WRECKED BY YOU

CHAPTER 6: TWISTED STRINGS

Zara didn't see Jace the next morning.

Not in the hallway.

Not in first period.

Not even at lunch, where he always showed up just late enough to make an entrance.

And just like that, the heat from last night started to shift — curling into something colder. Not regret. Just... tension.

Her lips still tingled. Her thighs ached from the way he'd taken her like she belonged to him. And now?

Silence.

Her phone buzzed during History.

Unknown Number: Meet me behind the gym. Five minutes. Come alone.

Her pulse kicked. No name. No emoji. No warning.

She excused herself, too fast, ignoring the look from her teacher.

⸻

The back of the gym was quiet, all peeling paint and echoes of basketball games long gone. She waited.

Footsteps.

But it wasn't Jace.

It was her.

A girl.

Gorgeous. Tall. Icy. Legs for days and eyes that screamed money and menace.

"I'm Vanessa," she said flatly. "Jace's ex."

Zara blinked, jaw tight. "Okay?"

Vanessa stepped closer, all designer gloss and venom. "You're not the first, Transfer Girl. And if you think you're special just because he finally decided to screw someone on school property, you're adorable."

Zara didn't flinch. "You followed me here to slut-shame me? Cute."

Vanessa smiled without warmth. "No. I followed you here to warn you. Jace isn't what you think. He ruins girls like you. Breaks them in half, then leaves."

Zara's pulse stuttered. "And yet... you still care enough to show up."

A muscle in Vanessa's jaw twitched.

Then she turned and walked away, heels clicking like gunshots.

⸻

Zara didn't find Jace until late that night.

He was leaning against her dorm's back wall, hoodie up, cigarette burning between his fingers.

"You skipped today," she said.

He shrugged. "Had to handle something."

She folded her arms. "Vanessa showed up."

That got his attention.

He met her eyes. Serious now. "She shouldn't have come near you."

"She says you break girls."

"I don't break what's already broken."

That hit too close.

She took a breath. "Am I just another game?"

"No," he said quietly. "You're the first thing that feels real in a long time."

Zara stepped into him. Close. Close enough to feel the heat, the storm, the honesty in his silence.

"If you're lying to me, Jace..."

He crushed the cigarette and grabbed her chin. "Then break me back."

And just like that — his mouth was on hers again.

Harder. Rougher. Like the truth could only exist between their bodies.

Clothes pulled. Hands everywhere. They didn't even make it inside — just up against the dorm wall, her moans swallowed by the kiss, her fingers clawing at his back, his lips at her throat.

She wasn't falling anymore.

She'd already fallen.

And the bottom was nowhere in sight.