Shut it down, Mia. I pulled my hand from under his. “No, I don’t think you understand. I have absolutely no interest in you. You were there, right place, right time I suppose. It could have easily been Isaac.” I shrugged.
A heavy silence built between us, and if there was ever a time I wished the nurse needed to check my vitals, it was now.
Ollie stood to his feet and glanced around the room as he rested his hands over his hipbones. I could almost see the thoughts repeating in his head as if they were white bubbles hovering over him like storm clouds. Was he going to blow up? Was he in denial? Was he self-destructing before my eyes? Had he already fallen for me after one stupid, drug-induced kiss?
But he didn’t take the drug …
“I know you didn’t kill your mom,” he said to me. “Why are you really here?”
My heart rate on the monitor steadily increased as I lost myself in his question. It was the last thing I had expected him to ask, and the one question I didn’t have an answer to.
“I’m tired.” I turned away from him to lie on my opposite side. Maybe I was unfriendly—cold, even—but it was the only way to stop while he was ahead.
“No,”—he puffed before a doubtful laugh followed—”you’re not tired, you’re impossible.” The sound of the curtain against the rod was the only proof of him leaving, and suddenly the room felt empty.
This was my fault. I’d let him chase me, but I’d been fucked up, and there was no possible way he could understand the truth. No one ever did. They believed it was a front, a charade, like I was doing this to myself.
I pulled the white sheet over my head to block out the fluorescent light. This was precisely the reason why I never kissed anyone. In the end, it was the boy who would develop feelings and get hurt in the end.
That evening, I was discharged after going twenty-four hours without a fever which ultimately screwed me on Oscar-Tuesday. I needed Oscar to smother this fire Ollie built inside me.
To avoid Jake’s pity glare, and Ollie’s assumptions, I skipped dinner as a precaution and showered instead.
Choosing comfort, I wore a pair of cotton shorts, a tank top, and a camo sweatshirt. My hair stayed up in a messy bun, and I glanced over my desk at the pile of homework and the blank pad of paper Dr. Conway had given me.
The decision was simple.
The blank space stared back at me as I tapped ink dots over the paper. Dr. Conway’s words replayed in my head. “Free your mind and write.” And so I did. With a clear mind and pen to paper, my fingers took off as if they had a mind of their own.
A knock at my door pulled me from a trance, and I looked up at the clock to see a full hour had passed. My chair squeaked as I pushed away from my desk to answer it.
“She’s alive!” Jake exclaimed as soon as I opened the door. He took a step forward with arms extended, but I withdrew behind the door out of habit. “Sorry. I know I can be a bit much and sometimes forget boundaries exist,” he said after dropping his hands to his sides.
“It’s fine.” I forced a smile, waiting for the purpose of this visit.
Jake looked down the hall and back at me. “I would love it if you made it tonight.” He held his palm in the air. “No mandy tonight. Promise. Only a good time with mates and booze. What do you say?” The force behind the flutter of Jake’s lashes almost had me flown across the room and pinned to the cement wall.
“I don’t get it, what it is it about me that makes you all so persistent to be my friend? I’m an asshole.”
“You may be right, but it’s exactly the reason why I’m so fond of you. You’re an asshole, but not in the Bria way. More like in a cool, I-don’t-give-a-shit way. I find it refreshing. The only thing Bria ever cares about is making sure all eyes are on her. You prevent anyone from seeing you. It’s quite intriguing.”
My hand found my hip as I leaned into the door. “I’m a cool asshole?”
A crooked smile appeared across his thin lips. “A very cool asshole.”
“Alright, fine … but don’t mistake this as an agreement to go every night, and I’m not sitting at your table in the mess hall, either. I can only handle you all in small doses.”
Jake shrugged a shoulder as his head slanted into it. “I’ll take what I can get.”
After Jake left, I returned to my desk to rip off the page-long written paper, folded it, and put it away so I couldn’t read what I wrote. I didn’t want to be confronted with whatever was truly occupying my mind. It was between my subconscious and my subconscious.
