Surge: A High School Bully Romance (Salinity Cove Book 1)

by Maya Nicole

  His mouth opened and he threw his head back, ropes of cum shooting out onto the glass window in front of him.

  I jumped up and tried to grab my phone, but it was too far back and Jax was already out of the shower.

  I threw open the door and ran down the hall. I took the stairs as quickly as possible and turned the corner then came to a stop. Blake was coming in the door from the garage and looked right at me.

  "What the-"

  "Riley!" Jax's voice came from the top of the stairs as I ran through the kitchen to the other side of the house. "Get the fuck back here!"

  I was in such deep shit. It would be a miracle if I made it out of the house without them catching me. And then what? I had no shoes and no phone. I'd be walking for hours to get home. It was what I deserved for being so stupid.

  I made it through the living room and down another short hall which had a bathroom and an elevator button. I pressed it and it slid open immediately. There was no other choice. The bathroom was in the middle of the house and wouldn't have a window for me to escape out of.

  I ran in and frantically pressed the button just as Blake rounded the corner and sprinted toward me. It slid closed just before he could reach me and began its descent.

  "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!" I was an idiot jumping into an elevator.

  I had never seen their house from the outside, so I didn't know what the hell was going to be at the bottom. It stopped after what felt like five or six stories and I rushed out.

  My eyes went wide and I turned to go back into the elevator, but the doors already slid shut. I pounded my fists on the metal, but I could already hear it moving.

  I searched around frantically for a stairwell, but there was only the elevator. Talk about breaking fire code. I turned and looked at my surroundings.

  I was in a cave that had lit up as soon as the elevator doors had opened. It was oddly quiet inside, but that wasn't what had scared me. The gently rippling water was what gave me pause. It was dark and looked deep.

  There were two boats and three jet skis in the water. I didn't even know how they got out of the cave because there wasn't an exit. Against the rock face next to the elevator were storage cabinets.

  I opened them but there was no space to hide. I looked back at the elevator and listened. The noise stopped and then it started moving again.

  They were coming.

  The only possible place to hide was one of the boats. I didn't know what else to do, so I ran down the platform and climbed onto one. I sat with my knees drawn to my chest in front of the driver's seat.

  Maybe there was a way out that I wasn't seeing and they would think I swam out. I shuddered at the thought of having to find a way out of the cave through the water. I would just wait it out.

  The elevator door dinged and I tried to calm myself down. My chest was heaving and I couldn't catch my breath. I curled into a tighter ball, trying to get my body to stop shaking.

  "You check over there," Blake said.

  I couldn't hear them searching and shut my eyes. The boat moved with the water and I bit down on the sleeve of my shirt, suddenly taken back to when I was seven.

  My chest and throat burned as I coughed up water. My gasps for breath made me feel like I couldn't get enough air. I gripped the side of the buoy I was on as it rocked in the water and coughed so hard it felt like my throat was on fire.

  I was going to die.

  A head popped up and I rubbed at my eyes. Only his eyes and forehead were showing. His skin was as blue as the water and his eyes were amber and shaped like a cat's. My mouth opened to scream, but my vision tunneled and everything went black.

  Someone grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet. I screamed and it echoed in the cave. Blake had ahold of me and I twisted in his grip, shoving at him.

  I managed to slip out of his grasp, but he reached for me again and our bodies collided. My ankle rolled as I stepped on something inside the boat and my balance was thrown off.

  It happened in a split second. We hit the water in a tangle of limbs with a scream leaving my lips.

  He let go of me and I fought against the panic that was threatening to render me helpless. I hadn't been in the water since I was seven. I was able to keep my head above water and I grabbed onto the first thing I could.

  A cry lodged in my throat and I tried to pull myself up on the boat but every muscle in me was shaking so I just held onto the rear platform of it for dear life.

  "Where's Riley?" Morgan asked.

  "Help." My voice came out as a croak.

