by K. Walker
“You bitch!” Callie cried from behind me, and before I turned, she brushed past me. She tossed her cup of drink over Sophia’s top. “Don’t you know your place? You think that kiss meant anything? Chad doesn’t want you. Why should he, when he could have all of this?” Her hands ran the length of her body.
“Except, he didn’t want any of that, did he?” Sophia asked as she used her hand to brush the large drops of drink off her skin. She looked pretty badass doing it, too.
Callie’s mouth fell open. “And what makes you think he wants a poor girl?”
Sophia’s jaws clenched. “Poor girl?” Sophia clicked her tongue and walked right up into Callie’s face. “I don’t know, Callie. There’s poor, and then there are people like you, who only have money.”
She scoffed. “Only have money? Do you realize how stupid that sounds?”
“Not really. Not when you have to buy everything you want. Tell me, how’s your mother? Seen her lately?” Sophia asked with her hands on her hips. She stood there in her high heels and stared Callie down, not budging an inch. Two could play this game.
“Ooh!” some hushed whispers sounded around us.
Her face turned crimson and her eyes grew tight. Everyone knew Callie and her mother didn’t get along. In fact, Callie couldn’t get any time with her. She had been stuck with her uncle, her mother’s brother – the only family member who gave a shit about her. It was kinda pitiful. And I had always thought my family was fucked up.
She lifted her hand to slap Sophia, but she saw it coming and grabbed her hand in mid-air. Sophia pushed her back, and she stumbled against some of her friends, lost control, and hit the ground when the crowd parted like the Red Sea.
She screamed and clambered to her feet. She lunged after Sophia, who ducked her assault, and she ended up stumbling the other way. It was getting a little bit embarrassing to watch. Tempers were hot, and this was supposed to be a rockin’ party.
“Okay, come on. That’s enough,” I intervened and reached for Sophia to pull her back before the fight really got out of control. Callie would have the girl in jail the next day if she had a mind. I wasn’t going to let that happen.
“Why are you taking her side?” Callie screamed as she stood there, her chest heaving as she took in deep breaths.
“I’m not taking sides, Callie. But I’m not taking your hand either. Come on, Sophia.”
She snarled and broke into a series of grunts and whimpers. “This isn’t over, Chad!”
“Yes, it is!” I shouted back at her. “Now go fix yourself and get a drink. You look like shit.”
“You heard the man,” Sophia added, pounding yet another nail into Callie’s coffin.
“Stop it!” I snarled at her and yanked her away.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked as she clawed at my hand. I weaved through the thickening group, through the lobby and up the stairs. I opened my bedroom door and led her inside.
“What is this? Chad, if you think I’m having sex with you…”
“What? No! Stop,” I said and heaved a sigh. “Sophia, Sophia, what am I going to do with you?”
“What do you mean?”
Her naiveté was cute. In a way. She didn’t know the hell she had just invited into her life. “Why did you kiss me?”
She rubbed the back of her neck and turned around. She was stalling. I walked up behind her. “Well?”
“I wanted to get her mad,” she admitted and stared at the floor.
“Are you crazy? And that’s the best thing you could do? Kiss me?”
“Well, yeah. I didn’t think you would mind. I saw her coming over and just, you know, kinda went for it. I hadn’t planned it or anything.”
“Oh, you hadn’t planned it,” I said flatly. “Just thought I wouldn’t mind.”
“No. You kissed me already, remember?”
“That was for your own good,” I replied. I was standing right in front of her, the drink stain glistening on her chest. I could smell it. I could smell her and we were alone in my room.
“How? You only made me a target. Callie has been on my back since then. So, I thought that maybe, if she thought you and I were seeing each other…” Her voice trailed off and she looked away and started playing with her hair.
That was it!
I reached in and pulled her into my arms. “Damn it, Sophia,” I said as I crushed my lips against hers.
“Chad!” she mumbled against me. “Chad!”
