When Rivals Fall: A Bully Romance (Bayshore Rivals Book 1)

by J. L. Beck

  “Ahhhh….” The noise vibrates off the walls. I squeeze my eyes shut and enjoy the last wave of the orgasm as it ripples through me like little aftershocks. Slowly I float back down to earth like a leaf falling from a tree.

  Seconds tick by and I squeeze my lids tighter wanting the moment to last forever, but as the euphoric pulses of pleasure leave me, I’m left wondering what happens next?

  I’ve not only kissed all three of them. I’ve done sexual things with all of them too.

  Where does that leave me? Sandwiched right in the middle? Blinking my eyes open the first person I see is Oliver. He withdraws his hand from between my thighs, and brings the two fingers, now dripping with my arousal to his lips.

  He slips them into his mouth, his eyes drifting closed as he sucks. He takes his time, like he’s sucking on a lollipop. He’s tasting me, tasting my arousal, my come and I’ll be damned if it isn't as hot as hell to watch.

  “You taste divine. I can’t wait to have those thighs of yours wrapped around my face, with my tongue in your pussy.”

  Using my arm to shield my face—which is most likely cherry red—I hide from him.

  “Don’t be ashamed, that was amazing.” Oliver assures me, his eyes darkened with arousal.

  “Fuck yeah, it was. That’s going in my spank bank for next time,” Banks chuckles, while gently smoothing his thumb across my forehead. My breathing returns to a semi normal pace. My heart on the other hand is still galloping out of my chest and I don’t think it will return to a slower rhythm any time soon. Not with Banks and Oliver looking down at me like they’re about to devour me all over again.

  I can feel both of their cocks straining against my bare skin, and for a second I’m scared of what’s to come next. I want to satisfy them both like they’ve just done for me, but can I?

  Can I take both of them, at the same time?

  Banks must see the worry flashing in my eyes because he starts to shake his head.

  “You don’t have to do anything,” he assures me, while running his fingers through my hair. The feeling is, there is no way to describe it. It’s like a massage but for your scalp.

  “I want to, it’s just…” The sound of a door opening and closing echoes through the house, followed by heavy footfalls heading towards us. Sullivan.

  I know I’ve done nothing wrong, Sullivan and I aren’t an item, but I still scramble off both their laps with my shirt in hand, grabbing my shorts off the floor. I tug the shirt on over my head, and it just clears my tits when Sullivan comes strolling into the living room. Stopping in the doorway, he takes in the scene with his eyebrows raised, like he is trying to solve a puzzle.

  “What the hell is going on here?”

  “Oh, with us?” Banks grins, leaning back against the couch with his hands behind his head. My eyes dart between Sullivan, Oliver, and Banks. Sullivan’s got a dark look in his eyes, while Banks is grinning like a fool.

  “Well? Someone better tell me what the hell you guys are doing?” Sullivan pauses, his gaze raking over me once, and then a second time, except this time his gaze lingers on my bare legs. I feel like I’m being inspected.

  I try and look anywhere but at Sullivan or the other two but my gaze keeps catching on two hardened cocks straining against the fabric of shorts. Fuck, that looks like it hurts.

  “Why are her shorts off?” Sullivan asks, and Banks bursts out laughing. The tone of Sullivan’s voice is deep, protective, alpha-like and I wonder why? Is he trying to stake claim to me? It sounds that way.

  “Oh, we were just putting some cream on her back, like you did this morning, remember?” Oliver teases, a thick brow lifted, and though his response is directed at Sullivan his eyes are boring into mine. I swear if my cheeks weren’t already on fire, they would be now.

  Sullivan’s eyebrows draw together, and then his lips twitch before pulling into a smile, “I see you’ve made your choice then,” he says, reminding me of the question he asked me earlier that morning.

  Did I want all three brothers? Hell yes.

  Could I handle them? I don’t know.

  Is this a horrible idea that will blow up in my face, yes. This is wrong and not just because they are supposed to be my enemies, because our families have hated each other for years. No, it’s wrong because I’m falling for three men who bullied me, who I thought for sure hated me, but clearly didn’t hate me enough.

