Love At First Academy

by Kat Cameron

Asher carried me to the front seat and sat me down, while looking at my face and gritting his teeth. “Asher what are you doing? I have to shower. We have school in the morning, remember?” I asked him lightly.

  Honestly, I was still trying to figure out what the fuck just happened myself.

  “Malia, you are not going back to that house. I’ll call the guys on the road and figure out what to do,” he grumbled with an angry undertone I didn't think I have ever heard coming from a guy before.

  As he shut the door, I wondered where he was going to take me because I really didn’t want to see anyone else. I secretly wished he had left so he didn’t know what went on behind closed doors. The pity in people’s eyes when they looked at me was the worst feeling. I knew I was strong and independent and I didn’t want anyone thinking any differently.

  Asher got in and turned the car on. When he started driving I asked, “Asher, this is kidnapping ya know?” trying for some kind of light joke to make the tension lines disappear from his face.

  He looked at me like I was crazy and then his eyes traveled down to my cheek and he got angry all over again. I went to hold his hand. He avoided it and went for his phone instead. That kind of hurt, but then I realized he was going to call the guys.

  When the phone started ringing through the car speakers I heard Ryder answer the phone, “Asher. What’s up, man? I thought you would be driving Malia home?”

  “Are you home?” Asher asked, while grinding his teeth so hard I thought they would crack.

  “Yeah, but Asher what is going on?” Ryder sounded nervous as he answered the question with a question.

  “Just get Grayson to your house Ryder. I will be there in fifteen minutes.” Asher didn’t even give Ryder a chance to answer, he just hung up and drove faster.

  At this point, I was so nervous because I didn’t want the guys to find out what my life was like. It had never gotten this bad before. Wanting some type of comfort but not wanting to show how vulnerable I was feeling, I tried to hold Asher’s hand again. This time he let me thread my fingers through his, while picking my hand up and kissing the back of it. I didn’t think he realized how much this tiny act eased the tension in my nerves.

  Pulling up to Ryder’s house, I could feel the nerves set in again. As Asher got out, I was still sitting in the car wishing that there would just be a hole to swallow me up. For some reason, I felt ashamed that this happened. I knew it wasn’t my fault but I didn’t want anyone’s sympathy or pity.

  Asher pulled the door open ripping me from my thoughts. Before I knew it, I was walking up to Ryder’s house. Apparently this wasn’t normal behavior for Asher because the front door opened and the massive frame of Grayson was standing there.

  It was dark outside and no one had turned the lights on yet. This didn’t last long since the front door opened and the bright light poured out into the night. As soon as Grayson saw my face he turned redder than a tomato. I hadn’t looked in a mirror since getting hit, so I guess there was still a mark on my cheek.

  “Asher, you need to explain what the fuck is going on right now!” Grayson yelled and it was so sudden that he made me jump.

  Now I was pissed because I didn’t need anyone talking for me. “Grayson, how about you ask me what is going on, instead of jumping down Asher’s throat like this is his fault?” I yelled right back.

  I was so focused on staring down Grayson, I didn’t realize Ryder was here. His breathless voice asking, “What the hell is going on and why is everyone yelling?” Breaking my concentration I glanced at him just as he choked down a gasp, his eyes wide on my face. He quickly calmed down saying, “Alright let’s take this inside, yeah?”

  Everyone followed him inside and I felt a migraine coming on. This conversation needed to happen quickly because when I got a migraine, it wasn’t pretty, to the point of possibly emptying my stomach a few times until it went away. The brightness of the house was not helping either. Ugh! I just wanted to get this over with and sleep.

  “Everyone sit down. Now, I’ll tell you what happened and then I’m going to crash on the couch until this migraine goes away. So, Asher took me home and was giving me a kiss goodnight when my father came out, and not so politely, told Asher to pretty much fuck off in his own drunken language. I went in to go to my room. The next thing I know I was laying on the floor with my dad yelling shit about living in his house and me being a whore, with a stinging cheek. It was pretty much a blur, until Asher came charging through my house and kidnapped me.” I said with such a sickly sweet smile hoping to change the sour looks on the guys faces.

