by Eden O'Neill
“Did I mention I saw Mr. Sinclair Huntington the third at the strip club the other night?” he asked, and I popped up.
“Hell no. Really?”
“Mmmhmm.” So much satisfaction in my buddy’s voice as he pulled the pizza bagels out the oven. “Little Miss Perfect nowhere in sight. Wonder if she ain’t doing it for him?”
To which I say, the guy was either batting for another team or crazy, Billie with fucking curves for days and a mouth on her that would look real good around my cock. The fact her mother was a straight MILF was only a bonus, a snapshot of what the beauty queen would look like when she was older. Despite her sweater sets and Sperry loafers, Billie Coventry had the most supple and suckable looking tits I’d ever seen, had seen through that see-through-ass top she’d worn that night to our party. Niko later told me a couple of my friends had spilled alcohol all over her, accidentally but it happened, and I’d have to thank my friends. She’d stood out to me that night, made me want to kiss her despite wanting to strangle her for giving me lip.
My cock clearly thinking about that now, I adjusted myself before lacing my fingers on the counter. I jerked my chin at Niko. “Invite her guy to one of our parties. Let him have his good time here.”
If he was looking for a visual feast outside the beauty queen we could definitely help him out. Celebrities came to my parties, video girls and the like despite us being in the Midwest. People heard about my and Niko’s parties all over this country, obviously needing to see what the fuss was about, and we always delivered. Every time.
Niko’s gleam in his eyes so obviously matched mine, his brow jumping as he got a spatula and plates for the pizza bagels. “I swear, you are a new kind of evil.”
“Eh,” I told him, then grinned. “I mean, you’re not wrong.”
Niko smirked. “And only too proud too. You sick fuck.”
Grabbing a handful of chips, I threw them at him, and the dude lost his fucking mind by tossing a pizza bagel at me. I dodged it, launching off the barstool like a samurai. And with our height difference, I easily got him under my arm. “Take that shit back.”
“Okay. Okay. Shit!” He raised hands in surrender, the guy messing with his hair like he wasn’t already a sweaty fucking mess from his workout, and I chuckled, tossing him a wink before propping up on a barstool at the island.
“And what you doing at the strip club anyway?” I asked him, curious now when I got serious. I crunched a chip. “You know all the strip clubs in town are Marvelli territory.”
Aka the mafia, the real live mafia like something out of The Sopranos. Niko and I dealt with the Marvellis. Obviously the drugs supplied to the hungry market at Woodcreek University had to come from somewhere. The Marvellis took care of that, and after they got their cut, they were out of the picture as far as Niko and I were concerned. Neither of us were dumb enough to get any deeper than that, an understanding between us. All this shit, drugs, parties, and women, were a means to an end for us both. I didn’t intend to be doing this shit forever, and Niko didn’t either. Both of us came to Woodcreek-U for actual educations, ones we intended to use upon getting out of here.
Niko’s shrug was casual when he came around the island. He set the pizza bagels between us. “Just doing a cash drop. You know, for our stuff.”
He popped a pizza bagel in his mouth, like the whole fucking thing, which showed how big this guy’s mouth actually was.
“Yeah, but you don’t have to do it there.” Usually, the Marvellis came to us, part of our deal. We didn’t cross their territory unless we had to, smarter and easier that way when it was on our turf. I frowned. “That’s all you were doing?”
“That’s all I was doing, Jay. Jesus.” His statement made it seem like what I said was obvious, but it never was. A guy could be real fucking tempted sometimes. Especially when other men in positions of power dangled all kinds of shit in front of him. It’d been done to both Niko and me, a life even finer than the ones we already lived presented to us on a silver platter. The Marvellis had a lot of power in this town. Fuck, this whole region. But anything that tended to come from them usually turned out to be rotten fruit and wound a guy even tighter to them than he wanted to be. That was a big reason why I personally was getting out of the game as soon as I felt secure enough to let go. Niko shrugged. “I’m not stupid.”
