Bad Rep
Page 92

He kissed the bottom of my chin and then put his lips to the hollow of my throat. His mouth stayed there, feeling the heart beat through my skin. “I wish I didn't care. That I could just let it slide off my back. But, Jordan. It bothers me...a lot. And I don't know what to do with that,” I admitted. Jordan's hands began to gently rub my back.
“Does it change how you feel about me?” he asked me softly. I looked down at him and his eyes gazed back at me. I could see that the thought worried him. He was genuinely scared that I was having second thoughts about us.
I cupped his face in my hands and pulled him close so that our lips brushed against each other. “Never.” I whispered. Jordan closed his eyes and let out a small sigh of relief.
“Then try to forget the rest. We have each other and, baby, and that's everything.” He kissed me again and I felt myself melt into him. He was right. What we had was everything.
“Let's go back to bed, I'm freaking freezing,” Jordan said, pressing his cold nose to the side of my neck. I squealed and tried to pull away. Instead of letting me go, Jordan lifted both of us up, carrying me inside. He walked us back to my bedroom, kissing me the entire time. And then he made me forget everything. My worries. My fears. My insecurities. They all disappeared as he showed me how much I mattered.
~~~
“Do you mind if we swing by my house? I left my biology book there.” Jordan asked as we were leaving my apartment the next morning. We had made a point to spend a minimal amount of time at the house he shared with his Pi Sig brothers. After the crap with Gio a few weeks ago, it seemed like the smart thing to do. But I felt bad that Jordan was avoiding his friends because of me. So I sucked up my discomfort and nodded.
“Sure,” I said as he took my hand in his.
“It'll be quick. I promise,” he assured as we got into his truck.
“It's cool. We can't avoid people forever, Jordan,” I told him, turning down the stereo as ACDC screamed through the speakers.
“Why not? Everyone else sucks,” he joked. I rolled my eyes but grinned.
“That's right. There's only you and me, babe,” I replied, blowing him a kiss.
His eyes stared at me warmly. “That's right. You and me.” The way he said it made my insides all gooey. A few minutes later we were pulling into the driveway at his house. He held my hand as we went through the door. A few of the guys were in the living room and called out their greetings. They didn't stare at me the way they had that first time I had come there with Jordan, but they were still anything but welcoming.
We went up the stairs and started down the hallway toward Jordan's bedroom. Suddenly a door to the left opened up and a barely clothed Olivia came out. Her hair was rumpled like she had just woken up and her lips were red and swollen as though she had just been thoroughly kissed. She wore a guy's button up shirt and it fell to the tops of her thighs.
She stopped short when she saw us. Then her mouth lifted in a mean smirk. “Hey guys,” she said with a bitter edge to her voice.
I felt Jordan tense beside me. “Hey Liv,” he responded and I just nodded. Then Gio came up behind her, slithering an arm around her waist and kissing the side of her neck.
Gio was only wearing a pair of shorts, his chest bare. His hair was rumpled and it was very obvious what they had done the night before. And probably that morning. I looked up at Jordan and he was watching them, his jaw hard. My insides froze a bit at his expression. Obviously this bothered him.
Gio looked up from slobbering all over Olivia's neck and grinned. “Hi Jordan,” he said. He didn't acknowledge me, which was just fine. The smile on his face was brittle and challenging. I knew he loved the fact that Jordan was seeing the two of them together. My eyes flicked to Olivia and I could see she loved it too. What a sad pair.
“Didn't expect to see you.” Olivia giggled, rubbing against Gio whose hands had started to slide up her front. I averted my eyes. This was becoming downright  p**n ographic. Jordan pulled on my hand.
“Well, don't let us interrupt. See you later,” Jordan said shortly. I followed my boyfriend down the hallway, with the sound of his ex-girlfriend's laughter floating behind us.
“Yeah, see ya later!” she called after us and then I heard Gio's door slam shut.
Jordan went into his room and he started rooting through his stuff, trying to find his book. I stood by the door and watched him. He seemed agitated. Clearly the run in in the hallway had gotten to him. And damn it, that pissed me off!
“Where the hell is my book?” he grumbled, moving piles of clothes to his bed as he searched. I walked over to him, grabbed the stuff he was holding and threw it on the floor. Jordan looked at me in surprise.
“What was that for, Mays?” he asked bewildered.
I pointed out into the hallway. “That upset you, didn't it?” I demanded. Jordan sighed and ran his hands over his face.
“Maysie. It's not what you think,” he said, sounding annoyed. I went over and closed his door, then turned around to face him.
“Are you jealous that Olivia slept with Gio? Is that what your attitude is about?” I asked, unable to disguise the hurt in my voice. I knew rationally that of course he'd be weird about it. Even if he no longer loved her, he had to still care about her on some level. Yeah, rationalizations had no room in my brain at that particular moment. I felt tears prick my eyes and I tried to calm myself down.
I could feel my body start to tremble and I hated how upset I was over something so ridiculous. Jordan let out a frustrated sigh and turned his back to me. “This is stupid, Mays,” he muttered, bending down to dig his biology book out from under his bed.