  Apparently, I was wrong to say that because then Ryder and Grayson were yelling at Asher. Time to fix this mess. I guess. “Guys.” This was a bad idea. “Guys!” …still yelling at Asher… Here goes nothing. Putting my fingers in my mouth, I whistled and boy did that get their attention. “For fuck’s sake, it was a damn joke you two! What in the ever-loving hell is wrong with you? Do you really think Asher would take me without my approval?” I asked, throwing a wink in Asher’s direction.

  “Now that everyone knows my sordid tale, can someone get me medicine for this awful headache?” I practically begged at this point. All the yelling really did a doozy on my brain. They all seemed to move at once.

  When they got up, I laid down on the couch and shut my eyes. I felt a feather-like touch moving down my cheek. It stung, but felt really nice at the same time. Opening my eyes, I saw Grayson looking at my cheek with a sad look on his face. He was so focused on my cheek that he didn’t even notice I was looking at him.

  Not wanting to distract him, I kept still and quiet taking this time to really look at him. He had stubble on his face that I thought would feel really nice running my hands on. His nose had a little bump in the middle that made me think it had been broken maybe once or twice. Grayson also had the sharpest jawline that I had ever seen, even though his stubble covered it for the most part. Hazel eyes with the slightest touch of green looked back at me, when I finally reached them.

  Asking with his signature smirk, “Are you done checking me out now?”

  I wasn’t sure if it was the headache or just me being sick of not doing anything for myself, but I smirked and reached up to touch his stubble before pulling him in for a kiss. He let me take control, but quickly got tired of that and within a matter of seconds I was flat on my back. Hovering over me, he kept his body off mine as he continued to kiss me. Just as I was really getting into it, I heard someone coming down the stairs.

  By the time Ryder got to the bottom of the stairs, we had sprung apart like teenagers getting caught by their parents. “Here Malia. Take this and drink some water. You can sleep here if you want. We can take you to school in the morning.”

  “Thanks, Ryder, but I don’t have any clothes here. I think I will just sleep here for an hour and then walk home. My dad should be sleeping by now.” It looked as though he was about to say something but I was too close to sleeping at this point.

  8.

  Sleep With Her

  Grayson

  The anger I felt towards Malia’s dad was one like I have never felt before. When I saw her face, I wanted nothing more than to go over there and beat the shit out of him. Unfortunately, there was nothing more I could do that wouldn’t land me in hot water.

  I have been sitting here watching Malia sleep like a damn creeper ever since Ryder went upstairs. Considering that her just being here helped ebb some of my anger, I really didn’t want to leave her side. Making sure that she was comfortable while sleeping, I put the blanket over her. I really need to go talk to the guys about everything but I couldn’t help staring at the beauty, that was Malia. While looking at her face, I could see that she had the longest eyelashes I have ever seen on a woman before.

  Her lips were pink and full, begging to be bitten. With that thought being the last one, I gave her a feather-light kiss on her forehead and head upstairs.

  As I walked into Ryder’s room, I noticed he was looking at me with a s
light glare. I wondered if he saw Malia and I kiss. Judging by the way the guys have looked at Malia, I could tell they have feelings for her like I do. This was going to get messy.

  Well, there is only one way to solve this issue.

  “So… we obviously all agree that this situation is bullshit. What exactly happened, Asher?”

  Sighing, he answered, “After she handed in her applications, we went to get ice cream. Once we were finished there, I took her home. If you could call it that. I could see why she never wanted us to go there. The place didn’t even look livable. There were cracked windows and the fucking place was just a mess. Anyways, we were saying goodnight and all of a sudden her dad came to the door and was a straight-up dick for no reason. Not to mention, he reeked of alcohol. I tried introducing myself but he just totally brushed it off and went inside with Malia.” He looked really uncomfortable and I figured out why.

  He didn’t repeat what Malia said in her side of the story. He forgot to mention the kiss; although whether it was an accident or not, I couldn’t say but most likely not.

