by Hamel, B. B.
“Right. I know.”
“You know how girls are.”
“Sure. Right.” I grin at her. “You’re not going to push me down the steps, are you?”
Iris gives me a flat stare. “Don’t tempt me.”
I laugh and we head outside together. It’s a nice day and I’m already starting to feel better. We part ways and Iris heads out to her next class while I wander back toward the dorm. I don’t know what I plan on doing when I get in there, but it’s better than going back to that empty apartment. Maybe I’ll check in on Az and Jenna.
As I head down one of the shadier back paths, I keep thinking about Walker. It’s strange, although I feel so lonely in that apartment, it’s like he doesn’t have anything to do with it. He put me in there, moved me there, but I’m not angry at him for it, weirdly enough. I should be pissed, but instead I find it weirdly…
Sweet? I don’t know. Sweet isn’t the word.
But I like it. And I definitely like the way he touched me.
I can feel myself blushing already as I recall his hands on my body, his lips on my nipples, his tongue in my mouth. I’ve never felt like that before, never in my entire life. I’ve never even had a guy get me off before, let alone from him going down on me.
It was a weird experience. I mean, it was a good one, but it was…
Okay, it was amazing.
I’m so lost in my own thoughts that I don’t notice the girls start walking toward me. I figure they’re just another group of girls, since there are a lot of those at Gradus, and it isn’t until one of them shoves her shoulder against mine that I realize they’re staring at me like I’m some kind of monster.
“Hey!” I say, stumbling back, a sharp pain where her shoulder bashed me spreading across my arm.
“Watch yourself, bitch.” The girl has long red hair and dark red lipstick. She’s glaring at me and her friends are grinning like they love this kind of thing.
“Do I know you?” I ask.
“You do now.” The girl shoves me as hard as she can and I stumble back, just barely staying on my feet.
“What the fuck?”
“You took what’s mine, bitch, and I won’t forget it.”
I stare at her, not understanding, until it hits me all at once.
“Aylin?” I blurt out.
She glares at me and steps forward. I take a step back.
“So you do know who I am. That’s good, since you stole my man.”
“Your man?” I ask, totally incredulous. “I didn’t steal him. I didn’t even want him.”
She snorts and clenches her fists. “Listen, bitch, I don’t care what you say. Walker is supposed to marry me and some trashy slut isn’t going to get in the way of that.”
Now my anger starts to spike. I don’t know why, but up until now I’ve just been mostly surprised that someone’s trying to come at me like this.
“Get the fuck away from me,” I say, practically yelling it. I push past one of Aylin’s friends, a little blonde girl that’s more like a twig than a human being.
“Go ahead and run,” Aylin says. “But I’m watching you, bitch.”
“You’re insane,” I say and storm off, not looking back. I’m so pissed I’m afraid what I’ll do if I let them suck me back in.
I’m shaking when I finally get back to the dorms. I can’t believe those girls would do that, act like such bitches to me, and yet…
This is exactly what Iris warned me about. This is what I knew would happen. I didn’t expect it so quickly, but sure enough, here it is. I knew Aylin would eventually find me and try something like this, but I guess I thought…
What, that a spoiled rich girl like Aylin wouldn’t be so… aggressive?
Not a terrible assumption, but clearly I was wrong.
I’m pretty shaken up by the time I reach the dorm. I’m so angry at Aylin, at Walker, and at myself. I wish I could go back there and punch Aylin in her stupid, smug face, although I know that would’ve just ended with her dumb friends ripping my hair out or something.
I sit down on the bench, shaking with anger, when a familiar voice breaks through.
“Hey, Kylee. You okay?”
I look up and Jenna’s smiling at me a little uncertainly. Her smile slowly fades as she sees the expression on my face.
“I didn’t ask for any of this,” I say to the girl.
She sighs and nods sadly before sitting down next to me.
“I know you didn’t, sweetie.”
