Hit the Wall
Rochelle Paige
Copyright © 2014 Rochelle Paige
All rights reserved.
Edited by Mickey Reed at Imabookshark.com
Cover designed by Kari Ayasha at Covertocoverdesigns.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used factiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons or living or dead, events or locals are entirely coincidental.
The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/ Use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owner.
All rights reserved.
ISBN:
ISBN-13:
DEDICATION
Mom –
Thank you for pushing me to reach for my own dream. I couldn’t have done it without you.
CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Hold Your Horses & Other Books You Might Enjoy
PROLOGUE
Jackson
I couldn’t believe that I had to deal with this bullshit. It was bad enough that I’d had to watch Lex fall for Drake, but now I had to go talk to Sasha about the crap she’d pulled to fuck with their relationship. I could have just kept my mouth shut and not said anything to Drake about Lex’s job. I could have just enjoyed the fuck out of punching him and then waited to see if they’d stay broken up. But no, I hadn’t been able to stand knowing that she’d been hurting when I could do something to fix it.
I’d grown up with Lex in my life, always thinking of her as my other little sister. She and Aubrey were attached at the hip, and she spent almost as much time at our house as she did her dad’s. Then she hit her teens and filled out. I couldn’t help but notice her new tits, and she started to show up in my spank bank. It freaked me out the first time I thought of her while jacking off in the shower, but I figured it was normal and shrugged it off. She was dating Brad, and there were plenty of girls in high school for me to mess around with.
The night I caught Brad cheating on her changed everything. I held her in my arms as she fell apart, and I realized I wanted her for my own. It was the absolute worst fucking timing to figure out that I didn’t love her like a sister. I just loved her.
She needed time to get over Brad and what he had done. She wasn’t ready for a boyfriend, and I couldn’t just play with her. My mom would kill me if I didn’t treat Lex right. I knew that when we got together that would be it. So I enjoyed the girls in college while I waited. Tried new things and discovered I liked my sex hard and rough. I waited some more so I could get it out of my system before going to her. I put it off so long that Drake swooped in and stole her right out from underneath my nose.
I knew the second I saw them together that I had waited too long. He wanted her, and I couldn’t blame him. She was hot. Lots of guys wanted her. But it was the way she looked at him that got to me. Her eyes lit up any time he was near, and she’d get this look on her face. Like he was the only thing she could see. I tried to tell myself that it was only a fling and that it was a good sign. She was ready for a relationship again. I just had to wait until Drake messed up before I could finally have Lex. But when it came down to it, I just couldn’t do it. She loved him, and he made her happy. More than anything, I wanted her to be happy.
When Drake calmed down and listened to me, the look of horror on his face told me that he loved her, too. My worst fear was confirmed when he refused to budge from her dorm, unwilling to go anywhere until he could find Lex. By the time Aubrey finally answered her phone, I felt sorry for the guy. He was a total wreck from knowing how much he had hurt Lex. If she forgave him, he wasn’t ever going to let her go. So I had to do it.
Now here I was, on my way to find Sasha to make sure she didn’t interfere in their relationship again. Talk about an awkward conversation. I had to talk to a chick I’d banged the fuck out of last year. About not messing with the girl I was in love with and her boyfriend. The situation was so fucked up that I couldn’t have made this shit up if I tried.
CHAPTER 1
Kaylie
The shouting from next door woke me up, and I was not happy to have my much-needed rest interrupted. I’d worked late at the bar last night, covering a shift for one of the other bartenders. After a full day of classes and a tough practice for my upcoming show, the last thing I needed was to only get a few hours of sleep because Sasha had something going down yet again. That girl had more drama in her life than a daytime soap opera.
I waited a couple minutes to see if the subject of her latest tirade would storm out and let me catch a little more rest. No such luck. It seemed like their argument was escalating from what I could hear, so I hopped out of bed and stomped next door to bang on the door.
“What the fuck?!” I heard as the door was thrown open. My jaw dropped at the sight of Jackson Silver in Sasha’s room. I hadn’t thought he’d had it in him to care enough about any woman to get into a shouting match with her with the way he blew through all the girls on campus, except maybe his sister and her best friend. Not that I didn’t totally get why so many girls went crazy over him, with his tousled blond hair, wicked blue eyes, and insanely hot body. But he was the epitome of love ‘em and leave ‘em, never spending more than a few nights with the same one.
“Ummmm…” I stuttered in response.
“You don’t want to get in the middle of this, little girl,” he growled at me.
I glanced at Sasha, who was standing behind him with tears streaking down her cheeks. She was usually so perfectly put together, but she looked a total wreck right now with her hair mussed up and mascara smudged everywhere. She wasn’t my favorite person in the world, but it seemed like she could use a little bit of help right about now.