  “Keep going Asher” I growled, because at this point I was getting frustrated and pissed on her behalf. She may have wanted to brush it aside but I couldn’t do that. It wasn’t ingrained in my DNA especially ones that felt the need to hit someone that couldn’t properly defend themselves.

  Asher swallowed roughly and continued, “I was walking back to my car when I heard the yelling. I didn’t want to interfere, so I kept on going to the car. Then I heard a thump and that is when I barged in. The sight I walked in on, is one I never want to see again.” He shuddered and his eyes were haunted as he looked at me.

  "Grayson, he had her on the floor spewing in her face words a father should never say to their daughter. I saw the red mark on her face. He said that as long as she was in his house he wouldn’t have a whore as a daughter. She also told me while driving around, that if she didn’t make money she wouldn't eat. Apparently, her dad can’t keep a job for the life of him, so she always has to work,” he looked up from the floor with tears that I never thought I would see, making his eyes look glassy. “Where did she apply to work?” Ryder muttered, trying not to look uneasy.

  “The Blue Star Diner and Broad Street Tavern,” Asher revealed. Damn it, this was worse than I thought. “What about the kiss Asher?” Ryder surprised us, by asking this in a calm tone. The blush that crawled up Asher’s cheeks made my lips turn into a grin.

  “What about it? We kissed. That is it.” I shared a look with Ryder and I could tell he was thinking the same thing I was. That wasn’t just a kiss. He could play it down all he wanted but there was more to it than that, written plain as day across his face.

  “Alright, if you say so, Ash.”

  “Onto the next issue. What are we gonna do about her dad? We can’t just let her go home with him.” I said, but was quickly surprised by someone we didn’t hear the door open.

  “I appreciate that you guys care but nobody is going to let me do anything. I do what I want. Let’s just get this out of the way now. Anything else you want to add?” she sassed, with a tired look in her eyes.

  Jesus her sassy side drove me crazy. I wondered if she would be like that in bed, defying me at every turn.

  Ah fuck, I had to think of something else and quickly. Football and disgusting locker rooms.

  Fuck me! That was not good.

  Alright, this was serious. I needed to pay attention because while I had been trying to not let my dick get hard, everyone was talking.

  “I think one of us should sleep with her.” Asher blurted with such a straight face that I didn’t think he even realized what the rest of us thought. Ryder and I choked on our thoughts and Malia turned bright red, but that quickly turned into a grin.

  “Well, which one of you is it gonna be?” she quipped. That shook everyone out of their thoughts and we were all kind of staring at her quite dumbfounded.

  “Who’s taking the floor?” she snickered. Thank the damn universe she added that.

  “Are you sure about this Malia? We don’t have to go with you if it would make you uncomfortable.”

  “Honestly, my dad has never hit me. I don’t really know what happened. I am thinking, maybe it is best if Asher just comes with me. My dad has already seen him while we were outside and since he was rambling about whores, I don’t need him to say anything else if I show up with someone else. I will try and deal with this tomorrow when he is sober,” she insisted with such a strong voice that I would have thought nothing happened to her a few hours ago. Her face was now slightly bruised and I could only imagine what Skylar was going to do with this at school.

  After we got everything settled, Malia and Asher went downstairs. Ryder and I followed but I had this nagging feeling in my gut that Ryder had seen Malia kiss me and with the way he looked at her, I had to make sure we were good. I stopped him at the door to his bedroom before he walked out.

  “Ryder, are we good?” he stopped, and before turning to look at me, he sighed and put his head down. If I didn’t know any better I would’ve thought he was sighing in defeat. I was wrong.

  When he turned around and looked at me, his eyes were full of honesty as he confessed, “Don’t worry Grayson. I will get my chance when she is ready. It might be a while before she is ready because of all the bullshit Skylar is doing, but she will get there. We are good bro.”

  The relief I felt from that statement should have made me angry because I wasn’t into sharing. Thinking about Ryder and Malia kissing didn’t bother me at all.

