Crush: A YA Romance Collection

by Lavinia Leigh

  It was a very Jade thing to do.

  “Alyssa?” I questioned as I stepped forward to see her standing about two feet from the door as if to be polite about the distance. She wore skinny jeans paired with a loose, flowy top that showed off some, but not a lot of cleavage. She knew just how to get a guy’s attention. Why had she been hiding this side from me? “How did you know I was here?”

  “Damien said you would be,” she answered as she took her big blue eyes off of Austin and turned her attention to me. I lifted an eyebrow slightly, looking at her and back at Austin. Something told me that I wasn’t going to like what was about to happen, either between these two or why Alyssa had tracked me down.

  “Of course,” Austin scoffed, before he quickly turned it into a chuckle and walked out of the way so I could go to the door.

  I guess he wasn’t as okay with Damien as he made it seem, but then again I didn’t expect him to be. He just wanted to play the tough guy act so he didn’t get hurt. I’m sure having me tell him we could no longer be together stung. Especially since he wasn’t a big fan of Damien for winning me over after only a few days when he had tried for years after he realized that he liked me too.

  “Why did you ask Damien where I was?” I asked curiously as I filled the doorway, taking Austin’s previous spot. From where he stood behind me he raked his eyes over my soon to be stepsister, and it was creepy to watch. She was too innocent to even notice what he was doing and that made it worse.

  “Something has come up and we need you home immediately!” Alyssa cried, stepping forward and grabbing my hand to pull me with her. Her demeanor had changed so suddenly.

  “What’s wrong? What happened?” I asked as she pulled me out the door, down the driveway, and into a black car. “Bye, Austin!” I called back as she hopped in the back seat with me and ordered the driver to take off. It must be nice being rich enough to have your own driver, since she wasn’t old enough to drive. “Now what happened?”

  “Something awful! You have to see it for yourself or you won’t believe me,” she exclaimed as she pulled out her phone to call and tell Damien that we were on our way back. I was nervous that something had happened to him, but when I stole Alyssa’s phone he told me that he was okay, he even laughed when I asked if he was hurt.

  “You’ll see when you get here, and don’t worry so much. Alyssa is a little drama queen. I’ll see you soon, hot stuff,” he said in a cocky tone as he hung up the phone. Relief washed over me that he was okay.

  I guess I liked him a little more than I initially thought.

  Chapter 18

  When the car pulled up to the senator’s house about ten minutes later, Alyssa immediately hopped out without even stopping for a moment to thank the driver. She sped off so fast you would think that I was her disgusting prom date that she couldn’t wait to get away from, and only said yes to going with me so my feelings wouldn’t get hurt. Maybe it was me. Maybe I smelled like sweaty socks, and being confined to the small space inside of the car had been too much for her to take. Being the nice person that she was, she probably didn’t have the heart to tell me, and instead had run off to avoid my putrid scent. I stopped momentarily and sniffed my shirt, it smelled clean, at least to me anyway.

  I awkwardly said goodbye to her driver, whose name I didn’t even know, and got out. I slammed the door shut without even thinking, but I knew once the door banged loudly against the car that I probably shouldn’t have done that. I glanced back to see the driver glaring at me, a disgusted look lining his features. He probably thought I was some peasant compared to the people he worked for. I flipped him the bird momentarily before I raced after Alyssa.

  For someone who said that there was nothing wrong, she sure was in a rush to get home. Either something was really wrong and she had been lying to me to keep me calm, or I was going to hate whatever she had planned up in that twisted little head of hers.

  I walked up the front steps but stopped dead in my tracks in the doorway of the house. I caught the full sight of the entrance and had to stop to catch my breath. Even though this wasn’t my first time inside, I still hadn’t gotten used to how grandiose and extravagant the place was. There was marble and artwork everywhere. A grand staircase was perched in front of me as if I was entering a ballroom for a cotillion in upper east New York. The Jacobs' household put mine to shame without even trying. In fact it made my house look like a rundown shack that was perched on some beach in the middle of nowhere, which was saying a lot since I lived in a pretty well-kept five bedroom home.