He wasn’t, but the best of us could be tempted, easily him. I jerked my chin. “How’s your mom doing?”
A sensitive topic, and though he passed it off with humor most days, the stress in the guy’s eyes couldn’t be ignored. His mom was sick, breast cancer, and where I sent money back home for my sisters and an easier life for my mom, his went toward his mother’s medical bills. He took up a barstool. “Latest clinical trial is doing well for her. She seems stronger.”
In the short time I’d known the guy, I knew the woman had been through the ringer. When we were originally assigned as roommates our freshman year, he’d had to miss a lot of school to go back home just to take care of her. He had a younger sister too, just the three of them, and because Kate was older now, she was able to step in while he was here. The guy barely made up what he missed over the summer just to be a junior now like me.
Reaching over, I gripped his arm. “Just stay strong with it. I got a buddy whose mom woke up from a coma after like twelve years. She’s not only awake but doing real well.” Though my friend Knight’s situation was a little more complicated than that, the fact of the matter was, his mom was okay. “Don’t give up. You do, and it’s even harder for her.”
“You’re right. You’re right.” And standing up, he stretched his long body. “Now, enough with this serious shit. I’m about to fucking own you on the real court.”
A real funny guy, but after eating, he really thought he could challenge me on our basketball court. We played well into the afternoon, even missing our final classes of the day, but I had no problem doing that. This guy had become my closest friend outside of the ones from my hometown, and anything I could do to take his mind off his current situation with his mom I would.
I knew he’d do the same for me.
Chapter Seven
Billie
A tap at my door, and my stomach twisted, but I shut that crap down. “Come in.”
The door creaked open, and LJ actually had to dip his head to come into my office, the TA office door frames sized to accommodate most people.
Lance Johnson wasn’t most people.
He sauntered in during my office hours, black jeans sagging low and university hoodie pulled up over his head. He tugged the hood down, a wash of restless blond hair he fingered through. “Sup? You wanted to see me?”
Not really, but considering I didn’t have a choice, I approached him with a paper in my hand. It had his extra credit assignment on it.
An assignment I’d been forced to give him.
Honestly, I thought Professor Douglas had been joking this morning when he’d approached me about needing to come up with a way to allow LJ to make up for his, quite frankly, piss-poor job on his midterm examination. It’d been like he hadn’t attended class at all, let alone watched the films there. I’d seen him in lecture, but since he hadn’t really come to recitation all term, aka my class, he hadn’t been able to expand on any of the conceptions. He couldn’t answer why the class was watching the films assigned, so therefore, that bled into the performance on his midterm examination. A C grade had been generous and add to the fact that he basically wasn’t coming to a third of his classes by not attending mine, his grade had tanked. This was of no fault but his own, but for whatever reason, I got to hear about it this morning.
LJ turned the paper around. “What’s this?”
“Your extra credit assignment.” Saying the words physically boiled my blood, the crow I was eating able to feed a small village. I folded my arms. “Though, you shouldn’t be surprised, right? You have spoken to Professor Douglas, haven’t you? A way to make up for your term grade thus far?”
Professor Douglas had been unreasonably livid at me, the distinguished professional basically two seconds away from losing his shit. He couldn’t fathom how LJ’s grade could have possibly happened.
“You must not be following my direction in regards to the students.”
He’d actually said that to me, and I’d seriously looked around to see if I was being Punk’d. This guy standing in front of me now had literally dug his own grave with his grade, and I’d been punished for it. I bunched my arms. “So now you have to give me a ten-page essay on the film we watched this week in class.”
LJ analyzed it long and hard before dragging those his eyes up at me. “When’s it due?”
“Two weeks. That sound like enough time for you?”
A smirk touched those pretty lips, but he did tuck the assignment into his back pocket.
“So if we’re done then—”
Apparently not with me, LJ’s fingers wrapped around my arm, tugging me back, and the audacity floored me. I ripped my arm away, immediately putting space between us. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t touch me just now. Let you walk away?”
