Trapped (Bullied Book 4) (Bullied Series) Vera Hollins (best large ereader txt) 📖

in his eyes was too much for me to bear. “I can help you forget him. We can both forget our s-s-stupid crushes and be together—”

“Do you even understand English, Burks? Or do you need me to translate ‘I like someone else’ for you?” a deep voice said, and my heart stopped.

Hell no.

Blake stood only a few feet behind us with his arms crossed over his chest and an unreadable expression on his face.

He’d heard everything.

My world crumbled. He’d heard it. He’d heard I liked him.

I was going to be sick.

“She likes me, not you, so stop trying to force her to like you. Now, beat it,” Blake said, motioning with his thumb at the back door for Kevin to leave.

“No. I-I-I won’t leave Jess alone with you. And Jess and I are t-talking, so you’re the one who should leave.”

Blake’s nostrils flared, and he lunged at Kev, grabbing his shoulder. “Are you actually talking back to me? Do you want me to force you to leave, Burks?”

“Don’t touch him!” I jumped to separate him from Kev and pushed him away, shielding Kev with my body. “He did nothing to you, so don’t you dare touch him.”

His scowl deepened. “I need to talk to you, and he’s just in the way.”

“I don’t want to talk to you,” I said, but it was a lie. I wanted to talk to him, as stupid as it was. I wanted to know why he was here and how much he’d heard. I wanted answers to the questions that grew louder in my mind day after day.

He inclined his head, his eyes narrowing at me. “You’re not a good liar. I think you’re dying to know what I have to say about your little confession.”

A strong blush colored my cheeks, and I glanced away. My skin tingled at his closeness. I hate him, I hate him, I hate him. “Fine. We’ll talk.”

“Jess,” Kev said in a disappointed tone, but I didn’t look at him—I couldn’t—staring at my shoes instead.

“It’s okay, Kev. Go. We’ll finish our conversation later, okay?”

He didn’t answer immediately, and I could feel him watching me. “Okay. I’ll find Mel. T-Text me if…” His voice trailed off, and Blake snorted.

“What?” Blake taunted. “If she gets hurt by the big bad wolf? Are you going to be her knight in shining armor?”

Kevin tipped his chin up as he looked at him defiantly, which left me open-mouthed. “I might.”

Blake’s smirk fell. “You really do have a death wish.”

My heart twisted in fear for Kevin. I didn’t want him to get hurt because of me.

“Go, Kev. I’ll come inside soon.”

“Fine,” he mumbled and dragged himself back into the house.

I descended the porch stairs and went down the stepping stone path away from Blake, needing that distance between us. The air got cooler. Despite being in the open space, I felt like I was enclosed in a small bubble where nothing existed but Blake.

I could hear him following me closely, and my shivering intensified. I stopped near the back shed and folded my arms across my chest. The smell of the rain spread around me as a poignant tune depicting this moment between us formed in my mind, but I would never get to finish it.

“You wanted to talk, so talk,” I said boldly, facing away from him.

He shifted closer, stopping only inches behind me, and the thumping in my chest grew stronger. “Who would’ve thought you’d fall for me?”

I rubbed my arms to get rid of the cold that penetrated my skin, choking back my shame. “So you’re here to rub salt into the wound. Congratulations—I feel even more miserable and ashamed. Will you leave now?”

“Since when?”

I frowned. “Since when—what?”

“You know what I mean.”

I closed my eyes, and the image popped up behind my lids. His fragile, hunched form on the floor in the gym that day had shattered my heart. The words that had slipped through his lips were filled with pain that went so deep I wasn’t even sure if it had an ending.

The last thing I’d heard before I left was a whispered “I love you, Emma,” and even now, I remembered the all-consuming longing in those four words that echoed through the corners of my mind.

“Since I thought I saw something else beneath your cruel exterior, something good. But I was wrong.”

“Something good.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement said in a tone that revealed he didn’t believe he contained anything good to begin with.

I took a few wobbly steps away from him, looking at the sky. “It was when I saw you heartbroken because of some girl named Emma.” I started turning around. “It made me realize you aren’t that heartless—” My words turned into nothing when I saw his cold expression.

He erased the distance between us in two angry strides and towered over me. “What do you know about Emma?”

The anger rolled off his body, and I had to take a step back, shocked by the sudden change in his mood. “Nothing,” I said quickly. “Except that she’s someone you obviously care about a lot.”

He stepped toward me, eliminating the distance between us again. “Don’t mention her name ever again.”

I flinched. “Jesus. She’s really gotten under your skin—”

His eyes flashed with rage, and he launched himself at me. With a yelp, I backed away until I hit the wall of the shed, but he followed me all the way and pressed his palms on each side of my head.

“Don’t ever speak about her again!” He slammed his hand against the wood. “You’ve got no right!”

Pain pierced through me. I could see the love in his eyes that burned so fiercely for that girl, devotion so strong that made me yearn to have something like that. My eyes filled with tears, old wounds opening up.

“I see. I won’t mention her again.” I moved to the side to walk away, but his arm didn’t budge, keeping me in place. “Let me go.”

“Why? Isn’t this