Sparrowood Academy (Book 3): Bully Romance

by Angel Lawson

  “You’re the only one that can absolve him of his sins while also making sure he maintains his leadership over the guys.”

  I nod, finally understanding a little more about the dynamics at play. I’m still not exactly sure what to do, but I have an idea where I can find out.

  16

  Eden

  His laughter echoes off the plaster walls, both pretentious and unassuming. He’s whatever you want him to be, a chameleon, and right now he’s flirting with two girls in the lounge.

  “Anyway, this party we’re having is going to be lit. You should definitely come.” He winks and runs his hand through his hair. It takes everything in me not to lunge across the room and snatch him bald. “Come find me when you get there, I’ll make sure you’re happy.”

  Raging fire rolls under my skin. I bite back the venom and walk over. His eyes immediately skip from the two girls to me, lighting up as he skims my body. I do my best not to flinch, to show him how much he affects me.

  “Well, isn’t this a surprise,” he says, wetting his lips. He’s manspreading with his left foot up on the arm of one of the girl’s chair. Effectively trapping her in with his leg and pelvis. “Girls, do you know Eden?”

  I look down at them, one, possibly two grades below us in school. They look young, too young, and I notice the gold pin affixed to their collars. Their eyes are wide. Oh yes, they know of me, for sure. I want to shout at them to run away from this asshole, but I know they won’t listen to me. Instead, I lift my foot and kick his off the chair, taking him off guard.

  “Beat it,” I say to the girls, and they hop up, darting from the room.

  “If you want some time alone with me, sweetheart, all you have to do is ask.”

  I close my eyes. “I swear to god, Trip, I will castrate you, if you don’t shut. the. fuck. up.”

  His jaw snaps shut, and he repositions himself on the couch. I sit across from him in one of the recently vacated seats.

  “I need something.”

  His eyebrow raises slowly. “Do you?”

  “And you’re going to give it to me with no question and no strings attached.”

  “Am I?

  “Yep.”

  His eyes, brilliant and evil, hold mine. “What do you want?”

  “I need to see the video from the party that Hawk and I went to at your parents' house.”

  His lips thin. He didn’t expect that. “Wh—”

  I hold up my hand. “No questions. Send it to me or I’ll let the administration know you’re planning a party that involves drugging underclassmen—girls.”

  “Whatever,” he mutters, rolling his eyes. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and scrolls through. A moment later my phone vibrates, and a video appears.

  I stand, and he reaches out and grabs my hand. “No thank you?”

  “It’s like you want your ass kicked.”

  “A fight with you?” he smiles wickedly. “Any time. Those beasts that follow you around? I’ll pass.”

  “At least you learned something from all this.” I start across the room, then pause and look back at him. “Another thing.”

  “What’s that, sweetheart?”

  “For Christ’s sake, start hitting on girls your own age.”

  He gives me that slow grin. “I gave it a shot, but the only one that I’m interested in keeps playing hard to get.”

  I shake my head and leave the room, my phone burning hot in my hand. I’m not worried about Trip, what I want confirmation on is the slowly returning memories from the night of the party. What happened between me and Hawk.

  I have a feeling the answer to a lot of my questions is right in my hand.

  17

  Hawk

  It’s after curfew when I hear the knock on the door. I lay in my bed, eyes on the ceiling, wondering if I’m quiet, if they’ll give up and go away.

  Tap, tap, tap.

  I sigh and get out of bed, tugging at the drawstring of my cotton pajama pants as I go. Visitors, other than Gray or Theo, are unusual. Most of the students on campus give me a wide berth. It’s not that they don’t know me. They do. They’ve watched me fight down in the bowels of the school, they’ve seen me tackle on the football field, and they’ve watched me lose my temper on Trip Cohen after he fucked with my girl.

  Everyone in the whole goddamned school knows who I am. It’s like being back in the Park. It’s lonely on top.

  I don’t expect to see Eden on the other side of the door. She’s still dressed in her uniform although her shirt is wrinkled, and her hair is slipping from the normally tight braid. She clutches her phone in her hand and her eyes are glued to my bare chest.

