Make Your Move (A High School Bully Romance): Hannaford Prep Year Two

by J Bree

  Harley scoffs and pulls out his phone, bringing up a video and handing it over to me. There I am, sitting on Blaise’s lap, giggling like a mad woman and stroking his chest like I had spent hours doing to the sheets. I can see he’s filming us both and with the smug look on his face it’s clear he sent this to Harley to piss him off.

  I elbow him but it’s like elbowing a freaking wall.

  “Hey, they asked me why I called you adorable. I figured a video was better than any explanation I could come up with.”

  “I am never taking those pills again. I’ll white knuckle it through the pain next time.” I declare and they all, Avery included, laugh their asses off at me. I can’t remember much from the day. I know Blaise has been here the longest but my brain feels like it’s full of fog when I try to think about what happened. Not great.

  There’s a knock at the door and Avery opens it to find Ash standing there in his track uniform and a gym bag slung over his shoulder. Sweaty, flushed, and utterly delectable. I’m sandwiched between two insanely hot guys and I’m still managing to drool over a third. What the hell is wrong with me?

  “Mr Ember is a demon. I’m not doing track next year, fuck him and his shitty attitude.” he sulks as he strides in. Avery scrunches her nose up at him and shoves him towards the bathroom.

  “Go shower, you’re not sleeping here covered in sweat.”

  I mean, I’d let him sleep in my bed covered in sweat except there is literally no room left with the other two lounging on it.

  It’s then that I remember my conversation with Blaise. We’d been in the bathroom after my leg had given out on my way to the toilet. For a single horrifying second I can’t remember if he was there while I peed but then the memory clears. He stepped out and waited for me to yell for him. Sweet merciful lord, this is bad.

  He’d held me up while I washed my hands and told me about how they decided to share me. They sat at the freaking dining hall table and came to an agreement to share me. All of the blood in my head drains out and I feel floaty all over again.

  I scramble onto my hands and knees again and slide straight off the bed, wincing as my leg protests. I don’t look back to see the guys reactions and Avery giggles at me as I tug her into the closet by the sleeve of her Chanel robe.

  “What happened to discreet?” I croak and she gives me a side eye.

  “I was discreet. Then they decided to woo you as a group and as a result we’re having to deal with them all here at once. Now that you’re awake and Ash is here we’re going to watch some bullshit thriller movie Blaise insists on and then they’ll sleep here.”

  Woo me? Christ. I do not like the look on Avery’s face at all. It’s glee mixed with her usual dose of evil and I’m really getting worried that she’s about to throw me under the bus. Not anything mean or dangerous, just embarrass the utter crap out of me for her own sick pleasure. There’s a reason we’ve ended up best friends.

  “Why are the two of you whispering in the closet?”

  I squeak and turn to see Ash standing in the doorway, rubbing his hair with one of Avery’s fluffy white towels. He has one of those damn tank tops on again and I refuse to look at his nipples.

  “Secret girls business.” says Avery in her most innocent voice.

  He rolls his eyes at her. “With the two of you that could be anything from pairing the correct shoes with an outfit to plotting the murder of a filthy rich senator for your own gain.”

  I scoff at him and cross my arms but he makes a good point. Avery pats him on the chest and says, “Lips is freaking out about where everyone is sleeping. The drugs have scrambled her brain and she’s woken up in her ideal fantasy orgy.”

  Nope.

  I spin on my heel and charge towards the bathroom to lock myself away from his raucous laughter at Avery’s words. I’ve never heard him laugh like that before. He calls out to me as I pass him, “You’ll have to pause those dirty thoughts, Mounty, Avery has already threatened our dicks if we so much as kiss your cheek in front of her.”

  They all laugh and I close the door firmly, flicking the lock.

  I cannot survive this.

  The movie is terrible but the popcorn is good.

  Ash kicks Blaise off of my bed and he sprawls onto the floor so he’s closer to the TV. Avery gives up on watching it twenty minutes in and falls asleep, perfectly comfortable in her Cal King bed by herself.

