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

didn’t want to, and it scared me, but I also embraced it.

“I never trusted you to be the person I hoped you to be,” he said. “I blew up on Saturday, searching for any possible reason to hate you more, and you gave me the perfect one.”

I licked my lips. “I’m really sorry, Blake. It was so wrong of me to do it for so many reasons. I’m so sorry. Please believe me.”

“I know.” He palmed my other cheek. “I know. I was so mad, but somehow it doesn’t matter. It can’t even compare to what I’ve done to you.”

“But it matters. Of course it matters. I never wanted to hurt you. It was stupid and completely wrong. I wish I’d never gone into your room.”

He just looked at me, searching desperately for something in my eyes. It seemed he found what he was looking for because a trace of a smile appeared on his face.

“The song is beautiful, Jessica.” He inched closer to me, and his gaze moved between my lips and my eyes. “You’re beautiful. You’re so beautiful, and I didn’t even see it. I didn’t want to see it. I kept telling myself you were bad, but I was wrong. I was so wrong.

“This week has been shitty for me. I couldn’t sleep, and as much as I tried to convince myself that what I said to you on Saturday night was right, it didn’t feel right. I wanted to see you.” His eyes seared into me. “I wanted to talk to you. And when that guy pushed you, it took everything in me not to grab you and hold you in my arms.”

He leaned his forehead against mine, his hands framing my face firmly. His desperation was tangible, and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what my next step would be. It was like walking on slippery ground in total darkness where even one wrong step could hurt me badly.

I placed my hands over his and removed them from my face. I had to put some distance between us no matter how much I yearned for his proximity. I moved away from him and stopped with my back turned to him.

“I wanted the same, Blake, but then again…I’m scared. One moment, everything is good, and the next, everything is bad. I want to find a middle ground with you, but somehow, it always slips away.” I balled my hands into fists, staring off into the distance. “I wish things could be different between us. Ups and downs, ups and downs…when can we get past that?”

He stayed quiet. Each second spent in silence brought me more ache, but then he said, “When we learn to trust each other. I want to trust you. I believe I can trust you. Can you trust me?”

I closed my eyes, fighting against my tears. Trust. One seemingly simple thing, but it was so hard to achieve it when you had a bad history with someone. All I knew was his cold side and insults, and I was just beginning to see his other side. But we had to take the first step toward trust in order to achieve it, and I wondered if this was our first step, a bridge to something better.

“I want to trust you,” I replied quietly.

I sensed him moving behind me, and then he placed his hand on my shoulder. I snapped my eyes open.

“How about hearing me out first, then?” he asked, sounding hopeful.

I sucked in air. “About what?”

“About everything. From the beginning. My fucked-up past…I want you to know everything.”

I struggled to even out my breaths. My body was hyperaware of his nearness, and it was hard to fight the need in me. He wanted to open up to me. He was ready to open up.

“You were right,” he continued. “All I gave you were half-truths. You gave me your song, your honesty, and now I want to be honest with you.”

I took a deep breath as I turned around slowly. “Okay. I’ll hear you out.”

His lips curled up in a small smile, and it was so painfully beautiful. He was beautiful.

“Then come to my house right now.”

I angled my head to the side. “Your house?”

“Yes.”

“But your parents—”

“They’re on my dad’s business trip for the weekend. He has some conference in Hartford, my mom is with him, and our maids have the day off. No one will interrupt us.”

My pulse quickened. Blake and me. In his house. Alone. My body warmed just thinking about it.

His eyes turned pleading. “I won’t hurt you. I just want you to know the truth.”

My mouth turned dry. I stood on the edge, weighing positives and negatives.

“Trust me,” he added, almost begging me.

Butterflies ravaged my belly as I took another deep breath.

“Okay. I’ll come.”

I parked my car behind his Dodge Challenger in his driveway and sent a quick text to Mel to tell her I was at Blake’s house. Expecting my phone to blow up with her texts, I put it on silent and followed him into his house.

Blake took me to that beautiful garden, and now in daylight, I could see it in all its glory. I stopped next to the pond and studied the flowers of various colors that adorned the space. The way they mashed together left me in wonder.

He stopped close to me, and my muscles locked up in awareness. “What’s your favorite flower?” he asked.

“Take a guess.”

His eyes smoldered. “Jasmine.”

Warmth rushed to my cheeks at the reminder of that moment in the school basement. “You remember.”

“How could I forget?”

My heart jumped in my chest. I bent and plucked a small flower from the grass, looking at it but not seeing it.

“Emma hated flowers.” I went still. “She was allergic to them.”

I looked at him as I stood up. He carried a sorrowful but soft expression. I was burning to ask him about her, but I hesitated.

I decided to bite the bullet since he’d mentioned her first. “How