by Lindsey Iler
Marek stops at the top of the stairwell, shuffling one shoe on, followed by the other. When he turns, I grin, knowing I’ll have the last word for today.
“What exactly are you smiling about?” he spits out.
“Thinking about how cute you’ll be next year, walking around your fancy college with a baby strapped to your chest.” At my taunt, his jaw bottoms out.
I’ve never seen Marek Hawthorne rattled. There’s something so rewarding about seeing someone so powerful and indestructible become a little weak at the knees and pale as a ghost.
As he takes a large step towards my dorm, I slam the door, and with my back pressed against it, I reach behind me and click the lock shut. The pounding I’m waiting for never comes, so I head into the bathroom.
In the mirror, I check my back to see the beginning of a bruise. My fingers run over my neck where Marek left red marks. A short-lived smile settles on my lips. My body knows what it means to have his strong, able hands on me. He’s cruel, but I’m not afraid of the pain, welcoming it in a way I can’t understand yet.
I’ve been right all along.
Sex makes Marek weak. He may hate me, may even be desperate to destroy me in ways he sees fit, but he’ll never win when his mind isn’t fully in the game.
If I have a say in it, it won’t be.
Chapter Ten
Marek
“Seems big sister left a little bit out of their circle of trust, huh?” Dixon nods at the front door.
Palmer waltzes into the party like she owns the damn place. A short black skirt, fitting her like a second skin, and a white top that shows most of her midriff, expose almost every blessed inch of her body. My eyes fall to her flat stomach. There’s no way she’s dumb enough to go without birth control. She said that to fuck with me. She had to have. I’ll admit, she got me good.
Whatever game this chick is playing, she has no idea who she’s matched up against. Saturday nights at Peter Tillison’s house are always packed. She had to know she’d bump into us here. Maybe that is her plan. After the four of us cornered her in the classroom and courtyard, I’d stupidly assumed she’d hide away. That isn’t what we wanted, but it would give us time to figure our shit out. Every chance this girl gets, she throws us for a curve.
“Should we get rid of her?” Breaker settles in next to me, lining up his shot. He tosses the ball and banks it right into the cup.
The two sophomore girls across from us grin, simply happy to be in our presence. One of them picks up the cup and chugs the contents, drying her lips with the back of her hand. Sloppy is what they are. Undesirable is what they’ll always be.
Not like her, though.
A little wild paired with grace.
Palmer Weston is the kind of girl you hope you end up with in the end.
“No, let her stay. Let her get comfortable.”
Breaker turns his attention back to the game until Delaney waltzes into the house, and then he shakes his head.
“She still not talking to you, I take it?”
“I tried twice, and that’s all I have in me. She was only going to be a hook-up, anyway.” He sinks the ball in the last cup and stands. “Girls like her are complicated, much like Palmer.”
Before I can argue with him, he meets the two sophomore girls in the middle of the room. Breaker is good at compartmentalizing his bullshit. He’ll use these two to forget what little bit of humanity Delaney managed to dredge up in their short time together. He can say what he wants, but he feels a certain kind of way for Delaney. And how she turns up her nose as he leads the two girls upstairs, she sure as hell feels the same way.
Palmer rolls her eyes, clearly not entertained by his antics. She has no idea of the things he’s going to do with those girls, or she’d be blushing. She may have played our game for a night, but she’s not one of us.
At the memory, I adjust myself in my jeans and storm off, frustrated that even the simplest thought has brought me a bit of trouble. Proof of what Palmer does to me strains against my zipper.
I push through the party, stopping in the kitchen. A freshman on the football team holds the nozzle up and fills a cup to the top, sloshing it on the floor as he hands it to me. He’s eager as hell, like we want the next generation of players to be.
The Bulldogs haven’t lost a game in the last three years, and we don’t plan on letting anyone past us the next nine, either. The last five will be what solidifies Glass Heart Academy as the best, once again.
