Breaking Through the Wall (Guarded Hearts Book 2) (17 page)

The legal system these days
was so screwed up. As long as you knew people you could get away with anything. I knew that Jason had said Chris’s dad was powerful, but this shit was ridiculous. ”I know it’s hard to do, but you just need to trust that things will work out in the end. That answer sucks and it is so cliché, but it’s the truth. So let’s go with issue number two, how are you doing after losing the baby?”

She wouldn’t even look at me
, but I started to see tears fall into her lap. ”How is it possible to miss someone that you never even knew? I wasn’t far along, Nic, I don’t understand how it still hurts this much. When I first found out I downloaded one of those pregnancy apps on my phone, just to see what was happening and learn. I still check it every day and read new stuff.” She looked up at me and all I could see was pain. I scooted over closer to her and wrapped my arms around her.

“Mads
, it is perfectly normal to miss the baby and grieve for it. The thing is you need to find a way to not let that grief consume you. Checking that damn app every day is only going to make you sink deeper into depression. I can’t imagine how you feel or what you are going through, but I am here for you.” Sitting here holding her like this made me want to go to that asshole’s house and castrate him myself. I hated him from the moment I first met him, and I knew he would bring her nothing but pain.

He didn’t just take her pride, or her self-esteem this time. He took a life that never got to be, and he needed to pay. I
was so scared of what would happen if he was found not guilty. One thing I knew, was that the guys would do a whole lot more than a black eye this time.

Mads and I sat there for a while just talking and I could see it was making her feel better to get it all out. Thank God I was able to convince her to delete that damn app on her phone.

When I got back home, Christen and Holly were hanging out on the couch. It still amazed me how much Holly and Carter looked alike; you would almost think they were twins.

“Hey
, Nic! I can’t believe we are seeing you come home without crazy sex hair. Did Jason not feel up to it tonight?”

I sat down and threw a pillow at her. “Shut up
, Christen! Don’t be jealous because Shawn hasn’t been around enough for you to make your move!” Christen had a huge crush on Shawn, but with the way he was lately I didn’t know if that was a good thing.

Holly stood up and started walking toward the stairs. “Thank the Lord you are home
, Nic. If I had to hear her talk about that boy for one more minute, I swear my ears might start bleeding. Good night, bitches.”

We all started to laugh as Holly made her way upstairs. I
was so glad that Mads had told me they were looking for a roommate. We all clicked really well, and the house that Christen’s dad rented was amazing! “So, what’s up, chick? Are you really trying to get with Shawn?”

“I don’t know
, Nic. I mean, he barely gives me the time of day. Not only that, but my dad would flip, you know how he is.”

Christen’s dad was some big business tycoon, and was concerned with having the best of everything. Unfortunately
, in Christen’s case, this meant the perfect daughter, who had the perfect job, and the perfect relationship. “Screw your dad, Chris. You deserve to be happy and do what you want. You can’t always live your life for someone else. If you do, then it’s not your life anymore.”

“I know you’re right
, Nic. it doesn’t even matter, though. Shawn is not interested in me. If he was, I feel like something would have happened already.”

If this made me a bad friend then so be it
, but I was glad Shawn wasn’t giving her the time of day. Whatever he was into right now was not something she needed to get dragged into.

Jason

Tonight was the last night of Nicole’s play, and I had been going to every single one. It did not get any
easier to understand the language, though. Half of the time, I just zoned out and stared at her, thinking about what we would be doing when we got home. Having to sit here and watch her kiss Aaron on a daily basis for the last week had really been getting to me.

That asshole knew exactly how to push my buttons, and he was about to get another reason why that was a bad idea. Most guys would go away after getting humiliated and punched in the face, but not him. He still had this crazy idea that Nicole actually wanted him. I
was all for being confident and cocky, but he was straight up delusional.

I loved all of the costumes Nic wore in this play. Every dress she had on seemed to make her tits look even better than they normally did. I asked her about it the other night and she said it was because of something called a corset. I want
ed to invest in one for her to wear seven days a week.

I started to get anxious
, because I knew the part where they were going to kiss would be coming up soon. Thank God this was going to be the last night that I would have to watch this shit. When he pressed his lips to hers, I gripped the armrest so hard that it hurt. And didn’t relax until he backed off.

How do ac
tors do this on a regular basis? Sometimes their girls need to get in bed and roll around with a guy. Nicole couldn’t have wanted to be an accountant or something?

After the play ended
, the cast lined up to take their bows and stuff. Just as everyone was walking away, that dickhead grabbed Nicole and kissed her. I couldn’t see what happened next, because they shut the curtain. I was up and running backstage before it was all the way shut. When I got to the stage, I saw Aaron lying on the floor clutching his dick and moaning. I started laughing, then went to look for my girl.

“Jason!”

When I looked behind me she had gotten changed and had the biggest smile on her face. “Hey, babe. Congratulations on your last show. Also, good work laying Aaron out. You saved me the trouble.”

She laughed and leaned up to kiss me. I
didn’t think it would ever be possible for me to get tired of her. I always thought being tied to the same girl would be boring, but with her it was anything but boring. “Listen, I planned a girls night since we are going to my dad’s house tomorrow and then to yours for winter break. We all wanted to get together for one last night.”

“I thought I was going to have you to myself for tonight.” I had basically been living alone since everything went down with Shawn and Maddy. He would come in after I was in bed and leave after I woke up.

