Beneath Our Faults

by Charity Ferrell

  "Whatever Gabby," Cora protested. "You're not that stupid."

  "Hi baby," a guy with shaggy dark hair tucked under both of his ears and wearing a football jersey, stooped at our table. He pulled out a chair next to Cora. He grabbed her by the sides of her face planting a firm kiss on her lips. "What's going on?"

  "Just listening to Gabby tell us about how she wants to gift wrap her v-card and hand it over to your slut bag cousin," she replied, putting her finger in her mouth and making a vomiting noise. I studied the guy and I could see a tiny resemblance of Keegan. They both had the same dark hair but this guy's grey eyes were no match to Keegan's emeralds that had been taunting me all morning.

  He shrugged his shoulders. "That's nothing new.” He grabbed a handful of fries and shoved them into his mouth. "Who is this," he asked, moving his thumb in the air and signaling towards me.

  "Daisy, she's the new girl," Cora answered, before I had the chance to introduce myself. "This is my boyfriend, Lane." She tilted her head towards him.

  He gave me a penetrating look and a sly smile spread over his face. "You're the chick my cousin was telling me about, the neighbor girl. I must say I am somewhat disappointed," he said, and I frowned. My muscles tensed up certain Keegan had told him about me watching him.

  "I thought girls named Daisy were supposed to wear little blonde pigtails and wear those tiny shorts. What are they called again?" A rush of relief rushed off me as he looked around the table, waiting for someone to answer him.

  Jesus, these people and my damn name.

  "Daisy dukes," Gabby answered for him and he snapped his fingers.

  "That's it. Daisy dukes. I see you don't have the blonde pigtails but are you wearing those cute little shorts?" He asked, grinning and instantly reminding me of his jackass cousin. Yep, they were definitely related.

  He winced when Cora slapped him upside the head before I had the chance to tell him no. I did own short shorts, though. I had loved wearing them to all the country concerts I used to go to and when Tessa and I would sneak into the football team's camping parties.

  "Try not to scare her off with your damn creepiness, Lane," Cora instructed, giving me an apologetic look. "Please excuse my boyfriend, he never really learned the concept of manners."

  "It seems your sexy as shit cousin has his eyes set on Little Miss Daisy here," Gabby said, singing out my name like it was some cheap hillbilly movie. I was definitely making a trip to the Social Security office and applying for a temporary name change pronto.

  "I wouldn't let Pathetic Piper hear you saying that," he said, taking an overlarge bite of his pizza.

  "You wouldn't let Piper hear you say what?" A deep voice asked behind me and I already knew whom it belonged to before I twisted my body around to face him. He was standing directly behind me with his arms across his chest, raising an eyebrow. He glanced around the table and a broad smile spread across his face. "Ladies, it's always nice to see your beautiful faces."

  Gabby's face turned into a lovesick puppy while Cora rolled her eyes grimacing. "Shut it, Keegan," she spat, narrowing her eyes at him. "You know the only reason I even put up with your ass is because of Lane." She pointed her finger his way. "Don't you dare think I have forgotten about my cousin."

  Keegan groaned, running his hands through his hair. "Damn Cora, are you ever going to get over that? It was forever ago."

  "It has not been forever, it's only been a year and she was heartbroken! She believed you actually liked her," she fired back.

  He tilted his head back. "Then maybe you or someone else needs to help her out and tell her she needs to ask guys if they like her or not before she fucks them. I didn't make her any promises before or after she decided to spread those pretty little legs for me," he threw back, smiling in earnest. A sour taste filled my mouth.

  "You are seriously a pig," Cora scoffed, grabbing a fry from Lane's tray and throwing it over my head at him.

  "Dude," Keegan said to Lane, dodging the fry and letting it fall onto the floor. "Control your crazy girlfriend."

  "Fuck that, asshat, I'm not defending your ass," Lane laughed.

  "You're so pussy-whipped.”

