by Ali Parker
There had to be.
I spotted her near the kitchen talking with Micah and worked to still my heart as I moved toward them. A sexy brunette that looked all too familiar slid up in front of me and pressed herself to my chest.
"Hey baby. It's my turn in your bed tonight. Remember last year you promised that if I found you in time that I could have this year?"
"I do remember," I lied through my teeth. "Go have some fun and I'll come find you when I'm ready to let off some steam."
She pressed her lips to mine and slid her hands down to cup my dick. I was nothing more than a piece of meat, but it was my own damn fault. I'd made that statement with my actions. Who could blame her or any of the other whores on campus for wanting a taste?
"I'm horny now though."
"Right, but I'm not." I nipped at her mouth and gripped her hip tightly. "Go have fun, and if you want me later tonight, you'll leave me be until I come find you, all right?"
"All right." She pouted and put her back to me, glancing over her shoulder with a sexy smile. "You promise?"
"I do." I moved up and cupped her ass, pressing into the back of her pussy a little as I leaned down and kissed her ear. "Run off now."
She giggled and walked away, leaving me wondering how the hell I was going to get out of this one.
"There you are." Micah motioned for me to join him. The poor guy had no clue of the history between me and Emily, but then again, no one did.
"Hey guys. Em." I nodded toward her and leaned against the counter. "Did you know Layla wasn't coming tonight?"
"What? Why not?" Micah turned his attention to me, as did Emily.
"I don't know. She didn't sound so good when we talked a minute ago either." I shrugged and took a long drink of my beer.
"You know Layla Roberts?" Emily shifted a little to face me more.
"Oh yeah. She's my girl." I tossed my beer bottle into the trashcan and didn't expand further on my comment. It would be nice to have Emily chew on Layla being my woman for a little while. I knew they were friends through Aubrey White. Things would get cleared up, or maybe I'd talk my bestie into playing fake girlfriend for me if it had the power to make Emily jealous.
She snorted. "Seriously? Layla doesn't seem like the kind of girl who would date someone like you."
"Someone like me?" I took a step toward her and enjoyed far too much the way her eyes widened. I wasn’t the only one that thought about our five-hour sex-fest it would seem.
"Aww, damn. I'm out of here." Micah moved through us and walked off.
"You know what I mean." She lifted her hand and pressed it to my chest as I moved to stand in front of her. Every wicked hot desire inside of me worked up as I let my eyes move across her flawless skin, sweet pink lips and little button nose.
"Goddammit, you're so fucking beautiful, Em." I reached out, but she swatted my hand away.
"Don't touch me."
"You sure about that?" I licked at my lips as her skin grew pink and her breathing got a little off kilter.
"Don't." She slid her hand down my chest, her eyes moving down with it as she took a shaky breath. "I have to find Brody."
"He's upstairs with the women. I'm pretty sure Layla being with a guy like me isn't nearly as big of a fuck up as a beautiful woman like you being with a cock like Brody Jackson."
She visibly paled, and I felt bad for setting her up. He was sleeping around on her, and every-damn-body knew it, but her. She needed to know the truth, but the bastard had thick blinders on her. She'd have to see to believe. Tonight was that night.
"You're a liar." Her eyes filled with tears.
"I would never do that to you."
"You don't even know me. It was one night and I was wasted."
"Do you remember it?" I reached out and brushed my thumb by her thick bottom lip as she stepped back. "I do. Every minute of it."
"No, and I'm glad I don't." She moved around me and walked into the living room, leaving my heart racing, my cock thick and hard, and fingers tingling as electricity danced in my belly. She was the only woman I would settle down for. Too bad she wasn't at all interested in a piece of trash like me.
I forced myself to walk toward the living room and wait. It wouldn't be a few minutes and she'd be racing back down the stairs, upset. The worst part was that she wouldn't let me comfort her. Hell, she wouldn't let me near her after what happened tonight, but it was all right. It was better to give up the hope of what could have been and her being free from the monster she pretended was a man.
