Unbreakable Rules (Too Many Rules Book 3) (16 page)

My heart continued to race as I made another round of the tables. Checking with Bri and anyone else who might know where she was. No one had seen her.

Where was Jarret? I searched the dance floor, nothing. His table was empty. My stomach squeezed into a small ball. No, this could not be happening.

Turning, I raced out of the ballroom towards the front desk.

“Is a Jarret McGee staying here tonight,” I asked. He wouldn’t be the first person to get a room at the Ramada on Prom night.

The young clerk looked at me as if I’d asked her for her first born.

“I’m sorry, we don’t give out information about our guests.” She returned to her computer, as if dismissing me as some crazy high school kid.

“Listen lady. I’m going to walk over there and pull that fire alarm if you don’t tell me, right now. Is Jarret McGee registered here and if so what room is he in?”

The color drained from her face as she thought about what a fire alarm would do to her night.

“Threatening to pull the fire alarm on false pretenses is against the law. If you don’t calm down, I will have to call the police.”

I stopped for a moment and took a deep breath.

“First off, that was not a threat, it was a promise. Second, please call the police. I want to report a kidnapping and the fact that you are stopping me from finding a young woman who even now might be held against her will in one of your rooms.”

She looked back at me with wide eyes and she tried to process what I had just said.

“Now,” I yelled as I slapped the counter top. “Is Jarret McGee here?”

She immediately returned to her computer as her fingers flew across the keyboard.

My heart stopped as she searched. At last, she looked up and shook her head. “No Jarret McGee is registered.”

The world slammed shut. Where was she? I had to find her. Frantically, my mind raced as it tried to come up with an answer. Nothing would ever mean anything again if I didn’t find her. The thought of Hailey, alone, hurt, tore my insides into pieces.

As I turned to return to the ballroom to begin searching again, a movement in the parking lot caught my eye. A flash of burgundy and white.

Hailey, Hailey being pulled by Jarret. He held her wrist as he pulled her away from the hotel. She had planted her feet and was twisting and turning as she tried to get away, but he was too big and too strong.

My soul froze with anger. Every fiber of my being exploded with rage as the world around me turned red. All I could see was Jarret McGee trying to pull my Hailey away. Trying to force her.

I slammed through the front door and out into the parking lot. I didn’t yell. I didn’t scream. All I could do was focus on him. Years of humiliation and pain burst from me. A sickening fear of what would happen to Hailey flowed through me. This could not be allowed.

He saw me coming. His eyes were as wild and crazy as a hyena’s. It was as if he had passed over into some unknown universe. A universe only inhabited by Jarret McGee.

Before I could get to him, he released Hailey and turned to face me. She took a step while trying to gain her balance, then fell. Letting out a quiet “oompf” as she landed on her butt.

I didn’t wait. I didn’t give him a chance. I swung. Deep within me, every bit of power I had ever had focused into the end of my fist. As it connected, a sweet awakening occurred inside of me. I felt the power of a dozen suns flow through me, as if I could move a mountain.

The feel of my fist connecting with his jaw was delicious. A satisfaction that could not be duplicated again.

He reeled back before falling. The sight of Jarret McGee on the ground as a result of a punch I had thrown. Nothing could be sweeter.

I made a mistake, though. I didn’t follow up. I should have laid into him while he was down. Should have finished him then and there. Instead, I turned to check on Hailey. She was what was important. The punch had satisfied my need for vengeance. All I cared about now was making sure Hailey was okay.

As I turned to help her up, she smiled at me as if I was a knight in shining armor. A savior. My soul soared. My body felt as strong as a tank as the adrenaline rushed through me.

I held her hand and was lifting her up when her eyes turned dark. She let out a small scream just as a brick wall slammed into me from behind.

Jarret and I tumbled to the ground. The rough asphalt ripping at my tuxedo. He screamed and tried to grab me around the neck. I twisted away and bounced to my feet before he could take control.

Flashing a crazy grin and barking out an evil laugh, Jarret got to his feet. He didn’t look normal. I mean even less normal than he usually did. I don’t know if it was the alcohol or if he had really gone crazy. But, his eyes darted from side to side as he mumbled something to himself. The man was not all there.

Before I could begin to understand, he ducked his head and charged at me. I reacted without thinking and stepped to the side as I pushed him as he flew by.

His chest slammed into a car, stopping him from going to the ground again. He turned and looked at me with new eyes. They seem to be reevaluating. Then they shot to Hailey behind me.

My stomach turned over. I could not lose this fight.

We began to circle.

“So, have you heard from Oregon?” I asked.

His eyes flashed with anger. “That was you?” he said as awareness came into him. “And the Email to Emily? That was you?”