“You know I’m sponsored now, huh? That Walker dropped his other girl and took me without my permission?”
“Everyone knows,” she says. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I know it sucks. Believe me, I know better than most.”
I glare at her for a second, my anger passing on to her for no reason, but quickly it fades away. She’s right, she knows what I’m going through better than anyone else. Girls are still bitchy to her now and then, even though everyone knows she’s genuinely in love with her sponsor and he’s in love with her.
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Honestly?” Jenna shakes her head. “I don’t know. Probably nothing. I don’t think there’s anything you can do short of convincing Walker to drop you.”
I groan. “I don’t think that’s happening anytime soon.”
She smiles a little bit. “Do you really want him to drop you, anyway?”
I hesitate. I thought I knew the answer to that question, but…
For some reason, I don’t.
I thought it would be simple. Of course I want him to drop me. I want out of that apartment, out of this drama. I didn’t want to get thrown into this to begin with.
But the thought of him dropping me…
The memory of his hands on my body, his lips against mine, sends a shiver down my spine.
“I don’t know,” I say finally.
Jenna laughs a little. “Yeah, I know that feeling, too.”
“Aylin’s going to kill me.”
“That’s his old girl?”
I nod. “Not very kind, either.”
“They never are.” She smiles sadly again and puts an arm around me. “Look, I’m on your side, okay? We’ll watch out for each other. I promise.”
For some reason that makes me feel a little bit better. “Are you sure? You don’t have to get involved.”
“Oh, please. I’m already involved in all this shit.”
I laugh a little. “How come you don’t live in those apartments, by the way?”
She makes a face. “I did my freshman year, but…” She trails off for a second. “I got lonely. That was before me and Brady really hit it off. I’m happy here now, I guess. Plus, Azrael is a good roommate.”
I grin at her. “Right, if you love World of Warcraft.”
“Which I do,” she says flatly. “I truly, truly do.”
I laugh again and we both get up together. “I should get back,” I say.
“Want me to walk with you?”
I shake my head. “I doubt I’ll run into them again. And if I do, I think I’ll just punch her in the stupid nose.”
“Not a bad idea,” Jenna muses. “That’s how I stopped my bully.”
I blink, surprised. “Really?”
“Sure. I’ll tell you that story one day.” She waves and turns back to the dorms. “I’ll come visit your new place. Just tell me when.”
“I’m not staying there,” I call back. “Really.”
She gives me a look and laughs. “See you later,” she says and heads inside.
I sigh and realize I’m smiling. I didn’t know how badly I needed someone to cheer me up, but she just…
Well, she made it happen.
I never asked for this, but Jenna didn’t either. And she figured it out. She somehow got past her bullies and fell in love with her sponsor. I don’t expect to fall in love with Walker, not with a guy like that, but maybe we can have some fun in the meantime…
Or maybe I should just get away from him as f
ast as I can. I’m probably just being stupid. Maybe I just can’t help myself.
Either way, I hurry back to my apartment. I can get a couple hours of studying in before my next class.
6
Walker
I decide to give Kylee some space, but I don’t go back to Texas. Instead, I find a decent room in a nearby hotel and hang around in the sponsors’ lounge during the day.
This is the longest I’ve spent on Gradus’s campus since this whole thing started, I realize. It’s not a good or a bad thing, but it is interesting. I guess I didn’t expect to give a shit about anything or any of these girls, and yet here I am, enamored with one. My father wouldn’t approve, but I find myself not giving a shit about what he wants and what he doesn’t.
I sip my whiskey and cross my legs. The lounge looks like a Victorian-era hunting lodge with dead, stuffed animal heads on the walls and a huge fireplace. Everything is carpeted and wood-paneled, and there’s always a fire going although I have no clue who actually tends it.
The door opens as I’m sitting there and a man steps inside. I look up and recognize him almost immediately. He’s a relatively famous director, a man named Brady Long, and another one of the sponsors in our class.