But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. I wanted her. And not just in a fuck her and leave her kind of way. Slowly, she relaxed into my arms, and her mouth opened at the same time her palms flattened against my chest. Her scent was intoxicating and I knew it would take me everything to refrain from ripping her clothes off.
Chapter 16
What in the hell?
His lips were on mine, and I wasn’t doing a damned thing to stop it. Sure, I had kissed him earlier, but that was just to rattle Callie’s cage.
It wasn’t supposed to happen again. Yet, there I was, in his room, kissing him, where countless girls had already kissed him before. And I didn’t care. I wound my hands around his neck and pulled him closer, taking his tongue as it slipped inside my mouth and oh my God it felt like heaven.
It took me a full minute to realize what the hell I was doing. Chad wasn’t the girlfriend type. I wouldn’t be anything more than a passing fling.
I pulled back and cleared my throat as embarrassment flooded my face. “Why did you do that?”
“You know,” I said without looking at him.
“I do?” His face was marred with confusion, and he touched my cheek in the most sensitive way. God he was so hot, and I wanted to kiss him again. But reason and rationale said no.
“Yeah. You and I both know this won’t happen again, so let’s not get caught up in it.”
“So, let me get this straight,” he said and rubbed his lower lip with his thumb. “You just want to use me when it suits you?”
“Chad, I didn’t say that. I just…” There really was no other way to say it. That was exactly what I had done, and the look in his eyes told me he didn’t like it.
“Tell me something, Sophia,” he challenged as he moved to within an inch of me. I could feel his breath on my face, and taste the muskiness of the cologne he wore. “How are you any different from Callie?” He walked off and opened the door. “You know the way out.”
“Chad!” I called after him, but it was too late. “Shit!” I cried and sank down on the bed. A few minutes passed and then I flew up, like I had been bitten.
I started to look around the room, the place where so many girls had probably been, and others were desperate to go. And he had left me in there. It was neater than I expected it to be, and I wandered over to the curio where I saw a picture of him, a woman, and a smaller girl. Must be his mother and sister, I thought.
I continued to trespass, checking out the images of cars that made like an accent wall. I was staring at it when the door flew open and Brody walked in.
“Time’s up. Come on,” he ordered.
I stood rooted in my spot and placed a hand on my hip. “Did Chad send you to get me?”
He didn’t reply. He just held the door open and waited patiently. I let out an aggravated breath and breezed past him and into the hallway. I passed a couple in the hallway, grinding on each other. I tried not to look as I hurried down the steps and out to the pool. I got lost twice on the way, having no idea where to turn.
“There you are,” Stacey said and grabbed my arm. “Alexi! I found her!”
“I wasn’t lost, Stacey,” I said, feeling annoyed, but not sure why. “Where’s Callie?”
“I don’t know. I think she left, but you had better be prepared for her on Monday.”
“Hey. You done fucking the QB as yet?” Alexi asked with a grin. She thumbed behind her. “I just assumed that’s what you were doing all this time.”
I rolled my eyes. “Alexi, is everything about sex fo
r you?”
“Yeah, okay maybe not everything,” she said with a smirk, and twisted her black lips. She was working the Gothic look tonight, which didn’t make her look eccentric at all. “Just most things. I imagine that’s what Liz is doing because I haven’t seen her since she ran off with Cody. He must be packing.”
I laughed. “Maybe.” I really didn’t want to continue with that train of thought. Not when I had just been kissing Chad. I subconsciously scanned the crowd looking for him.
“Looking for Romeo?” Alexi asked. She must have been in my head, or had I made it that obvious?
“What?” I asked and rubbed my temple trying to will away the start of a headache.
“Never mind,” she said and winked. “Come on. Let’s get something to eat. I think I saw some pizza over in the kitchen.”
“Lead the way, because I have no idea where I’m going.”
“I know, right?” Stacey chipped in. “Took me a couple of parties to get used to the space. It looks even bigger in the daytime.”
