Exposed: An Anthology

by Brooke Cumberland

  “Fuck…” He instantly put his palms over his eyes.

  I climbed over into his lap and straddled him. He still had his elbows in the air, with his palms pushing into his eyes.

  “Emerson, you’re cheating,” he spoke in a breathy voice.

  I leaned in real close to his lips and whispered, “No I’m not.” He let out a long, frustrated groan.

  The cab of the truck was silent as he waited for my next move, or for me to get off. I reached behind and unclasped my bra. I grabbed his hands from his eyes. When I removed them from his face, his eyes slammed shut. I pulled his hands down to my chest and cupped each hand to me. He gently squeezed and moved his hands around slowly. I smiled when I saw his eyes open and look right at me. He brought a moan out of me with how good it felt to have him touching me again. The second he heard my moan though, he lifted his hands away from me and put them behind his head.

  With a cocky grin he said, “Uh-uh, you’re not getting me like this. I’m going to make you wait two weeks, and then you’ll be dying for me.”

  Just then, we heard the roar of a motorcycle pull into the garage next to the truck. Jace parked on the passenger side. When I realized Jaxon wasn’t kidding, I reached out and pulled the door lever. Before he could stop me, I slipped off his lap onto the ground.

  I walked down the side while Jace was on the opposite side of the truck bed. Only my shoulders and head were visible to him. He looked at me and cocked an eyebrow.

  “Um, Em, are you missing something?” he asked.

  At the same time, Jaxon was jumping from his seat, standing right behind me, covering up my breasts with his hands. I tried my hardest to not close my eyes in that moment and make Jace uncomfortable. “Not funny, Emerson,” he growled in my ear. “Keep walking, Jace.”

  “I took my shirt off to try to seduce your brother, but he refuses to have sex with me,” I blatantly told Jace pouting.

  Jace bent over, laughing hysterically. “Oh, buddy; there is something wrong with you, Jax. I’d take care of you in a heartbeat, Emmy.” Even though I knew he was kidding, I still smiled back at him.

  When I perked up, Jaxon yelled, “Fucking leave, Jace!”

  Jace walked up the stairs to the apartments laughing. I turned around to face Jaxon. Still standing in front of me, he leaned over and grabbed my shirt from the truck. He slipped it over my head and pulled my arms through the holes as if I were a toddler.

  “You’re no fun.” I stuck out my bottom lip to him.

  He leaned down and bit it between his teeth, “I think you’re enough fun for the both of us.”

  We walked up the stairs to our apartments. When I reached my door, he leaned over and kissed my cheek before continuing down to his.

  Before he stepped inside, he asked, “Jace and I are going to do a beer run to bring over tonight, any requests?”

  “Sex on the beach? Slippery nipple? Screaming orgasm?”

  His eyes got dark as he looked at me. “Do you serve these often, Miss Bartender?”

  Very slowly, I replied, “Every. Single. Night.” His eyes widened as I walked in and closed my door before he could add anything else. Let him stew on that for a bit!

  Great, now I was sexually frustrated and there was no way I could fix it. Well technically, I know that I could go out and fix it and Jaxon would never know. For some reason though, I knew I couldn’t go back on our bet, especially since it was my idea. I don’t doubt that he would have held up his end of the bargain if he had lost. That was two bets I had lost to him in a row. I needed either to step up my game, or stop betting with the hot country boy.

  Chapter Seven

  First Fight

  By ten o‘clock, people started arriving at our place, all on a high from the team’s win. Quinn still hadn’t come back down to our place. I had been texting her for the last thirty minutes with no reply. Jaxon was still out doing a beer run. Jace, who I guess decided not to go, had come over to help me rearrange furniture and move all the breakable things to a locked closet. We pushed chairs and tables against the wall to allow for more room. I put trashcans on the patio for the smokers and beer cans that will undoubtedly pile up. I walked down the hall to the guy’s apartment. Just as I expected, Cole’s door was closed.

  “Quinn! I’m counting to three and then I’m dragging your butt out of there. You promised!” I heard shuffling around and laughing. “One… two… th-“ I was interrupted by Cole opening the door in front of me with a huge grin on his face.