  I heard a splash, and then faster than should have been possible, Blake was wrapping his arms around me. "Let go, Riley. I'll get you out of here."

  "I can't."

  He pried my fingers from the edge of the platform, and instead of putting me on the boat, he swam back around it to the ledge where Morgan was waiting.

  He grabbed me and pulled me out of the water. Relief washed over me and my muscles went limp. They had been so tense that now they felt like jelly. A chill swept over me and I curled myself into a ball.

  I heard them get into a small argument but wasn't really listening to them. The sound of my heartbeats in my ears was deafening. Blake scooped me into his arms, and the next thing I knew, he was setting me on the bathroom counter.

  "You need to get out of these clothes. You're freezing." He started to pull the hem of my top away from my body.

  I shook my head. I wasn't about to let them see me naked. I dug my nails into his arm and he looked at Jax, who had appeared in the doorway. I avoided looking at him after seeing him get off in the shower.

  "We should be throwing her ass outside the gates, not coddling her." Despite Jax's words, he walked to the shower and turned on the water.

  "Let's get her warm so she doesn't get hypothermia and then we can figure out how we want to deal with her."

  I had almost forgotten why I was at their house in the first place. A shudder rocked through me as Blake stepped into the shower with me in his arms. He said something to me then dropped my legs. I sagged against him, clinging to his body.

  "Come on, Riley. Stop being difficult."

  Jax moved to my other side and gripped my arm. My body warmed with his touch, more so than from the warm water.

  The water was shut off and I was handed to Morgan, who was waiting with a towel. I nodded when he said something and they shut the bathroom door as they left me.

  Chapter Eleven

  Get it together, Ri.

  I looked at myself in the mirror and frowned at the state I was in. I looked like something the cat dragged in. My brown hair was a curly mess and the eyeliner and mascara I had worn was melting off my face.

  I used the edge of the towel and wiped my face off the rest of the way. My skin was blotchy from crying and my green eyes were wide and scared.

  His eyes.

  I shook my head and knew I was just projecting my memories onto the whole situation. As soon as I had hit the water, I was taken back to the sheer terror I had felt being pulled out to sea by a rip current.

  It had been ten years since what the news had called a miracle. It wasn't a miracle. I still was convinced a sea creature that looked human had saved me. But even then, I knew no one would believe me.

  Feeling a little more alive, I stripped out of my wet clothes and pulled on the pair of sweatpants and t-shirt Morgan had left for me. This whole night had been one giant mistake, but for some reason, when I was around the three of them, I threw caution to the wind.

  Maybe it was my survival instincts kicking in, or I was just a glutton for punishment.

  I towel-dried my hair and left my pile of wet clothes on the counter. It was time to face the music. The cops might even be waiting for me right outside to take me away in cuffs.

  I opened the door and Morgan pushed away from the wall he was leaning against. "Blake went to change."

  I stood in the doorway, not sure what to do. He stared at me without much of an expression on his face.
r />   He pushed past me and grabbed the towel and stack of clothes. "I'll get these in the dryer. Why don't you sit?"

  I followed him and stopped in the middle of their large living room. Now that I wasn't rushing around playing Harriet the Spy, the opulence of the room left me breathless.

  The ceilings were about twenty feet high with a large glistening chandelier hanging from the center. The crystals were in just about every shade of blue, and it looked like ocean waves as the light filtered through them.

  In the center of the room was a large white sectional that was covered in fluffy blue throw pillows. It was unexpected to see such a white sofa with a bunch of teenage boys. It probably had some protective finish on it to keep it looking clean.

  I sat down at the end of the couch and brought my feet up. I was still chilled and took a blue throw off the back of the couch, wrapping it around me. The room was comfortable but wasn't my taste. It was too cold and reminded me of the ocean a little too much.

  Blake came down the stairs and walked into the kitchen, his bare muscular chest on full display over the center island. He opened a cupboard, pulled out a mug, and put water into it. He put it in the microwave and watched me in the reflection of the door until the timer beeped.