  I was quickly drawn in by the lavishness of the home, as famous artworks and statues were presented before me. I could suddenly see that the senator not only worried about the image that her children gave of her but also of her home. It was refined and dignified; completely perfect in order to give the right impression to anyone that stepped into the home.

  “Wow,” was all that I could say as I finally stepped through the doors, closing them behind me as I glanced around at the inside of the house that never failed to surprise me. It seemed to come full circle at how orientated the senator was to winning her upcoming election.

  As I came to a stop at the bottom of the staircase, I suddenly realized that I had lost Alyssa. Shrugging, I headed up the steps, planning on heading to Alyssa’s room and assuming that she would eventually find me in there.

  “This way, hurry!” Alyssa cried out as she raced back down the wooden staircase and grabbed my arm. Without processing the action, she yanked me up the stairs causing me to trip a few times at the ferocity of her pulls.

  “I’m coming, I’m coming, don’t get your virgin white panties in a twist,” I groaned as I forced myself to keep pace with her so I would stop falling over my own two feet.

  “How about you get that lace thong out of your butt and start moving?” she retorted with a triumphant smile as she pulled me into a hallway.

  “How did you know what I was wearing?”

  “Damien talks in his sleep. I think he’s been through your panty drawer. Maybe you should get a lock for it,” she suggested as she pulled me into one of the rooms, only to find Damien settled on the side of a bed with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

  “Okay, what’s going on here? Since when do you two work together?” I questioned as I glared between the siblings.

  “Take a look around and take your best guess,” Damien challenged as he leaned back on the bed to rest on his elbows.

  I scoffed lightly in annoyance, as I did what I was instructed to do. The room was plain except for the most basic decorations. The bedspread was a mix of plum, white, and sea foam green; I could tell that Alyssa had obviously picked it out since the design was very similar to that of her bedspread. I glanced around the remainder of the room, noticing that there was a brown dresser in the center of the far wall, a set of closet doors and an en-suite bathroom. Most of the walls were left blank except for one that was covered by an over-sized poster.

  I could see Damien smirk as he caught me looking at it.

  “Is that what I think it is?” I questioned as I walked up to the poster. It was a blown up version of the photo from the newspaper. In full view it showed me standing naked by the side of the pool, except this time my private areas weren’t pixilated to cover them up. “You have got to be kidding me,” I mumbled as I raised my brow slightly. They glanced between each other before Alyssa spoke up.

  “Don’t look at me, that was Damien’s idea,” she stated as she threw her brother under the metaphorical bus.

  I turned to face Damien who had a wide smirk etched onto his flawless face. I felt my heart race as we caught each other’s eyes and the spark between us ignited again. “I figured you needed a start to your walls,” he stated smugly, clearly referring to the photos that I had lining the walls of my room at home. He had seen them that day my dad had come to get us from Brooke’s house and was surprised I had put them all up by myself.

  They were all pictures

  My walls at h
ome told my life story. They were covered in the constant barrage of photos that I took of Brooke, Austin, and me, along with my family, and trips that we had taken. There were a few art projects and drawings I had created, and some Brooke had given me. She had a natural talent for drawing and photography, but refused to embrace it. There were even pictures of me and my mom when I was younger, and of my mom with her friends at my age.

  “I think that we need to christen the room too, if that’s your thought process,” I said, winking with a slight lift of my eyebrow to give him the suggestive meaning behind my words.

  Knowing him, he didn’t even need the extra hint. His mind seemed to be wired that way when it came to girls, but mostly with me. I tried to hide the smile that was threatening to curve my lips upward as Damien’s dark eyes stared into my own. Instead of smiling brightly like I wanted to, I offered him a saucy eye wink and bit my bottom lip suggestively. Damien raised an eyebrow at me, suddenly very interested in where this conversation was going.