“No, I really don’t want to get in the middle of whatever is going on here,” I said as I waved my hand between the two of them, “but I’m exhausted and I really need some sleep. And Sasha looks like she’s had enough. So why don’t you head out and leave this for another time and place?”
“Hell no! This isn’t the kind of shit that can wait. Once she convinces me she will stay out of things that are none of her business, I’ll leave. Now run along like a good girl.” He turned his head to glare at Sasha. “I’m sure we won’t be much longer, will we, Sasha?”
“Jackson, please let me explain. You hurt me so much—” she cried, reaching out to grab his arm.
“Stop! You can’t use that as an excuse. I did nothing to hurt you that you didn’t ask me to do,” he snapped back at her. I gasped and his gaze swiveled back to me. He ran his hands through his messy hair and looked down at the floor. “Fuck! Look, I swear that I will be out of here soon. I don’t want to be here any more than you want to be awake right now.”
“Well, then you won’t mind if I wait while you wrap
this up and leave,” I replied, leaning against the doorway with my arms crossed.
Jackson’s eyes trailed down to my chest, where my breasts—sans bra—were lifted up by my arms. A smirk curled the edge of his lips and he glanced back up at my face. “Really? You’re going to take Sasha’s back? No questions asked? Is that supposed to scare me into behaving or something, little girl? Because I’m a lot bigger than you are.”
“Look, I don’t know what’s going on here, but I can’t just leave when she’s a mess and you’re all intimidating and stuff. So just say what you’ve gotta say and let’s get this over with, okay?”
His smirk turned into a full-fledged grin. “You wanna stay for this? Feel free,” he said before turning back to Sasha. “I don’t know what the fuck you were thinking, but the stunt you pulled with Drake’s parents almost ruined his relationship with Lex.”
“But—” Sasha interrupted.
Jackson waved her off. “I’m not done yet. You need to understand that, even if your plan had worked, you still wouldn’t have ended up with him in your bed. He loves her. He wouldn’t have just forgotten about her and moved on to you, especially when he realized you were the reason he lost Lex.”
“That wasn’t what I wanted,” she protested.
‘Then why the fuck did you try to break them up if you didn’t want Drake for yourself? Was it just for shits and giggles?” Jackson asked. It was the question I had been thinking myself.
Sasha tried to defend her actions. “I don’t know! I didn’t even have a plan. I heard the rumor about her job, and I shared it with my mom. That’s all I did.”
Jackson threw his hands up in frustration. “That’s all? You had to have known that your mom would call Drake’s mom. They’re best friends. What the hell were you hoping would happen?”
“I told you! I didn’t think that far ahead! I was just pissed and I did something stupid, okay? I don’t get what you both see in her. That’s all,” Sasha explained, reaching out to try to grab Jackson’s arm.
Sasha’s answer blew me away. And it looked like Jackson felt the same. “Both? What the fuck? That’s what this was all about? You just wanted to hurt Lex because you think she’s the reason I didn’t want a relationship with you last year?”
And there it was. The elephant in the room. Clearly they’d had a fling of some kind and Sasha had wanted more when she should have known better since Jackson never did relationships. And it sounded like the rumor mill had had it right with the talk of Alexa being the reason behind his endless string of one-night stands.
Sasha looked up at him pleadingly. “It isn’t fair that Alexa has your heart wrapped around her little finger and then a guy like Drake falls for her too. I’ve known him all my life. He’s a good guy. She doesn’t deserve to have both of you falling at her feet. Maybe I wanted to knock her off the pedestal you’ve put her on a little bit. So what? Are you really going to say that you wouldn’t have jumped at the chance to make Alexa yours if things had fallen apart for them?”
“You really are a spoiled brat, Sasha. That’s exactly why neither of us fell at your feet. Maybe instead of trying to ruin Lex’s happiness, you should take a page from her book and actually give a damn about other people and not just yourself.”
“I did give a damn about you, but you just used me and tossed me aside!”
“You can lie to yourself as much as you’d like about what happened between us, but you asked to be used. You practically begged me for it,” he taunted her. “We didn’t have a relationship, and I certainly didn’t make you any promises back then. But I will make you one now that you better pay attention to. Don’t fuck around with the people I care about or I will make sure you regret it. Do you understand?”
“But, Jackson, just listen to me,” Sasha protested.
“There’s nothing you have to say that I need to hear except that you understand and won’t try to mess things up for Lex anymore,” he growled back.
Sasha dropped down onto her bed and looked up at Jackson with a defeated expression on her face. “Why won’t you let me explain? After what happened between us, you should at least let me have my say!”
If I hadn’t felt awkward before, the direction their argument had taken certainly made me feel that way now. I wished I hadn’t insisted on staying. Being tired was bad enough, but witnessing this was guaranteed to start my day on the wrong foot.