  “Emmy, give us a break,” he laughed. He only had a pair of navy blue boxers on.

  I pushed past him and found Quinn buttoning up her shirt. I walked over and grabbed her arm as she reached the last button. “You’ve had your fun; you’ll have plenty of time later for this business. There are five of us and Jace is the only one that’s helped me so far. This wasn’t even my idea.” I walked her down the hallway to go out the door. She wasn’t saying anything, just had a satisfied smile on her face. While it frustrated me that I was left to take care of her party, I was still really happy for her and Cole. I loved seeing her this peaceful and happy.

  “Hey, I resent that,” I heard Jaxon’s voice coming from the doorway. “I just supplied your whole party with booze.” He pointed down the hall. I lightly shoved Quinn toward the door to make sure she wasn’t going to turn around for more Mr. Cole West lovin’.

  “Thanks, Jax, that was nice of you,” Quinn said, while walking past. He was still staring at me.

  Before I could make a smart-ass comment to him, some random guy knocked on the open front door.

  “Do you guys know the people next door, I have a delivery and they aren’t home?” He was wearing a shirt displaying a local florist shop but was holding a giant box of chocolates.

  “We live next door,” I told him, gesturing to Quinn and me.

  “Sweet, then this is for Quinn Montgomery.” She walked up to him with a confused look and took the box.

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t have any cash for a tip,” she told him.

  “No worries, I was paid a lot for this late-night delivery. He said you wouldn’t be home till about now. You guys have a great night.” He closed the door behind himself.

  “What the hell, Quinn?” Cole stepped forward, now fully dressed.

  “Don’t ‘what the hell’ me, I have no idea.” She slipped the little card out from the tiny envelope and read it. “It’s just from one of my students I tutor. Here, Ems, go ahead and take out the one piece that you only ever eat.” She handed me the monstrosity of chocolate.

  “You’re so weird about that, Em,” Cole mentioned while he was trying to peek at the card Quinn was holding.

  “Who needs this much chocolate?” I asked while sorting through for the lone piece that’s in every box.

  “What does she mean ‘the one piece you only eat’?” Jaxon stepped up behind me to ask.

  “They usually only put one chocolate raspberry truffle in these things, it’s the only one I care about. Why they would send this giant box and only one raspberry is beyond me.”

  I finally found it and pulled it up to my lips. When I took a bite, my eyes rolled back in my head. I never buy candy, but every once in a while, someone will give Quinn or me a box and waiting for just this one piece is worth it. When I opened my eyes, Jaxon was watching me intently with his hands gripping the countertop.

  “Fuck, you can’t keep doing that in front of me. At least not for the next two weeks,” he sighed. I darted my tongue out to taste the last half in my fingers and I heard him groan while leaning forward closer to me.

  Cole’s deep voice shook me out of my Jaxon-seduction, “BRYCE!?! This is from that asshole Bryce, Quinn?”

  “Babe, we literally got together like two hours ago, no one knows. Give me a break,” she said while hugging him around the waist.

  He started dragging her toward the front door. “You better damn well believe everyone will know on Monday,” he grumbled and she patted his chest.

/>   “Thanks again, Jax, for the alcohol,” she sang while continuing down the hall to our place.

  He looked right at me after she said that. “Don’t look at me, I’m not thanking you. There was something I needed you to take care of earlier and I was embarrassingly denied,” I said walking past him.

  He grabbed my arm before I could make it down the hall. “Wait, I embarrassed you?” he asked honestly with concern in his eyes. He backed me up and placed his hands on the wall on either side of my head.

  “No, not really, but I was rejected while I had my breasts in your hands. I can definitely say that has never happened.”

  “Ask me again in two weeks and I fucking swear, I’ll never say ‘no’ again.”

  “I haven’t gone two weeks since freshman year,” I divulged nervously.

  “Wow, really? Well, this will be good for you then.”

  “You don’t have to judge so loudly,” I grumbled trying to squeeze out from underneath his arms and I heard him groan.

