Paradox (Unearthly Paradox) (9 page)

“I’ll be back in a sec.” He stood and went into the bathroom. A moment later, he returned holding some cotton balls, a small bowl of water, and a hand towel.

“No antiseptic?” I asked.

“Nope.” He sat down and put the bowl on the nightstand. He dipped a cotton ball into the water then gently swiped it over my wound.

I sucked in a sharp breath. A trickle of water ran down my boob, and Jett caught it with a swipe of his thumb. Holy hell! The stupid things he was doing to my insides were ridiculous. I picked up the towel and tucked it into my tank top so there wouldn’t be any need for his fingers to become more acquainted with my breasts.

“You’re getting more movement back,” he said. “The pain must be easing?”

I nodded. “It still hurts but not as much as it did yesterday.”

“And tomorrow it should be even better.”

I shifted nervously. “Speaking of… I don’t suppose your wanting to keep an eye on me will stretch to driving me to school tomorrow?”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “You know, I think they’ll give you a pass, considering you were shot two days ago.”

“Yeah, the school might, but my father won’t.”

He looked at me as if I were crazy then shrugged. “If you say so.”

“Is that a yes? You’ll drive me to school?” I bit my lip.

“And pick you up.”

I smiled with relief. The last thing I wanted was to deal with more of my father’s crap. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” He took the plastic off the back of the gauze and then pressed the material against my skin. “All done.” He stood and picked up the paper bag. “I’m going to go for a surf. Do you want me to get you anything before I head out?”

“Some more water, please.”

He refilled my glass in the bathroom then headed for the door. “My brother will be staying ’til I come back.”

That probably meant Blondie and her friend Red would stay, too. “He can go home. I don’t need someone to stay here with me while you’re just down on the beach. You said yourself I’m looking better…” I trailed off when a smirk crept over Jett’s face. I closed my eyes in embarrassment and shooed him out the door.

When I was sure enough time had passed for him to go downstairs, I turned on the TV. Sure enough, the girls were still there. But Red didn’t look as happy to see Jett as she had earlier. She didn’t even look in his direction, which made me think he hadn’t been as welcoming to her displays of affection as I had originally thought.

Without saying a word to his brother, who still had Blondie hanging on him, Jett walked out the front door. I quickly fumbled with the remote, trying to find the channel for the outside cameras. Once I had Jett on the screen again, I watched as he walked down the driveway then took a left toward his house.

I flipped back to the footage of downstairs and saw his brother stand and walk to the door. For a minute, I thought he had more guests coming over to
my
house, but he opened it, and no one was on the other side. He looked back to the girls, who seemed to take the hint. He was kicking them out. What kind of guy would be so happy to see a girl, then half an hour later, he couldn’t wait to get rid of her? That didn’t make sense, but then again, not much did when it came to him and Jett.

Blondie kissed him on the cheek and waited a second for a reciprocation that never came. She rolled her eyes and followed Red out.

Jett’s brother slammed the door and closed his eyes as he shook his head. He ran his hands through his dark messy hair. He didn’t seem very happy. I couldn’t decide whether his expression held disgust or shame. Maybe it was a mixture of both.

Not wanting to watch any more, I flipped through the channels but found nothing interesting, so I turned off the TV. I spotted my iPad on my desk and decided I should study. I knew it was going to hurt like a bitch to get up, but I certainly didn’t want to ask Jett’s brother to get it for me.

I carefully swung my legs over the edge of the mattress. I sucked in a breath, preparing for the pain, but when I stood, there was hardly any. Not wanting to overanalyse something Jett kept reminding me that I knew nothing about, I straightened and walked cautiously toward my desk. I picked up my tablet and held it to my stomach.

On my way back to the bed, I somehow made a detour to the balcony door. I was definitely not trying to get a peek of someone without his shirt on because I was not that girl. But when I saw Jett with his board under his arm as he walked down the beach toward the water, my stomach flipped out. Sighing, I leaned against the doorframe and watched as he jogged through the water then jumped onto his board.

“You’re wasting your time. He doesn’t do relationships.”