  And if things end badly, which I’m sure they will, I’m the one that will get her heart broken, not them.

  Turning on the balls of my feet I walk out of the room. I need some space, to be somewhere where I’m not surrounded by them and their intoxicating scents. Somewhere I can breathe without having a Bishop stuck up my ass. I don’t know what’s happening anymore, all I know is that we aren’t enemies anymore.

  “Hey, wait, where are you going?” Sullivan asks, the sound of his feet pounding against the floor behind me tells me he’s following me. Great.

  “Can you give me something to wear? Like some sweatpants or something?” I ask, stopping in the middle of the hallway.

  Sullivan reaches out for me, his hand is heavy on my shoulder as he turns me around to face him, and I let him because I’m weak. Weak for him, weak for all three of them.

  “Yeah, sure, whatever you need.” He responds. Keeping my eyes firmly on his chest I say, “Thanks,” and go to turn around, but the hand on my shoulder tightens and my stomach starts to flutter for some stupid reason.

  He leans in to me, and I lift my head, unable to resist the closeness of his body. My nostrils flare as I breathe him in. All I can smell is rain, the smell of a thunderstorm, “Are you okay?” That voice of his is soft, wrapping around me like a cashmere sweater.

  Suddenly my throat, lips, it all feels dry. “Yeah.” I say, the tone of my voice softer than I expected it to be, “It’s just all a little much and everything is happening so fast. I mean, one day you hate me and the next you want me to…”

  “Whoa, slow it down. I’ve always wanted you,” he admits, for the second time. Peering up into his eyes I see nothing but honesty reflected back at me.

  “Well, I didn’t know that,” I say, chewing on my bottom lip.

  “Well, you do now. Come on, let’s get you dressed,” Sullivan says, taking my hand and leading me to his bedroom. I take a seat on the edge of the bed and watch him dig in the drawers of his dresser. He hands me a pair of sweatpants and socks which I put on right away.

  Once I’m dressed I feel a little better, less exposed and more put together, but not safe. These men have the power to strip me bare with a single look.

  “Tonight you’ll be sleeping with Banks,” he reminds me, and I swear I can sense a change in his demeanor. He runs a hand through his hair as if it’s a nervous tick.

  “Okay, if that’s what you want.” I murmur, coming to stand fully. Even though I wouldn’t consider myself short the brothers still tower over me like giants.

  “You aren’t ready for what I want yet, but you will be, soon, so very soon.” The seductiveness dripping from his words nearly has me ripping my clothes off again. Stupid hormones, stupid feelings. I have to stop thinking with my vagina.

  There’s this low chiming sound that resonates through the house. Sullivan’s eyebrows furrow together in confusion. Did someone just ring the doorbell? At ten o’clock at night?

  “Who the…” He grumbles, but doesn’t finish his question, he just turns around and heads for what I assume is the front door.

  He makes it about two steps into the hall before all hell breaks loose.

  Chapter Ten

  They say there is always a calm before the storm, but there was nothing calm about what was about to occur. Three distinct voices pierced the air all at once. All three of which I knew, but one that I haven’t heard in months. Not since the day I left home.

  No. It can’t be.

  Each of the voices are coated with venom as they carry through the house vibrating the walls angrily. Sullivan gets a runni
ng start but I’m not far behind him as we both bound down the hall and then the stairs towards Oliver and Banks. Panic creeps up my throat, and the closer that we get to the foyer the clearer the voices become.

  Oliver, Banks, and my dad. They’re arguing, words being thrown like punches through the air. “You have fucking balls coming here, after what you and your daughter did to my brother, my family.” My hearts racing out of my chest, the worst thoughts possible taking place in the forefront of mind.

  “Where is she?” His voice is like acid raining down on me.

  No. No. No.

  What the hell is he doing here?

  My feet don’t even touch the bottom step and my mother is on me, wrapping her slender arms around me, hugging me with all her might, and it seems as if she cares, as if she’s worried.

