by Joey Bush
But in the back of my mind I couldn’t help feeling like there was nothing more I could have done. I couldn’t have just sat there and let Bob bad-mouth both Jaxon and me. I couldn’t just take it. After everything that Bob had said about Jaxon, someone had to stand up for him. I felt my anger building up inside of me again at the fact that this was the man my mom was married to. How long would it be before he started bad-mouthing her, too? He was an asshole of the highest caliber and if I could somehow manage to never have to be in the same room as him ever again in my life, it would be far too soon.
Chapter Nine
By the time I managed to get across campus, and make it upstairs to my room, I was completely fried. I had told myself over and over again that I was going to take a long, hot shower when I got in, but I didn’t even have the energy for that. I could still hear Bob’s angry words in my mind as I walked through the door and veered left on shaky legs to my bedroom. I had no idea where Jaxon was, or even if he had made it back to campus yet. I had no idea what Bob and Mom were doing. I was exhausted down to my very bones; my brain was reeling with everything that had happened.
I climbed numbly into my bed as soon as my bedroom door was shut behind me. I curled up to the wall and buried my face in my pillow and started to shake all over. I was so overwhelmed by everything that had happened that in a matter of minutes I was crying, sobbing harder than I had even when I’d broken bones. I realized that I had cried more in the past year than I had for most of my life and that only made me cry harder. I thought about the terrible things Bob said to Jaxon, the way he seemed to take so much pleasure in making his son feel worthless and useless, and the sobs kept coming.
I had gone from the highest high in my entire life—making first place on a competitive field of boarders, all of my practice paying off, getting the chance to win my victory right next to a guy I was in love with without worrying for even a moment that someone would tell us we were revolting—to my lowest low. When Jaxon had stormed off away from his father I should have just followed him and gone away, I shouldn’t have even tried to talk to Mom and Bob at all. I should have just left things the way they were.
My tears kept coming; they ebbed and flowed—one moment I was sobbing so hard that I felt as if I might break a rib, and the next I was gasping for breath, trembling but with no tears rolling down my face. At one point I got up and turned my stereo on, but I barely made it back to my bed before it hit me again and I was crying all over again.
How could my mom possibly love a guy like Bob? I remembered the awful things I’d said. It wasn’t entirely fair—I knew that. I probably shouldn’t have said that if I’d been his kid I’d have killed him. I wondered if I was going to be hearing from the police and started crying harder. But with everything I had heard Bob say to Jaxon, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. I had meant every word of it at the moment. I really believed that if I had been subjected to years of that bullshit, I would have at the very least lost my cool and tried to beat the hell out of a guy as miserable as Bob was.
I shivered when I thought of the fact that my mom was married to him. What in the world could she have possibly seen in him? I pictured Bob laying into Mom the way he had done with Jaxon, and even with me, and the thought of it turned my stomach. He was a bully, an asshole, pure and simple. I thought of how happy Mom had been with him; but how could she even remotely ignore the fact that he was obviously on a power trip? How could she have let him light into me the way he had? I remembered how humiliated she had looked when I fought back. I remembered the way she’d looked when Bob had made a scene at the lodge months earlier, the way she had looked when he wouldn’t get off the subject of Jaxon and me.
I kept crying until I was too exhausted to cry anymore and then just laid in bed, listening to my music. Cold numbness crept through my veins and all I wanted to do was sleep, but I was too worked up still to manage it. I wanted to be alone and I wanted to be able to stop thinking about what an enormous clusterfuck the whole situation was. I realized that it was entirely possible that Bob was vindictive enough to cut Jaxon off, and to make Mom cut me off. It wouldn’t be impossible to keep going to classes and finish our degrees—especially Jaxon, who was an upperclassman. But it would make things harder.
