Beverly Hills Prep Academy The Complete Boxset : A Light Bully Romance

by Melissa Adams

  I don't even notice the cracked screen, too busy trying to collect the condoms before Devon can see them but his hand covers mine again and he hands me the two little foil packets with a faint little smirk on his lips.

  After that, dinner becomes a fast affair and I find myself walking on the beach in the pre-dusk pink light.

  Everything looks soft and romantic and a strong breeze is making the waves crash against the same rocks I almost slipped on, the same rocks responsible for me meeting Devon.

  We walk holding hands, each of us lost in our own thoughts and I’m surprised when he asks me what’s on my mind.

  I shrug, suddenly aware of his body so close to mine.

  He smells like sunscreen and the ocean and there's this warmth radiating from his skin that I can feel even when we aren't touching.

  I decide to be honest.

  “I’m thinking that this has been the best summer of my life. Because of you.”

  I say that in a whisper and his face is so close to me now that I can feel his warm breath on my lips.

  “Me too, Aubrey.”

  He kisses me sweetly and softly at first but when I kiss him back, his tongue demands access into my mouth and he takes my breath away, exploring my mouth with expert strokes of his tongue, using his teeth to graze my bottom lip in the most sensual way.

  And Devon’s hands follow his lips, skimming down my neck and shoulders and closing down on one of my breasts, feeling my already hardened nipple through the soft cotton fabric.

  My breathing is laboured and I’m having trouble thinking straight: his lips, his hands, his scent are so dizzyingly good that they make everything else fade away into the background.

  However when one of Devon’s big hands sneaks under my dress and cups my ass, pressing our bodies tighter together and making me feel the steel-like hard-on in his pants, I gasp and snap right out of it.

  His kisses have become almost frantic and this is more than we’ve ever done before, I don't know if I want it.

  “Devon ... Devon ... slow down, please.”

  I try to push him away but he's not budging.

  “Aubrey, why? I want you so much ...”

  He says it with his lips on that sensitive spot behind my ear, his breath so warm that it makes my skin tingle and it makes it so hard to think.

  “Please, Devon, don't ruin everything. We’re going home tomorrow and I might never see you again.”

  He looks into my eyes and uses my protest to his own advantage.

  “That's one more reason why, Aubrey. Please, don't make me say goodbye not knowing how it feels to be yours and for you to be mine.”

  Damn, he's so fucking good with words!

  My body's definitely saying yes to him but I already know that my heart will break when I board that flight back to California tomorrow morning.

  So the choice in front of me is pretty clear: do I prefer to have to live with the regret that I didn't give myself to my first love or with the remorse that I did when I knew that time was running out?

  And then he says the words that make me decide that I need him more than I need air and I want this and fuck tomorrow.

  “Aubrey, I’m falling for you ...”

  So I let him drag me down on the sand and lift my dress, taking my panties off and exposing my hot, incredibly wet skin.

  I’m throbbing everywhere, feeling his hands on me and his feverish kisses on my naked breasts when he lowers the straps of my sundress.

  I take his shirt off, running my hands over his hard, chiselled chest and his sculpted six pack of abs.

  “Baby, get one of those rubbers from your purse, please.”

  I do as he asks and he opens the condom, rolling it on his hard length and then guiding himself towards my opening.

  I thought that I was ready for this and God knows that I wanted it but when he thrusts inside of me, all I can feel is a burning, excruciating tear and I grab onto his shoulders to try and keep from crying out.

  He starts moving in and out of me and I'm waiting, I’m waiting for this to start feeling good, for the pain to turn into the ecstasy that Abi describes when she tells me about her time with her boys.

  But before I even have the time to get used to having Devon inside me, he emits a low grunt and I feel him pulse and spasm against my inner walls.

  We stay still for a moment and I really struggle not to push him off of me: when you read it in romance novels or see it in the movies, sex on the beach sounds romantic but no one tells you about the reality of the sand getting literally everywhere.

  I have sand between my legs, inside my dress, in my butt crack, because his thrusting has caused me to rub against the ground.

  So I’m relieved when he helps me up and we continue our walk on the beach, back to the mansion where we kiss goodbye under the moonlight.

  Present Day

  Beverly Hills

  Aubrey

  MY TEA'S GONE COLD

  I'm wondering why I got out of bed at all

  The morning rain clouds up my window and I can't see at all

  And even if I could it'd all be grey

  But your picture on my wall

  It reminds me that it's not so bad

  It's not so bad

  (From: Thank you. By Dido 1999)

  It's the first day of school and I look at the grey sky outside that definitely matches my mood.

  I check my phone again: I sent Devon friend requests on every social media but he hasn't accepted any of them.

  I texted him when we landed back in LA but I never got a reply.

  My fingers itch to type another text message but I force myself to close the text screen.

  I sigh: Abi was right about not doing something I’d regret and my dilemma about regret or remorse?

  I’m feeling both emotions right now.

  I regret making the decision to give him my virginity: I didn't expect a marriage proposal but at least accept my fucking friend request on Facebook, right?

