Under My Skin (Shady Falls Series Book 2) Read Free

a great distraction.
    “What the hell’s wrong with you?” my identical twin brother, Cade, asked. He walked up next to my locker and stared at me like I was insane. The sounds of high school kids were all around, but I didn’t hear anything but white noise. I never paid attention to the idiots I was forced to spend my days with, but today was different. Today, I just stood there, staring into my locker lost in my thoughts.
                  It had been two days since I was with Mia. I went all day Sunday without seeing or talking to her. She didn’t return my calls and she didn’t hang out with Cade and me when we met up with Toni. I wanted to see her, but I wasn’t going to hunt her down. I knew shit was going on with her parents, so maybe she just wanted to hang out with them when they got home.
                  Snapping my head up to look at my brother, I slammed the locker door closed and turned to look at him. “Nothin’s wrong. Just tired.”
                  “You seem pissed,” he said simply. “And you were quiet yesterday.”
                  “I’m not pissed, I just don’t have anything to say. Leave me alone, bro.” I turned back to the locker, and fumbled with the combination. Cade was my polar opposite. Where my moods were more like a roller coaster, he was much more even-keeled.
                  “Whatever.” I looked up at him, expecting him to be pissed, but he just smirked. Cade rarely engaged when I was short-tempered. But I could tell he was sick of my shit by the tone of his voice. He never liked to deal with my moods. “You don’t hide things well at all. If you want to know where the hell she was all weekend, ask her.”
                  “What are you talkin’ about?”
                  “Mia,” he pushed.
                  “There ain’t nothin’ happenin’ with Mia,” I lied.
                  Cade let out a low grumble. “Good thing, ‘cause I’m not sure what the hell’s goin’ on over there.”
                  Craning my head around, I was met with the sight of the biggest dickhead in school, Gary, with one of the cheerleaders pinned against a locker. Gary was a complete ass to just about everyone. He was arrogant and he walked around like he owned the school. He partied hard every weekend, drinking and screwing every girl he could. Several girls said he forced himself on them, but none of them ever seemed to press charges. I wondered why they wouldn’t make him suffer if he truly forced them.  
    “Get off me!” the girl said loudly. I instantly knew to whom the voice belonged.
    Staggering backward a step, Gary let out a loud grunt, supporting himself with his hands on his knees. Mia stood, tears trickling down her cheeks, but she didn’t look sad, she looked furious.
    “You bitch,” Gary growled. “You’re gonna regret that,” he said through a rough southern twang.
    I was proud of her for standing up for herself but whatever she did to him, pissed him off. Eyes on fire, narrowed and crinkled at the corners, a huge frown marred his features. He was pissed. If he got his hands on her, he could hurt her, I was sure. Gary wasn’t the kind of guy that would tolerate a girl standing up to him. He seemed to like his girls to be submissive.
    Without even thinking, I rushed him just as he was ready to grab her again. Pinning him against the lockers and planting my fist in his gut, I growled a warning in his ear. “Keep your fuckin’ hands off her, or you’ll deal with me.” My low snarl was meant only for him.
    Backing off and letting Gary stand, I glared down on him. My much larger size usually intimidated people, but Gary was too stupid to know what was good for him. Too many hits to the head in soccer.
    “Fuck you, Jake. The slut’s been askin’ for it for months,” Gary spat.
    Anger flared from an untold place within my gut, like molten