He nods as he sits down in the chair next to mine. “You’re Walker Cox, right?” he asks.
I nod back. “You’re Brady Long.”
He smiles. “I think my girl is friends with your new girl.”
I frown a little bit. “Kylee?”
“Jenna lives in her dorm,” he explains. “I just came back from there, actually. Apparently your girl ran into your previous one, and…” He trails off and blinks, surprise on his face. “Shit. You didn’t know?”
I feel fury well up inside of me and I guess it’s showing on my face. “No clue,” I manage to say.
“Sorry, man. Look, these girls are insane, but it’ll pass. Jenna will help Kylee out.”
I clench my fists. “Aylin. That fucking…”
“Try to calm down,” Brady says. “You can’t do anything about it, remember?”
I let out a breath. “The fucking rules.”
“We can’t interfere in their lives, we can’t steal each other’s girls, and we can’t force girls to do what we want.”
I let out an angry laugh at that last one. “Trim is a little liberal with the forcing bit.”
Brady makes a face. “Trim pretends to be a good man, but he’s a snake.”
I stand up. “Tell Jenna I said thank you for being kind to Kylee,” I say. “Do you know where she is?”
“Kylee? She’s here, I think. In her room.”
I nod once. “Thank you.”
I hurry away from him before he can say anything else. I head upstairs and toward Kylee’s apartment, my mind reeling.
Fucking Aylin. I knew this would be a problem sooner or later but I hoped it would be later. I hoped the girl would have the sense to stay away for a while. She wants our little match to work out, at least for her family’s sake. She’s a mean, spiteful, deluded girl and I have no interest in her. She should let that go.
Instead, she’s bothering Kylee, and that I can’t allow.
I knock on the door. There’s an answer from inside and I push the door open.
Kylee’s sitting on the couch, knees to her chest. She smiles a little as I step inside and shut the door behind me.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“I’m fine,” she says.
“I just heard.”
“It’s nothing.”
I let out a growl of frustration. “I’m not supposed to interfere, but I swear, if that girl comes near you again…” I trail off.
Kylee smiles a little bit. “What, you’ll beat her up?”
I work my jaw. “No.”
“Then what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on, Walker. Calm down. I’m the one that should be pissed, right?”
I sigh and walk over to the bar. I pour a drink, splashing some whiskey on the floor before knocking it all back in one violent gulp. Kylee laughs from her spot and turns around on the couch to watch me.
“Don’t be dramatic,” she says.
I get ahold of myself then pour a second drink. I turn and face her, cocking my head slightly. “Did you know that there are rules we’re supposed to follow? I almost forgot about them.”
“Really?” she asks.
“Really.”
“What are they?”
I smile despite myself. “We’re not supposed to get involved in your life. How are we supposed to get to know you without doing that?”
“Who knows,” she says, shaking her head. “That’s a weird rule.”
“In theory, I shouldn’t get involved in your shit with Aylin. But I promise, that won’t stop me.”
She grins at me, shaking her head. “You’re so scary.”
I clench my jaw. “Kylee.”
“What are the other rules?” she asks suddenly.
I relax a little bit. “We can’t steal girls from each other. The sponsors, I mean. We can’t take a girl that’s already been chosen.”
“Makes sense.”
I walk over to her and sit down on the couch. I sit close, leg against her leg, and she leans toward me, eyes sparkling.
“What’s the last one?” she whispers.
“Do you really want to know?”
She nods. “Go ahead. Tell me.”
I tilt her chin toward me, lips up toward mine. “I can’t force you to be my girl,” I say softly.
She starts in surprise. “What?”
“I can’t force you. If you want out of this, I think all you have to do is tell Dean Trim I’m taking you against your will.”
She’s quiet for a second, staring into my eyes. I look right back, trying to steady my breathing.
If she wants out of this, she can get out. I’m not going to make her be my girl if she doesn’t want to be. Maybe it was fun for a day or two, moving her in here, sponsoring her as a surprise, all that. But Aylin just made this shit real, and I’m not going to drag Kylee through this if she doesn’t want it.