"Micah. Come here, buddy." I reached out and wrapped my arm around his shoulders as Emily jogged down the stairs, tears streaming down her beautiful face, long dark hair flying behind her.
I turned away from her and gripped my buddy's shoulders. "Emily just walked in on Brody fucking some girls upstairs. Go after her, and while you're at it... help me."
"What?" He jerked around me to look for her. "What the hell happened?"
"You know he's a bastard. I just offered him a bedroom and he took it."
"Why the hell would you-" Realization rolled over Micah's strong features.
"Right. She needed to know. Go after her."
"I will, but I'm not helping you. You're no better than he is, Jacob."
"Maybe I could be. Maybe she could turn me into a good guy. Ever think of that?"
"No, I didn't." He pulled from me and walked toward the door, jogging toward her as I let out a long sigh. It should have been me going after her. I wanted to so bad it hurt.
I half-expected to see Brody running down the stairs, but when I didn't, I figured the fucker was too drunk off his ass to realize what was happening. It was going to leave Emily broken and hurt, but she would get over it.
"Hi sexy." A pretty redheaded girl with alabaster skin and big blue eyes moved up in front of me and wrapped her arms around my waist. "I wanna dance with this certain boy, but he seems to be avoiding me."
"Avoiding you? He must be a fucking idiot." I leaned down and kissed her soft lips a few times while gripping her chin. "Go get me a beer and I'll talk him into taking you out on the dance floor and showing you a thing or two."
"Promise?" She lifted to her toes and kissed me again.
"Mmmhmmm. Go." I pulled her arms from my waist and walked out on the porch to see Micah hugging Emily. Jealousy burned through me in stifling waves, but I played it off seeing that I had no other option.
Chapter 5
Emily
Tears burned my eyes as I wiped angrily at them. What had I expected? Beer, hot girls and a shitty guy like Brody. The mix was a huge set up for disaster. It was one of the main reasons I hated going to parties with him. I knew he had little to no control over himself when booze was part of the mix.
"Hey. You okay?" Micah moved around me and reached out to run his hands down my arms. The emotion in his eyes broke me down a little more.
I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth and nodded, unable to talk.
"You wanna talk about it?"
"No," I whispered and glanced past him to see Jacob on the stairs. I turned and walked toward the parked cars at the edge of the street. I had no way home, and walking back to campus seemed like a stupid idea seeing that it was dark and creepy as fuck.
"Em. Wait up." Micah moved up beside me and walked to the street with me in silence.
There wasn't much to say. I'd made yet another stupid mistake, and would pay for it this time. All of my extra supplies, my books, my uniforms, all of it had been paid for by Brody. He was from wealth and I was from poverty.
The visual of Brody face fucking some trashy blonde while two others ran their hands all over his perfect body left my stomach turning sour. I turned and dropped to my knees on the side of the street, losing my lunch into the ditch and hating like hell that anyone was there to see it.
"Oh fuck," he mumbled and moved up beside me.
Strong hands gripped the back of my arms, and it was Jacob's voice I heard, not Micah's.
"Get
her a bottle of water and a cold towel. Now."
I turned to face him and let out a long sigh as a sickening wave of embarrassment washed over me. A fresh round of tears blurred my vision, and I cupped my face and turned as a low sob stole my breath.
"Emily. You know he's a piece of shit." He rubbed my back softly before I could pull away from him.
"Leave me alone. You knew what the fuck he was doing," I barked and brushed at my tears as if that would stop them from coming.
"He's been doing it for a while." He moved to stand in front of me and reached out to brush a wayward tear away. "Let me take you home."
"No. You've been drinking and you're as big of a bastard as he is. Don't think that I'm weak and an easy target just because I was embarrassed tonight. I'm not." I pulled out my phone and took a few steps from him as I called Tasha. The call went to voice mail.
