Diane poked her head in, saying, “I made breakfast. Come downstairs.”
I really didn’t want to. I really, really didn’t want to. So I responded the only way I could: I rolled onto my side and faced the wall, tucking my head under the comforter to block both her and the light out.
Was I acting stupid? Probably. But with all the posturing I’d been doing, I think I earned some stupidity.
It was hours before she tried to get me to come down again. I dozed off and was awakened by Diane yanking the covers off me, tossing them at the foot of the bed, instantly making me cold and yearn for my comfortableness again. Her hands were on her hips, and she looked like she meant business.
“Come downstairs, now.” It was not spoken as a question, her tone level and steady, almost like a mother’s tone. I let out a moan, rolling out of bed. When I followed her into the hall, she added, “You might want to change.”
I only looked at her. Wasn’t it lunchtime? We weren’t going anywhere, so why the hell would I change? Shaking my head, I headed down the stairs and turned into the kitchen…
…where Alec stood?
I froze, causing Diane, who was behind me, to nearly walk into me. Meeting Alec’s green stare, I felt pulled to him. I wanted to rush to his side, throw my arms around him and kiss him, but then I remembered what happened. He might not want to kiss me anymore.
“Why haven’t you been answering your phone?” Alec asked, far too serious.
I shrugged, feeling awkward before him.
His eyes took in my pajamas, completely calm when he said, “Come on.” He started out the door, leaving me clueless and glancing at Diane.
All Diane did was shrug. “What are you waiting for?” she asked. “You’re not grounded anymore. If you want to go, go.” She was going to let me go off with Alec when I should be miserable because I’d been suspended?
I didn’t linger long. I followed Alec, because how could I not? I went outside, squinting at the light of day, heading toward his car, where he was waiting for me. I said not a word to him as I got him, and he said nothing to me. I had no idea where we were going, but we were going somewhere.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Alec, I—”
He shushed me, keeping his eyes on the road. I wouldn’t say he was cold to me, but he was far from his happy-go-lucky, smiling self.
We ended up parking in the same parking lot where he told me he and Xander used to see each other. It looked worlds different during the day, the sun shining brightly on all the trees before us. Nature trails went all through these woods, along with the playground not too far from the parking lot, the one where we’d played poker and truth or dare.
Alec got out, and I followed him, taking one step on the pavement when I realized I hadn’t thought to put on shoes.
Oops.
He started walking towards the woods, not to any path in particular. Just…just walking. I followed him, careful not to step on any sharp rocks or anything that might hurt. “Alec,” I tried again, ducking under a tree branch as I hurried to walk beside him. “Where are we going?” We weren’t on a trail; I knew that. Wherever we were going, we’d be alone.
After five minutes of silent walking, we came upon a small clearing of sorts. String lights hung, laced around tree branches—sparkling in the sunlight that streamed past the treetops. Blankets were laid on the ground, all different colors with white stripes. A cooler sat off to the side, almost like this was some kind of picnic.
But that wasn’t the weirdest part.
No, the weirdest part was that Xander and Christian stood beside the blankets, talking.
“Dude,” Christian said chuckling as he shook his head. “You need a haircut.”
Xander touched his long black hair tentatively. “But I like it like this.”
“Yeah, but I’m sure she doesn’t. She’s just too nice to tell you. And, anyway, if you ever want to get a job or have people take you seriously, they’re going to need to see your face—” Christian stopped once he noticed me, and both he and Xander turned to look at me. The blankets on the ground were the only things between us.
“What…” I trailed off.
Christian smirked. “I see you ran out of the house without shoes again.”
My toes wiggled in the leaves. “I don’t understand.”
Xander moved around Christian, sitting cross-legged on one of the blankets. He patted the spot beside him, and after I glanced to both Alec and Christian, I slowly went to him. Alec and Christian sat across from me. This was…weird, and I felt intensely out of place wearing my fuzzy duck pajamas.