“Hey, where’s Amanda?” I’d just realized I hadn’t seen her anywhere.
“She went looking for you and…oh, there she is,” Stacey replied and pointed with a head raise. I looked and she was pinned under a boy on the column next to the archway that led to the kitchen.
“This looks familiar,” Stacey laughed, and Alexi did the same.
“I guess I’ll be driving,” Alexi chimed in. I was clueless to the inside joke. “She’s drunk. She doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing, and tomorrow she’s going to be bummed out. I don’t know how she does it. All. The. Time,” she said with emphasis.
We ignored her, but I envied her in some small way. I touched my lip and shivered. Chad had awakened something inside me, but I wasn’t sure it was something I could nurture. He was a bad boy, after all. He wasn’t my type.
The pizza was hot, and we lifted off a couple of slices onto plates, grabbed some cups and headed back to the pool. A half hour had passed and I desperately needed to get drunk too. So I started drinking. Three cups and two shots later and I had forgotten the stain on my top and most of the night for that matter.
Chapter 17
I woke up the next morning and wasn’t even sure when the party ended, or how exactly I got home, but at least I woke up in my bed and not some random. I was still in my clothes, and I reeked of alcohol.
I groaned and fell back into bed, the hangover hovering like a wet cloud. One check to the side and I saw my phone’s screen lit. I reached lazily for it, my hand dragging on the bed as I did.
I had missed several calls, and had even more messages. Not to mention it was almost eleven.
Thank God it was Saturday.
Chad: Next time don’t drink so much. I’ll drop the car off in the morning.
Amanda: Did Chad just take you home?
Mom: Sweetie, I’ll be staying over at the Humpry’s tonight. Call me if you need anything. There was an episode and I couldn’t leave.
Chad: Are you up yet?
There were more from unknown numbers and more from the girls, but I kept returning to Chad’s message. He had taken me home? How drunk was I? I covered my face with my hands as embarrassment seeped under my skin and my brain tried to recall fragments of the party.
The phone rang in my hand, and my eyes flew open. I secretly hoped it was Chad, but it was Amanda. And my heart sank.
“Hey,” I groaned.
“Heard you had as terrible a night as I did,” she giggled.
“Yeah,” I laughed. “We make quite the pair, don’t we?”
“And Chad brought you home?”
I groaned again. “So I heard. I don’t remember a thing after I saw you grinding that poor boy into the wall.”
“OMG!” she giggled harder. I could see her lying on her back and kicking her legs in the air like a beetle. “I hope I enjoyed it because I don’t remember a damn thing.”
I sputtered as the laugh unexpectedly escaped me. “Me too.”
“So, Liz, the slutty one who spent the entire night screwing with Cody, just reminded me of the volleyball game on the beach later. You game?”
“You had me at volleyball,” I told her. “It’s the one thing I would never be too tired or drunk for. I hope.”
Amanda snickered. “Yeah. I need to go and drink some tomato juice or some awful tasting green blend so I can sober up. Game’s at five. You want a ride?”
I thought about that for a second. “Yeah, thanks.”
“Okay. I’ll pick you up about two.”
“Okay.”
I was about to toss the phone aside when it started ringing again. That time, I perked up when I saw the name.
“Are you home?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I replied cautiously and sat up. “Why?”
“Open the door.”
“You’re here?” I gasped and flew off the bed.
“I told you I would drop off your keys, and your car. Or would you prefer if I leave it in the ignition?”
“Ha, very funny. Gimme a minute to get dressed,” I said and jumped up.
“Don’t get dressed on my account,” he teased. “I don’t mind seeing a naked girl in the morning.”
“I bet you already did,” I replied, hoping he would tell me that hadn’t been the case.
“Are you coming?”
I was disappointed he had changed the subject. I wanted to know. I felt like I needed to. And now that I had seen the inside of his room, I could imagine him fucking girls all over it. That was not the image I wanted in my head moments before I saw him.