“Do not pout at me J, I’m sure you will survive for one night. Besides, you will have me all to yourself for the next month.”

She started walking out of the theater and I followed her. I couldn’t wait to get away for winter break. I
thought I might finally be able to tell her I loved her. It scared the shit out of me to even think about it, and it scared me more to know it was true.

Nicole

I was going to miss hanging out with J tonight, but I needed a girls
’ night before we left for winter break tomorrow. He wasn’t helping much either, it was taking me twice as long to get ready with him here. I finally got my dress and heels on. When I walked out of the bathroom he was sitting on the bed where I left him, still pouting. “So…how do I look?”

He
lifted up his head and just stared at me.

“What?”

“Please tell me that what you have on is like the lingerie for the real dress you are wearing out.” I couldn’t help but laugh. Yes, the dress I had on was short, but it was far from lingerie. Jason walked over to my closet and started to look through what I had. “Here, wear this instead.” He threw something at me. I held it up and looked at him like he was crazy.

“This is a fucking turtleneck that my grandmother gave me at Christmas. The only reason I still have it
, is because she expects to at least see it around the holidays.”

“Well, I think your grandmother has great taste!”

“It has a fucking reindeer on it! You know what, I can’t do this right now.” I threw the turtleneck back at him. “I’m leaving. If you can manage to get your head out of your ass and act normal, I’ll see you when I get back.”

Damn
, he was so frustrating. I knew he worried and everything, but sometimes it was way over the top.

Holly wanted to go to this new club tonight, and it was packed. I didn’t care
. I wasn’t here to hook up or get drunk out of my mind. I just loved to go out with my friends, dance, and have fun.

I was so lost in the music
, I barely noticed someone behind me. I turned around, gave him the ‘I’m not interested’ wave, and kept dancing. He didn’t leave, though. He put his hands on my hips and pulled me back against him. At this point, I could feel how ‘excited’ he was to be dancing with me, and I needed him to leave. I turned around and leaned close to his ear so he could hear me over the music. “I’m sorry, I have a boyfriend.”

“Yea
h, and I have a fucking cat at home.”

“Um…okay.”

“I thought we were talking about things that didn’t matter.”

Is he serious?
“He does matter. Now, please get off of me.” I went to remove his hands, but he only dug them in deeper. Now he was hurting me and I was starting to panic. Holly and Christen were making their way back from the bar and I shot them the ‘save me please’ look. Holly tried to take my hand and pull me over to her, but Mr. Grabby hands wouldn’t let go.

I reached my hands down again to take them off of me
, but he moved quick and trapped mine under his. Now I couldn’t move them at all. Before I knew what was happening, Christen was walking up with one of the bouncers, who thankfully got him away from me.

“You ok
ay, mama?”

“Yea
h, Chris, thanks.”

After another half hour
, I needed to pee and text Jason. I just wanted to let him know I was fine and that I would see him soon. I told the girls I would be back and made my way down the hallway toward the bathroom. I was just about to go in, when I was pulled into another room, which judging by the looks of it, was a storage room.

Before I could say anything
, a hand was clamped over my mouth and I was backed against the wall. In the dim light, I could make out the guy from the dance floor. Fuck. He leaned in and ran his nose up and down my neck.

“You smell delicious.”

All of the alarms in my head were blaring and I didn’t know what to do. I did the first thing I could think of and bit down on the hand that was holding my mouth closed. He yelped in pain and I tried to move around him. His hand caught me around my throat and slammed me back against the wall.

“You little bitch!” He backhanded me in the face and I could feel blood dripping from my lip into my mouth. He grabbed both of my hands and held them above my head with one of his. He was rubbing his hands all over me and I felt like I was going to be sick.
“You dance like a little whore. Let’s see if you feel like one.”

He started to kiss my neck and I could smell the mix of alcohol on his breath. His free hand started sliding down my side, and making its way in between my legs. He started inching up my denim skirt. Please
, God, no. Just then, the door flew open and I saw someone standing in the doorway.

Jason.

Jason

When I walked in and saw that guy with Nicole my heart stopped. “Get your fucking hands off of her, now!”

The asshole turned around and looked at me. “Don’t worry
, pal, I’m sure this one will be up for two rounds.” He turned back to her and I charged.

I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and threw him on the ground. Then
, I got on top of him and started hitting him wherever I could. I heard bones cracking and he was begging me to stop, but I couldn’t.

Then I felt a hand on my arm
, trying to pull me off. “Please, Jason, stop!” I turned around and Nic was standing there looking petrified. Then I saw her lip. It was split open and dripping blood, that motherfucker hit her. I turned back to him, but Nicole grabbed me again. “J, stop! You won’t be any good to me in jail.”

I knew she was right, but I couldn’t stay in this room and not kill him. I grabbed her hand and started to lead her out of the club. When we passed the door
, I nodded to my friend Max. He worked as a bouncer here and had called me when he had to get that animal off Nicole the first time. When we got to my car, I felt like I could finally breathe.

I pulled her over to me and stood in front of her
, so she was pressed against the car. I brought my hand up to her face and brushed my finger over her lip. She winced with pain and it took every inch of self-control I had not to go back in there and find the bastard.

“Are you ok
ay?” She nodded her head at me, but I could tell she wasn’t. “Let’s get you home.” We didn’t talk the whole way home, and I really didn’t know what to say. Carter was always the one that was good in emotional situations like this, not me.