I heard Hailey behind me gasp. But, I couldn’t take the time to explain. Destroying Jarret was all that was important at the moment.

He tried to circle to my left, but that would be too close to Hailey. I cut him off, took a step closer.

“Yep,” I said as I threw another punch.

I only caught a little part of his chin, enough to get his attention.

He answered with a left to my eye and a punch to my gut.

This was what I had been waiting for. I took the punches and then returned them four times over. My fists were like pistons, hammering into him. All I could think about was hurting him. Destroying him. Erasing every breath he had ever taken.

I don’t know how long I would have continued. At some point, we had ended up on the ground. Me sitting on his chest as I pounded his face.

“Stop, Ryan,” Hailey screamed in my ear. “You’re going to kill him. Stop,” she said as she pulled at my arm to halt another punch.

The world began to return, colors came back. Sounds appeared again. I became aware that we were surrounded by people. A strong scent of lavender grabbed my attention.

Hailey. Hailey was okay. I had saved her.

A small crowd had gathered around us. My fists felt like they were now a bowl of oatmeal. My eye was swelling shut and half of my face was on fire from where it had scraped across the asphalt.

I looked at them. My fellow peers. Their eyes were open in shock. As if I’d just upset the balance in the world. Amy Pearson smiled at me, her eyes alight with pleasure. Jake Erikson, the head Delinquent nodded his head in approval as he gave me an appraising look.

I didn’t care. All that mattered was the look of concern in Hailey’s eyes as she gently held out a hand to touch my face.

“What is going on here?” Mr. Seavers asked as he rushed to the scene.

“Ryan Hardy is kicking Numb Nutt McGee’s ass,” someone said from the crowd. People laughed as if it was the funniest joke of the night.

Mr. Seavers pushed his way through the crowd and stepped between myself and a punch drunk Jarret. He looked back and forth between us. Jarret was trying to push himself up off the ground, but having problems finding his center of gravity. He kept tipping to one side.

Mr. Seaver shot me a glance and I swear a bit of a smile threatened to cross his face before he pulled it back to that stern teacher look they had all mastered.

“You’ll both be suspended for this. Two weeks at least.”

Jarret weaved, but he finally got to his feet. I could see the fight had gone out of him. There was nothing left. He snorted. “Two weeks, no school. The best way to end things.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Mr. Seaver said. “It’s final’s week. You miss those and you’ll fail your classes.”

Jarret looked as if he’d been punched in the stomach. “What about him?” he said nodding at me. He still couldn’t look me directly in the eye. Probably worried that he’d set off another storm of my fists from hell. It was enough to make a man feel invincible.

Mr. Seaver laughed. “Hell, Ryan could get zeros on all of his finals and still pass his classes. You, on the other hand. I’m afraid this is going to mean summer school for you.”

The look of shocked pain was priceless. I think the idea of summer school was worse than getting beat up.

“We need to leave,” Hailey said as she gently tugged at my arm. “Before someone calls the cops. Please, Ryan, I don’t want to spend my Prom at the police station bailing you out of jail. It is not a story I want to tell our grandchildren.”

My insides melted. It was over. Jarret McGee was no longer the King. Long live the new King. I smiled at her and nodded my head as I let her pull me away. The kids parted to let us through. People patted me on the back as if I had defeated a demon from hell.

I caught Howard’s attention. It made me feel good knowing that one of my people had seen everything. He would let the others know what had happened.

“Tell Mark and Amanda we will see them later. And that I expect Mark to have her home by midnight.”

Howard laughed and nodded acceptance of his task.

Hailey led me to the car. I turned to look back. The crowd was breaking up. The excitement was over. It felt as if my high school experience was over. Behind me. All that mattered was what lay before me. That future. The fact that Hailey Martin was going to be in that future was completely unreal.

When Jarret grabbed me and pulled me through the emergency exit. All I could think about was Ryan. He would find me. I knew in my heart that he would save me somehow.

The sight of him racing from the hotel to attack Jarret had made my world feel whole. As if I was being rejoined with my other half.

“I’m driving,” I told him as we reached his car.”

“I can drive,” he said through a cracked lip.

“Shut up Ryan and give me the keys,” I said as I held out my hand. “I shouldn’t have let you drive last time.”

“I’m fine.”

I smiled and said, “Ryan, you are more than fine. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Now give me the keys.”

He fished them out of his pocket and handed them over with a look of disappointment.

I went around the car to get into the driver side. “If you’re going to keep getting into fights like this, maybe I should get my own set of keys. I didn’t know I was dating a Bad Boy. I don’t know if I like the idea of my boyfriend fighting all the time.”