“So I can get out of this… right now?” she asks.
“Right now.”
“Huh.” A little smile crosses her face. “You’d better be nice to me then.”
I can’t help but smile back. I didn’t expect that response, not at all. “Oh, really? And what would being nice get me?”
“I don’t know.” She cocks her head a little, eyes staring into mine… inviting me. “Want to find out?”
“Absolutely.” I press her lips against mine hungrily and let the kiss sink in deep, my body ringing with need.
7
Kylee
I must have lost my mind.
All I keep thinking about is getting away from Walker, about ending this sponsorship thing, about going back to the way things were before I met him. Instead, I’m sitting on this couch in this apartment that I totally despise and I’m… I’m kissing him.
I’m letting his hands roam my body.
I’m doing everything I know I shouldn’t.
“I knew you wouldn’t run,” he whispers in my ear. “I knew it the second I came in here.”
“How could you?” I ask. “You think you know me so well already?”
“No,” he whispers, hand gripping my hair. A hard thrill runs down my spine and I let out a little gasp. My lips part as his brush up against mine, both rough and smooth and soft. He has slight stubble along his chin and cheeks and his lips are full and delicious. “But I can tell you’re too interested to stay away.”
“Interested. That’s a nice way of putting it.”
His hand grips my hair tighter. “You want me to put it another way?”
“Go ahead.”
“I make you wet.” His lips whisper into my ear and I let out a soft gasp. “I make you dripping wet. Your nipples are hard right now and your pussy is dripping just thinking about me taking your body.”
I groan as he kisses me hard, tongue against my tongue. His taste is so unfamiliar and so delicious and I know he’s right, deep down inside. It’s filthy and wrong and all so fast, but I can’t help myself.
It’s like driving too fast alone at night on an empty highway. You know it’s stupid but it feels good, it feels addicting. You know you should slow down, but…
The rush, the speed, god, it’s intoxicating.
That’s how he feels. Everything about him is rough, intense, mysterious. He’s the kind of man I never in a million years thought I would ever be interested in.
And yet here I am, giving myself over to him.
I let out a little moan as he pulls me over on top of him. I grind my hips back, straddling him. His hands grab my shirt and pull it up over my head. I groan as he unhooks my bra, letting it fall forward. I slide it off and he grabs it suddenly, pulling my wrists behind my back.
I gasp. “Walker,” I say.
He smirks and I feel him wrap the bra around my wrists. Not too tight, but tight enough that my hands are bound behind my back. He pulls me forward, his hand on my chin, and he kisses me slowly.
I’m leaning forward, supported by him, topless and totally at his mercy. I’ve never felt so exposed before in my life. My heart’s beating fast as his lips move down my neck and toward my breasts. I lean back, sitting up, putting my weight down on my center as he teases my nipples with his tongue.
“Look at you,” he whispers. “Beautiful body. You know that? Tight breasts, perky nipples. Fuck, girl. I can’t help myself whenever you’re around.”
“Must make it easier when I’m all tied up.”
He smirks, head cocked. “I think it does.”
He practically licks his lips and I can only imagine what he’s thinking about. He kisses me again, hand hard in my hair, pulling it tight. He stands suddenly, lifting me up into the air. I gasp, surprised by how easily he lifts me, but I shouldn’t be. He’s twice my size.
I wrap my legs around him and he holds me up, hands cupping my ass. He kisses me like that, long and slow, before he puts me back down on the floor, knees on the carpet, chest facing the couch. I lean up against it, breasts on the cushions and head turned to watch him slowly unbutton my jeans. He smirks as he tugs them back, managing to get them over my hips and full ass before he slides them down. I help him get them down off my legs, biting my lip as I’m pinned down tight to the cushions. When he’s done, I’m on all fours wearing just my panties with my wrists tied behind my back.