  Suddenly Alyssa cleared her throat, gaining both of our attentions. “I’m still here,” she reminded us, waving her hands down her side to emphasize her presence.

  I nodded. “I know.”

  Damien crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. “I was hoping you were going to take the hint and leave.”

  Alyssa poked her tongue out at her older brother, saying, “Not a snowball’s chance in hell.”

  I covered my mouth and widened my eyes, feigning shock at Alyssa’s word choice. “Did you just say hell?” I whispered the word hell, covering my mouth afterward as if it was such a bad word.

  “Yes, I did.”

  I smiled, exchanging a look with Damien. “I think we’re leaving an impression on her.”

  Damien and Alyssa laughed at my words.

  Sighing, I turned to look around the room again. It is a really nice room. I ran my hand over the downy comforter on the bed before returning my eyes to Damien and Alyssa. “I don’t really get what’s happening. Why’d you guys show me this room?”

  The two siblings shared a knowing glance. Alyssa opened her mouth, but Damien raised his hand to stop her. “I’ll tell her.”

  “Tell me what?”

  Damien scratched his arm. “Well, it’s your room.”

  I furrowed my eyebrows. “My room?” I repeated.

  He nodded.

  “My room is at the house I grew up in—6575 Sumner Grove Circle.” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at Damien, waiting for him to continue.

  “You and your dad are moving in here after the wedding, and this is going to be your room.”

  “I’m not moving in here. I grew up in that house. My mom loved that house. I’m not moving in here to live with your psychotic mother and my temperamental father.”

  Alyssa’s eyes widened at my words. “It wouldn’t be so bad living with us would it?”

  I couldn’t wipe the glare from my face. “It’s not living with you two that makes me mad, it’s the fact that everyone gets to be happy and I have to move from my childhood home to accommodate everyone else.”

  Damien walked toward me, pulling me into a suffocatingly tight hug. He brushed my hair down with his hand and nuzzled his face into my neck, whispering, “Don’t worry, Jade. Living with us won’t be that bad. Look on the bright side, you’re room is right across from mine.”

  “I really don’t think your mom could handle us both under the same roof,” I said, repeating my words from before as I melted into his arms.

  “That’s kind of the point, while she’s so distracted trying to hide our bad behavior from the world, we can get busy and christen the room like you suggested,” Damien said as he planted a kiss on the top of my head and promised me that life here wouldn’t be as bad as I thought it would be, but how could he be so sure?

  Chapter 19

  The pool water glistened under the moonlight. A strange sense of déjà vu filled me as I stepped closer to the edge of the pool, a different one from the one that Brooke and I had went to. This pool belonged to one of the neighbors of Senator Jacobs and had been chosen by Damien. We had snuck through the back yards, climbing over privacy fences to get to one of the houses two away from Damien’s house, or should I say our house.

  He knew the people who lived here and he was also aware that they were away for the week on vacation. It was one of the main reasons I was standing here; Damien being the other. He had brought up the idea of us going skinny dipping together, and I had finally given in to his advances. I had told him that if he found a pool for us to go to, then I would come, but I hadn’t thought that he would have already known what pool we were going to.

  Damien smirked over at me as he gripped the bottom of his shirt. Then, in one fluid motion, he pulled it up and over his head, dropping it on one of the white pool chairs that lined the area around the pool.

  When his hands went to his jeans to unzip them, he finally raised his eyebrow at me and spoke. “Are you planning on watching me the whole time? Because if you are then at least give me something to look at first. You know, common courtesy and all that shit.” Damien winked at me as he dropped his pants down to his ankles and stepped out of them.

  A blush seeped into my cheeks as my eyes travelled from his perfectly sculpted chest and down to the bulge in his boxers before looking down at my jeans and beginning to unbutton and unzip them. “I wasn’t staring.”

  “Right, and I won’t stare either.”