  "Do you want hot chocolate or tea?" He pulled the mug out and brought it to the island.

  "Tea, please." I hugged a pillow to my chest and couldn't help but smell it. It smelled like the ocean. "Your house is nice. Where are your parents?"

  He walked around the island and handed me the mug before sitting down near my feet. "Just us three live here."

  "Alone?" I sipped the hot liquid and my insides heated. "That's a little odd."

  I watched him over the rim of the mug. His brown skin was almost glowing with a bronze undertone and his dark nipples were hard. I thought about how he would react if I leaned forward and nipped one.

  "You live alone right now, don't you?" I don't know if he unconsciously did it, but he put a hand on my feet and squeezed them.

  "I'm not sure." I looked into my tea. Everything was so fucked and I didn't know what I was going to do.

  There had to be a good explanation for where my mom was. I needed to search through her things again to see if I could find answers. Especially now that the Tritons were talking about a siren knife, and I knew for certain my mom had dated Jax's father.

  "Maybe she ran off with your dad."

  The thought had crossed my mind a time or two, but from all I knew, she despised the man. It wouldn't make sense for her to run off with a man she hated when she had a daughter she loved. "I don't think so. He left when I was a baby and anytime I ask about him, she shuts down."

  Blake leaned forward and grabbed the remote off the coffee table. "Don't be shocked if Jax throws you to the curb when he gets back down here."

  "He's not going to do anything." Morgan was back and stopped in front of me, frowning down at Blake. "What do you think you're doing?"

  Blake waved the remote control in the air. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

  Morgan leaned forward and took it from him. "Scoot over. If you get to sit next to her, so do I."

  "I'm confused," I muttered as Blake and I moved over. One minute they were making my life miserable, and the next they were cuddling with me. The worst part was, I was letting them.

  Maybe it was time to go to the doctor and have my head checked.

  "What are you confused about? I thought you were top ten in our class." Morgan plopped down next to me and pulled me back into the crook of his arm, almost causing me to spill my tea. "I guess those kinds of smarts don't extend to other areas."

  "What's that supposed to mean?" I turned to look at him and he shrugged.

  "You're the one that somehow broke into our house, got caught, then freaked out on us."

  "Lay off it, Mo." Blake moved his hands under the blanket and began messaging the arch of my foot. "She's recovering."

  He snorted. "Well, if this is how much recovery she needs after that level of physical activity, she'll never survive fucking one of us." He turned on the TV. "Or all of us."

  I spit my tea back into my cup and the chill was suddenly completely gone. "I would never sleep with any of you, you're all just-"

  "What is she still doing here?" Jax was standing at the side of the couch and glared down at me. "If she's well enough to run her mouth, she's well enough to be out on her ass."

  "Don't be a douche canoe." Morgan flipped through the listings and put on a movie. "I love this movie."

  I looked away from Jax and couldn't stop the laugh that came out. "Finding Nemo?"

  "Don't judge."

  Jax sat on the coffee table in front of us and took the tea out of my hands. "How did you get in our house and why?"

  I looked down at my hands. Every time I looked at him now, I was going to remember how his back and ass muscles flexed as he came. Not to mention how his face looked.

  "Look at me when I'm talking to you." His words were clipped and laced in annoyance. "We should call the police."

  I met his stare and shifted in my seat, my body heating to a whole new level. "You broke into my house first."

  Two wrongs didn't make a right, but it sounded like a good enough reason.

  "Your back door was unlocked and you knew I was there." He ran a hand over his short hair that was cut close to his scalp. "You were hiding in my room, watching me as I jacked off."

  "What?" Both Morgan and Blake sounded like prepubescent boys as their voices rose an octave.

  I brought the edge of the blanket over my head before it was pulled down by Jax leaning forward. "Don't play shy. You watched me as I came. How does it feel knowing I got off on catching you sneak out of my bedroom?"