After the security guard checked the corridor, and a few assignments were completed, I built my mountain an hour after midnight. I’d changed my mind a few times during the last hour but decided I may as well keep everyone on my good side to have access to the only semi-fun here at Dolor.
Chatter echoed through the walls of the vent as I crawled closer to Ollie’s. Everyone was already there, and Ollie was lying on his mattress with his hands clasped behind his head with his eyes closed. Taking in the moment, I appreciated his beauty. Telling him off the way I had was bitter, but I had done worse in the past.
Though there was something about Ollie I couldn’t quite swallow.
“Ollie?” He opened his eyes and saw me over him with my head poked through the vent. He parted his mouth as his face drew a blank. He blinked a few times, but no words came from him. “Should I not have come?”
He quickly got to his feet and held up his arms. “No, of course. You’re just the last person I expected to see on top of me …” He let out a laugh as he waved me down. “I meant, you’re the last person I expected to see. Period. Not on top of me.”
Ollie pulled me down, and everyone greeted me as I immediately took a seat against the wall beside Jake. Jake gripped my shoulder and passed over a bottle of whiskey. “Thank you, Crap-bag,”—Jake smiled—”for coming.”
Alicia cleared her throat, and I glanced over as she held a finger in the air. “Okay, Mia. Since you dropped in, it’s your turn. Strip or dare?”
I downed as much of the whiskey my throat could stand, and Ollie fell back over his mattress without his eyes leaving mine. “Strip,” I said once the burn subsided. I passed the bottle to Alicia and pulled off my hoodie, revealing a white tank top underneath. With the heat in the room, it had been bound to come off sooner than later, and I wasn’t in the mood to play childish games.
“If she keeps avoiding dares, we’ll have her naked by the end of the night.” Isaac snickered, looking over at Ollie. Ollie clenched his jaw, and the tension turned up a few more notches. “Relax, Masters. I’m kidding. Mia, go ahead and choose someone.”
I glanced around the room. “How far can we go with this?”
“There are no rules; you either strip or complete the dare,” Bria said.
“Okay, looks like Ollie could use some fun while he’s over there by himself. Strip or dare?” I asked, looking over at Ollie, who sat by himself on the mattress against the wall.
He gritted his teeth before saying, “Dare.”
A devious smile grew across my lips. “Touch yourself, Ollie. I want to see you make yourself come.” There was no way he would go through with it.
Jake threw himself into a full-body laugh, almost falling over while everyone turned to look at Ollie. His brows snapped together. “You can’t be serious.”
“Yeah, like Ollie would ever do that.” Jake giggled.
Flashing him a challenging smile, I said, “There are two types of people in this world, Ollie. Those who don’t complete their dares, and those who do. Just slip those fingers underneath those boxers of yours so I can see you lose yourself.”
Ollie’s mouth parted and his face flushed. Green eyes bored into mine. “I’m going to need some help,” he admitted.
I raised my palms in the air. “Sorry, not part of the rules. It’s what you get for being a cranky ass.”
Ollie leaned back against the wall and pulled his legs up at the knees. “This is your dare, love … for your viewing pleasure only. You have to come sit in front of me and watch.” He returned the same defying smile as if I had asked for this. Which I had. Hand to forehead.
“He’s got a point, Mia. You didn’t say for everyone to see, you said so you can see him ‘lose himself,’” Alicia teased. “Next time, you’ll learn to be more specific.”
Now all eyes were on me as I took another sip of the whiskey, proving what kind of person I was. Wanting to kick myself the entire way, I stood and walked over.
Ollie leaned forward, grabbed my hand, and pulled me between his long legs, blocking everyone’s view of him. Conversation picked up between the others like what was about to happen was no big deal, and I sat on my legs, trying to control my breathing. Ollie’s brilliant eyes flicked to his friends behind me, then back to me as he relaxed against the wall. His hand disappeared beneath his black boxer briefs, and I closed my eyes.