  "Damn straight and I will be pussy-whipped every damn day for the rest of my life if it means I'm getting the prefix." He gave the entire table a naughty grin and Cora smacked his arm. Grabbing her shoulders, he kissed her cheeks in between his laughs. My stomach hardened and jealousy slapped me in the face watching the back and forth banters between Cora and Lane. I missed having that connection with someone and I wanted it back.

  "You're incorrigible," Cora laughed, attempting to swat him away but he just kissed her again.

  "That was a good one, though." Gabby said, reaching out her hand to give Lane a high five. Even if my sense of humor was non-existent now, he had managed to get me to crack a small smile.

  Keegan shook his head at his cousin again and switched his attention to me. Great, he already sicced the school mean girl on me, what did he want now? "I came over to tell you I can give you a ride home after school."

  I swallowed, dreading having to endure another wretched car ride with Piper and her nauseating whine but I felt bad saying no. He was being nice offering me a ride home. Plus, I didn't even know if I had a way home. Neither my aunt nor uncle had said anything about it. "Okay." I told him, keeping my attention on the salad in front of me and separating the cheese from the lettuce with my fork.

  He winked at me then patted me on the back. Saluting the rest of the table, he strolled back to his table and a pissed off looking Piper glaring daggers my way. I sunk back in my chair looking away from her.

  "God, you are such a lucky bitch." Gabby said, her eyes still on Keegan. "I'm just declaring right now that all girl's nights will now be held at your casa from now on. I would be peeking through his windows every night like some stalker if I lived next to him." I gave her a lame attempt at a smile and gulped.

  If she only knew.

  I WAS usually the last person to walk into class, making it there at the exact time the bell rang, but Piper had invited me to have dinner with her parents. Anytime a chick mentioned meeting the parents, that was my cue to get the hell out of dodge, which made my arrival to Health class earlier than usual.

  For as long as I could remember, I had always been free to do whatever the hell I wanted. My mom despised staying at home and being an actual mother. Even on the rare occasions she was home, she didn't give two shits about what I did anyways. She turned a blind eye to the revolving door of girls and the nights I didn't come home.

  I brought home different girls all the time because I knew I could. I screwed them because I knew that's what they wanted. Every single one of those girls wanted to have the opportunity to brag to their little sidekick girlfriends they secretly hated that I gave them the time of day. Then they would all make a lame attempt of being that "one girl that tamed me," which was fucking stupid on their part. But hey, I wasn’t banging them for their brains, anyways.

  I had never been tamed, owned or in a relationship and never will. I warned each and every girl I'd ever been with before I would even unbutton my jeans that I didn't do relationships. There would be no sending flowers or cuddling afterwards talking about our future children.

  There were a few exceptions to my "one time only" rule, and one was Piper. When her skinny ass hopped on my lap last night buck ass naked, it was nothing new. Piper was my hanger-on, always available whenever I called and she knew when to leave me alone. She could handle not getting goodnight phone calls or Friday date nights. I called, she came, in more ways than one. That was our arrangement and it was a pretty fucking good one.

  The class was almost full when I walked in and headed towards my usual seat at the back of the room but it was taken. My sexy, little spyin' neighbor was settled in it with her attention engrossed in some notebook. Lucky for me, there was a seat open next to her and I plopped my ass down in the seat. My chair screeched when I moved it closer, moving her eyes away
from the notebook to glare at me.

  "Seriously," she groaned, slamming her notebook closed. I frowned, not the usual greeting I received from the opposite sex.

  "Nice to see you too. I thought I would show some neighborly love and see how your day was going, my young voyeur." A wicked grin crept over my lips and her dark eyes turned cold.

  "First of all," she leaned into me, whispering harshly. "I am not a freaking voyeur like I have already told you. You saw me watching, I get it. Joked adjourned. Secondly, it would be much easier for the both of us if you would please move to another seat, preferably at least fifteen feet away."

  "Yeah, I can't do that.”

  "And why is that?"

  "You are actually sitting in my seat."

  "There are assigned seats?" She asked, looking at me skeptically.

  "Pretty much.”