I’m team captain, and nothing short of perfection will be acceptable. On and off the field, we Bulldogs are expected to behave a certain way. An unspoken code of conduct is woven through this entire campus. If administrators knew of the parties, drugs, and sex happening in every building of this campus, they’d shut this place down. They stay blissfully unaware, and the ones who do know, turn their cheeks because it’s not worth losing their careers at the hands of teenagers.
A girl I recognize from our rival prep school, locks her gaze on me. I may be a little drunker than I care to be right now, but I still know when I’m wanted. I sit on the half-wall that surrounds Peter’s house, knowing damn well she’s coming over here. She’s pretty in the way that screams I’m into your money and nothing else.
I check to make sure, and sure as shit, she saunters over to me like a thirsty gazelle to a ravine. From behind me, she leans over to wrap her arms around my shoulders, and her hand grazes my dick. By the hunger in her eyes, it’s no accident. She does it again, and my primal hiss cuts through her talking about how bad she wants me.
“If you want it, come and get it.” I tug on the tips of her hair, making her believe I actually give a fuck about the person her lips are attached to. “No one is stopping you.”
She hops over the wall, unbuttons my jeans, and lowers my zipper. My hand rests heavily on the back of her head. She grins up at me as she frees me and wraps her mouth around my length. I clench my eyes shut, focusing on the feel of her tongue licking the tip of my dick and plummeting me to the back of her throat. She makes a show of gagging, and like I’ve lost the strength in my arm, my hand goes slack, applying full pressure on her.
Everything in my mind is foggy with other things going on. I have to force myself to stay present with this girl, listening to the waves clap against the lake shore to keep me in the moment. It doesn’t work. Losing myself in her isn’t as easy as it should be.
All I can see is her.
Palmer.
The girl finishes, wiping at her lips like some paid whore. This is what I liked. I lived for the random hook-up and careless relationships. That kind of thing makes it easier to sharpen the edges of my heart. It’s hard to break when I can’t get close enough to it.
I zip my jeans, feeling dirty, and loathing the simple fact that the only way I could finish in this girl’s mouth is if I’d thought about Palmer.
I turn and the girl in my thoughts stands in the middle of the lighted path. Her eyes are dead set on me. She’s alone with a cup in her hand. Was she watching the whole time? Instead of jealousy, a gleam of arousal crosses her eyes. They widen when she spots the girl next to me.
The party is in full force. Loud music. Lights. It’s enough to pull us down, but Palmer and I stay completely present.
The idea of her watching this is like no other experience I’ve had. Now she knows how it felt to watch her with Byron. A little forbidden, sure, but still the sexiest fucking thing I’ve ever seen. What I’ve learned about Palmer is she isn’t like the other girls in the sense that she doesn’t give into my bullshit. She puts up a fight, and a fight between us is worth the trouble.
I grin and wink, earning a cute scowl from Palmer, before drawing my attention to the girl next to me.
“Thanks, Jessica.” I wave over my shoulder, hop over the wall, and head back towards the house, buckling my jeans.
“My name’s Jasmine,” she argues, a whiny tone to her voice I’d managed to ignore before letting her drop to her knees. If I’d listened
to her talk before she did me a favor, we wouldn’t have gotten so far.
“Does it look like I give a shit what your name is, sweetheart?” I spin, holding my arms out, proving how the powerful always get what they want, and what I’d wanted was a release she had been far too ready to give me.
“You’re an asshole, Marek Hawthorne!” Jasmine shouts for everyone to hear.
“Again, never claimed not to be, but you didn’t seem too worried about it when my dick hit your tonsils.” My voice is loud, carrying throughout the expansive backyard. I wink at her and turn to a round of applause from my classmates.
Dixon is sitting at the fire by himself, resting forward, a worried expression on his face. I talk to a couple of guys before heading his way and plopping down in the seat beside him.
“What’s up, man?” I kick at his feet.
Dixon pops his head up, surprised to see me. “Huh? What?”
“You good?” I sit back and take in the backyard.
It’s full of students from Glass Heart Academy and other public schools in our town. We live among each other for the most part, with no troubles unless a field or court is involved. That’s when tension runs high, and everyone is out for blood.
