Love's Beat

Chapter 22

     "I-D-I-O-T. In capitals. With multiple exclamation marks."

     "Yes, I'm an idiot not illiterate. I can spell," Jesse added wryly from his sprawled position on a bench in the empty locker room.

    "Well, apparently you should be both because you deserve it!" Jaden exploded. "How could you possibly have put Ember in such a disastrous situation? She's supposed to be your friend, dammit. Friends don't throw their friends into shark-infested waters!"

     "Hey, that's my family you're talking about. Despite the razor-sharp teeth and carnivorous nature, I resent that they be used to describe someone like him."

     "Then why would you be so utterly idiotic to have entrusted Ember's secret with another douchebag?" Jaden gritted out.

His blood was boiling so hot he felt like he could punch a wall and he wouldn't have felt it.

Jaden had a Come-to-Jesus moment when he'd decided he would be friends with Ember. It took him several tosses and turns in his bed but he finally decided he would let his emotions run free as they should. It was the natural thing to do. He would only hold them back when the situation called for it.

Although, he was starting to regret that last part.

He really just wanted punched Jesse. It would be far more satisfying than punching a wall.

     "Another? Excuse me, I am no ordinary douche. I am an A-grade, the baddest of them all douche who cannot be compared to anyone else. I am classified in a category of my own."

     Jaden shook his head of unruly red curls. "Enough. Let me recount the story in case I got the details wrong. Which I'm hoping they are and what I've actually heard is a figment of my overactive imagination."

     "I doubt it unless you're clinically insane. Then again that might actually be a distinct possibility."

     Jaden ignored him. "Cory, one of your supposed best friends, found out at that Ember worked at The Pulse when he came across the video of her dancing in your phone. Apparently, since you were idiotic enough to trust him with Ember's secret, he got a copy of the video. And now he plans to blackmail her into being his 'slave' using that same video. She's Tricia's friend for God's sake. Why would he do that to her? To both of them?"

     "Because he's a jealous girl deep, deep down inside of his black heart," Jesse answered. "Probably owns a pair of FM heels in his closet, waiting to use them and go all Beyonce on uncool girls."

     "Be serious," Jaden sighed.

     "Look," Jesse straightened to his feet unhurriedly and flicked off invisible dirt on his trousers. "I don't understand the reasons behind why Cory is doing this and I don't want to pretend that I do either. Maybe he really is envious of me and he's willing to hurt anyone including Ember to get to me. Maybe he needs her to finish his homework for the rest of the semester. I don't know."

      When he looked up, Jaden could see beneath the air of calm confidence and flippant attitude that he was hiding a fury of his own. "The first thought I had was that the few days I spent with Ember in getting her to like me were worth more than the years I spent with Cory. So I did the best I could to goad him into a... bet."

      He faltered before he uttered the last word which made Jaden's shoulders tense. "What bet?"

Jesse remained silent as he stared at the bank of lockers behind Jaden. It went on long enough that a terrible sense of foreboding came over him.

      "Jesse, what bet did you make with him?"

     He released a breath and looked Jaden straight in the eyes. "The condition of the bet was that we had to make a claim on Ember. Publicly, and in the presence of the other competitor. And she has to be willing. The loser will not only have to back off Ember, he has to–"