King of Denial : An Academy Bully Romance (Boys of Almadale Book 3)

by Jacie Lennon

  “Well, we’ve got to be going,” I say, cutting off whatever Mom opened her mouth to say.

  “Oh,” she says instead, looking to Dad.

  He nods, his mouth set in a thin line, and I give a little smile and wave, opening the front door and stepping outside.

  “Jeez, tough crowd back there,” Bodhi says, hooking a thumb over his shoulder after he closes the front door.

  “Yeah, it was super weird,” I say with a grimace. I was hoping the whole meet-the-parents thing was going to go smoother than it did. Way smoother.

  “But did I mention how hot you look in that dress?” Bodhi steps back and makes a big show of looking me up and down.

  My skin flushes and prickles with awareness. I feel a shiver work up my spine, and I grin back at him.

  “You did, but I don’t mind hearing it again.”

  “And those heels. Damn, girl, you are trying to kill me.”

  “So, what are we doing?”

  Bodhi spins me around, and I can feel his hands on my shoulders as he whispers in my ear, “Do you want to be surprised?” It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end, and I shiver a little.

  “Yes,” I say with a smile and then gasp as something silky falls over my eyes. “What—”

  “Shh,” he says as he fiddles with the back of it, and then I feel him step away from me once it’s secure. His voice comes from my front as he runs his hands down my arms, grabs my hands, and then sighs. “Dammit. I should have done this in the car.”

  I laugh and squeeze his hands.

  “Okay, slow steps. The car is this way.” He leads me along the driveway, and then we stop. I hear a car door open, and then he’s holding the top of my head as I bend down, so I don’t hit it on the doorframe. “There. Okay, let me buckle you in,” he says, grabbing the seat belt and placing it around my body.

  He’s leaning over me, and I inhale his scent, loving the mystery of this all. Then, I feel him closer, and as his lips land on mine for a brief second, I smile, feeling heightened by the loss of one of my senses. I want him to deepen it, but before I can press forward, he’s gone, and my car door is shut.

  I nervously run my fingers along the seat, and then a thought enters my head. I stick my hand out straight in front of me.

  The opposite door opens, and Bodhi’s voice fills the car. “What are you doing?”

  “Checking to see if there is a dashboard or a seat in front of me.” I’m relieved when I find the back of a seat under my fingertips.

  “Happy?” Bodhi says, and I feel his leg brush mine.

  “Yes. You aren’t old enough to drive.”

  “Do you always follow the rules, Trix?”

  I would be offended by his question, but the teasing lilt to his tone has me laughing instead.

  “Just don’t want to die,” I say, a smirk on my face. Or at least, I think it’s a smirk. I don’t do it often, so I might look constipated.

  “Jeremy, our driver, will be escorting us. He’s plenty old enough,” Bodhi retorts, and I laugh again.

  “Hello, ma’am,” a strange voice says, and I’m assuming it’s Jeremy.

  I smile and give a little wave, and then we are on our way. Bodhi grabs my hand, lacing our fingers together for the entire ride. It’s a short one, and we pull to a stop. I unbuckle and reach up to remove the blindfold, but Bodhi grabs my hand, stilling it.

  “Not yet. You’ll ruin the effect,” he says before opening his door, and then I hear it shut. Mine flies open a second later, and he reaches down, taking my hand and pulling me out.

  Then, he spins me, like in the driveway, so he can reach up to untie the blindfold. The silk slips from my eyes, and I blink a few times as I stare up at the building we are in front of.

  I glance to the side, and my mouth drops open. Bodhi is holding up two tickets, and I grab them, scanning them.

  “You got tickets? We are going in there?” I point ahead, and he grins. “How did you do it?”

  “My dad knows a few people on the museum board. He managed to call in some favors.”

  “But how did you know?” I look at the tickets again.

  “Trix, you didn’t hide the printout very well. In fact, it was on your bedroom wall when I was there for New Year’s.”

  I blush, having forgotten that I’d taped it up to look at it.