I started imagining the worst possible scenarios: Jaxon and me on the street, both of us struggling to make ends meet with the kinds of jobs that college kids were able to get, losing the chance to compete because working and studying full time made it impossible to practice. We’d be able to get through it but I couldn’t help but think that Jaxon would hate me for it in spite of the fact that he really would be better off without Bob. I could have held back. I could have just told him he was miserable and spiteful. Or I could have left when Jaxon had. Instead I had let myself get consumed with anger and rage and gave Bob everything he had ever dealt to either Jaxon or me and then some. I had been so happy to see the pure shock on his face that someone was actually standing up to him. I had enjoyed thinking that maybe, for one second, he might feel the same pain that Jaxon had felt every time he humiliated him.
I realized as one album on my playlist transitioned to another that I had been crying in my bed for the better part of an hour. I shook my head at myself. All my muscles felt stiff, and I wanted a long, hot shower, a snack, and to just curl up in bed and forget that the second part of the day had happened at all. If I could just remember all of the good stuff and nothing else—nothing from the point where Jaxon and I had been making out by the stands—I could possibly be happy. I rubbed at my face; the salt from my tears made my cheeks feel itchy and stiff, and I hated the fact that I’d been crying so much. I was not a crying girl. I was an ass-kicking girl. I was the girl who showed up at the frat party and drank everyone under the table, the one who got sick air and sometimes landed wrong but always bounced back.
I was psyching myself up to get out of bed and take the shower I wanted so badly when I heard a knock at my door. I groaned into my pillow. On the long list of people who might be at my door, there was only one name on the list I actually wanted to see. It could have been someone from Phi Kappa, it could have been my mom, or Bob, or one of my roommates; I hated the thought of being around any of them. I decided that I was going to pretend to be asleep with my stereo on and just ignore whoever it was—it wasn’t likely to be the one person I wanted it to be, anyway.
There was another knock and I almost stirred myself to tell the person—whoever it was—to go the hell away. I didn’t want to talk, I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was be alone to wallow in my misery and get some sleep. “Mia? I know you’re in there you never leave your stereo on and you can’t be asleep.” My heart started beating faster—I recognized the voice. It was Jaxon.
“Jax?” I called out through the door, turning over in my bed. It was too good to be true; but maybe he was coming to break up with me. Maybe he had finally had the last straw and was ready to end things. Maybe Bob had called and told him it was either break things off or be disowned. I wouldn’t blame him if that was the case. Even if Jaxon hated Bob, Bob was paying the bills. It would be hard not to give in.
“Mia, I got some great news!” I sat up in bed. Jaxon’s voice sounded surprisingly cheerful. I climbed down off of my bed and rushed to the door. I pulled the door open all at once, still shaking but full of more hope than I would have thought possible.
“News? What? What happened, Jaxon?” Jaxon grinned at me and closed the door behind him, closing the distance between us and wrapping his arms around me. He kissed me hungrily, his hands wandering over my body, caressing and teasing me for a long moment until I couldn’t think about anything but how happy I was to be in his arms again.
“First things first, I’m really glad you got back okay—how did you do that, anyway?” I laughed and told Jaxon about hitching a ride with one of the other competitors. Jaxon grinned and lifted me up into the bed, kissing me once more. He broke away and laughed, taking a deep breath and shaking his head.
“God, Mia, I don’t know what you did, but it was totally brilliant.”
“What do you mean?” I thought of the showdown between Bob and me—it had been anything but brilliant, as far as I could see. Jaxon laughed again.
“Dad called me a little while ago.” I cringed. That had to have gone badly. “Seriously—it was great.”
“What did I do?” I asked as Jaxon kissed along my neck.
“I have no idea. But Dad was like a totally different person. He apologized for how terrible he’d been to me over the last several years.”
“Oh god, really?” I was shocked. Bob had actually apologized? I couldn’t help smiling.
“Yeah! It was weird. It was totally bizarre. He said he realized that he’d been acting like an asshole, and that if he didn’t fix things with me he had no hope of ever being happy with anyone.” Jaxon hesitated a moment, shaking his head. “He also thanked me for not killing him.” I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing again. Apparently my words had hit Bob the right way. “The best part is that he said all he wanted was for me to be happy.”
“Really?” I could tell that Jaxon was building up to something. “That’s awesome.” Jaxon gave my hands a squeeze.
