn’t I?”
“So?” I whispered just before I heard the classroom door slam open. Shiner’s voice came through, and my lips twitched. I was damn lucky to have the Rebels on my side. Shiner didn’t have the same bleak future that Cade, Brantley, and I had, but at least he had our backs nonetheless.
Mrs. Fitz’s voice faded as she followed Shiner out of the room, and then we all quickly darted out of the supply closet and rushed through the classroom. Before we stepped into the empty hallway, I ran back to the trash can and grabbed my used condom and shoved it into my pocket. Gemma’s journal was half underneath Mrs. Fitz’s desk, so I snagged that, too. Cade sighed annoyingly, and when I caught Gemma’s eye, her cheeks filled with blood before she snatched her journal and brought it to her chest. I winked at her, even if it was whole-heartedly inappropriate at the time. Her lips curved before she turned around and followed Cade.
“Now what?” Gemma asked as we rounded the bend in the hallway. Her hand found mine again, and a feeling of satisfaction came over me. I really fucking liked that she still wanted to hold my hand. I didn’t think she regretted me taking her virginity, but I was afraid she’d pull away like the last time we had pushed the limits.
Brantley came out of nowhere, slipping beside us and striding down the hallway as if he’d been here the entire time. Gemma paused for a second before catching up.
“We need a 24-hour watch on Bain. He cannot be fucking trusted. What a bastard. He’s trying so goddamn hard to get you kicked out of here, Isaiah.”
That wasn’t all he was up to, but I didn’t say that in front of Gemma. Instead, I brushed him off and shrugged. “We’ll talk later. I still need to talk with my father. I’ll keep you two updated.”