  “We’re here now, you’re safe,” she says into my hair with a relieved sigh her arms tightening around me, squeezing the life out of me.

  I’m so baffled by the whole situation that I almost forget to push my mother away, almost. I push her away with a gentle nudge, and she looks at me with a stunned expression like I’m supposed to welcome her with open arms. I couldn’t care less about her feelings though. I look past her to meet Oliver’s gaze. There is a fury stirring in his brown depths, eyes that just a short time ago had passion, lust, and need for me in them. But that’s long gone now, I can tell before I even open my mouth to ask what’s going on.

  “Get the fuck out of my house and take your lying daughter with you!” Oliver demands, his entire body vibrating as he takes a step forward to stand toe to toe with my father.

  Lying daughter? What the hell is going on?

  Confused, I look between my father, my mother, Oliver, and Banks. My head feels like it’s on a swivel.

  “What...” is all I get out before Banks starts yelling at me.

  “I can’t believe we fell for your lies again. You’re one hell of an actress, I’ll give you that,” his words drip with hate. The way his eyes rake over me with pure disgust leaves me feeling like a piece of garbage floating in the wind.

  The knife of betrayal slices through my skin cutting me so deep I’m sure I’ll never survive the injury. I haven’t lied about anything, haven’t done anything wrong.

  Shaking my head, I swing my gaze to Sullivan, maybe he’ll talk to me, try and figure this out, but I should know better. His confusion turns to hatred before my eyes. He won’t let me explain. He is making up his own story in his mind, and in that story, I’m the bad guy.

  I look at his face and take in his contorted features I know it’s over. His expression will haunt me for a long time, maybe even forever.

  Disappointment, despair and hate…so much hate, cloud his vision. No longer is he the man that gave me my first kiss, my first orgasm. Instead he’s the vile nightmare my parents always made his family out to be.

  “I…” I start but am cut off.

  “Shut up! Shut the fuck up and get out! You Lockwoods are nothing but garbage, liars, and thieves.” The words hurt, and my cheeks sting as if he’s slapped me. I’m so stunned that I can’t move. All I can do is stare back at him wondering if I will ever see the Sullivan I love again.

  “I didn’t…” Oliver takes a menacing step towards me and I take one backwards out of instinct, my body telling me to run. The look he’s giving me right now frightens me to the core. But not just because of the disgust in it, but because of the hate and the unforgiving rage. He wants to hurt me, make me feel the betrayal he’s feeling right now.

  “Touch my daughter again and I will have the police on your asses faster than you can call your pathetic parents,” my father sneers.

  Someone grabs onto my hand and starts pulling me towards the door. My legs move, but only because it’s walk or be dragged and as badly as I don’t want to leave, I don’t want to be dragged out of the house like some fool either. It’s obvious I’ve already done enough wrong, there is no point in standing here, begging for forgiveness. Tears sting my eyes, my heart thunders in my chest, and my stomach clenches with anxiety over the unknown.

  What is going on?

  I almost trip on the way out the door but right myself at the last minute. I blink rapidly like that might wake me up from this nightmare. I can’t help but flinch when the door behind us is slammed shut, the noise vibrating through me. I’m dumbfounded, completely at a loss as to what is going on. Why are my parents here? What did my father say to Oliver and Banks that made their opinion of me change so drastically?

  My mom drags me across the driveway to their car, rocks dig into the bottoms of my sock covered feet, digging deep enough to cut through, but I don’t feel the pain, if there is any. Nothing could hold a candle to the pain residing inside my chest. My father opens the back passenger door and my mom ushers me into the back seat. I’m broken, confused, a shell of myself.

  They get into the front seats and we speed off down the driveway, gravel kicking up under the tires.

  “The Bishops, Harlow? What were you thinking? Did you sleep with one of them? Oh god, please don’t tell me you let one of them touch you.” My mother whines, pure disgust in her tone. She hurls about ten more questions at me before I manage to find my voice, my thoughts swirling and panic rising.

  “What the hell just happened?”