“You ran out of the dance,” Alec said, “without telling any of us.”
“Mr. Smith rounded us all up and suspended us,” Christian said, frowning. “Coach isn’t happy. I’m out for five games, too.” A breeze blew by, and when I breathed in, I smelled his musky scent, mixed with body spray.
I had to look away from him, unable to take the intensity of his blue eyes. “I’m sorry.”
It was Xander who said softly, “We were worried about you, and we…” His thin chest rose and fell with a sigh. Together, we were four kids, on the cusp of true adulthood, a hodgepodge of personalities and looks.
“We have something to say,” Alec took over when Xander quieted. His jade stare moved to Christian, and I noted a bit of hesitancy there, as if this was all new to him, foreign, and I supposed it was. Being open, being honest, hadn’t been their strong suit. It hadn’t been mine, either.
“Look, I’m not the best at this, so I’ll just come out and say it.” A sigh left Christian’s lips, lingering in the air for only a moment before he said, “I’m sorry, for all of it. I was a stupid kid. I didn’t think it would affect you so much, but I know that’s no excuse.”
“I’m sorry too,” Alec said. Under his t-shirt, his chest tensed, as if he had to prepare himself for what he was about to say. “For never speaking up, for laughing. I never tried to stop it from happening.”
I nodded—all of that was true. I wasn’t going to argue with them.
Xander took my hand, running his thumb over my knuckles. He was a pale color compared to me. “And I’m sorry, Elle, for being a part of it. If I could take it all back, I would. I would gladly take it all back.” His touch was warm on me, and inside my chest, my heart constricted.
These guys…these guys were apologizing to me, and they all seemed so genuine. Sincere in every way. How was I supposed to take this? I didn’t wake up this morning—or, more seriously, thirty minutes ago—knowing this was what I would face.
What was I supposed to say? No amount of words, no matter how they were arranged, felt sufficient.
“I don’t…I don’t know what to say,” I said, glancing between each of them.
Xander, still holding onto my hand, turned it to reveal my scarred wrist. “You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.” I watched him lift my wrist and place a gentle kiss on the scar, his lip ring tickling my sensitive skin.
“You’re not mad?” My question was mainly focused on Christian, whose eyes never left me.
“Maybe I was a little, at first, but I can’t blame you for wanting to get back at me.” Christian glanced to Alec, who was watching him, too. “When I saw you that you were back, I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know if you were the same girl you were in sixth grade. I thought maybe you wanted payback, and I was ready to give it right back—”
“Because your smug ass thought you didn’t deserve it,” Alec cut in with a grin.
“I do deserve it. What I did…what I made you do, I…I’ve thought about it a lot, Elle.” The way Christian spoke my name, the velvety smooth sound fell on my ears and made me shiver. “And I am more than willing to do whatever I have to to make it up to you.” His words had another meaning, and his eyes fell to my lips.
It was now my turn to say what was perhaps the most awkward thing I’d ever said: “I don’t think I can choose.” When the three guys only
stared at me, I felt compelled to add, “I love you. All three of you.” Sheesh. Talk about awkward. Talk about mortifying. I really should just stand up and go home at this rate.
Alec broke out into a grin, leaning closer to me as he grabbed my other free hand, mimicking the gesture Xander had made by kissing my other scar. “I don’t remember asking you to choose,” he whispered, his voice low. To the others, he asked, “Do you?”
A fire swelled in my lower gut. This could not be happening. “But I thought—”
“We’ve talked,” Christian said, sounding bored, as if the memory of talking was one of the most boring things in recent memory. “A lot.”
Xander leaned into my ear, his breath hot on my cheek as he said, “We all love you. We all need you, and I don’t think any of us are willing to give you up now that we have you.”
I looked between them. Xander was so close to me, our noses touched. He still held onto my wrist, and the feeling of his lips pressing on my scar remained, a ghostlike sensation. The dark eyes I stared into were the furthest from the black eyes that had laughed at me, mocked me, jeered at me.