“Jesus, are you rewriting history in your head? I don’t know what fantasies you’ve built up in your head, but the only thing that happened between us was sex. And if I had to stand around and listen to every chick I’ve ever banged, then I would never have time to get anything done.”
“You can really stand here and tell me that our time together wasn’t good?” Sasha asked, like a dog with a bone, unwilling to let go.
“Honestly? Yeah, I had fun with you that weekend. But that’s all it was for me—a little bit of fun. I thought I was pretty clear with you that’s all it was and all it would ever be. If you thought you were more than a quick lay to me, that’s your own damn fault. So don’t take it out on Lex.”
“Arghhhhh!!” Sasha jumped up and stomped her foot in frustration. “I am so sick and tired of hearing about Alexa!”
“Then let me make this easy for you. You stay away from Lex and Drake and you won’t have to hear about her anymore. And if you don’t, then I will just have to ruin the rest of the time you have left on campus. Don’t doubt for a second that I won’t do it, Sasha. Do you understand what I am saying to you?”
“Yes, fine. I’ll leave your precious Alexa alone,” she sneered.
“Then I’m done here,” he said as he turned towards me. “Sorry about disrupting your sleep. It won’t happen again since I should never have another reason to be here. But a bit of advice, you should choose your friends more wisely. Because Sasha sure as shit doesn’t deserve someone taking her back like you just did.”
“I never said we were friends, but even if we were, it wouldn’t be any of your business,” I said as I stepped out of the doorway so he could walk past. I shifted my gaze behind him to see Sasha watching both of us with a sour look on her face. “Now how about you head out so I can finally get back to sleep?”
“You’re pretty sassy for such a little thing,” he teased as he walked by.
“Jesus, Jackson. Seriously? You just totally wrecked me and now you’re going to flirt with Kaylie right in front of me?” Sasha shrieked.
Jackson shook his head before he turned back to look at Sasha. “You have nobody to blame for this mess but yourself. And that wasn’t flirting. You want to see me flirt?” he asked as he leveled his gaze at me and trailed his eyes down my body and back up again. He lifted his arms up to grip the doorframe, boxing me in as he leaned closer. “I’d be happy to show her what flirting looks like if you’re game,” he whispered against my ear, sending shivers up my spine.
“I think I’ll pass. I’ve had enough excitement for the day already,” I breathed out on a sigh.
“That’s probably for the best. I guess I’ll see you around. Kaylie, was it?”
I nodded my head in response. “Yes, Kaylie Rhodes.”
He flashed me a smug grin before turning to walk away. I heard Sasha move behind me and didn’t think anything of it until she shoved me through the doorway. “Thanks for nothing,” she snapped at me. “A word of advice. Stay away from Jackson if you know what’s good for you. He might use his body to give you the best night of sex you will ever have, but he won’t offer anything beyond that.”
“I’m not you, Sasha. I won’t make the same mistakes you have.”
“That’s what you say now, but I saw the way you were looking at him. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she said before slamming the door in my face.
I wandered next door to my room, mulling over my encounter with Jackson. He definitely was hot as shit, but there was no way I should go there. It was pretty clear from what I’d overheard that he was into things that I had no in
terest in trying. Add in that he was only interested in short flings because he was in love with his sister’s best friend and starting anything up with him would be way too complicated. But that shiver being near him had sent up my spine? That could mean trouble for me. I wasn’t sure I would be able to resist him if he decided to make a play for me even though I knew I should.
I was just lying back down when Charlotte stormed into the room, two coffees and a bakery bag in her hand. She and I had been paired up as roommates our freshman year in what was probably the strangest match-up ever. She was from a huge family, and on the surface she seemed like the perfect Southern belle. Until you got to know Charlotte and realized that under the shiny surface was a wicked sense of humor that could rip you to shreds if you crossed her or someone she cared about. And I was lucky enough to be one of those people even though I wasn’t used to developing truly close relationships.
After losing my parents and spending a couple years with my ice queen of an aunt, I’d learned to keep my distance from people. I’d put up walls to protect myself, but Charlotte had refused to stay at arm’s length. She was always doing nice things and had been super patient with me. Before I’d known it, I’d found myself talking to her about the highs and lows of my day.
At five foot four, I wasn’t exactly tall, but she was a tiny dynamo compared to me. Calling her a steel magnolia seemed so cliché, but she really did have a backbone that just wouldn’t quit. And once she decided she liked you, there was no swaying her from her decision. There had been no way I was going to be able to change her mind, and soon, I hadn’t wanted to anyway. She was an amazing person to have in your corner. Like today when she came bearing caffeine and treats to share while I was exhausted.
“Tada! Rise and shine, sugar,” she chirped. “I bring you liquid gold to bribe you to join the land of the living.”
“Gimme, gimme,” I begged as I giggled.
Hit the Wall (Blythe College) Page 1