  And I feel remorse that I gave such an important part of myself to someone who obviously gives zero fucks about me.

  I sip on my tea and it's gone really cold, so I tip the amber, milky liquid into the sink and walk back to my room to shower and get ready for my first day of my senior year: my first day at Beverly Hills Prep Academy.

  I’ve moved out of my parents’ house and I’m living at Chaz’s while the guys are at Stanford.

  My parents and I aren't speaking to each other right now because my daddy started to talk about finding me a suitable boyfriend now that I’m eighteen.

  ‘Someone adequate for a Richmond’, he stated and my mother agrees with him.

  They're trying to do to me the same thing that they did to Abi.

  And I don't have a hot boyfriend like Reece and the hope that somehow, he could be the one my daddy chooses for me.

  My heart clenches painfully in my chest when I think about Devon.

  Would I even wanna date him after the way he's been ghosting me?

  I don't know.

  A part of me thinks that there must be an explanation for his silence but the rational part of me knows that this is total bullshit and to him I was simply a meaningless summer fling and the sooner I accept it, the easier it’s gonna be to put my heartbreak behind me.

  BY THE TIME I PARK in the school parking lot, the rain has stopped falling and everything looks shiny and new and freshly washed but my mood hasn't improved much.

  Both Abi and I got our drivers license a few weeks before leaving for Hilton Head and that was another thing that enraged my daddy.

  He couldn't understand why I wanted to drive if he had a driver that he hired just to take me wherever I wanted to go.

  What he doesn't say out loud though, is that that's his way of keeping tabs on me.

  Chaz came to the rescue again and told me that while he was taking his Rolls Royce with him, he was gonna leave the Jeep and I could drive that whenever I wanted.

  But I ad
mit that I’m still a new driver and I lack confidence, so the route from home to school while it wasn't long, definitely tested my nerves.

  So much so, that I was so nervous that I forgot my uniform blazer at home and I only realised it when going back for it would have meant being late for the welcome to school assembly.

  The only option is wearing just my charcoal grey skirt, white shirt, and the orange and grey senior A-Class silk scarf.

  I hope not to get in trouble for not having my blazer and I’m so busy worrying about my uniform standards that I don't pay attention to my surroundings.

  That the red corvette speeding through the parking lot doesn't run me over, I only owe it to the pair of strong arms that pulls me back.

  But while I’m saved from being hurt, I’m not saved from the huge wall of water that is sprayed on me by the corvette, when it drives fast through the huge puddle I was about to walk around.

  The car doesn't even stop and roars away towards the opposite end of the student parking lot and I doubt that whoever's driving it can hear my ‘asshole!’ as I scream the expletive trying to be louder than the stupid engine.

  Obviously someone's trying to compensate with the powerful V8 motor for the lack in another department.

  Everything happens in the blink of an eye and I turn around to thank the owner of the two strong arms that are still wrapped around my waist.

  “Hey thanks for saving me.”

  My voice dies in my mouth when I find myself staring into the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen.

  My saviour is smoking hot, that's all I can say.

  He’s tall, at least six three, has broad shoulders and the most perfect features I’ve ever seen in someone's face.

  He has gorgeous, short blonde hair and the sexiest little smirk on his full lips.

  He’s wearing a black leather jacket over his school uniform that gives him a bit of a bad boy vibe.

  “My pleasure.”

  He drawls in a deep, low voice.

  “I could never let a pretty girl get run over. By the way, we’re both drenched in water. Let’s go find a way to get dry before the assembly starts.”

  His eyes skim over my body and I can't really get offended because I admit that I’m checking him out too.

  He grabs my hand and guides me inside the main school building, walking fast to avoid the constant stream of students walking the hallway.

  He stops in front of the girls’ bathroom and I gasp in shock when he follows me inside, locking the door behind himself.

  “Uh, this is the girls ...”

  He shrugs.

  “I won’t tell anyone if you don’t. Come on, take your shirt off.”

  “Excuse me?”

  My outraged tone must not hit home because he chuckles as if my reaction was hilarious.

  “I’m not undressing in front of you!”

  He lifts a perfect blonde eyebrow and his knowing little smile widens just a little when his eyes travel up and down my body to stop on my chest.

  “I really don't think it makes a difference, since your white shirt has practically disappeared. I mean, unless you're hoping to win a wet t-shirt contest during first period ...”

  I look down and squeal in horror, trying to cover my chest when I see that my white lace bra is showing.

  “No! This isn't happening!”

  I whine, feeling heat rise to my face.

  The hot blondie sheds his leather jacket and his own blazer and shirt, revealing a smooth, chiselled chest and the yummiest abs I’ve seen in a while.

  And you know what? He’s been staring at my boobs, so I’ve got the right to stare back at him.

  But unlike me, he isn't embarrassed and puffs up his chest, walking towards the hot air dryer on the wall.

  “Uhm, are you not gonna help me?”

  What the fuck is wrong with me? Honestly today isn't my day, I sound like a whiny little bitch.

