The Eastwood Series

by M. E. Clayton

  Sally shrugged a shoulder. “Last time I talked with him, he said this year’s going to be frantic because baseball is going to take up a lot.” Eastwood was a sports town and Eastwood High was a sports school. Athletes were revered as gods and senior year was the worst.

  “Last time you talked to him?”

  She straightened from leaning against the locker. “We’ve texted a few times over the weekend, but I haven’t seen him.” She gave me a tight smile. “Baseball.”

  Things were getting depressing, so I said, “I’ll walk you to English since the Science building is right next door.” Students were everywhere, getting to class, but no one was really paying us any mind.

  Sally smiled. “Sounds like a plan.” However, we weren’t five steps into our destination when a swoosh of energy slammed us from behind and Sally was being lifted off the ground and twirled around.

  I stepped back and smiled as Dallas started peppering Sally’s face with a million kisses. “God, I missed you,” he said between kisses.

  Sally started laughing. “Put me down, Dallas.”

  He did but he kept his arm around her waist. “I’m going to be swamped this week, but there’s no way I’m not walking you to your first class on the first day of school, Sal.”

  I could feel goosebumps break out all over my body. Tears were threatening to erupt, too. Sally had been worried that Dallas would be embarrassed to date her when he could have any girl he wanted with his good looks, and here he was, claiming her in front of everyone on the first day of school.

  Awe, young love.

  “You don’t have to-” Her protest was cut off when Dallas took her face in his hands and kissed her like he absolutely adored her. Any reservations I had about him were quickly diminishing.

  When he was done loving on her, he turned to me. “Where are we dropping you off at, Davis?”

  I grinned. “Nowhere,” I replied. “I know my way to Science.”

  Dallas rolled his eyes and herded us towards the Science building. “You ladies make it so hard to be chivalrous these days,” he grumbled.

  I barked out a laugh. “Oh, I’m sorry. I hadn’t realized that was what you were trying to do. I thought you were just trying to get rid of me, so you could continue to maul your girlfriend.”

  Dallas’ grin was positively wicked. “I have no problem mauling my girlfriend in front of an audience.”

  “Dallas!” Sally scolded. “Behave.”

  He winked at me, and I blushed.

  When we got to my classroom, I turned around and thanked them for the escort. Dallas laughed and Sally told me she’d meet me at my locker to head over to second period together. After bidding them a farewell, I headed into Science/Biology and took one of the lab stations in the back of the class. I preferred them to the front of the class because it was easier to concentrate and have privacy in the back of the class.

  All labs were equipped with lab stations that accompanied two instead of desks. This guaranteed that every student would have a partner for projects and lab experiments. The school did it’s best to make sure every laboratory class had an even number of students in its classes. And even though everybody knew the first day of school was for introductions only, I still rummaged through my backpack to grab a pen and notebook. My G.P.A. wasn’t created from magic after all.

  As I pulled my notebook out, a shadow crossed over and silently prayed that whoever was sitting with me took school as seriously as I did. My sophomore year, I had been paired up with a stereotypical dumb jock who had done nothing to hold up his end of our grade. Luckily, I was smart enough not to need him. But I had still resented having to do all the work while he had gotten a free pass because of his jock status at Eastwood.

  When I straightened to look at my lab partner, I almost slid off my stool.

  No. Freakin’. Way.

  Staring down at me were a pair of hazel eyes I could draw from memory because that’s how deeply I had gazed into them all night.

  Duke goddamn Maddox.

  Chapter 2

  Duke~

  I wasn’t prone to violence much. All our lives, I’ve been told I was the easy-going Maddox, while Samson was the brooding Maddox.

  People weren’t wrong.

  While our parents weren’t bad, per se, they had been a bit neglectful and Samson had taken on the job of raising me, even if we weren’t even an entire year apart. Samson had always taken on the serious role, and that had allowed me to have an easier life. I also knew it was the reason he was going to worry about me now that he was off at college. No matter how many times I had tried to assure him that I’d be fine, he was still my B.B. I had problems saying the words ‘big brother’ when I was little.

  So, back to not being prone to violence. The only times I’ve succumbed to my violent urges were when we were playing a game against our rival school, Ridgeview, or when I’ve had to defend the people closest to me. I wasn’t afraid to throw my fists, but it wasn’t anything I went looking for.