“He told me that if being with you was what made me happy, I should keep seeing you. Also that you were way too good for me—and that if I was capable of making you happy, I’d better keep it up.” Jaxon leaned in and kissed me hungrily. His hands began to wander over my body slowly, touching me everywhere, and I could tell that for him at least, the news had been inspirational.
The fact that Bob was encouraging Jaxon to date me—that somehow I had gotten through to him and he actually realized that what I had said, in spite of how awfully I had said it, was at least a little right—was amazing. In a million years I would never have expected that outcome. I would have thought that he was going to be the same way forever—that Jaxon and I would have to find a way to be together without having any contact with our parents. But instead, we could really, truly be together.
“Well I guess you’re going to have to keep me happy then,” I told Jaxon, grinning. I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him up onto the bed with me.
“Oh I will keep you happy,” Jaxon said, kissing me again. He cupped my breasts in his hands and gave them a squeeze, teasing my nipples through the fabric of my clothes. I moaned against Jaxon’s lips, pushing my hips down to meet his. He started to rock up against me, and I felt his cock hardening in his pants, rubbing up against me. I was getting wetter and wetter by the moment as Jaxon’s hands wandered over me slowly. He teased me all over, nipping and nibbling along the column of my throat, then back up to my lips.
Jaxon found the zipper on my hoodie and pulled it down, quickly tugging the thick fabric down over my arms and tossing it aside. He began to unbutton the shirt I was wearing underneath immediately, and I reached out to tug the big, heavy sweater he was wearing for the weather up along his back and over his head. Jaxon guided my shirt down over my shoulders and away from my body; he buried his face against my breasts, nuzzling. “God, Mia—you have no idea. I felt so bad when I ran away like that but I just couldn’t take it.” Jaxon pulled the cups of my bra down, exposing my breasts, and he found first one nipple and then the other with his lips, sucking and licking. I moaned out, throwing my head back, threading my fingers in his hair as he teased me with his mouth. Jolts of hot pleasure shot through me, seemingly right to my pussy, making me hotter and wetter.
Jaxon’s clothes and mine fell away and we were rubbing all against each other, touching and teasing each other. His mouth wandered all over my body, and mine over his; I kissed, licked, nibbled everywhere my mouth could reach as we tumbled over and over in bed, pressing and rubbing against each other. Jaxon kissed me over and over as his hands wandered over my body. I kneaded his back and shoulders, loving the feeling of his skin against mine, the tightness of his muscles.
Jaxon slipped his hands down along my body, between my legs, and I shivered as he touched along the slick folds of my pussy. I pushed down to meet his touch; Jaxon teased me with a feather-light touch for a long moment before he pressed into me, rubbing and stroking up and down slowly. He barely missed my clit, dipping between my inner labia. He brought his fingers up gradually, teasingly lingering just under my clit, moving up and down, working me. I was twisting and writhing underneath him, pushing my hips down to get better contact. I moaned, grabbing at Jaxon’s shoulders, his head.
Finally he began to stroke my clit, up and down, in tight little circles that sent electric jolts of pleasure through my body. “God, you’re so hot,” Jaxon murmured in my ear, rubbing his hard cock against me. I felt myself soaking his fingers as I got more and more turned on. “I never want to stop touching you.” Jaxon let two of his fingers move down to my inner labia, rubbing and stroking slowly as his thumb worked my clit. He slid his fingers inside of me slowly, sinking in past the initial resistance of my body. His fingers moved deeper and deeper inside of me as his thumb rubbed my clit constantly and I was more and more turned on, wetter and hotter.
My whole body tingled, and I felt myself burning up. I twisted and writhed, my hips moving in time to Jaxon’s touch. I gasped as his fingers pressed against something deep inside, along my inner walls. It felt so good—and every time we’d ever had sex, I’d thought I’d never felt anything so good. Every time Jaxon touched me, it was like it was happening for the first time. Jaxon rubbed my clit harder, his fingers working away inside of me as I moved underneath him. “God—god, Jaxon—so good,” I couldn’t think—I was so turned on, my nerves crackling with electric sensation.
