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I closed , the hatred in her eyes so intense "I found her further down the river, drunk off her ass She was trying to get onto this old rope swing that swung you out into the water, but it was frayed and unused and the current that night was bad I begged her to come back to the party and talk tothat I was a traitor and a whore " I looked up at Braden now to find his sad eyes onout on the rope before I could stop her and it snapped She screamed for my help as the current took her and I didn’t think--I just shot into the water after her But Kyle had been behind us and he caer swied me back to the rocks Dru’s body washed up down the river She was gone And I never spoke to Kyle again"

"Baby," Bradenformy head, my eyes furious

"I killed her, Braden I don’t deserve sympathy"

He looked shocked now "Jocelyn, you did not kill her It was a tragic accident"

"It was a series of events caused by my actions I’entle hand over his lips "I know it’s not rational I do know that But I don’t know if I’ll ever get to a point where I don’t bla you is huge Believe me"

Braden hauled me across the bed and into his ar hed wearily "I think we need to have sex now"

His brows drew together "Why?"

"To reful

Braden’s eyes narrowed "No," he toldelse but that"

Surprised, I found for once I had no reply, and Braden didn’t wait on one He pressed a hard kiss tome with him He tucked ht "Go to sleep, babe"

Shell-shocked at the night’s events, I lay there listening to him breathe before exhaustion finally claimed me

"How do you feel now that you’ve told Braden about Dru?"

My gaze slid froree framed on Dr Pritchard’s wall to her face "I feel scared, but relieved at the same time"

"Scared because you told someone other than me?"

"Yes"

"And relieved…?"

I shifted in s from people and I know that it isn’t brave, but it’s how I handle things When I told Braden, the world didn’t end I felt brave for once And that was kind of a relief"

~18~

I would be sticking ed betweenlooks and understanding what they ether I decided not to think about the future Right then I was having auy who also happened to be a friend I didn’t want to forwas an inevitablewas a lot nicer in the present

Saturday rolled around before I knew it, and it was Braden’s guest DJ night at Fire to kick off the first week of university starting up I wasn’t particularly looking forward to crowds of freshman, but neither was Braden and he had to be there in show of respect to this fa hi with Ellie and Hannah that afternoon for a dress, and alloweda mini-dress I had never owned a h neck, was backless to just beloaist, and the heood few inches above my knees--definitely shorter than I’d ever worn in public before

Okay, so there were those green and white striped shorts, but a short dress was definitely more risqué

I piled my hair up on top of my head, wore my make-up a little heavier since I let Ellie do it, and put on a pair of ankle-strap, suede wedges the sa in a gold shift dress and spaghetti strap sandals

We weresince he took one look atin his office, theall around us My hands flew to my hips at his expression "What?" I snapped

His eyes travelled the length of er in the?"