I turned around to find Jett’s brother standing right behind me. The heat rushed to my face when I realised that I was in my underwear. Nice way to meet the brother.

He smirked. “I see what he means. You do look cute when you’re embarrassed.” He ran the backs of his fingers down my shoulder.

I wanted to quickly walk away, but that wasn’t an option. I turned my back to him and looked down at the beach. “What’s your name?”

“Zane.” His breath brushed against my shoulder, and I realised he’d closed the distance between us even more.

“Well, Zane, you might be surprised to know that I’m not like all the others. I don’t have a thing for your brother, so I couldn’t care less if he does or doesn’t do relationships.”

He brushed my hair to the side. “Good, because I was thinking…”

The hairs on the back of my neck were standing on end. Biting down on the pain, I spun around and gave him my best don’t-try-that-with-me look, but his grin grew even wider. Who did he think he was coming into my room? Did he think I was just going to throw myself at him? Well, he was in for a surprise. I was so not like the girl he’d just kicked out.

He tilted his head and looked out the window for a moment before returning his gaze to me. “Never mind.” He took three steps back then turned around and headed for the hallway.

My breath caught in my throat. His T-shirt had ridden up at the back, displaying a
gun
tucked into the waistband of his jeans. Fear engulfed every fibre of my being. I had never seen a gun in real life, and it scared me so much so that I was surprised I hadn’t peed my pants.

Once I had my breathing under control, I waddled back to bed, furious that Zane could presume I would just fall at his feet the minute he showed some interest in me. I wanted to tell him to get the hell out of my house, but I could barely get to the bathroom and back, much less order someone out of my house and expect to be obeyed. I was seriously going to have a conversation with Jett when he got back. A killer after me or not, Zane was never stepping foot into my house again.

I switched on the TV so I could keep an eye on Jett’s gun-wielding brother downstairs. I wanted to run out of the house and get as far away from Zane as possible, but that wasn’t going to happen. How had I gotten myself into such a mess? And who was I kidding… having a crush on someone as dangerous as Jett? That wasn’t me. I didn’t do danger. And if Jett was anything like his family, then I had to find a way to alienate myself from him. Zane was just watching TV in the lounge, so I swiped my tablet open. I had four new emails. I clicked on Jess’s message first. God, I wished she was up on the Gold Coast with me. Or better yet, I wished I was back in Sydney, where none of that mess would’ve happened.

Hey, Zara,

I just thought I should give you a heads up. Maddie heard from Cassidy, who heard from Michelle, that Josh has plans to get you back at Schoolies, and we think it has something to do with GHB. Okay, so maybe there was no mention of GHB, but that must be his plan because there’s no way in hell you’d take him back after what happened, and he is dodgy as hell. I wouldn’t put it past him to try something like that.

So, what’s been happening? Any cute guys?

Jess xxx

I had to laugh when I read her last question. There was so much I wanted to tell her, but my being shot wasn’t something I could divulge until she came for Schoolies, just in case her mum found out then called my father. I knew she’d freak when she saw a bullet wound in my chest.

Hey, Jess,

I’d like to see Josh try. I’d cut his balls off! LOL!

As for cute guys, holy hell I’ve found one. Problem is, he’s a player from what I’ve heard—although he hasn’t tried anything on me…

And then there’s another problem—he’s the son of a drug lord and lives two doors down from me. I know you probably think I’m full of shit, but I just saw a gun in his brother’s pants. And no, I wasn’t getting acquainted with him when I saw it.

Anyway, better get back to studying. I’ve only got one more week left. Yay! Can’t wait for you to get up here!

Zara xxx

Disregarding what looked to be three spam emails, I opened my math revision work and tried to study. But after I’d read the same page five times and still didn’t have a clue what it said, I decided I was wasting my time. All I could think about was the run-in I’d had with Zane. If I was honest with myself, I was more concerned that Zane had caught me perving on his brother than the fact that he had a gun, which made no sense at all.

The sun began to set, and Zane was still downstairs, slouched on my couch and watching TV. My mouth felt like sandpaper, so I did my awkward get-out-of-bed move and took my glass to the bathroom.