  But staring down at the blue-eye beauty looking up at me like I was the Antichrist, I wanted to throttle the fuck out of her.

  Willow Davis.

  I’ve been chasing this girl all summer long and I had sent up a silent prayer to Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior, when I had spotted her sitting in the back as I walked into first period.

  She couldn’t fucking run now.

  Willow had made the mistake of taking the seat closest to the window, so as I sat my ass down in the empty chair next to hers, she’d have to make it past me to escape.

  And that wasn’t happening.

  Willow’s eyes widened behind her blue-framed glasses. “What are you doing?”

  I arched a brow. “Taking my seat.”

  Her eyes darted around like a cornered animal, searching for another empty chair, no doubt. “Uh…okay,” she mumbled as she began stuffing her notebook back into her backpack. She was packing up to go sit somewhere else.

  That violence I wasn’t prone to just flared tenfold.

  I leaned in, so that only she could hear me. “Willow, if you don’t want me announcing to the entire school that I had the privilege of having your virgin blood paint my cock, I suggest you sit the fuck back down, now.” Her entire body froze in shock, but I was past the point of caring about her delicate sensibilities.

  Michael Bellows’ graduation party had been one for the ages, and not because the entire school had been there, and my people had graduated.

  No.

  That night had burned in the back of my mind for fucking months because it was the first time I’d ever taken a virgin and the virgin in question had ghosted me like I’d given her syphilis. I didn’t have her number and Willow had blocked me from all her social media platforms. Even when I had reached out to her best friend, Sally Cooper, I had still been stonewalled. I was also enlightened by how many people had respect for the little minx, because every time I thought I was close to getting her phone number, I was told it didn’t feel right giving out her phone number without asking her first.

  I. Had. Been. Pissed. All. Summer.

  Even Samson had picked up on my mood, but I had just brushed it off, and he thought it was because they were all leaving me. However, I wasn’t that dependent on my brother and friends. I felt their absence to the bone, but I had plenty to do and plenty of other people to keep me company.

  Being the star shortstop of the Eastwood Tigers, I was popular and practically revered as a god by the school and students. Where Samson had excelled at football enough to get him a full ride to the top universities in the nation, I excelled at baseball. It wasn’t guaranteed, but where Samson was headed off to the NFL, my destination was the MLB.

  My family had money as my dad, Samson Sr., was the founder and CEO of Samson Industries. We had more money than sense, but it allowed my mom, Clara, the freedom to follow my father everywhere he went. Not sure if it was a mutual thing or not, but I did know that Samson Maddox Sr. loved his wife in a way that prob
ably wasn’t healthy, and he made sure Mom was with him wherever he was. Most people thought it was sweet, but his obsession with her led way to a lot of absent parenting on their end. Last year, though, B.B. had spoken to him about that neglect and my parents have seemed to be doing a lot better lately.

  The only issue in my life now was the blonde-haired, blue-eyed ex-virgin staring at me with wide eyes.

  My life’s plan was simple. I was going to rock my final year of school, and then head on to UNC, Harvard, Stanford, or UCLA to get my college degree and play baseball. My backup plan was getting a degree in sports media if I wasn’t drafted, and those four school were my best choice. I wasn’t sure I had the grades for Harvard, but my G.P.A. was good enough for consideration. Besides, it was my skill with a bat that was going to stand out more than my grades.

  My plan was foolproof except for the little menace sitting next to me. My life was entertaining, but never distracting. However, Willow Davis was distracting the hell out of me, and she’s been doing it all summer long.

  “What?” she hissed.

  “And you’re going to unblock me from all your shit,” I commanded, not caring that I was running roughshod over this girl when I had no right.

  She reared back and her head swiveled to check if anyone was eavesdropping on our conversation. When she was satisfied no one was, she leaned back in. “Are you blackmailing me?” she asked incredulously.

  Hell fucking yes, I was blackmailing her.

  It was more than just that I’d never taken a virgin. Even though we didn’t run in the same circles, Willow’s always stood out. So, when she had assured me she wasn’t drunk that night of the party, I had made my move.