The threat in my voice was clear, but for whatever reason, his fingers came to find my sweater. A bunch and he had me smacked hard against his chest, another and he backed me to the wall. Before I knew it, he had his lengthy arms positioned on either side of my head.
“How about this?” he asked, running his nose along my cheek. I twitched, and he smiled. “We going to pretend I’m not doing this either?”
I swallowed, but I didn’t relent, immediately recognizing his challenge. “What in fuck’s name do you think you’re doing?”
“Trying to figure something out.”
“What?”
His mouth hovered over mine, my whole body quivering as I couldn’t figure out whether to sock him in his face or knee him in his balls. I chose neither as he honed in, silky blond lashes fanning above his crystal blue eyes.
“How far you’ll let me take this,” he stated, his voice gruff as he encased nearly my entire waist with his hands. He wet his lips. “Tell me something, beauty queen. Did you push me off you that night at my house because you felt you had to or because you wanted to?”
His hand massaged my waist and my tummy quivered, my mouth burning as I recalled that night. Frankly, I’d tried a lot not to think about that night and that kiss he had no right to take. It had taken effort not to think about it but I did it. I refused to give in to him.
“I have a boyfriend.” My throat constricted as my jaw trembled. His hands still on me. My eyebrows narrowed. “And you’re an asshole.”
A husky chuckle as he passed cool breath over my mouth. Mouthwash and something spicy, cinnamon and orange zest. An aftershave or something. Hands left my waist as he bit his lip, palms on either side of my head again. “I noticed you didn’t answer the question.”
“And I noticed.” I paused, throwing hands at his chest. He barely moved, the guy a mountain. “You can’t take a hint. Not to mention you slept with my mom, you dick.”
I still got shivers thinking about that, and though Mom hadn’t mentioned seeing him again, that didn’t mean he hadn’t. The whole thing was a complete violation and…
Like stated, I had a boyfriend.
Thoughts of Sinclair took my brain, and I tried to keep them there, LJ’s smile wide. He tucked his hands under his arms, still way too close for my liking. He leaned in. “I haven’t seen your mom in that way since that morning. We had a fun time, and that was it. She’s moved on. I’ve seen her at other parties. It’s cool, and you are talking about everything else but what I asked you.”
His hand encased my throat, and I jabbed at him. “Stop.”
“I want you to admit it,” he hummed, my windpipe jumping in his hand. His eyes burned like blue fire. “I want you to quit dancing around it and tell the truth. Admit that you didn’t want that kiss to stop that night. Admit that you don’t want this to stop now.”
His hand ensnared my wrist, and he jerked me up against him, my legs shaking as I grappled his hoodie just to hold on. He was hard everywhere, and I could feel every inch of him. Even through his thick hoodie.
“You’ll be holding your breath,” I cut, working my wrist away, but he handled me again, my fist in his hand.
“I’m going to have fun breaking you, beauty queen,” he threatened, dragging my knuckles across his lips. Heat seeped directly into my digits, the peek of his tongue hardening my nipples. I wanted him to stop. I wanted to knee him right in his balls and tell him to get the fuck out of my office.
“What’s going on here?”
But for some reason, I only forced him away at the sound of a voice, my boyfriend’s voice.
Sinclair, in his suit for a day at the office, stood in my door frame, his hands in his pockets. He’d texted that morning saying he’d be meeting me for lunch. His morning meetings were going to be wrapping up early, and he wanted to see me.
I just hadn’t thought it’d be this early.
It couldn’t even be eleven yet, but still. He was here. He frowned, and I realized how much space LJ and I didn’t have in proximity to each other. He was still all up on me, hadn’t even moved despite me pushing him away.
I backed up, moving to my desk. I put a hand out to LJ. “He came by for some extra credit.”