When I saw my reflection in the mirror, I wrinkled my nose. My hair was straggly, and my skin was shiny with oil. I also knew my teeth hadn’t been brushed in two days. My personality had done a complete one-eighty since that day in the canal, and I wished more than ever that I hadn’t tried to fit in so much. If I hadn’t tried to hang out with the popular girls, then none of that would’ve happened. But they weren’t responsible for the bullet in my chest.

I picked up my toothbrush, put some toothpaste on it, then scrubbed the layers of fur off my teeth. Next, I tried to give myself a sponge bath, but I only got as far as my face and arms before the pain became too much. At least I no longer felt the layer of oil covering my skin. There wasn’t much I could do about my hair until I was good enough for a shower, so I grabbed a hair tie and pulled my hair back into a ponytail, cursing the whole time at how much that simple task hurt.

Back in bed, I checked the TV. Zane was gone. Panic spiked as I flipped through the channels, trying to find him on one of the other cameras.

Someone knocked on the door, so I stabbed the button to change the channel back to regular programming. I thought about pretending to be asleep then dismissed the idea out of fear of what Zane might do to me if he thought I was unconscious. I didn’t have time to come up with any other ideas because the door opened and I was greeted with Jett’s easy smile. No matter how much I told myself that he was no good, my stomach continued to do somersaults when I saw him, especially when he wasn’t wearing a shirt!

“Miss me?” he asked with a grin.

When I realised I was staring at his body with my mouth hanging open, I quickly turned back to the TV. “You know, you can go home to put some clothes on.”

He laughed. “But then I’d miss seeing you squirm when I catch you checking me out.”

I shook my head. “You enjoy this way too much.”

He shrugged. “Well, if you weren’t so uptight, I wouldn’t be so entertained.”

I glared at him. “I am not uptight.”

He raised his eyebrows. “You get embarrassed when someone sees you in your panties.”

From his smile, I was sure my face had turned red again. “Getting embarrassed when you wake up with someone you don’t know in your bedroom and finding out you’re only in your panties and tank top with only a sheet covering you isn’t being uptight. It’s called having morals, which from what I’ve seen is not something you’re used to.”

He crossed his arms, making his pecs pop out even more. “Not something I’m used to? Care to elaborate?”

I rolled my eyes. “I may be new around here, but your reputation precedes you.”

The muscle in his jaw clenched. “Maybe you shouldn’t believe everything you hear.”

“You’re going to have to be more specific, because I’ve heard a lot.”

The angry look on his face deflated as he dropped his arms to his sides. “Things aren’t always what they seem.” He turned around and walked out, leaving me feeling like an ass and wondering what the hell he had meant by that.

I switched channels again until I found Jett on camera. He didn’t look happy at all. Maybe he was right. People made up some horribly ugly things about celebrities, and perhaps that was what had happened with Jett. He hadn’t once treated me badly or tried to add another notch to his belt.

I picked up my phone and texted him:
I’m sorry.

A moment later, he grabbed his phone off the coffee table. His face remained expressionless as he stared at the screen, then he tossed his phone on the couch beside him.

I hadn’t thought he was the type to hold a grudge. Maybe I was wrong about other things when it came to him, too.

An hour later, Jett got up and headed toward the stairs.

I quickly switched the channel. When he knocked, I figured he would just walk in as he always did, but the door remained closed.

I cleared my throat. “Come in!”

Jett entered without his customary smile, making me feel even worse. “I’m going to order some food. Do you have any preferences?”

I shook my head.

“Right.” He started to leave.

“Hang on a minute.”

He stopped and looked at me, keeping his hand on the knob.

“I… I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I had no right to judge you on what could be nothing more than teenage girls’ gossip.”

Jett stared at me with an expression I couldn’t read. “Let’s just forget about it.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“Forget about what?” I grinned back at him, trying to lighten the mood.

He smiled genuinely. “Do you want me to get another movie?”

No matter how much I wanted to curl up and watch a movie with him, I needed to do the responsible thing. “I can’t. I have to study.”