“Yeah, I’m good. Just have some shit on my mind.” Dixon settles, his stare off in a different land. When he looks over my shoulder, his eyes widen. “She’s still here, huh? Figured you’d ran her off by now.”
“Thought I’d let her have some fun, is all,” I explain.
“How are you doing with all of this shit?” He circles his finger in the direction where Palmer has disappeared.
“I’m not going to lie, I’m having more fun than I should be.” I smirk, recalling the unexpected visits and how, no matter how hard I push, she allows me to get away with just enough.
Dixon is used to my depraved behavior. He never judges me for my preferences, and often joins in, much like the night with Palmer at the library. The only thing that makes us four different from each other is what drives us. None of the other shit matters because we’re protective to a fault.
“And to think, we haven’t even gotten started yet,” he says, leaning sideways to take the blunt Breaker offers him. He huffs in a lungful and releases the smoke, offering it to me. I take a hit and hand it back to Breaker over my shoulder.
“Logan was in the kitchen, sniffing around your girl,” Breaker announces, taking the last seat on this side of the fire.
“Your fucking point?” I snatch the blunt from his hand and take a deep draw, holding it in my lungs until it burns. “That girl can do whatever she wants.”
“You wouldn’t mind if I took my shot then?” Breaker spins around, looking for someone. What game does this guy think he’s playing? “She’s right in there. I could go work my charm, tell her I had nothing to do with the shit that went down.”
“The girl’s not a fucking idiot, but you can do whatever the hell you want. You want to stick your dick in her, be my guest. Just know she’ll be thinking about me the whole time.” I stand, and Breaker jumps up to block me. “Get the fuck out of my way.” He stumbles back when I shove him.
“Where you going?” Breaker calls out, a hint of amusement and laughter tipping over his tongue.
“I’m not waiting for Byron. This shit starts tonight,” I announce.
Nothing fueled by anger ever ends well. This is something I know from firsthand experience. Somehow, I don’t have the energy to think this through. Everything we have planned is down to the T. Whatever shit I try to pull tonight may fuck everything up.
I stomp through the backyard and inside the house. Girls paw at me, trying to grab my attention, but all I see is red. I take an offered shot from Peter and down the sharp liquor, tossing the small plastic cup into the sink.
Two laps around the house, and Palmer is nowhere to be found. Defeat settles when I realize she must have left.
Fuck you, Breaker. He was just trying to get a rise out of me, and it worked.
When my feet hit the living room floor, I see Logan Kennedy handing Palmer a cup. She smiles lazily at him, taking his offering. She can’t be that big of an idiot. His arm wraps around her waist, tugging her into his side. My steps ease me closer to them. Logan’s hand shifts lower and lower on Palmer’s back until his fingers are splayed across her ass.
With a closed fist, I lunge forward, connecting my hand with Logan’s jaw. Screams erupt around the room, and everyone scatters, giving us plenty of space. He falls right at Palmer’s feet. She gawks at me and opens her mouth to say something.
“What the fuck?” Logan gets to his feet, cutting her off.
“Let it be known that anyone who tries to date Palmer Weston will find themselves in the same place as Logan.” I check the room, daring anyone to oppose my words.
“I wasn’t trying to date your girl, man.” Logan lifts his hands in defense.
“Okay, then this also goes for anyone looking to screw her!” I yell through the crowd.
The red cup has my full attention. I lurch forward and knock it from her hand. The amber liquid stains the carpet.
“Not the smartest choice, Palmer.” I point to her flat stomach. “Unless you don’t plan on keeping the baby. You don’t seem like the motherly type anyway. Probably best to let this one go, since you haven’t had the best example. Yours devoted all of her attention on the good sister.”
Dixon and Breaker stand in the living room doorway, grinning like the fucking pieces of shit they are.
“Are you finished now?” Palmer stomps around Logan, coming chest-to-chest with me. Her breaths are harsh and uneven. She’s pissed. Pissed I can work with. “Do you honestly think I’m dumb enough to get knocked up by a fuck boy like you? That for a single second I would allow you inside me without making sure I’m protected?”