  I should have known I wouldn’t make it far. He scooped me up into his arms and carried me back into his apartment. He walked us to his room and kicked the door closed behind him. We sat back against his headboard on the bed with me in his lap.

  “Emerson, I would never judge you. I, of all people, have no place to judge. I don’t care what you’ve done,” he said, looking into my eyes.

  “It’s okay, everyone does. I understand what people think of me.”

  “If they think you are beautiful, feisty, and brilliant, then I would agree with them. Anything else, I don’t care about.”

  I should be pushing him away right now, that would be the smart thing to do. The more I let him get closer to me like this, the more I know I’ll only let him down. He just kept sneaking underneath more of my obstacles and I was standing on the sidelines watching it happen. I told him upfront that I couldn’t do relationships; I hope he understood that was still the case. I’m not sure if he has an ulterior motive by being this way with me.

  He interrupted my fears by running his fingers through my hair and pulling my head toward him so our lips could meet. His kiss was aggressive and his tongue found mine quickly.

  “Holy shit, you taste good.” I could tell he sampled the chocolate from earlier, so I giggled.

  I wasn’t even thinking about my fears right now. The way he was kissing me was so overwhelming, that I could think of nothing else. I pulled his shirt over his head and he didn’t fight me. To my surprise, he pulled mine off as well. We were grabbing at each other like we needed to be inside of one another, as if we needed the other one to breathe.

  My bra was still in his truck, so when he bent down and started kissing the swell of my breasts, I was surprised by the instant contact. Abruptly we heard a hard pounding on the other side of his door. All of a sudden, Cole burst through, startling me. Jaxon pulled me to his chest and laid his t-shirt across my naked back.

  “Fuck, why are we always caught with your shirt off?” Jaxon grumbled.

  “Oh hell no, you guys get your asses up. There’s no way you’re going to interrupt Quinn and my first day together, so y’all can turn around and do the same thing,” Cole shouted.

  “Okay point made, leave,” Jaxon said in a hard voice.

  “I’ll wait; make sure you don’t get lost along the way,” Cole responded cheekily.

  “Turn the hell around so she can get her shirt on, jackass.”

  He rolled his eyes and turned around. “Trust me; I’ve seen all of Em.”

  I felt Jaxon tense at that and he dropped his hands from my back. It didn’t matter how nice he tried to be, how understanding he wanted to be, it was always going to bother him that I sleep around. Even though I had reassured him I had never been with Cole, he still seemed perturbed by the fact that he had seen my body before. Cole has walked in on me one too many times; it’s a hazard of my ways. His eyes wouldn’t meet mine and he didn’t move.

  “Hey, nothing has happened between him and I. You know that right?” I asked while grabbing at his face. He still didn’t budge and his mind was still in some faraway place, so I helped him out. I got off his lap and threw my t-shirt back on. When he still hadn’t moved, I walked out of the room. On my way out the door, I heard Jaxon talking to Cole, but I didn’t stick around to see what they were saying about me.

  When I went back to the apartment, it was packed with football players, cheerleaders, frat guys and everybody in between. I ran down to the closet and changed into one of Quinn’s one-shoulder mini dresses. This one was a deep red and since it was Quinn’s, it was a little tight in the chest… perfect. As I was pulling my hair up, I noticed Jaxon’s message still on my hand. I doubt I’m his favorite right now.

  An hour later, I was three margaritas into my night and there was no sign of Jaxon. I was in the kitchen playing bartender, as usual, with a hot guy I had never met before named, Gage. He was pretty hands-on and I didn’t mind, since he was helping me not to think about the fact that Jaxon couldn’t even look at me. There were a bunch of guys at the dining table playing a drinking game. Every once in a while, someone from the table would shout for more beer or liquor from me.

  After about the third shout, Gage hollered back, “Shut the hell up and get your own damn beer, you idiots!” He smirked at me.

  “Thanks, I always get suckered into being the bartender.” I smiled back. I noticed he took a final chug from his beer so I popped open a new one for him. Old habits die hard. I also decided to switch to beer, because the tequila was going straight to my head. “Do you go to our school, Gage? I’ve never seen you around.” I was pretty sure I would remember him, although he did look vaguely familiar.