  I open my mouth to ask her what she’s doing here, if something’s wrong, but her eyes drag up to mine and she blurts, “Can I come in?”

  “Sure.” She walks in, and I shut the door. She paces in front of the couch. “Is something wrong?”

  “Did you mean what you said that night?”

  “I’m going to need a little more detail than that, Princess. What night?”

  “At the party.” She holds up the phone, and I can vaguely tell it’s paused on a video. “When we were both…drugged. You said somethings, things I couldn’t remember, except occasionally flickers come back. I thought I’d made it up, but then I asked Trip for the video.” She shoves the phone at me and presses play.

  The recording opens on the two of us in the bedroom. Her back is against the wall, and we’re standing very, very close. My stomach drops, knowing exactly what I’m about to see.

  “You’re so beautiful. From the first day I saw you, I knew I wanted you.”

  “At Sparrowood?” I can see her fingers slipping down the waistband of my jeans.

  “In Kingston. At the Park,” I said. I watch as she frowns, and then I touched her chin again, making her focus on me. “From the first day, Eden. We were just fucking kids, but I knew. I always knew, and then I failed you. I failed you, because I was so hung up on watching your every move, trying to get up the nerve…that I wasn’t doing my job out there in the Park, and it ruined any real chance I’d ever have to have you for my own.”

  She stops the video and stands before me, a demand in her eyes. “Did you mean it.”

  “I wasn’t drugged that night, Eden. I mean, I took the Happy pill, but it didn’t affect me like it did you.” I nod at the phone. “Clearly it made me a little uninhibited.”

  She swallows. “You meant it.”

  “Every goddamn word.”

  “And now, after everything that has happened?”

  I tug at my hair. “I failed you, Eden. Again. Every time I try to protect you, I end up hurting you more.”

  “I don’t need your protection, Sawyer.”

  Sawyer. Very few people use that name. Teachers. Judges. Even the cops call me Hawk. Hearing it come from Eden, roll off her lips, knocks a chip out of the wall I’ve built surrounding me.

  “You may not need it,” I say, running my fingers over the shell of her ear, “but I can’t stop. It’s my job, and you’re too important to me.”

  “You can let go, you know, just once. Let go and be with me.”

  She stands before me, chin tilted so she can see my face. I look down at her, desperate and dying inside. I want to take this girl. Be with her. Cherish her. The ties that bind me to the role of leadership are too strong. “If I let go, everything could fall apart.”

  “You could lose your Mrs. Manahan.”

  I frown. “My who?”

  She shakes her head. “Your priority. I don’t want to be someone you’re focused on protecting. I want to be someone you care about. That you can trust. That you can give your everything to. An equal.” She reaches out, touching my chest, and a jolt of energy sparks. “Let me be that for you.”

  Her words roll around my head, hopeful—insane. Is it even possible? Can I loosen the reins? Warmth spreads from where she’s touching me, igniting every fiber in my being.

  “You’re the leader o
f this group, and you’re the only one that hasn’t taken what you wanted,” she says, nailing it home, “that doesn’t seem right.”

  The reaction is feral, possessive and territorial. I don’t begrudge my brothers for being with Eden, we’d agreed, and I’d been too scared to make a move. But she threw the gauntlet and something in me snaps. I reach for her small waist and pull her to me forcefully. Inches away from her mouth, I ask, “Are you sure?”

  She nods, moistening her lips in anticipation.

  That’s when my walls crumble down, and I cave, kissing her feverously, desperately, relentlessly.

  Her mouth is warm and her body light. I pick her up and she wraps her legs around my waist, her skirt rising, leaving little between us. Her teeth tug my bottom lip, and my cock grows hard, pressing against the cotton of her panties.

  “Take me to your bed,” she says, licking my earlobe.

  I freeze.

  “If I take you in there,” I nod to the open bedroom door while holding her eyes, “there’s no going back, Princess.”

  “I know what I’m doing, Sawyer.” Her breath is hot on my lips. “Don’t make me beg.”