  I tried to move and Blake clamped an arm on my legs while Morgan grabbed my shoulder and held me there.

  My embarrassment was through the roof and I thought what had happened with the jam on my car had been embarrassing. "I want it to stop."

  "You know what you have to do then. Provoking us is only making your situation worse. Now, how did you get in here?"

  "In the back of the SUV."

  "Fuck." Morgan stood and glared down at me. "It was all a ruse?"

  I could have tried to explain what happened, but I didn't feel I needed to. It didn't matter how I got in, the fact was, I did.

  Hurt flashed across his face and he threw the remote in my lap and stormed off. I felt a second of guilt before I reminded myself that they were trying to make my life hell.

  "I'll take you home." Jax stood and pulled my cell phone from his pocket. "You should probably put a passcode on this."

  My eyes widened and I stood to follow him, but Blake looped an arm around my waist and I fell into his lap. "We can take her home in the morning."

  My pulse quickened. His hand was splayed on my stomach and I felt the heat of it through the shirt. I didn't realize I was sitting with my ass directly on his dick until it twitched against me.

  "She'll go now." Jax came back to the couch and pulled me up by the hand.

  I stumbled into his chest, my hands going to his bare pecs. I looked up at him and he put his hands on my shoulders, moving me away from him.

  "Fine. You take her home when you're done playing with her." He stormed off just as Morgan had.

  "Do you want me to take you home?" He looked between me and the television screen. "Or..."

  If I went home, I'd have to deal with an empty house after having a traumatic night. Even if I spent the night on their couch, it was better to sleep in a blood thirsty school of sharks than the dark depths of my fears.

  I sat down and pulled the blanket back around me. "I want to stay."

  I woke feeling like I was back under the water again. An arm wrapped around my waist was holding me down. I whimpered and looked around frantically.

  There was water everywhere.

  "Hey. You're okay. I'm right here." The arm moved from around my waist and I was on my back looking u
p at Blake.

  His hand came to my cheek and I released the breath I was holding. I blinked back the tears that threatened to fall and he brushed my hair back off my sweaty forehead.

  "You're a mess, Kline." He chuckled. "It's barely three and you've had two nightmares."

  I looked past him at the ceiling and walls. "Why does it look like we're underwater?"

  "It's a projector. It's soothing. Well, for me anyway." He scooted to the edge of the bed and pressed a button, turning it off. "That better?"

  He propped himself on his elbow next to me and stared.

  "Yes. Why am I in your bed?"

  "That couch isn't comfortable to sleep on." He brought his hand back to my hair again. "Plus, I wanted to piss Mo and Jax off by bringing you to my bed."

  I turned onto my side to face him. "Don't you have a guest bedroom?" His hand moved back to my cheek and he gently moved his thumb across my skin.

  "We do." I could see his dilated eyes in the faint light filtering in from under the door.

  "Then why am I in here?" I brought my hand up to cover his and stopped him from moving it.

  "It was an impulse decision. You should understand that." He moved closer and I rolled onto my back. "It's like you're a beacon drawing us to you."

  His forearms went to the sides of my head and he moved a thigh over mine. I trembled as he stared down at me.

  "I don't understand this." I looked down at his plump lips, the desire to feel them too strong to resist.

  I brought my hand up and ran my index finger over the bottom one. He made a growling noise in his throat and his eyes darkened further.

  "Did you kiss Morgan too?" I didn't know why he cared who I kissed, but I nodded. "Then it's only fair I get to kiss you."

  "I-" His lips moved to my cheek and I lost my train of thought.

  He rolled off me and onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. "I'm not like those two assholes though. I won't take advantage of you."

  "I want you to kiss me." It felt painful to have him reject me, more than finding fish in my dorm or all the other crap they'd already pulled.

  "You don't know what you want, Riley." He sighed and rolled away from me. "You shouldn't kiss or do anything else with guys who are complete assholes to you."