"Here you go." Micah stopped beside me and handed me the towel and the water. I took both and put my back to him and Jacob as they stood in stony silence. Aubrey was my only hope for getting the fuck out of there. If she were busy, then I had no choice but to talk Micah into taking me, or take Jacob up on his offer. Walking was looking better and better.
"Hey girl. What's up?" Aubrey's voice was upbeat and happy.
"I need you to come and get me. I'm at the Omega House."
"What's the matter, Em? You sound like hell."
"Just come get me please. I don't have anyone else to call." I pressed the bottle of water to my lips and took a quick sip.
"I'm on my way now. Just wait right there. Layla's with me. That okay?"
"Yeah. Of course." I dropped the call and worked to pull myself together as I turned to face the guys. Micah stood alone, looking sheepish. It would seem that my words had been enough of a smack to Mr. Perfect to get him to leave me the fuck alone. "Thank you."
"Of course. I wish you would just let me take you home." He took the towel from me and sighed softly.
"I appreciate the offer, but I'm good. Aubrey is headed this way now. I don't want to take you away from your party." I forced a tight smile.
"You know I'm a horrible Omega. I'm only here to support Jacob at this point." He glanced back and I followed his gaze toward the porch. Several girls huddled around the handsome soccer star, and he didn't seem too interested in pushing them off.
As if I cared.
"You're a much better friend than I would be."
He turned back toward me. "I doubt that. I'm really sor-"
"Don't." I held up my hand. "From what Jacob said, Brody has been sleeping around for a while, so I deserved this for being an idiot. I thought maybe I would be enough. Obviously not."
"You're so much better than him. Than all of these idiots here. You know this already. I'm not telling you anything new."
Bright lights filled up the street and a horn honked, jolting me. Aubrey.
"Thanks again for tonight." I moved toward him and gave him a quick hug. "You didn't know, right?"
"Know what? About Brody? Fuck no. I would have told you."
"All right." I waved and walked toward the car, taking only a moment to glance back up at the house to find Jacob watching me closely. He was interested in one thing. Sex.
Too bad I wasn't going to let my body drive my decisions anymore. It only left me feeling like shit, looking like the idiot and holding the bag. No more.
"Hey. What's going on?" Aubrey turned from the front seat and reached out to grip my hand as I got in the backseat and closed the door.
"Brody was fucking three girls upstairs and I walked in on him." I let out a long sigh and let my head drop back. There was no reason to sugarcoat it. She and Layla would know alongside the rest of the university before the weekend was over.
"No fucking way." Layla glanced back at me, her voice angry, eyes narrowed. Something was off about her, but I couldn't put my finger on what in the dark.
"Oh, Emily. I'm so sorry. Some of these guys here are such dickwads."
"Most of them are." I turned my head to watch Jacob as we drove off. "And the worst part is that Jacob Wright was dead center for the show. I feel even worse knowing he was a part of all of it."
"What's the deal with you and Jacob? Bad blood?" Layla turned in her seat a little so that we could talk face to face and I realized what was wrong. Her lip was busted and swollen.
"We slept together my freshman year. I was young, dumb and wanted to belong. He was, and is, beyond sexy and so full of life. It was the best night of my life, and I hate him for it now."
"Because it was only one night?" Aubrey readjusted her rearview mirror to see me better.
"No, because he wanted more. I wanted more, but I knew better. You know his reputation, and he's remained pretty true to it this whole time."
"He's not nearly as bad as everyone paints him out to be, though, I don't really understand why he has to sleep around so much. I figure it has to do with his mother abandoning him, but he won't talk about that shit too often." Layla shrugged and turned back around.
"Are you guys dating?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Me and Jacob?" She snorted. "Hell no. I'm into Aubrey's brother, but she keeps denying me the hookup."
"I do not." Aubrey laughed and pulled into the parking lot of a small coffee shop on campus. "Let's go get something yummy and talk for a while."
"Sounds good to me." Layla got out, and I followed suit, keeping my mouth shut until we ordered. I found us a table near the back and slid into it as Layla sat down across from me.