  It takes me most of the movie to stop twitching and settle down enough to get tired. Ash and Harley don’t try to touch me at all, true to their word to Avery, and it’s only after Blaise turns the TV off and settles himself on the couch that I realize they’re not planning on leaving the bed.

  I’ve never shared a bed before and it makes me panic for a bit in the dark. What if I’m annoying in my sleep? What if I thrash around or snore or drool? What if all of the sexy, irresistible testosterone in the room gives me a sex dream and I moan in my sleep? Christ.

  I can hear by his breathing when Harley falls asleep and then when Blaise passes out he’s gently snoring. It’s a cute sound and I smile. I relax back into the mattress and sigh.

  I’m almost asleep when I feel a hand on my hip and then Ash is turning me to face away from him and he’s tucking me into his chest. Once he’s got me where he wants me, a leg between mine and my head pillowed on his bicep, he strokes the bare skin of my leg gently. It’s not a sexual touch, just a light comforting stroke until I doze off too.

  I’ve never been so comfortable.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  I’m too warm.

  There’s a thumb tracing the seam of my lips, stroking the soft skin rhythmically, and when I shift the arm around my waist tightens. I open my eyes to find Harley staring at me in the darkness, the blue of his eyes barely visible in the shadows. Ash’s breathing is still deep and steady on my neck so I know he’s still asleep and Blaise’s gentle snores are still the only noise in the room.

  Harley moves to brush his fingers over my cheek and my heart does a little dance in my chest. I want to know what time it is but I don’t want to speak or move in case we wake the others. This little moment is just for us.

  Harley’s eyebrows do that thing where he’s asking me a question. I’m not entirely fluent in the language yet but I nod. Whatever he wants right now I’m ready to give him.

  His lips pull into a slow, lascivious smirk and then he presses a finger to them to tell me to stay silent. I nod, just a little so Ash doesn’t wake up, and then he shifts forward to cup my face in his hands and he kisses me.

  It starts out sweet, all light touches and gentle sweeps of his tongue on mine, but he’s been hungry for me for a long time and I’ve been starving for him for longer. He pushes and pushes until he’s pressed up against me, pressing me back into his sleeping cousin, and I’m shaking. I hold his wrists just so I have an anchor because I’m drunk on his mouth and rapidly forgetting that we’re supposed to be quiet. His thumbs stroke my cheeks reverently even as his mouth is a hot, demanding brand on my own.

  “Avery is going to fucking murder you.” whispers Ash and I startle away from Harley’s lips.

  Oh god.

  I know they said they were going to share me but I don’t know if this was what they were intending. I’m tangled in Ash’s limbs and making out with Harley like his lips are an oxygen tank and I’m fucking drowning. My entire body flushes scarlet and I squirm with shame. Harley leans forward and breathes, “Shh…” onto my lips as he kisses me again. I wriggle to pull away from him but then I feel Ash’s lips graze my neck and his arm across my waist tightens to keep me where I am. Harley swallows my sigh and Ash grins against my skin before sucking and biting the soft curve where my neck meets my shoulder. As he pulls my shirt collar to find more skin he mumbles, “I’m blaming you if she catches us.”

  Harley only pulls away from me long enough to whisper back, “Fucking worth it,” and then he’s sucking my bottom lip into his mouth and dragging his hands down my throat possessively. It’s a mo
ve that would send me spiraling if any other person were to do it but with Harley it sets my blood on fire and I start to squirm all over again. Ash grunts and plants a hand on my hip to stop my movement and Harley pulls away again, panting.

  “Fuck. I’m going to be late for training. I was supposed to be at the pool ten minutes ago.” he says, scowling and staring at my lips. I lick them without thinking and he groans.

  “That sound had better be an oh-i-hate-waking-up sort of sound and not a my-dick-is-so-hard kind of sound, Harley Éibhear Arbour.” snaps Avery.

  I am mortified.

  The two idiots in my bed are not.

  Harley rolls out and when Avery screeches at him and throws a pillow at him he stalks to the bathroom laughing, “I can’t help having morning wood, Ave’s. Better get used to it because me and my blue balls will be here all week.”