Sinclair knew LJ was in one of the classes I TA for. In fact, I was sure he knew to the point where it was ad nauseam. Especially in those first few weeks of classes. I’d bitched about my situation more than once after that day LJ had embarrassed me in front of the whole class and even more so that LJ was arrogant enough to think he didn’t have to show up to recitation. Sinclair had heard it, a running joke at the dinner table between us.
But no one was laughing now, LJ’s hands sliding into his pockets as he watched this tension back and forth. He looked about two seconds away from grabbing a tub of popcorn, wetting his lips a little. “Yeah, extra credit.”
Sinclair rocked back on his patent leather shoes. “Interesting way to do it.”
LJ did almost laugh then and mortified, I raised my hands. “I was giving him an assignment.”
“Yeah, looked like it.” His gaze transferred over to me. “Anyway. You done now, or can we go to lunch?”
A lot sat underneath that tone and more than I wanted to deal with in front of LJ. I cut him a look. “Get it done and on time.”
“Sure thing.” He took it out of his back pocket for emphasis, but upon passing a simmering Sinclair, he stopped. “Good seeing you at the party the other night, bro. You coming again soon?”
Since I didn’t know what the hell that was about I shifted my gaze to Sinclair, the guy suddenly averting his eyes.
Ignoring LJ, he squeezed them before looking at me. “I may have stopped by the other night.”
“Other night? Where? His house across the street?”
Grumbling a little, Sinclair nodded. “Uh, yeah. One of the partners wanted to stop by. Got an invite out of the blue.” He panned to LJ, eyes cold. “Wasn’t there long. Came to your house after actually.”
“Which night?” Because he hadn’t mentioned a damn thing, and the last time he’d been to my house was last week. He said he’d been busy, working.
A sigh before Sinclair worked his jaw. “Last Monday. Like I said, it was quick.”
“And you were supposed to be working.”
“I was, babe. I went after.” He lifted and dropped his hands. “Like I said, a partner wanted to go so I took him. I felt obligated. It wasn’t a big deal and definitely nothing to be getting excited over. I told you. I came to your house after.”
If it wasn’t a big deal why hadn’t he mentioned it? I didn’t understand, nor why he seemed to not be able to find my eyes now. A sight of clear and distinct red crushed this guy’s cheeks, frustration causing him to scrub into his hair. He appeared terse and agitated; meanwhile, I’d been the one who was lied to. I stayed silent since we were still in the presence of
LJ, the guy standing in front of us like he actually might pull out that popcorn tub. In the end, he decided not to, stating he’d catch me later.
LJ bowed to Sinclair along the way, and the look my boyfriend tossed back was nothing but cold. He faced me after LJ closed the door, his arms folded.
“I think we need to talk,” he said, again not looking at my eyes, and all I could do was lean back against the desk. Usually when anybody said that, it wasn’t good.
At least whenever I’d used the words in the past.
Chapter Eight
Billie
I stamped the shot glass down on the bar, receiving curious looks from both Griffin and Davey. I’d been drowning my sorrows for the past two hours in vodka tonics so I supposed I couldn’t blame them.
“I’m sorry, Bill. I think we’re just headed in different places.”
Laughing hysterically at my own tortured thoughts, I waved the bartender over, nearly falling off my barstool, and both Davey and Griff shielded their faces. We always went to the bar once during the week. It was a nice way to mellow out. They had their own graduate classes outside of our TA work, as did I, but most evenings didn’t consist of me getting piss-ass drunk in front of them.
Well, when a girl’s boyfriend broke up with her, I guessed she couldn’t help herself.
Sinclair’s words still played in my head. How he thought we were two different people and he was confused about some stuff and needed time to hammer it out. All of it had been a complete brush-off if I’d ever heard it. Especially considering the crap he walked in on upon coming to my office. He’d seen me with LJ, and that had obviously bothered him.
“Bill… I’m just so sorry.”
“Sorry!” I cried, lifting and dropping my hand on the bar. I faced Davey and Griff. “He said he was sorry. Can you believe that? I was going to freaking marry the guy!”