“No, look at me. This is what you wanted. You wanted to see me lose myself,” Ollie whispered, and I looked up to see the taunt in his eyes. The thought of his fingers wrapped around the length of him caused my core to pound to its own pulse, and I sucked in a sharp breath as a flare sparked between my legs. His hand moved slowly inside his pants as his whispers continued. “You’re only making this easy for me.”
His bulge grew as the silhouette of his manhood pressed against his sweatpants. His shirt rose, revealing his happy trail and deep lines pointing to places I wanted to touch. His black ink crawled along the muscles in his lower abdomen as they flexed, and the veins in his forearm became visible. My breath hitched as he continued to stroke the length of him, his rhythm slow, torturous, and I imagined what it would be like to be with him. Ollie’s other hand found my wrist, and his fingers danced along my skin. “Talk to me, Mia,” he pleaded, his eyes and words mixed with lust and need.
I rested my hand on his thigh while the other found the wall beside his head as I leaned over him. His head fell into my neck as he deeply inhaled. “I wish I could be the one to make you feel as good as you feel right now, but I,”—I nudged my mouth closer to his ear—”I would make you feel so much better.”
His free hand grazed my bare thigh, and I clamped my legs together to ease the current building between my thighs. His vulnerability had me falling, and his breathing got shorter and shorter as he pressed his lips against my neck.
“You have no idea what you’re doing to me right now,” I whispered, my mind saying things freely without my consent, and I couldn’t think of a single dirty word. Ollie was beautiful. Everything about this was beautiful. He moved his hand from my thigh to the back of my neck and dropped his forehead to mine in desperation as he continued to caress himself beneath his pants.
Ollie’s hand picked up speed and gasps fell from his lips, landing over mine. The taste of the mint in his breath coursed through me like a hit of menthol. I ran my fingers along his cheek and across his bottom lip. Tilting his head slightly, I partially quenched my need by trailing my lips along his sharp jawline.
Breathtakingly beautiful.
After kissing the tender spot below his ear, his eyes screwed shut and he gripped my hair as his breathing turned jagged.
Ollie’s head fell back against the wall, chest heaving. “Holy hell …” he breathed as his lashes flitted open. “That was the best time I’ve ever had with myself.” A low chuckle came from him as his eyes blinked back to reality. “Mia?”
“Mmhmm?” Any coherent word had been sucked right out of me.
“Can you grab me a shirt?”
As hard as I tried, I couldn’t force my smile away. Reaching over to the floor, I found a plain white tee in his pile of clothes beside the mattress and handed it to him.
“Okay, so that was boring for the rest of us,” Bria moaned, and I hesitantly took my seat back in the circle. If I were honest with myself, I wished no one else was here—only Ollie and me.
“Go ahead, Ollie, your turn,” Jake said and threw the bottle of whiskey in front of him over the mattress.
“I got nothing, mate.” Ollie brought the bottle to his lips, then swallowed as he focused his eyes on me. “I’m still high from whatever the hell just happened.”
His bluntness made me blush and weak and dizzy.
“I’ll steal his, then,” Jake said. “Alicia, I dare you to kiss Bria.”
Alicia shrugged and crawled her way on her knees to Bria, and they met each other in the middle. Bria didn’t hold back as she pressed her tongue between Alicia’s lips before molding her mouth over hers. “Yeah!” Jake exclaimed with a fist in the air.
After their kiss finished, Bria peered over to Ollie and wiped the back of her hand over her mouth. “Go ahead, Alicia. Your turn,” Bria said.
“Has everyone kissed everyone here?” I asked.
“Mostly everyone,” Jake answered.
I wondered if Ollie had kissed Bria and Alicia. I wondered if he had kissed them the way he had kissed me. Most of all, I wondered why I was wondering about him in the first place. “I’m curious, who’s the best kisser?” I needed to get my mind off the torment in my head.
“Hmm … I don’t know, but it’s not a bad idea,” Alicia said, and I could see the wheels turning in her head. “We should find out.”
“Oh, no. I was only wondering. I don’t kiss people,” I said, shaking my head.
“You kissed Ollie,” Alicia pointed out.