  "No there isn't. He's lying to you," a grating voice said from the opposite side of her. I glanced over her head, spotting my least favorite of all assholes, Dirk Bates. If you grabbed a dictionary and went to the word douchebag, you would see a picture of Dirk smiling in his over-bleached teeth and polo with the collar popped. "I don't think we've met. I'm Dirk," he introduced himself, holding out his hand to Daisy.

  She nodded towards the douche lord, shaking his hand then turning her glare back at me. "You can't sit there. Your little demon girlfriend is probably already plotting my murder as we speak and everyone is staring."

  My eyes widened in amusement. "I don't have a girlfriend so that can't be true, and I could care less if all of these idiots are staring. It's your fault, not mine. If I left, they would still be staring at you because you're the new fresh meat around here."

  "I am not fresh meat," she hissed back in horror.

  "Baby, you are definitely fresh meat.” My eyes peered straight into hers then moved their gaze to her chest. "And I can guarantee you that every single guy in this room agrees with me, too."

  She opened her mouth, most likely to tell me to go to hell, but the bell rang, stopping her. I chuckled and Miss Douglas, or Vicki as I called her, sauntered into the classroom clad in a tight, black dress entirely too risqué for a teacher, but I wasn't complaining. I would say I knew her better than most students, including everything she had going on under that sexy ass dress. In her defense, it was before she actually became my teacher.

  "Good afternoon class," her sultry voice called out and her red lips formed a smile.

  "Miss Douglas," I interrupted, raising my hand before she got on with her lecture or whatever. "I'm not sure if you're aware or not, but we have a new student with us today." I grinned, pointing at Daisy and every pair of eyes turned to look at her while she looked down at her desk, clearly uncomfortable.

  "Thank you Keegan, but I already know this," Vicki said, moving her attention from me to the embarrassed girl next to me. "We have already completed the first two sections that will be on next week's test, but I am sure someone will partner up with you and let you borrow their notes.”

  "You can use mine," Dirk offered up immediately, opening his book.

  Hell no, not happening, ass clown.

  Dirk was the ultra shadier version of me. Sure, I slept around but I wouldn't say I was necessarily a bad person, per se. I never made promises or love devotions to girls just to have sex with them. Dirk played the game differently because he did. The gel-haired prick led girls on telling them he loved them just to wedge his scrawny fingers and cock into their panties then ditch them when he got what he wanted.

  "She'll pass. I'll give her mine," I corrected.

  "You don't have to work with him if you don't want to," Dirk told Daisy. "And Keegan, just because you share your notes with her doesn't mean she's going to open her legs for you." My chest let out a hard laugh. I couldn’t believe the asshole was actually trying to turn the tables around and accuse me of his games.

  "Don't test me, Bates. She's my neighbor, so shut the fuck up."

  Dirk might be a little asshole but he also knew not to fuck with me. His had his fair share of my fist in his face when he decided to talk shit about Gabby in the locker room because she didn't put out when he took her a homecoming dance. Yep, the asshole liked to brag and complain about his conquests, and I sure as hell wasn't about to let that happen to Daisy.

  "I don't want your notes," Daisy insisted, irritated. "Take your attention and go somewhere else with it, please." Her voice broke at the end, causing my face to drop, but I wasn't going to budge. Let her be pissed at me, oh well.

  "I like my attention exactly where it is at the moment. You're not using Dirk's notes and you are definitely not working with him."

  Her eyes narrowed into slits. "I'm sorry but you did not become the boss of me because you took me to school. I can use whoever's notes I want to use."

  "Tommy told me to keep an eye on you, so that's what I'm doing," I lied. Tommy never said that but the thought of her becoming the victim of one of Dirk's shady cons made my stomach churn. "Alright, let's get this note party started," I told her, opening up my notebook. Shaking her head, she grabbed my notebook of my desk and hastily started copying my notes without saying another word to me.

  "YOU'RE TAKING me home?" Piper shrieked when I turned down her street. Her head whipped around quickly and her blonde hair flung into her face.