  Avery levels Ash with a vicious glare and his face shifts into an innocent mask. I snort at his attempt to placate her.

  “Don’t you dare get out of that bed until you have your dick under control or I will cut it the fuck off. I know how, Lips taught me.” She hisses and then throws herself out of bed and stomps to the coffee machine.

  “Good morning, my beloved sister, I hope you’ve slept well. I’d love a coffee, thank you for asking.”

  Avery starts slamming cups onto the bench and cursing us all out. I choose to plead the fifth and keep my mouth shut. Harley emerges from the bathroom dressed in his sports gear and kisses Avery’s cheek with a grin. She cusses him out too but hands him one of her reusable takeaway cups to take down to the pool. He ducks back to the bed and pecks me on the cheek too, with a wink, and then he’s out the door.

  “What time is it and why the fuck are we awake? It’s the weekend, for fucks sake.” Blaise grumbles.

  “How is your dick this morning, Morrison?” Avery says as she stomps into the bathroom and slams the door.

  Blaise blinks and then turns to face us. “It’s too fucking early for this shit.”

  He rolls off the couch and stumbles over to the bed, slipping into the side Harley just climbed out of.

  “Getting in here is just going to piss her off more.” I say but I’m secretly swooning. Ash scoffs at me and kisses my neck again before untangling his limbs from mine and sliding out of the bed. He starts rummaging through Avery’s drawers and pulls out a pair of his jeans to pull on. It must be nice to have so many clothes you can just leave them everywhere, just in case you may need them. Sigh. Rich kids.

  “I’ll walk her to ballet and then we can all meet for a late breakfast in the dining hall. Morrison, you have one hour. Use it wisely.”

  Blaise is already snoring.

  I laugh at him and stretch out like a cat in the sun. I’m content. I’m nervous as all fuck about…dating, I guess…three guys, the three hottest guys at Hannaford, but I’m still so happy I could scream.

  I get up and drink my coffee, even though it’s on the colder side. Avery squeezes my hand as she passes with a little grin which I return. I know she’s being a tyrant about the guys so they take things slow with me. She may be the master manipulator but I’m getting pretty good at spotting her work.

  Blaise is still asleep when I’m out of the shower and ready to eat. If I were bold I’d go climb on top of him and wake him with a kiss. Or more.

  I’m still pathetically nervous about this.

  So I stomp around the room like a herd of elephants only to find that Blaise could sleep through the apocalypse if need be. Great. I send a message to the group text to confirm the time we’re heading down and he doesn’t wake for his phone either. Fucks sake!

  I pull my big girl panties on and give him a little shake. He moans obscenely and I blush. He’s made that noise for me before but I was sucking on his tongue at the time.

  “If you want to join us all for breakfast you need to get up now.”

  He cracks one eye open and squints at me. His voice is rough and delicious. “Why can’t we eat here? In four hours like normal people?”

  “I want french toast. Avery will have fruit and yogurt, Ash will get pancakes and you and Harley will have mountains of scrambled eggs and bacon. I’m not cooking four different breakfasts and Avery will stab you if you ask her to. Come on, we only have a week left of catered breakfasts.”

  He pushes himself up and I have to squash the urge to run my hands through his hair. His arms flex invitingly as he leans back to look at me. He grins and jerks his head at me.

  “Get over here. I want a good morning kiss, then I’ll get up.”

  I scoff at him and arch an eyebrow but his grin just gets wider. I lean down to give him a quick peck on the cheek and he snaps his hands out to jerk me into his lap. I’m not at all proud of the squeal that comes out of me but I manage to tamp down my reflexes so I don’t punch him in the throat.

  I should probably warn them all about that.

  “A proper kiss, little Nightingale, don’t cheat me.”

  We’re going to be late for breakfast.

  Blaise tucks me under his arm as we walk down to the dining hall and I decide I’m never going to get used to being that close to him. He didn’t shower, just threw a pair of jeans on like Ash did, and yet he smells incredible. I kind of thought guys were supposed to be dirty and smelly but these three, my three, were obviously the unicorns of the species. Lucky freaking me. No, seriously.