  “Dad tried to get tickets, but they were gone.”

  “They didn’t go to anyone in the public; you have to know someone or be a patron of the museum.”

  Bodhi holds out his arm, and I take it, shaking. I’m so excited.

  There’s a new working museum display, rooms they have transformed into ballets scenes with gorgeous costumes passed down through the ages, which has been live since the beginning of January. I’ve been several times to read about the history and see the items up close. Belonging to famous ballerinas, prima ballerinas. Anna Pavlova, Margot Fonteyn, and Maria Tallchief to name a few. But on this night, the museum is hosting an actual ballet in the rooms. I’ve been dying to go, to see acts of Swan Lake and Giselle danced in the midst of all the history. It will be breathtaking.

  “So, good surprise?” Bodhi asks, and I move up the front museum steps with him, breathless with anticipation.

  “The best.” I smile at him, and he leans over, placing a kiss on my cheek.

  I’m the luckiest girl in the world.

  8

  Trixie

  Freshman Year—March

  I don’t have any classes with Bodhi this semester, and it makes me sad. I got used to spending that first period every morning staring at the back of his head, enjoying his attention, and laughing at his silly drawings. Now, I have to wait to see him between classes and after school, and it feels unbearable.

  Maybe that’s a little dramatic, and maybe I’m getting too attached, but it’s my reality right now. I don’t make friends easily, and to be pulled into his circle of friends has left me without having to do much to be accepted here.

  He’s helped me to become more free-spirited, not as uptight. I’ve started to be more adventurous and outgoing and let myself feel.

  “Hey,” Bodhi says, hooking an arm over my shoulders as I exit my last class for the day.

  He’s been outside this door every day this semester, always waiting to go do something fun or hang out. I think he must leave his class early, and I’m not sure how he gets away with it, but then I look at his face, the sexy smirk he always wears, and realize I know exactly how he gets away with everything in life.

  “Hi,” I say, smiling up at him. I’m completely besotted, like a lady in those historical romances I read.

  I think I lucked out by not getting a rake, one of those bad-boy, asshole types. Bodhi is the perfect boyfriend even if he does smoke cigarettes. He thinks I don’t know, but it’s a hard smell to hide. Also, I’ve found his packs he keeps hidden in the drawer of his nightstand. Not a great hiding place if you ask me.

  “Since it’s your fifteenth birthday, it’s your choice. You can tell me anything you want today, and I’ll make it happen.”

  “How generous of you,” I say, pushing the front door to the building open and stepping outside into the sunshine. “I want to fly to Paris and eat croissants by the edge of the Seine.”

  Bodhi snaps his fingers. “Done.”

  I grin up at him. “I’m joking.”

  “I’m not,” he says, pulling his phone out. “Dad will let me have the plane.”

  “Really?” I scrunch up my nose. I try to imagine me asking my dad for his plane, but then I remember he doesn’t have one.

  “Yep. Though I’ll have to point out, by the time we make it to Paris, it won’t technically be your birthday anymore. So, you’ll have zero power.”

  “I only have power on my birthday?”

  “To ask for whatever you want.”

  I laugh. I know he’s playing. He’s been the kindest and most caring boyfriend a girl could ask for. I’m pretty sure he would give me his kidney if I w
anted it. He goes out of his way to make sure I have everything I need, and every day, I pinch myself, trying to figure out how he’s mine.

  “I don’t actually want to fly to Paris.” I stop and wrap my arms around his stomach, feeling sentimental.

  Bodhi is the second person in my life to make me feel important, like I matter and like I’m worth more than my looks or status in a family. My sister is the first, but since I hardly get to see her anymore, I can’t count her.

  “Then, what do you want to do?”

  “Let’s get a picnic and go to the cliff.”

  “Done.” Bodhi snaps his fingers and starts to walk off. He turns, walking backward as he points at me. “Go put a comfy outfit on and meet me back here in fifteen minutes.”

  I grip the straps of my bag and smile at his command.

  “Aye, aye, captain,” I say as I salute him.