Jaxon brought me to the edge of orgasm over and over again, teasing me until I was sure I couldn’t take any more. He kissed me hungrily and then began to trail his lips down along my neck, to my collarbones. He nibbled, licked, nipped at my sensitive skin until I was moaning, arching into his mouth, down onto his hand. He moved down along my body slowly, lingering at my breasts. I cried out as he sucked and licked my nipples, each one in turn. I couldn’t hold back anymore; I almost shrieked as the first wave shot through me, rocking every nerve in my body.
Jaxon kept working me even as wave after wave of sensation washed through me, making me pitch and arch off of the bed. He didn’t even slow down until the spasms of pleasure began to abate; he was kissing and nibbling everywhere until I almost had to beg him to stop, my body too sensitive. Jaxon held me tightly as I shivered in the aftermath, panting and gasping for breath. “How’s that for keeping you happy?” he murmured, nuzzling into my neck as he held me. I laughed, breathless and still so full of pleasure I couldn’t quite bring myself to speak for a moment.
“Okay, yeah, if you’re going to do that every day, I’m totally fine with staying with you.” Jaxon kissed me eagerly, caressing me all over. I slowly caught my breath, shivering and trembling.
“I am going to make you happy all over the place.” Jaxon rocked his hips against me steadily, and I could feel the heat and hardness of his cock pressed against me.
“Well I should make you happy too,” I said. I reached down, my hand still a little shaky. I wrapped my hand around his hot, hard cock and began to stroke him slowly, working him. It was far from the first time, but I felt like it was different somehow—like the freedom to actually openly be with him made it both more comforting and both exciting at the same time. Jaxon groaned as I worked him in my hand, rubbing the tip of his cock with my thumb even as I moved my fingers up and down. I loved the way he felt, loved the way his cock started to leak precum over my hand.
“Fuck,” Jaxon said in the middle of a moan. I tumbled him down onto the bed, onto his back, and I began to kiss along his neck and throat, past his collarbones, down his chest. I nipped and nibbled, licked and sucked, while Jaxon moaned and writhed, his head tilting back as I slowly worked my way along the length of his torso. I nuzzled against his hip, nipping sharply at the skin just above the crease I loved so much there be
fore I brought my mouth down onto his cock.
I licked at the fluids that had begun to flow, sucking him into my mouth. Jaxon’s eyes closed and he threaded his fingers in my hair, tugging slightly, caressing my scalp as I took more and more of him in. He tasted good—he felt amazing between my lips. Knowing that I could have him more or less anytime I wanted, that I didn’t even have to worry about my mom or his dad finding out made it a million times hotter. I felt Jaxon getting more and more turned on, his body getting tenser, his cock beginning to twitch. I knew that if I kept it up I could make him come, and I wanted to taste him, wanted to give him exactly the level of pleasure he’d given me.
Jaxon pushed me away, gently, right when I was sure that he was on the edge, only moments away from hitting his climax. He brought my face up to his and kissed me hungrily, touching me everywhere, teasing me relentlessly. I was trembling in his arms as Jaxon stroked my soaking wet pussy, as he teased my nipples with his fingers, rolling and twisting them slowly. He brought me up against his body. “I have to have you, Mia—God, I’ve been waiting all day.” I grinned and straddled his hips, rubbing myself against his hard cock. I teased us both, rocking my hips and letting his cock move up and down along my labia. I wanted him so much—I’d been waiting for him all day, too. I had nearly lost him. I easily could have.
I sank down onto Jaxon’s cock slowly, burying my face against the hollow between his neck and shoulder, closing my eyes. He thrust up into me at the same moment, filling me up with his heat and hardness, and I flexed my hips, tightening around him. We fell into a tidal rhythm together, moving in counterpoint to each other’s movements, touching each other everywhere. Jaxon kissed me wherever he could reach with his lips, nipping and licking, kissing and nibbling spots I had never even realized were sensitive. I rode him faster and faster, pushing my hips down to meet his thrusts, taking him deeper and deeper. He felt so good inside of me, I never wanted to stop. I wanted it to go on forever.