I removed my soiled clothes from last night and hopped into a tank and pair of shorts. I finger-raked my hair on the way to the door and sucked in a deep breath before I opened it. He was leaning against the wall by his elbow, while he nibbled his finger.
His green eyes swept my body, at the same time I did his. He was also wearing a tank that fit him like a second skin and a pair of board shorts. His muscles were prominent, and they flexed when he moved, like they were teasing me.
He slipped his hand into his pocket and took out the keys. I held out my hand and he dropped them onto my palm before walking past me and right into the house.
“Excuse me, but I didn’t invite you in,” I said and folded my arms. I kept the door open. Not because I wanted to be rude, but because I feared being alone with him again. This time with no one to stop what could potentially happen.
“You didn’t invite me in last night either,” he said and walked around the room like he was familiar with the place. The fact that he walked right into the kitchen and took up a bottle of water from the pantry told me he had done more than take me inside.
“Thanks for that,” I grunted and shifted uncomfortably on my feet. “I see you made yourself at home.”
He turned to look at me, and I recognized that look. He was going to do it again – he was going to kiss me.
“You know, you don’t have to look so scared,” he chuckled. “I don’t bite.”
“I’ve heard differently,” I muttered and blinked too many damn times that he probably thought I was batting my eyes at him.
“Yeah?” He was dangerously close now, and his eyes dropped to my chest. “Who did I ever bite that didn’t want it?”
His lips were against my ear, and he reached behind me and pushed the door closed. “I – I don’t know. I’m just saying, you probably…”
“Like this?” he asked and nipped my neck.
“Chad! What are you doing?” I asked and pressed my hands into his chest. That did very little to keep him away from me. Or maybe I just wasn’t trying hard enough.
“I’m biting you,” he whispered in a hoarse voice.
His lips brushed against my neck and my traitorous head tilted at an angle to give him better access. He flicked his tongue out and licked me before his hand slid down my side and cupped my ass.
“You make me want you so bad,” he murmured in a low growl, and shivers ran up a
nd down the length of my body.
“When did I do that?” I asked, my breath shaky, and my head getting lighter as he intoxicated me with his masculinity.
“That first day you almost ran me over.”
I laughed. “You’re never letting that one go, are you?”
“Nope,” he replied and moved his hand back up my body and squeezed my breast through the tank. I felt my nipples getting hard, and so did he. His thumb flicked over one, and my entire body melted.
He was no novice – he knew exactly what he was doing, and when he tilted my face by my chin and raised my lips to his, I knew I was done for.
His tongue darted into my mouth and I clung to the back of his head as my overdue need overflowed its banks. Chad tightened his hold on me and I hopped up and locked my legs around his waist.
He pushed me up against the wall, and I could feel his manhood pressing against me. He buried his head in my neck as soft groans came from him.
“I want you, Sophia,” he hissed and kissed my shoulder before he pulled back.
My heart raced as my legs unlocked and I slipped to the floor. He still held onto me, and I was painfully aware of his fingers resting on my ass still. I looked up at his towering frame and bit my lip when I felt his fingers inching toward the inside of my inner thigh. My shorts were loose enough that he could gain access if he wanted to. He gently pushed me up against the wall again, pressing his body into mine.
Oh God.
"You drive me crazy, Sophia. I've never met anyone like you before," he whispered as his thumb traced my lower lip. I closed my eyes and my tongue darted out on its own accord licking his finger.
I swear I have no control over my own body. Traitor!
My trembling breath made it difficult to focus. "What are we doing, Chad." I whispered in a ragged tone, knowing damn well my body wanted him just as much.
He didn’t answer and dipped his head to the crook of my neck as his lips kissed my skin and trailed to my ear. "I want to touch you, Sophia."
I stood there, not protesting as he continued to kiss my neck and then I felt his hand graze the inside of my inner thigh, moving upward. He pushed my panties to the side and palmed my warmth.