  He sets his blue gaze on me again and he says that he was gonna help me but since I wouldn't give him my shirt, he's gonna dry his own and be out.

  “Ok, ok. Damn it!”

  I start undoing my buttons and hand him the shirt, trying to shield my chest, because I noticed that my white lace bra is also wet and I’m offering much more of a show than I thought.

  He takes the shirt, brushing my fingers with his totally on purpose and spends a couple of minutes with my shirt under the dryer.

  “All right. It isn't bone dry but it should be wearable and you won't be flashing the whole school.”

  I take the shirt from him and try to turn around to give myself some privacy but he walks in front of me again and begins helping me to fasten the buttons.

  His fingers are slightly rough on my skin and I feel a tingling shiver travel up my spine at the contact.

  His eyes are fixed onto mine again and I’m thrilled and annoyed at the same time by his complete lack of physical boundaries.

  When I’m nervous, I tend to babble uncontrollably and this time isn't an exception.

  “Thank you for helping me. I’ve had a rough couple of weeks, I got into a fight with my parents and had to move out, I’m going through a breakup ... well kind of a breakup and I’m new here, so ...”

  He chuckles.

  “Yeah, I know that you're new.”

  “How?”

  He winks at me when he says that he’d have definitely remembered a pretty girl like me.

  “Thank you for being so kind to me. I don't even know your name.”

  He smiles for the first time without any trace of humour.

  “I’m Teague.”

  “Aubrey.”

  “Come on, Aubrey. Let's go or we’ll be late for the general assembly.”

  He begins to walk towards the door but I stop him.

  “Teague! You're still shirtless!”

  He winks at me and throws his leather jacket on, zipping it closed on his bare chest.

  We walk to the auditorium and as I grasp the door handle, Teague starts walking away.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’ve gotta go in from the side door. I’ll see you in there.”

  I guess that if I was hoping to sit near him, I was totally wrong. After all, I doubt that a guy as hot as Teague could be single.

  The auditorium is crowded and all the seats towards the back are taken, so I have to walk all the way up to the front and sit in the second row.

  I feel all eyes on me and pray to all the gods that I don't trip and make a fool of myself in front of the whole school.

  This is what I realised lately: Alex is the smart sibling, the overachiever.

  Abi is the sweet and compassionate one.

  And I’m the klutz, the fucking hot mess.

  Even though officially, I’ll say that I’m the fun one.

  A tall, balding man walks to the podium in the middle of the stage and introduces himself as Principal McArthur.

  He welcomes us all to Beverly Hills Preparatory Academy and after illustrating the many achievements of the alumni that graduated from this fine academy — we count three Presidents of the United States among the BHPA alumni— and that academy promise to get us into an Ivy League college and to set us up for every success in life, he proceeds to introduce the members of the faculty.

  “Another institution that in recent years has made us proud is our State Champions, our football team lead by Coach Benson. Go Tigers!”

  The football team starts walking on stage through a side door and Teague is among the hot guys that stand behind the principal, accompanied by deafening applause.

  “After a few of the star players that contributed to our victory last year have graduated, our academy has taken care of recruiting the finest athletes in California to make sure that we have a fighting chance to defend our title. Without further ado, I have the pleasure to introduce to you all, our new starting quarterback. From East Hills High, Devon Archer!”

  And like a surreal moment, in a dream, I find myself staring i
nto a pair of vibrant green eyes I know really well.

  “Fuck me!”

  I blurt, instantly covering my mouth when I see the principal wince.

  Devon remains unperturbed: if he’s heard me, he doesn't give it away.

  2.

  Cheer Squad

  Devon

  WHEN I HEAR THE PRINCIPAL announce my name, I walk on stage expecting the applause of an adoring crowd.

  What I don't expect is to see her sitting in the second row, her blue eyes huge with surprise.

  “Fuck me!”

  She blurts it out so loudly that half the auditorium heard it and while the principal winces at the curse, my fellow football players are all chuckling and cracking jokes around me.

  “Oooh, someone already has an admirer!”

  “Dude! She’s hot! And she’s fucking begging you for it!”

  I ignore them all, trying to stop the crazy rhythm my heart has decided to pick up as soon as I laid eyes on her again.

  Only two weeks ago her soft lips were on mine, I revelled in the sound of her laugh, in the way she looked at me.

  And then we made love on the beach, the night before she left and I know that I let her down because I was so excited and sad to have to say goodbye at the same time.

  At first I couldn't bring myself to accept her friend requests on social media because I felt guilty for how I pressured her into having sex to then offer the worst fucking performance of my life.

  I was done in two seconds flat.

  Then I felt like I waited too long and I was embarrassed to accept her friend requests and didn't know what to do, and then my life was thrown upside down and I had so much on my plate that everything else lost importance.

  I used her memory as a comforting thought, to steady my nerves by thinking about a time when everything looked so simple.

  When Mom packed my things to move me to Beverly Hills, I never thought I’d see her again.

  Yeah, I knew that she was from LA and that she was obviously from a privileged background but I never thought that I’d see her here at school.