  “We saved you from the biggest mistake of your life,” my father barks. “That’s what happened.” His blue eyes clash with mine in the rearview mirror.

  “What did you tell them?” I’m shaking now, fire filling my veins. I should’ve known. I didn’t hear the whole conversation but in that one-minute Sullivan and I were upstairs my parents had found a way to make the brothers hate me all over again.

  “That we know they had something to do with you almost dying last night and that we have plenty of people who were on that boat willing to testify to it.”

  Oh, my fucking, god. “You let them think I set them up… again. Didn’t you?”

  Instead of answering my question, my dad asks his own. “What if they had something to do with it?”

  No, they didn’t, they couldn’t. It wasn’t the brothers.

  “There is no way they did! None of the Bishops pushed me in. Oliver was the one who saved me. How do you even know about the boat?”

  “It doesn’t matter how we know. Did you really think we would let our only daughter go off on her own without watching over her?” My mother asks, and I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. I should’ve known better, known that someone would be watching me, reporting back to them with every little detail.

  “Yes, you should have! I thought I made myself clear the night I left, that I don’t want to see you again? If I wanted something to do with you I would have answered when you called me. I would’ve visited you over the summer.” I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve yelled at either one of my parents, but tonight it feels like déjà vu. I yelled the night I left and I’m yelling now, with good reason. How fucking dare they show up here, spouting lies, and interfering with my life?

  “Don’t be so dramatic, you don’t have to stick up for them anymore. I’ve spent my entire life fighting against that family and I refuse to let my daughter be corrupted by such evil bastards.” My eyes bulge out of my head at my father’s words.

  “Evil? You are the evil ones,” I grit through my clenched teeth. “Drop me off at the dorm and leave me the fuck alone!”

  “Harlow, language,” my father warns as if he holds some kind of hold over me still. This might have been the first time I ever cussed at my parents, but I couldn't care less. I’m so angry with them. I didn’t think I could hate them any more than I do, but once again they’ve proven me wrong. They’ve ruined everything by showing up here, everything.

  “I hate you,” I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest. It feels like my heart is breaking. I might sound like a hormonal teenage girl who is having a bad day, but I actually mean it. I hate my parents. I hate them for how they’ve raised me. I hate them fo
r deceiving me, for not letting me be who I want to be and for destroying everything I love.

  They took my image of people and distorted it. They twisted me, molded me into the person they wanted me to be. My entire world is crumbling, and I can’t manage to pick up the pieces fast enough. I feel like I’m speeding down a hill in a car without breaks. What am I going to do besides crash?

  ◆◆◆

  “Swear to me, Shelby, swear it wasn’t you,” I beg, looking deep into her eyes.

  “I swear, Harlow. It wasn’t me! I haven't seen or talked to your parents since before graduation. I promise, I didn’t tell them anything.” I watch her face closely and find nothing but sincerity. My shoulders sag in defeat. It wasn’t, Shelby. I've known her long enough to pick out a lie and she isn’t lying, but if it wasn't her, then who was it?

  Holding my head in my hands I say, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have accused you. It’s just my parents can be very manipulative. They could have you doing their dirty work without you even knowing it."

  “I know, and don’t feel bad you've been through a lot lately.” She places her hand on my shoulder, and I lift my head. She gives me a weak smile. “So give me the deets did you send your parents packing?”

  “I told them to leave me the hell alone or I would go to the police.” I didn’t want it to come to this. Even after everything, I hate that I actually threatened my parents, but I didn’t see any other way of protecting myself.

  I'd already moved hundreds of miles away, told them I never wanted to see them again and still they followed me, tried to control me, manipulate me. What else was I supposed to do to get away from them?

  “Police?” Shelby asks, baffled.

  “Remember when I told you how I overheard my parents talking about setting up the Bishops?”

  “Yeah, of course.”

  “Well, I didn’t tell you the whole story…”

  It was already late and a school night, that’s why I was sneaking down to the kitchen to get a snack. I was surprised when I heard voices coming from the living room because my parents usually went to bed early, but I didn’t think too much of it until I heard a third voice that I didn’t recognize.