Riley's Pond (New Adult Romance) Read Online Free PDF

hospital.”
    I swallowed several times, trying to pick which emotion to deal with first. Betrayal, anger at Kaylee…at Jaxson, or the ugly monster rising quickly—jealousy.
    “What clothes did she leave in the car?”
    “Riley, that doesn’t matter…”
    “It matters to me!” I blared over him. “What clothes?”
    My father lowered his eyes, his voice almost a whisper. “Her shirt…and bra.”
    “But not her panties?”
    “Riley, I’ve already told you too much—”
    “Were. Her. Panties. On?”
    “Whose panties?” sounded the sleepy voice from the doorway.
    Damn. We woke Dirk, who diverted my father’s attention and left my question unanswered.

Four
    CONFESSIONS OF A CHEATER
    Kaylee
    My heart smashed my spine when I shut the locker door and found Riley fuming on the other side.
    Pull it together Kaylee. He can’t know.
    When I reached out to touch him, he grabbed my wrist, his fingers constricting so tight, I felt my arm numbing.
    Damn. He knows.
    “ Riley, you’re hurting me.”
    He yanked me close enough that on any other occasion my bones would have melted. Riley’s eyes narrowed to angry slits and I felt tiny puffs of air against my face from the words he quietly, yet firmly spat.
    “Tell. Me. What. Happened.”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Stupid reply, but then most everything I did lately bordered “ stupid.” Riley kept my wrist hostage, placed his free arm around my waist and towed me to the parking lot. “Riley, I can’t miss first period. My parents will kill me.”
    “They’re not going to get the chance, because I’m going to beat them to it. You owe me an explanation, Kaylee,” he shouted loud enough to get a couple of students’ attention. Riley turned to the few witnesses of my possible demise. “Mind your own damn business.” His popularity gave him absolute power and they scurried into the building like spineless cowards.
    Except Shar. She held her own against Riley and followed us to his truck.
    “Martin, what the hell do you think you’re doing? Do you want me to—”
    “What Shar? Call the police ? Go ahead. In fact, ask for my dad personally. After all he’s the one… Never mind.” Riley clamped his anger, softening his tone. He glanced at me cowered against the door of the truck. “Does she know?”
    My eyes darted between Shar and Riley. She knew all right. But Riley couldn’t know how . Shar’s dad was the mayor. If he knew about her being in the car—in the backseat with Jaxson’s nineteen-year-old friend, her sixteen-year-old butt would be shipped off to a private school. Possibly a nunnery. Good Catholic girls supposedly didn’t do what Shar did to Brandon.
    When the sheriff cruiser crashed with a little help from “yours truly,” Shar jumped from the car and Brandon followed, pulling his shorts over his bare butt. When I saw Jaxson bleeding and heard the radio squawk “officer assistance stat ,” I knew the police would swarm the place any minute.
    Jaxson appeared lifeless, slumped over the steering wheel, face down in the airbag. I honestly thought he was dead. My stomach swirled. Somehow, I managed to climb out the passenger door and staggered across the lawn away from the car. The cold blast of air on my skin reminded me I’d left my shirt and bra on the front seat. I turned around, took in the crumpled car, smoke billowing under the street light. The squeal of car alarms echoed everywhere. Sirens wailed in the distance and I decided to take my chances sneaking in the back door at home. When I whirled back around, something hit the side of my head, hard, turning the world black.
    When I woke in the hospital, Sheriff Martin sat next to my bed, holding my clothes, demanding to know what happened. I confessed to being in the front seat with Jaxson. My panties were still on, but Shar’s apparently, remained on the floor in the car. When he asked who else rode in the car, I added another lie to my list of sins. I said