Shit. “It was the ecstasy.”
“Let’s get you drunk, then. Everyone else is down, right?” Isaac asked, and everyone nodded, except for Ollie. “Come on, Ollie. Don’t be selfish with your new kissing buddy.”
“Since Mia and Ollie are the only two who haven’t kissed everyone, I say they go around the room and then we will all give our final results,” Bria said with her palms together in excitement, but all I could focus on was the fact Ollie hasn’t kissed everyone. Why was Ollie the only one who hasn’t kissed everyone?
“Absolutely not,” Ollie said as soon as I began to speak.
“No, really, guys … I don’t kiss people. Last time was a fluke.” There was no way I was kissing Bria’s crooked teeth and Jake’s thin lips. I didn’t mind Alicia. She was hot and straight and couldn’t develop feelings for me.
Alicia clapped her hands together. “Mia, I dare you to kiss Isaac, then.”
Ollie’s low voice interjected, “She just said—”
“Precisely my point. She doesn’t kiss people. It’s the perfect dare for her. She can either start kissing or strip off another article of clothing. Simmer down, Ollie. You already had your fair share.”
My head jerked from Ollie over to Alicia as a taunting grin slowly grew over her face. This was what happened when I stupidly opened up to people. I pulled my white tank over my head and was left in only my black bra and sweatpants. “I told you … I don’t kiss people.”
When I’d kissed Ollie, I was under the influence, and until I had a buzz going, I would continue to take off clothes. “You guys want to come at me with nonsense, and I’ll come back ten times harder.” I narrowed my eyes in Bria’s direction. “I dare you to lick Jake’s butthole.”
Isaac and Ollie’s mouth dropped open before a cackle belted and Jake’s eyes went wide.
“That’s disgusting,” Bria hissed and took off her shirt in defeat. “I dare you to kiss Jake,” she countered with poison in her tone.
Walking over to Ollie, I grabbed the bottle from his hands. After chugging a couple of gulps, I wiped my mouth and handed the bottle back to him before withdrawing my sweatpants, leaving myself in only my bra and black panties. My eyes fell over Alicia as she shifted in her spot. “Alicia—”
“I choose strip,” Alicia snapped before I could finish, and pulled her shirt over her head. “I don’t eve
n want to know what the dare was going to be.”
Isaac and Ollie stayed quiet as Jake whined, utterly offended by Bria and my way of using him as a weapon.
“Mia, I dare you to kiss Ollie,” Alicia said with a smile. Everyone’s eyes grew wide when I reached for the clasp of my bra. They could strip me bare; I still wasn’t kissing anyone.
Before I had a chance to pull it over my shoulders and down my arms, Ollie jumped from the mattress and took a step in front of me, pulling me behind him. “Fuck. Leave the girl alone,” Ollie shouted.
A laugh escaped me as I stood behind Ollie. My bra already fell to the floor. The heat from the whiskey hit me, and I didn’t care anymore. Ollie turned to face me, continuing to block me from everyone else’s view. His mouth parted as his eyes roamed freely over my breasts, as if they were claiming me, and I could feel his stare penetrating my skin. The glowing buzz of the fever ran from my chest, up my neck, and to my cheeks. “Dammit, Mia,” he muttered.
As I tried stepping to the side, he took a step also, moving along with me as if he was shielding me from a predator.
Ollie reached over his head and pulled the shirt off his back.
“What are you doing? It’s fine. I don’t care …” I said as he fit his shirt over my head. He seemed frustrated as I pushed my arms through the holes. The hem of the shirt hit me mid-thigh, and when I lifted my eyes to meet his, he dipped down and crashed his lips to mine.
A whisper of a moan escaped from me as his force sent me back against the cement. He wouldn’t touch me; instead, his palms hit the wall on both sides of me, caging me in. The only link to each other was our lips, interlaced in dire need.
Ollie pulled back slightly and brushed his parted mouth against mine, testing me—teasing me. I wanted more, and he knew this, but he wanted me to come back for it.
Stay With Me (Stay With Me Series Book 1) Page 9