"What happened to your lip?" I let my eyes run across her pretty face.
"I got in a fight with that big pole in front of the business building and lost." She smiled and grimaced. "It hurts like hell."
"I bet." I tilted my head to the side and wondered how she ran into a pole, especially the one she referenced. The damn thing was a foot around in circumference, and had been there for years. Something didn't add up, but I wasn't going to push it. I was close to Aubrey, or used to be. Layla and I were new friends. Knowing she was close to Jacob left me a little more tight-lipped than I wanted to be, but there was no way I was having my thoughts get back to the smug asshole who had stolen my thoughts for far too long.
"You broke up with him, right?" Aubrey set our coffees down and gave me a stern big-sister look.
"No." I took my cup and glanced down at it. "It's not that easy."
"What? You can't stay with him, Emily. That's horrible." Aubrey reached for my hand.
"I'm living with him right now. All my shit is over there. I stay with Tasha from time to time, but we redid the room and the beds are pushed together for her to sleep on. All her stuff is everywhere. I literally moved in with him to save money because I'm broke.
"What happened to your mom paying for the extra stuff your academic scholarships didn't cover?"
"She's been drinking again." I shrugged and picked up my coffee. "I'm going to break things off with Brody, but it's not happening for a little while. I can't just pick up and live on the streets. Life doesn't work like that."
"So stay with us. We can share a bed," Layla offered and worked on trying to take a drink of her coffee around her busted lip. "You can't go back with him."
"I can, and I have to." I took a drink of my coffee and tossed my long hair over my shoulder. "My mom lost her job, and her older sister, Dara, is taking care of most of my sister Cally's needs. She's only sixteen and I swear she's following in mom's footsteps."
A shiver raced down my spine at the thought. Me being at Providence wasn't helping anything, and it was insanely selfish of me not to pack up and head back home, but living in the broken-down piece of shit house my mother provided with her and my sister would have been the death of me.
"Damn." Aubrey let out a long sigh. "Lucas is leaving soon. Maybe we can work something out so that you can rent his apartment."
"No. I mean it when I say I'm totally broke." I forced a smile. "This isn't the first time my life's been turned upside down.
I'll figure things out. I have no other choice, right?"
"Right," Aubrey mumbled and glanced down at the table, leaving me to feel even worse than when we came in.
She was ashamed of me and my weakness. I couldn't blame her.
I was ashamed too.
Chapter 6
Jacob
"Oh man. I hate this kind of shit." Micah walked up on the porch and went back into the house.
"I'll be in in a few minutes, girls." I kissed each of the three girls hugging on me and untangled myself from them to go after him. Seeing Emily torn up had my stomach in knots, but there wasn't much I could do about it. She hated me for good reason. I was just like Brody from her perspective, but one thing she didn't know is that I would never in a million years cheat on a woman I was with. I just wasn't with anyone, nor did I intend to be.
Relationships were too hard. Too messy. Women were fickle creatures that loved you one minute and destroyed your world the next.
"Micah," I called after him and jogged up the stairs as he disappeared upstairs.
"Jacob. There you are. I was looking for you all night." A pretty Hispanic girl I knew I'd taken to bed a few times stopped on the stairs and pulled at my t-shirt. "Come home with me tonight. I have my mom's place all to myself."
"Not tonight, pretty girl, but soon." I ran my hands down her side and let my eyes drag down the front of her. "You look good. Really good."
"What's my name?" She giggled, and I knew I was in trouble.
"I gotta catch up with Micah. He's having what we call a man-meltdown. You have my digits. Call me."
"I don't have-"
I didn't hear the rest as I jogged upstairs, taking two stairs at a time. No one had my phone number aside from my pops, Layla, Micah and Lucas. No one else needed it.
"Micah. Slow down, fucker." I moved through the people lining the halls and finally reached his bedroom as the door started to shut. I put my hand out and moved into the room with him, closing the door behind me. "Come on, man. Don't let this ruin the night."