  “No, I go to Columbia University. I’m just out here visiting the little brother.”

  “Wow, Columbia, what a way to empty the parents’ bank account.”

  He shrugged like it was no big deal. I understand that going to college in southern California wasn’t close to being cheap, but I tried to work as much as I could to offset those expenses.

  “So who’s your brother, I probably know him.”

  “Micah Woods, he’s a Sig Alpha.” Of course he was.

  A couple of guys at the table started laughing and Garrett opened his big fat mouth. “Oh yeah, she knows Micah, all right,” he teased.

  “Oh, Garrett, let’s not talk about the time we ‘got to know’ one another. I know forty-five seconds was probably an all-time high for you, but trust me; most girls would prefer at least a minute,” I scolded.

  Everyone at the table including Gage started hooting with laughter. They all had their heads thrown back and were slamming their bottles on the table. There was a chorus of cuss words and slaps on Garrett’s back.

  “Yeah, yeah, Em, that was freshman year. Try me out again,” Garret laughed, taking the ribbing well.

  I turned around pulling more bottles and cans out of their boxes to put them in the fridge for later. When I stood back up, Gage was right up against me.

  “Let’s go dance,” he whispered into my ear. I thought he was hot, but I really didn’t want to do anything with him. Honestly, I wanted to know why Jaxon never came. I was almost tempted to go down the hall and ask him myself. Almost. I hated that I was missing him. That thinking is exactly why I grabbed Gage’s hand and pulled him out to the makeshift dance floor in our living room. I can’t allow thoughts like that. This is who I am, right here on this dance floor with Gage.

  When we got to the middle of all the other dancing bodies, I turned toward Gage and lifted my hands above my head. I started dancing in his wandering hands to the fast beat of the song. When I turned to my left, I noticed Quinn and Cole were right next to us. I leaned over and bumped her with my hip. When she turned to look at me, she had a happy glazed-over look in her eyes. Cole didn’t even look in my direction; his face was stuck in the side of Quinn’s neck. They were already disgustingly cute.

  When Quinn finally noticed who I was dancing with, she gave me a confus
ed look, “Where’s Jax?”

  I shrugged my shoulders at her. “Not here,” I said and turned back toward Gage.

  He leaned down and asked, “Who’s Jax?”

  The last person I wanted to talk about Jaxon was with this guy. I turned around in his arms and grinded against him. I heard him groan when he grabbed my hips to pull me in closer. I knew the question was lost with each move of my hips. This is what I was good at. This is what I did. Not wondering about some guy with a sexy southern accent. He turned me around and dipped down to trail his lips up the line of my jaw to just behind my ear.

  He straightened up and said, “Wanna get out of here? My car’s outside.” I stared into his eyes for a long moment trying to figure out what I wanted to do.

  “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”

  Startled, I turned to see Jaxon standing right next to us glaring down. He was a good three inches taller than Gage and had about forty more pounds of muscle. The contrast between them was staggering; I hadn’t realized how big Jaxon was. I always see him next to his identical twin brother and Cole, who is equally as built. I was so shocked at my comparison that I forgot to respond to Jaxon’s statement.

  Gage raised his hands from around my waist, “Sorry, man, didn’t realize she was taken.”

  I should’ve been angry at the fact that he so easily thought I could cheat on my boyfriend, if that’s what Jaxon actually had been. But he wasn’t. I waited for Jaxon to correct him. Say something, because not saying anything at all was pissing me off. I wasn’t anyone’s.

  “SHE is not taken, thank you very much!” I yelled over the music at both of them. When I started pushing my way through the writhing bodies, Jaxon caught my arm. I spun around to glare at him. Gage had already pulled one of the sorority bimbos into his arms. Typical.

  “I’m sorry, Emerson.” He pulled me up against his chest. “I shouldn’t have left that open like that.” I enjoyed the feel of his chest against my face; his warm scent assaulted me every time. When he bent down and pulled me into a fervent kiss, I noticed the room got a little bit quieter. I pushed away from him when I realized the quiet was because they were all gawking at us.