  I carry her across the room, not stopping until we reach the bed. I lay her down slowly, taking her in as she stretches across the mattress. I’ve had dreams about this moment. Dirty, unrelenting, sweaty dreams.

  She props up on her elbows and tugs at the buttons on her white school-girl shirt. Beneath is a pristine, white lace bra and her perfect tits. My cock lurches, straining beneath the thin pajama bottoms. Her eyes flick down. I know mine isn’t the first she’s seen, but Gray told me they hadn’t slept together. He told me she got to choose who’d she be with first.

  She’s picked me.

  I stare at the swell of her breasts, at her lean, soft stomach as she sits up and reaches her fingers toward me. The soft pads of her fingertips graze my abdomen, run through the hair below my navel. My stomach hollows out in reaction and a rumble of desire builds in my chest.

  I pretend I’m in control as she tugs at the strings of my pants, when my cock, demanding and obtrusive, springs free. Her eyes widen at my size. There’s no doubt my body is a heat-seeking missile, and she’s my target.

  Guilt blooms along with all my other emotions. I’m going to hurt her, and I don’t want to. I take a deep, semi-settling breath and force myself to calm. the. fuck. down.

  “Mother fu—” I fumble with the zipper and the pull, too small for my fat fingers.

  “You’re flustered,” she laughs and pushes them aside, unzipping it herself. “Do I make you nervous?”

  “Ridiculously so.” I yank the skirt over her hips, revealing the matching panties to the bra that’s keeping blood from filtering to my brain.

  “This is my first time. I think I’m the one that should be nervous.”

  I crawl over her body, cock dragging over her skin. She leans back, and I hover my face over hers. “I’m going to do what I can to make sure you’re ready. You tell me if it hurts. I’ll stop, okay?”

  She answers me by arching her back and giving me a kiss. I reach behind her and unclasp her bra. Her tits tumble out, nipples hard, everything perfect. I bend down and capture one in my mouth.

  She moans, hips rising to meet mine, and I make good on my promise. I make sure she’s ready for me, because unless I have to, I’m not going to stop.

  18

  Eden

  I’ve been kissed before. I’ve had an orgasm or two. I’ve been with two boys that know how to take their time and make me feel good.

  But this?

  What’s happening in Hawk’s bed?

  I’ve reached another plane of existence.

  Damn, his fingers; stroking, kneading, rubbing, plucking.

  God, his mouth; warm, wet, soft and hard.

  Fuck, his tongue; flicking, licking, sucking, lathing.

  He’s a man of his word; winding me up, up, up. I writhe underneath him, hips seeking friction. He explores every inch of my skin, touches every place, including ones I’d never considered arousing. He runs the smooth velvet of his cock over me, making me crave dick in a way I never knew I wanted it. I told him not to make me beg, but I do, breathlessly, without embarrassment.

  “Sawyer,” I say, trying to keep focus. He’s sucking on my breast while his fingers rub between my legs. “I think, I think, I’m ready.”

  He doesn’t stop, rubbing and rubbing and rubbing, until my brain turns to mush and my body shivers into a puddle of nerves. Words fail me as he sits up and withdraws his fingers. I hate him for removing them, but he holds them up. They’re slick and wet. “I think you are, too.”

  I watch as he pulls the foil square out of the bedside table, tearing the package with his teeth. I reach for his chin, wanting to touch him, fascinated at the way he rolls the condom down this thick length. My stomach is a war zone, competing emotions of fear and desire. His cock seems enormous and my body feels too small. He’s been inside me with his fingers, stretching, prepping, but this is different.

  “Princess,” he says, lying on top of me, legs spread to the side. Our noses touch. He presses against my entrance.

  “Yes?”

  “I remember this one time down in the Park, you walked in with your friend Shelby. You had on these tight black jeans with rips up the thigh.” He applies a little pressure, inching in. “You were smiling. Laughing. You’d just turned fifteen. I heard you telling Shelby about how you went to the movies with some punk for your birthday. God, I wanted to track him down.”