He chuckled and got into the car.

“Admit it,” he said. “It turns you on. All you girls secretly like a Bad Boy.”

Now it was my turn to laugh. Life felt wonderful, Ryan was okay. I could afford to laugh.

“True, but we like our Nerds, also.”

We rode home in silence. So different than the last time. A comfortable, easy silence.

His mom freaked when I got him home. She started asking a million questions as she ran to retrieve her first aid kit.

We gave her the quick version. I made sure she knew that he had gotten hurt protecting me. That her son was a hero and that Jarret was much worse off.

I gently took the small white box from her hands so I could see to Ryan’s cuts and bruises, myself. No way was anyone else nursing my man. It was as if a primal need inside of me had taken over.

She looked at me for a moment, surprised to find her place in Ryan’s world lost to her. But, then she relented and stepped back. I gently pushed him into sitting at the kitchen table. His mother didn’t say a word as I cleaned out his wounds. I could feel her eyes boring into me. Watching every action. Judging me.

Ignoring it, I focused on fixing Ryan. On making him feel better. That was the only important thing in my life right then.

He winced every time I dabbed at him with the Hydrogen Peroxide. But, his eyes watched mine and he smiled when I was done. I felt my insides turn to mush when I looked at him.

“There, that should do for now. Nothing too serious.”

Mrs. Hardy stepped in front of him so she could examine my work. She looked into his eyes for a moment. Probably trying to see if he had a concussion. At last, she stepped back and gave a quick nod of her head.

I had passed.

The man was so sexy. Cuts and bruises earned protecting me. A tuxedo that made him look like James Bond. It was a killer combination. Smiling I held out my hand. “Let’s go down to your lab. We need to talk.”

His eyes narrowed in confusion for a moment, then he shrugged his shoulders.

His mother’s eyes rose in concern, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she started gathering the first aid supplies and returning them to the box.

She gave me a quick look, then seemed to settle on something and decided not to say anything.

“Why did you want to come down here?” Ryan asked as we stepped into his workspace. Computers and a small lamp lit the room in a soft glow.

“Because this is my Prom night. It is way too early to end now. Besides, you have a couch.”

Ryan seemed confused, but then the lightbulb went off over his head. He smiled as he let me lead him to the couch.

I sat down next to him. Suddenly very nervous. My heart fluttered.

“Before we go any further, there is something I need to tell you,” I said.

“Okay?” Ryan answered with a brief look of worry crossing his eyes.

“First off, did you send that Email. The one from Jarret?”

Ryan looked down sheepishly, then nodded his head.

“It was sort of petty. It really tore up Emily.”

He grimaced, “I know, I probably shouldn’t have done it. But, I wanted to hurt him.”

“I understand. You’re not perfect. Close, but not perfect.”

He smiled at me. We would put this behind us. I could forgive him. Besides, Emily deserved it.

“Second, thank you. Thank you so much for rescuing me. I don’t know what would have happened. But, it wouldn’t have been good.”

“No problem. I’ll always be there for you. You know that,” he said.

I swallowed hard. “Yes, I do,” I said. “That is why I wanted to tell you that I am in love with you. But, I want you to know that I was in love with you before tonight. Before you rescued me. It is important that you understand. I fell in love with Ryan Hardy. Not the knight in shining armor that rescued me. Do you understand?

Ryan’s face dropped all its color. He had turned as white as a hospital bed sheet. My heart stopped for a moment. What had I done? Was he not ready to hear this? Had I scared him away? It was too much. Too soon.

I had never been so nervous. How he responded had suddenly become the most important thing in my world. My future, my happiness rested on the next moment. I held my breath.

“What?” he asked. “What did you say?”

I could kill him. I spill my heart to him and he says “What?”

Taking a deep breath, I screwed up my courage and started again. “I said that I …”

“I love you, too,” Ryan said as his face broke into a huge grin. “I have always loved you. I will always love you. A hundred years from now. When someone asks for a description of love. People will point to me when I think of you. They will see it on my face.”

My soul came together. The world became smaller, just the two of us. Everything else fell away, as I threw myself into his arms.

“Oh Ryan,” I said as I tried to kiss him without hurting his cut lip. He laughed and attacked my mouth without a care. As if he couldn’t get enough.

My heart soared. I knew in the very depths of my soul that I would always love Ryan Hardy, my King of the Nerds. He was the man who made my world complete. The other half of my soul.

The night turned into a beautiful, wonderful Prom night. The kind of night that every girl should have once in her life.

All I can say is thank God for comfortable couches. Ryan and I spent the night learning and becoming one that night. We had found each other and nothing would ever pull us apart.