  With that, I rubbed my hand over my stubble and we went downstairs to a sight that shouldn’t have been surprising to us.

  9.

  Damn Giant

  Malia

  Going downstairs, I noticed that Ryder and Grayson stayed in his room. Weird guys. I sat down on the couch to wait for them. Asher sat next to me and was looking at me funny. His gaze felt heavy on me.

  “Why are you looking at me like that, Asher?” Guessing I startled him because he flinched.

  He mumbled, “I am so sorry Malia.”

  Looking back at him like he had two heads, I grabbed his hand and made him look at me.

  “Asher, there is nothing you could’ve done. He would’ve hit me regardless of you being there. He was wasted, Asher. If anything, I am happy you didn’t interfere. Otherwise, he might have messed up your pretty face.” This made him smile, such a bright smile, it lit up the room.

  He put his hand on my cheek and I winced at the sting, but he used his thumb to rub lightly. It felt nice, so nice, I started to close my eyes again.

  “Malia, do you want me to get you anything? Ice or any medicine before we leave?” Asher asked so softly and I swore I could feel his breath right at my lips.

  Opening my eyes, I realized that he was in fact as close as I thought.

  “No, I am fine, thank you.” Seeing his blue eyes glittering made me want to pull him into a hug and never let go. He pulled me closer to get rid of the space between us. Instead of kissing me like I thought he would, he kissed me right on my cheek. Something I thought was cold and dead to the world, twinged a little bit.

  Hearing footsteps come down the steps, I went to pull away from Asher because I really didn’t want to make things awkward for the three of them. However, it didn’t happen because he didn’t let me go, so I just pulled him in and hugged him harder. I haven’t been hugged like this in what feels like my whole life.

  Ryder was first coming down the steps and when he looked at us he stopped dead in his tracks. This caused Grayson, the damn giant, to run right into the back of him and he fell into the wall at the bottom of the steps.

  Grayson grunted, “What the fuck Ryder? Move your damn feet, asshole.” There wasn’t anything I could do but laugh. I laughed so hard, Asher let go of me and tears were streaming down my face. I haven’t laughed like this in ages.

  “Thanks, Ryder. I really needed that.”

  After the stairs incident, Ash
er and I decided it was time to go back to my house. I was not excited about this. Sighing, I said, “Thanks for everything Ryder. I guess we will see you tomorrow morning.”

  While giving him a hug, I saw Grayson looking at us with hungry eyes. So intense that it made my skin heat instantly. As he winked at me, Ryder let me go, but not without kissing my forehead first.

  “Bye Grayson,” I muttered feeling a little bummed about having to leave at all. I liked this little bubble that we were in, if only for a little while.

  “Let’s go, Asher. I am sorry for anything that happens tonight and it is very likely that something will happen.” I pointed out, hoping he would just want to come back here or go home. It wasn’t that I didn’t want him there. I did. I just didn’t want him to have to witness what I went through on a daily and nightly basis.

  It took us fifteen minutes to get back to the place I dreaded. The drive was quiet, both of us lost in our thoughts. I texted Ryder and Grayson that we were here just like they asked, before we walked out the door. Looking over at Asher, I noticed that he was looking at the house with a clenched jaw as if the house insulted him. Grabbing his hand, I got his attention and said, “Asher, you can still go home. I will be okay.”

  “Malia, I am not leaving you to suffer this hell alone. The guys would do the same thing for you. Let’s just get this night over with, yeah?” he told me as he leaned over the center console of the car to kiss my cheek.

  Getting out of the car, I felt my hands start to tremble. Bringing Asher with me into the house wasn’t anything I had ever done before. Nobody had ever been in any of the houses I had ever lived in with dad. I just hoped that Asher realized the amount of trust I was putting in him. We got to the door and I put my shaking hand on the handle.

  Usually, I have a mask on that never slips but tonight I just didn’t have the energy to pretend that everything was okay. Asher came up behind me and gave me a reassuring hug from behind.