On my other side, Alec was steady but silent. A tiny smile graced his tan face, two dimples in his cheeks. He stroked my arm, running his fingers along my forearm, tempting me. I knew I owed it to him; all of this wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t somehow squirreled his way into my heart and made me realize that I wouldn’t be able to break these boys like I’d planned.
And Christian. Who could forget Christian? When it all boiled down to it, he was the ringleader. Without him, it was quite possible that I never would’ve had a target on my back. As he sat there, watching me and only me, ignoring the fact that both Alec and Xander sat so near me, he started to grin. In the past, I would have been nervous, but today? Today I saw how the smile reached his eyes, noted the quiet intensity behind his blue gaze. Today I realized I had him right where I wanted him.
By my side.
“Now that you have me,” I spoke softly, “what will you do with me?” Suddenly two pairs of lips were on my neck, Xander and Alec on each side, showering my tender skin with slow, agonizing kisses. A heat rose within me when I locked eyes with Christian.
He reached for me, pulling me right out of Alec’s and Xander’s grasp, tugging me onto his lap. While the other two muttered something under their breaths in righteous indignation, Christian smirked, his fingertips grazing my cheek. It was but a second later when his lips crashed down to mine, swallowing me up. Everything that I was, everything that I would be, I put it into the kiss. I drew my hands up his chest, turning to straddle him as his tongue slipped into my mouth.
Christian leaned back, swapping places with me so he could be on top. He broke our kiss to say, “Nice pajamas, but I think they’ll look better off.” His voice came out low, more ragged than I’d ever heard him, and my whole body shuddered when I felt his hands working to yank off my fuzzy duck pajamas, both my shorts and my top, leaving me in my underwear.
Not for long.
“Dude,” Alec practically growled out. “Who said you get her first?”
“Because you’ve had her already, haven’t you? It’s only fair” was Christian’s well-thought-out response.
I laughed, remember what Alec and Xander had done before our first time together. It was mainly my suggestion, too. Good that I could laugh about it, now. “Whatever you guys do, don’t do rock, paper, scissors.”
The three guys, all with hard-ons pressing against their pants, met eyes, wordlessly exchanging a challenge. These three…these three were really going to play rock, paper, scissors to decide who would sleep with me first.
Xander was out the first round, and he huffed to himself, sitting off to the side. Both Alec and Christian had chosen paper, while he was the loner who chose a rock. The next round, they both chose scissors. Then rock. It seemed Alec and Christian were in sync, in tune with each other. It was round number four, when Alec chose paper and Christian chose scissors, that a winner finally emerged, victorious.
“No,” Alec said, watching as Christian took his place above me, his fingers instantly toying with the hem of my panties. “Best two out of three.” The exact same line Xander had tried with him before. A part of me wondered if Alec and Xander had told Christian about their history together, but the bigger part of me knew it didn’t matter right now.
Right now, you see, was all about little old me.
“Fuck off,” Christian muttered, shooting a glare at Alec. “I beat you, so sit back and watch.” Alec grumbled, but remained mostly silent as Christian’s hands helped me out of my underwear. I now lay naked under him, shivering in the crisp air of the woods. My nipples were hardened points, which Christian took inside his mouth, one by one, as he worked on shedding his pants.
I spread my legs in anticipation, letting out a series of moans when his tongue swirled and licked my nipples. Was this real? Was this really happening? Was I really about to fuck Christian, my sworn enemy?
Yes, yes I was.
And it was amazing.
When Christian pushed his hard dick inside of me, I cried out. When he rocked his hips and drew himself in and out of me, I held onto him, showering his neck with kisses, making him moan and tremble from my touch. When he pulled at my hair and trailed along my jaw with his lips, I felt my inner walls clench around his length, milking him for all he was worth.