  In response to his sarcasm I rolled my eyes and poked my tongue out at him. “I seriously wasn’t staring, I was just looking.”

  “Same thing,” he replied, crossing his arms and watching me.

  My hands froze on my jeans before I pulled them down. “What are you doing? Go ahead and finish undressing and get in.”

  Damien shook his head.

  “Why not?” I questioned, my hands still on my jeans.

  Stepping away from his pile of clothes, he came closer to me; close enough that I could reach my arm out and graze the tips of my fingers over his abs. His arms flexed as he uncrossed them and placed his hands on my hips. He pulled my body forward until I was mere inches away from him, and stared into my eyes as he said, “The only time I’ve ever seen you naked was in pictures, and I’ve been waiting to see it up close and personal.”

  “Well, that doesn’t sound stalkerish at all,” I joked, sarcasm dripping from my words.

  Damien placed his hands under my shirt, lifting the fabric slightly. “You know what I mean,” he murmured. His hands were cold against my skin as he lifted my shirt higher. “So, do you want to undress yourself, or should I?”

  A little smirk tugged at my lips. “Well, I guess I can let you do it considering I’ve been undressing and dressing myself since I was four.”

  Damien leaned into me for a moment and placed a soft kiss at the corner of my mouth. “Well, aren’t you kind?” His hands sent tingles through my body as he lifted my shirt up and over my head, tossing it down where he put his.

  “I like to give back to the community every once and a while. It’s always nice to do charitable acts for society.” I poked my tongue out at him, hoping he would understand what I was implying.

  He furrowed his eyebrows. “Are you saying that by letting me undress you, you’re doing charity?”

  I nodded my head slowly.

  “Oh, Jade. That’s not a very nice thing to say.”

  “What are you going to do about it?” I leaned forward, pressing my chest against his.

  Damien shook his head, allowing his eyes to fall to my cleavage. His hands traced over the back of my bra, down the straps and along the sides of the clasps. Then he leaned down and tugged at my jeans, pulling them down and almost taking my panties down with them. I lifted my legs one at a time as he slipped the pants off. Once he was finished he stood up and pressed himself against me again.

  “I’m going to do this.” His face loomed closer to mine again.

  Butterflies flitted around my st
omach in anticipation for the kiss that I knew was to come. I closed my eyes, going up on my toes to kiss him, but was immediately stopped when his lips never pressed against mine. Instead, his arms wrapped tightly around my body and the ground beneath my feet disappeared.

  I opened my eyes quickly to see him holding me into the air and walking toward the pool.

  “Did you really think that I was going to kiss you, after you so rudely called me a charity case?”

  I nodded, my eyes widening as Damien neared the deep end of the pool. “You wouldn’t dare,” I growled, beginning to twist and turn in his arms to get out of his hold. I knew what he was planning to do, but I was not ready to get into the pool. I had to test the water first. I couldn’t just be thrown in. “Please, Damien,” I begged, giving up the kicking and wiggling seeing as how it had no effect on him.

  “Aw, are you begging me for that kiss I pretended to give you?”

  I frowned at him. He knew that I was begging him not to throw me into the pool. “Damien,” I groaned.

  “Jade,” he whined, trying to imitate my voice and failing horribly. “You don’t have to beg me to kiss you, Jade. I’ll kiss you if you just ask me nicely.”

  Sighing, I made my voice higher and asked, “Will you kiss me, Damien?” I was hoping that the kiss would buy me some time to get out of his grip and would serve as a distraction to him.

  “Of course I will,” he answered, pressing his mouth to mine. At first his lips molded gently against mine, but after a few seconds, it turned into something else. It was no longer soft and sweet, but now it was needy and passionate. He cradled me as we kissed with everything we had. From the force of the kiss, I could tell just how much Damien wanted me. There was also something else in the kiss. Something that showed in more than just the kiss; love. It showed in the way his arms were tightened around my body, how his thumb stroked over my bare thigh, and even in the way he peered through his thick eyelashes at me every so often.