  He blows me a kiss, and I turn, heading toward my dorm room to change.

  I’m stuffed, lying on my back on the grass. Bodhi forgot a blanket, but he more than made up for it by using his lunch credits to get my favorite food at each of the restaurants in the commons. It was ostentatious and ridiculous and so Bodhi.

  I reach over, clasping his hand in mine as we both stare up at the bright blue sky, watching lazy clouds drift by, propelled by the breeze.

  “That one looks like a sloth, hanging on a branch,” Bodhi says, pointing.

  “What? That looks nothing like a sloth.” I laugh, and he sits up on one elbow.

  “Are you kidding? It looks like a sloth.”

  “Do you even know what a sloth looks like?” I ask him, and he frowns.

  “Yes,” he says, lying back down and crossing his arms over his chest.

  “Hey,” I say, sitting up, giggling as I look at his face. I crawl over to him, placing my legs on either side of his body. As I straddle him, his hands settle on my hips. Leaning down, I brush my nose along his. “Don’t pout. I’m playing.”

  “It worked,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows and running his hands up my back until he grabs my head and pulls it toward his. He kisses me and then pulls back slightly. “Happy birthday, Trix.”

  I wiggle a little, getting comfortable, and he groans.

  “Sorry,” I say, lowering back down and giggling against his skin.

  He wraps his arms around my back, holding me to him, and I lie on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

  “Can you tell me what happened to your mom?”

  I feel him stiffen, his hands digging into my skin, and I regret asking.

  “Why do you want to know?”

  “I don’t know. I was just wondering. You never talk about her, and I don’t have anyone else to ask.”

  “No one else would know. It’s a family secret.”

  I raise my head and look at him. He tucks one arm behind his head, looking down at me, where I’m propped on his chest.

  “What kind of family secret?”

  “The kind that crushes souls.” He stares back up at the sky, but it looks like he’s miles away inside his mind.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.” I place my head back on his chest, which is rising and falling with his slow, steady breaths.

  “She left us when Brock and I were three. She walked out and didn’t try too hard to see us after that. I think she might have asked, but Dad said no.”

  “She left both of you? Her kids?”

  “Yeah. Dad says she was never the same after having us. Claimed depression, and that might be true. But I don’t see how she gave us up. She was our mom.”

  “I can’t imagine.” I shake my head a little.

  “Yeah. The worst part is, we know where she is, and it’s not that far away. Sometimes, I think about going to see her. I don’t know why. Why should I give two shits about her?” His tone is simultaneously sad and angry.

  My chest aches for him.

  “The heart is a funny thing. It makes us want things we shouldn’t, and it sometimes muddies the water around things that should be clear. She’s the woman who gave you life, and I think it’s normal for you to want to know her.”

  “I shouldn’t. Not when she doesn’t want to know me. My dad has been both a mom and dad to Brock and me, and I guess I should be thankful that he’s amazing.”

  “You can still hurt for what you lost,” I say, rising up again and cradling his face in my hands. “She’s the one who fucked up. Not you.”

  Bodhi stares at me before letting a slow smile creep across his face. “I like it when you cuss, Trix.”

  “That’s what you got from that?” I swat his chest and roll off of him.

  He chuckles and rolls with me, ending up on top.

  “It was too serious, for too long. I don’t want to talk about her anymore.”

  “What do you want to talk about?”

  “I don’t want to talk at all,” he says, pressing a kiss to my forehead, then my cheeks, and then my chin.

  I tilt my face up as he captures my mouth again. My hands find the hem of his shirt, sliding underneath a little to touch his skin. His head dips as he leaves a trail of kisses down my neck and across my collarbone.

  My back arches up, my breathing gets heavier, and I shut my eyes.

  The butterflies in my belly are spinning and dipping and weaving, creating a storm of emotion and nerves inside me as Bodhi pulls one side of my shirt away, exposing the top of one of my breasts. His eyes find mine, and I nod, watching his head lower again as he kisses the swell of my skin.