Our bodies, pressed against each other’s, exchanged heat. The breaths flowing from Christian’s throat were guttural and raw, and I closed my eyes, letting the sounds encase me and the feeling of his thrusting overtake me. His pounding grew harder, his balls slapping my ass with each pump of his hips, and his body tensed above mine. Christian let out a moan of pleasure as he came, unhurried in pulling out of me and making room for Alec, who must’ve taken off his clothes while Christian and I went at it.
“Now,” Alec said, positioning himself between my legs, even though my body was still tingling with the memory of Christian’s dick, “let a real man show you how it’s done.”
Christian threw him the world’s dirtiest look, and all I could do was laugh. Xander, to his credit, was waiting as patiently as he could, the impression of his dick against his pants still obvious.
These guys…were ridiculous, but they were mine.
Xander Hill, Alec Perry, and Christian Moore were mine. This was the start of something strange, scary, and new. Something wonderful and easy…something I would never trade for the world.
All of my choices, my past—it led me here, and for the first time in years, I was exactly where I wanted to be.
Chapter Twenty-Seven - Epilogue
During the ceremony, I couldn’t keep my eyes off them. When it was their turn to walk across the stage and receive their diplomas from Mr. Smith, I had the stupidest grin on my face. Rows and rows of seats were situated in the grass, the sun shining brightly overhead—a good thing, otherwise this would’ve been moved inside, and who wanted that? When it was Georgia’s turn to get hers, I hooted and hollered.
And when it was mine? I had the applause of everyone who mattered to me. My dad and Diane were in the audience, videotaping and clapping away. Beside them, Leah and her mom sat; Leah let out a loud whistle as I exited the stage. We’d gotten lucky that her graduation was a different day than mine, so we were able to go to each other’s. And, of course, I couldn’t forget my friends and my boyfriends.
Yes, boyfriends, because I had three.
It still blew my mind when I thought about it. Three boyfriends? I mean, come on. Who had three? Getting a little greedy, wasn’t I? After everything those boys—those men—put me through, I didn’t care. It was my turn to be greedy, my turn to take what I wanted, and I wanted them. Fortunately for all of us, they wanted me too.
Once everyone had gotten their diploma, and even though we were all advised not to do it, the graduating class, including me, moved the tassels on our caps to the opposite side, and then we all tossed the caps in the air. I
made sure to catch mine right away, because I wanted to keep it, to remember this moment by.
It was a moment that might never have come, if I would’ve succeeded in what I wanted when I was twelve. I would’ve ended my life without a second thought. But today, today death was the last thing on my mind.
Everyone dispersed, students meeting up with their families and taking pictures with each other. Everyone wore gigantic smiles, so happy to finally be free of high school. College was next for most of us, but that would come later. I wanted to revel in the now.
I took a bunch of pictures with Georgia, and then Leah and her mom, and then of course with my dad and Diane. Diane had started to show a while back; her bump was definitely noticeable now. It was going to be a girl. I was going to have sister, and I swore to that unborn baby that I would be there for her through hell and high water, no matter what mistakes she made in her life. Mistakes were something we all made anyway. No one should be judged by them.
It was only after family obligations were met that the guys found me one by one. Alec was first, of course, his grin catching. He looked kind of dorky in his brown robe and cap, but I supposed he looked better than me—the female graduation robe for River High was orange.
Disgusting, I know.
He kept himself from hugging me, kept himself from touching me in general, mostly because none of us had broached our unconventional relationship with our parents just yet. It was fine with me, because we were still figuring things out. It involved a lot of talking about feelings and such. Go figure.
“I’m glad we’re finally out of there,” Alec said, still grinning as he shook my dad’s hand and greeted Diane.
“Me too,” a voice spoke behind me, and I turned to see Xander heading my way, his sister in tow. She nearly body slammed me, asking about candy. I might’ve had the habit of giving her some every time I went over his house.
Spite: A Bully Reverse Harem Page 22