  I laugh, barely remembering that night. “Why?”

  He pushes in a little more, jaw tense. He swallows. “Because I wanted to be the one to take you to the movies for your birthday. Kiss you goodnight on the steps of your apartment. Buy you a ring to tell the world you were mine.”

  I’m studying his face, and the nerves and fear vanish from my belly. I’m about to reply when he pushes all the way in and my legs tense, wrapping around his body.

  “I didn’t even know you,” I say, allowing the tension to dissipate. He’s inside me, unmoving, watching me closely. It feels foreign and full.

  “I was so mad at myself for being too scared to make a move.” His hips move slowly, easy, and my body reacts in kind. “You terrified me, Eden Warren.”

  We’re moving together now, slow and steady. My body adjusts to his, still feeling weird, raw, but I’m not afraid. With every thrust and tensing of his jaw, with every controlled breath and the strained muscles in his neck, I see what he’s doing. How much he cares. How this means as much to him as it does me—maybe more.

  “Thank god you finally made your move,” I say, pushing my hips up. “Even if it took you three years.”

  My skin starts to warm. He bends and kisses my breast, igniting a fire that runs down my body. I push again, taking him deeper.

  “Right?” he says, voice strained. “Because what kind of man has to wait until the girl of his dreams bangs on his door one night and confronts him on his long-harbored feelings?”

  I smile and he laughs and his mouth crashes into mine. Neither of us have the breath to talk and do this. And it’s not just the words that won’t form, but my brain turns to mush as my body relaxes. His movements shift, less controlled, more reflexive. My hands wrap around his back, feeling the muscles as they ripple with movement, and I taste his tongue as he licks my teeth.

  A wave rolls up and down as a second blissful yet less powerful orgasm crests. His movements turn erratic. I look up at his face, eyes pinched, jaw ready to crack, and one hand grips my hip while the other fists the sheets near my head. His groan is deep and guttural, like a pent-up animal finally released.

  He kisses me again, rolls off and tosses the condom, then turns back to pull me into his chest.

  “Okay?” he asks, kissing my temple.

  “Yes.” I face him. “Thank you for making that…just thank you.”

  He lifts my chin, his eyes gray and clear. “Thank you for coming to me. I know
that was difficult and required a lot of trust. You could have gone to—”

  “No,” I say, pressing my hand to his damp chest. “It was always going to be you, Sawyer. Always. I wasn’t ready until we were ready. You and I just had to figure out a few things first.”

  He wraps his arms around me and pulls me tight against his body and the two of us drift into sleep; exhausted, safe and finally where we’re supposed to be.

  19

  Hawk

  Wisely, Eden slips out of my bed before morning. I’d been sleeping like the dead, more content than I had been in…ever, to be honest. She leans over, wearing my t-shirt and shorts, uniform balled in her hands, to give me a kiss.

  “See you at breakfast,” I say, touching her hip. I hear the click of the door and roll over in an attempt to go back to sleep.

  It’s futile, of course, just seeing her in my clothes like that makes me hard again. Being around her was already a challenge. Now it will require epic strength. I head to the shower, fantasize about the way her body felt beneath mine, rinse off, and hit the gym.

  I’ve already made it through my circuit twice when Gray walks in, looking half asleep. Theo’s at the pool—probably with Eden. Will she tell him? Will he know? I want to shout it from the top of the school spire. I want to fucking brand it on her body.

  But Eden isn’t mine—not wholly. I may be the leader of these guys, and she may have deferred to me once, but I know in her heart, we’re equal.

  “You’re up early,” Gray says, walking over to the hand weights.

  “Couldn’t sleep.”

  He picks up twenty-pound weights and begins bicep curls. I move to the leg press and turn my back to him, adjusting the weight. When I face him again his eyes are narrowed, and he’s looking at me curiously.

  “What?”

  He points to his ribcage. “What’s that?”

  I’m wearing a T-shirt with the neck and sleeves cut out. I glance down and pull at the fabric. A red welt raises on my skin.