  We find Avery and Ash waiting outside the dining hall for us and when we slip into the line Harley texts to say he’s on his way. Ash grabs food for Avery, Harley, and himself and Blaise organizes ours. Again, it’s something I’ve seen them do for each other a hundred times and finding myself included is jarring but in the best way.

  Avery scares the shit out of some freshmen sitting in our usual seats and we sit. By the time we have the plates set out Harley arrives, his hair dripping and his eyes a little red from all the chlorine.

  “How are the blue balls?” Avery says sweetly and I groan, burying my face in my hands.

  Harley gives her a haughty look. “I’ll worry about my own balls thanks, Floss.”

  I abandon my french toast and grab my apple. Ash’s eyes narrow at me and he pushes the plate back in front of me. Great. More food police.

  “Well, my balls aren’t blue. Harley will just have to learn to jerk off a bit more often.” drawls Blaise and Ash snorts at him.

  Avery eyes reach subzero temperatures. “Not in my shower he won’t. Keep those activities in your room.”

  Blaise grins and hands me his iPod. I have a mouthful so I nod in thanks and scroll through the playlist. He’s titled it ‘Starlight, Starbright’, the cheeky asshole, and I kinda wanna throat punch him. He laughs at the face I pull and says to Avery, “It’s fine, we’ll just tempt Lips into our room for the rest of the week.”

  Lord have mercy on my fucking soul.

  I tense and Harley, who’s watching me carefully, kicks Blaise in the shin so hard his chair scrapes back. Blaise grunts and curses Harley with such vehemence that the students around us take notice. Ash joins Harley to glare at him.

  “Are you fucking dense? We’re surrounded, there’s an ongoing bet, and Lips is still being watched.” hisses Ash, while Avery laughs so no one around us can hear him.

  Blaise cringes and looks at me apologetically. I take pity on him because, well, I did let him walk me down here with his arm around me and we haven’t exactly talked about what we’re doing and the risks.

  “Don’t bother. Lips has no interest in fucking a guy from Hannaford, she’s said it a million times. Find someone who’s actually up for it.” Harley says, loud enough that the students eating around us can hear and start whispering amongst themselves.

  I shoot him a thankful look. Avery takes over and starts talking about her dance recital that we’re all going to on Monday.

  When the room empties out a bit and we have a little more privacy I decide to address the elephant in the room, the third…wait, no, fifth wheel in our relationshi
p. Fuck.

  “I feel like we should be talking about the dangers of doing this. I mean, we can’t even sit here and have a conversation without my…baggage coming into it.”

  Avery clears her throat, kisses my cheek, and then walks off with her phone. I was kind of hoping for her support and input but I guess this is technically a relationship conversation.

  “We’re not in this for the bet and until you get the Jackal situation under control we’ll just be more… discreet about what's going on. Our only other option is to wait until he’s not a problem anymore and I don’t want to do that. ” Harley crosses his arms and stares across the table at me.

  Ash hums under his breath, his eyes watching over Avery as she takes a call on the far side of the room. “Is there a plan to get him to back off? Do we have any idea of how long it will take?”

  I shrug and push my empty plate away. “There is a plan but it’s not underway yet. It hasn’t been my focus. I’ve been working on more pressing issues.”

  The guys all share a look and then Ash says, “I think it’s now the most pressing issue.”

  I blush but I don’t let myself break eye contact with him. “I understand that it’s important but there’s still other things that need to be dealt with. Joey, Senior, the O’Cronin family, all of them are important to take care of as well.”

  Harley shakes his head but Blaise answers for them all, “No, top priority is now dealing with the Jackal. Your life is the one at stake and the other situations are…survivable.”

  Only because I’ve been working on them but I don’t mention it so instead I nod and try to blink back the tears prickling my eyes.

  Avery having my back all year has been a totally foreign concept, even if I have loved every second of it but this is almost too much for me. These three have all just agreed that I’m the priority, that my safety trumps every other issue we have going on. My welfare and safety has never been a priority to anyone other than myself. It’s a terrifying, amazing thing.