  I feel silly, delirious, and happy all at once, the somber mood of earlier melting away as Bodhi explores new areas of me. I go to move my hand up further when noise catches our attention, and our heads turn at the same time.

  “Motherfucker,” Bodhi says, and I swat his chest before he starts laughing.

  Brock and Corbin are running toward us, crashing through the trees and across the clearing before they tackle Bodhi off of me. I sit up, righting my shirt as they roll along the ground.

  “Fucking cockblocks,” I hear Bodhi say.

  I shake my head. The mouth on that boy.

  “Just wanted to spend time with my favorite brother here,” Brock says, coming back to where we are sitting.

  He plops down beside me while Corbin walks back toward the tree line. He leans down, grabs a bag from behind a tree, and carries it to our little group.

  With a grin, he reaches in and holds a champagne bottle high while Brock takes out some plastic cups, separating four out and handing us each one. Bodhi jumps up, pulling the bottle from Corbin’s hand, and goes to work on the foil around the top. I watch them push each other and return playful banter as Bodhi pops the top, steam rolling out from the inside as a few bubbles escape, falling onto the ground. He haphazardly pours some into our cups, saving his for last, and then sets the bottle down, picking his own up.

  “To Trixie,” he says, clinking his plastic cup against ours as we hold them in a circle, some of mine spilling onto my hand with the force of it, and then I bring the cup to my mouth as a chorus of, “To Trixie,” is said.

  Happy birthday to me.

  I wrinkle my nose at the taste. It’s fizzy but dry at the same time and somewhat bitter. But it sends an immediate euphoric feeling to my head, making me a little dizzy.

  “Have you ever had champagne?” Bodhi asks, and I shake my head. I take another sip. “Better go slow then.”

  “Ah, shut up,” Brock says, jostling his arm. “It’s her birthday. She can live a little.”

  I smile at the circle around me—Bodhi and his brother and his friend, who have all accepted me—and I can’t put into words how I feel.

  “Thank you guys for treating me special today.” I raise my cup to them.

  Bodhi narrows his eyes and tilts his head toward me. “Why wouldn’t we treat you special?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t mean anything by it. I wanted you to know that I appreciated it.”

  Bodhi looks like he wants to respond
, opening his mouth but then closing it again.

  “You’re welcome,” he says, leaning in to kiss my forehead.

  “I love all of this so much, and I love—” I cut myself off, shutting my mouth as my brain scrambles. “This is the best birthday I’ve ever had.”

  “Next year, croissants by the Seine,” Bodhi says, wrapping his arm around me.

  “Next year,” I say with a smile, happy that Bodhi sees me in his future.

  9

  Bodhi

  Freshman Year—April

  “Let’s go,” Corbin says, smacking Brock on the head as he walks by him.

  “Ow, fuck,” he groans as he rubs the sore spot. “Quit hitting me.”

  “Then, get your ass up and come with us.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “The yacht,” I say with a grin as I rub my hands together.

  “What do you mean, the yacht? It’s Senior Skip Day. They won’t even let us on.”

  “It’s our fucking yacht. They have to let us on.”

  “Yeah, you have a point,” Brock concedes, and I turn to fist-bump Corbin.

  “Okay, let me text Trix and see if she wants to come.” I pick up my phone, but Brock grabs it back.

  “Look, we like Trixie. Right, Corbin?” Brock and I both look at Corbin, who nods, before Brock starts talking again, “But you spend all your fucking time with her. Let’s do this, just us. We miss you.” Brock sticks his bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout, and I roll my eyes. He punches my arm, grinning. “Did that convince you?”

  “No. But you do have a point, I guess. We haven’t done anything with just us guys in a while.”

  “Exactly. You can’t forget about us when you are getting some pussy.”

  I don’t think; I just react to what he said. Before I know it, my fist has connected with his cheekbone, and he’s falling backward.

  “What the fuck, Bodhi?” Corbin shouts as he jumps forward, his hands around my arms, holding me from jumping on top of Brock.