  "I think that's what it looks like," I answered, keeping my focus on the road in front of me. I should have told Piper to find another ride home. Her dad had bought her a shiny new Mercedes convertible but she still insisted on catching a ride with me daily. She was under the assumption that I was clueless why but I wasn't a damn idiot. She was trying to tell the other girls that I belong to her. Yeah right, the chick was highly confused if she thought I belonged to anyone, let alone her.

  Even if she was trying to piss a circle around me to show her ownership, it still didn't send the girls away from me. They didn't care and plenty of them were still willing. Shit, I had just hooked up with her best friend last weekend. She sure as hell wasn't worried about Piper's apparent "claim" on me, so it had never bothered me before. But for some reason, with Daisy seeing us, it did.

  "But we usually go over to your house after school," Piper whined, attempting to seductively whisper but making sure she was loud enough for Daisy to hear her. Her hand settled on my thigh then moved up to start rubbing my cock. I stopped her hand, moving it away and back her own lap. Piper tilted her head to the side, raising a brow. It wasn't unusual for Piper to give me road head or for us to jump in the backseat before I dropped her off.

  I told myself I was just pissed at her because she was lying. Sure, she did come over after school sometimes but it wasn't a daily thing like she was trying to insinuate. I only had Piper over when I felt like getting laid and surprisingly, I didn't want any of her at the moment.

  "I've got some shit going on tonight," I replied, stopping in front of her house. My eyes traveled to my rearview mirror at the sound of a loud beep coming from the back seat. Daisy glanced down at her phone and I noticed her face fall. The girl barely said a few words after our argument in class and had stayed silent since she got in the car. My vision stayed on the mirror, watching her shove her phone roughly into her bag before wiping a watery eye. A tight ball formed in my throat when I noticed her hand brush away a fallen tear.

  My attention to her was broken when Piper leaned over, grabbed my face and pulled it towards her. Pressing her lips against mine, she opened her mouth and slid her tongue along the outline of my lips. I cringed, not opening my mouth to allow her access. Fuck, I'm sure Daisy was uncomfortable. She groaned, rubbing my dick one last time before pulling away. "Call me later, baby," she gloated, shutting the door behind her and blowing me a kiss.

  Yep, trying to stake her fucking claim. She was trying to lead Daisy into believing her and I were something we most definitely weren't. I would be putting a stop to that next time I talked to Piper.

  "You okay back there?" I asked, twisting around in my seat to
look at Daisy. "You can come hop up here, if you want?" I patted the passenger seat with my palm.

  "I'm fine," she answered softly, failing to meet my eyes. I could only assume that was the answer for both of the questions I had asked her since she didn't elaborate anymore. I frowned, turning around and put my car in drive. Silence devoured the car ride home until I pulled into her driveway.

  "Thanks for the ride," she rushed out, and her dark hair was the only thing I saw as she disappeared from my car. Putting my car in reverse, I pulled into my own driveway and banged my head against the steering wheel. The horn blared against my skull as I let out a tortured groan.

  What in the fuck was wrong with me? It was like this chick was getting under my skin and I didn't like it. I had to fight the urge to clock every asshole talking about her ass in the locker room. Usually, I would just ignore the idiots because I had already had whomever they were bragging about, but it was different with her. And not just because she was unattainable to me.

  When I looked at her, I saw more than just a pretty face and nice body. There was pain in her eyes with a touch of anger and hatred. I knew that look because I saw it when I looked at my own reflection. I knew the reason I felt that way, but I didn’t get how someone that innocent could, and for some reason, I wanted to know. I needed to know what the fuck was bottled up inside torturing her.

  I ran my hands over my face. Shit, Daisy wasn't even my usual type of what everyone would expect from Layla Hudson's son. Fuck yeah, I had a type: fake, slutty and busty. I would bet my ass the girl that got embarrassed talking about sex wasn't the first two, but she did have the busty thing going on. Even in the loose shirt she was wearing, I could tell she had a bangin' body underneath it. And that ass, damn. Her ass was perfection, absolute perfection.

  "Stay away from her," I whispered, hitting the garage door opener. Tommy would kick my ass and find some bullshit way to get my ass put in the slammer if I messed with her.