I keep my face flat, not willing to let Palmer see my relief. I won’t grant her the satisfaction in front of our audience. They’re here for a show, and I’m about to give it to them.
“Now you all know she’s an easy lay-up, boys!” I shout over the top of her head. “We’re doing you all a favor.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Palmer’s eyes widen, and her hands reach up, ready to wrap around my neck.
“Oh, not so tough anymore when you can’t dangle the future baby daddy bullshit over my head, now, are you?” My lips flatten. “That’s fucking low, and you know it.”
“I seem to forget when you became the pinnacle of moral conduct here on campus.” She presses two hands against my chest, and I stumble. “Fuck you, Marek.”
Quicker than her, I grip tight to her wrists and yank her against my body. “Oh, come on now, baby.” I lick along her earlobe. “We’ve already done that. Plenty of times, and don’t think for a second it won’t happen again.”
“The only way you’re fucking me again is if you take it without asking, like you did in my shower!” she yells, allowing everyone in earshot to hear her confession. I push her away, and she stalks over to Dixon and Breaker. “You were sloppy, leaving evidence.”
Everyone watches Palmer leave the room, a bruise present where I’d jammed her against the doorknob. Dixon turns away, disappointment written on every part of his face.
Breaker gestures towards the hallway Palmer disappeared into. “When did that shit go down? And baby mama? Please tell me you weren’t dumb enough not to wrap it up.”
“You already know when it happened,” I admit. “And she was fucking with me.”
After the ceremony, the boys had gone back to the house and I’d lied, telling them I needed to hang back to tie up some loose ends. What they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. Unfortunately, that seems to be the new normal for me. Secrets tend to catch up at the most inopportune times.
“You going to be able to do this shit, Marek, or is this going to be a problem? Girl has you rattled.” Disapproval laces his words, tying them together to prove his point.
“No problem. I know the deal. The plan is set.” I w
alk towards the front door, leaning my shoulder on the wall at the bottom of the steps. He follows me, not ready to let it go.
“Sure, but every chance you get, you get your hands on that girl, so . . .” Breaker’s eyes flick up the stairwell, where Palmer ran off to.
“I fucked her.” I shrug, dismissing his worries. “Don’t get it confused with anything else.”
“You can get pussy anywhere you want.” He shakes his head. “It’s yours for the taking, so leave that girl alone.”
“I like the way she fights me.” I shrug, ignoring how fucked that actually sounds. All I can do is remember our time in her dorm room. She’s up there, alone, and I’m hungry for her brand of defiance. All I need to do is walk up a few steps, and she’ll crumble in my hands.
“You aren’t going to listen to me, are you?” Breaker says as I’m halfway up the stairs.
“One thing I’m certain of is we need that girl to bend at our will, to play the part of the damsel in distress, and who better to make her do it than us?”
“Oh, so now I get the invite.” Breaker takes one step up, eyeing me from the bottom. I nod, giving him permission, something he’s never needed, but Breaker and I don’t do the things I do with Byron and Dixon. “Are you serious?”
“You want a taste, right?” I’m going to regret this, but if it gets him off my ass about my current bad choices, then that’s the price I’m willing to pay.
“What makes you think she’ll go for it?” Breaker questions. He doesn’t know her like I do. His steps quicken, meeting me at the top of the stairs.
“Trust me, she will.” I look back and forth. “Now we just need to find her.”
Breaker holds a finger to his mouth and sits down on the couch on the second-floor main landing. I stand off to his side, leaning against the half-wall hidden in the shadows. We sit in silence for almost ten minutes, then a door flies open.
Through the large windows spanning the back of the house, moonlight casts a glow on Palmer’s beautiful snowy skin. Her steps are quick, but Breaker is faster. His arm shoots out to stop her from making it to the stairs. He wraps her up, yanking her backwards. Her eyes are wild, dancing back and forth between him and me.