  However, what had truly surprised me that night was how she let me lead her to one of the empty bedrooms in Michael’s house. I had expected some kissing and maybe some tit action, but I had never imagined Willow Davis would let me inside her so casually. And while I may have been bordering on drunk when I first kissed her, lust and longing had quickly sobered me up, and I was fully aware when I had rolled the condom on my dick and entered her. She had been the tightest thing to ever wrap around my dick, but I had just figured she had a minimal number of sexual encounters. I had never expected to be wiping her virgin’s blood from the base of my cock the next morning. Even though I had taken her twice, the room had been dark, and I had mistakenly taken the blood for her release, because the girl had cum on me. Three times, might I add.

  But then, I had made the mistake of passing out after the second time, and she had snuck out like a cheating spouse, and I’ve been livid ever since. I had wanted more with her, and I still wanted more.

  I wanted Willow fucking Davis.

  “Call it what you want, but you’re going to be my lab partner and you’re going to unblock me from all your social media.” And then another though occurred to me. “And you’re going to tell Sally Cooper to unblock me, too. Or else I’m going to Dallas Legend with our drama.” Dallas and I have played baseball together since our freshman year. I considered him a friend and I knew he recently started dating Sally Cooper over the summer.

  Willow looked nonplussed.

  She sat there, frozen with bewilderment.

  Finally, snapping out of her stupor, she asked, “Why?”

  “Why, what?” I bit out.

  “Why are you doing this?” she replied. “Why are you insisting on…this?”

  I reached out and grabbed her chin in between my fingers. “Because I’m not done with you,” I told her truthfully. Her eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head and splatter against the lenses in her glasses. “If you think blocking me and avoiding me all summer was going to work, I got news for you; it didn’t.”

  “Duke-”

  My dick twitched and my nostrils flared in unspent craving at the way my name fell from her lips. She had moaned, whimpered, and screamed it plenty when I had been inside her that night, and I was pretty sure I’d never get tired of hearing her say it.

  I cut her off whatever protest she’d been about to make. “Get to unblocking me, Willow,” I told her.

  “You’re insane,” she whispered.

  Maybe.

  I could admit I haven’t felt this way about a girl since I had stupidly and naively fallen for Lilly Montague all those years ago, but I wasn’t going to ignore the feeling. And whatever it was about Willow Davis that had me tied up in knots, I wasn’t letting her off the hook until I figured it out.

  Or she killed me.

  Chapter 3

  Willow~

  “Willow, you’re scaring me,” Sally whispered as we sat in the back of our American History class.

  The entire walk over, she had been on cloud nine over Dallas not turning out to be a douchebag, she hadn’t noticed my shock right away. But as we found our seats and I just sat down, staring blankly out into the world, Sally finally started to get worried.

  Being the first day of school, none of the teachers cared if we were paying attention or not as they gave their introductory to their class. It’d be our asses later if we hadn’t been paying attention, though.

  I looked over at her, and her eyes widened at the despair I’m sure was scrawled all over my face. “I have something to tell you,” I mumbled unhappily.

  Sally leaned in. “Oh, God,” she whispered-cried. “You’re not sick or something, are you?”

  I wanted to laugh.

  Sick.

  That was the perfect adjective to describe what I was feeling; I was feeling sick.

  Sick to my freakin’ stomach.

  I had never imagined I’d have first period with Duke Maddox, where he’d become my lab partner. And I sure as hell never imagined our first meeting since that night at Michael’s would end in threats of violence and blackmail.

  I mean, really?

  Not only did he threaten to broadcast my secret, he told me if he wasn’t added to all my social media accounts by the end of the day, he would strangle me in the Eastwood parking lot and not care who saw. And for the first time in all my academic life, I had spent the first day of school sitting in first period on my phone, unblocking Duke Maddox from all my social media accounts. It had given me a chance to ignore him for the rest of the class, but that had been only a minor victory.

  “No, I’m not sick,” I assured her. “Well, I mean…I’m not dying or anything like that.”

  “Then what’s going on?”

  I hated how I was going to hurt her feelings with what I was about to say. I knew Sally was still a virgin, but I also knew that had she lost it to Dallas over the summer, she would have told me. She wouldn’t have hesitated. But I suppose the difference was that I gave mine away to a boy I took advantage of, while she’d be giving hers up to her boyfriend. She had more reasons to be proud of her moment when the time comes.

  “Do you remember Michael Bellows’ graduation party?” I whispered.

  Sally nodded. “Yeah. It sucked because I had to leave early because I had gotten sick,” she recollected

  “Yeah…well…”

  Her pretty face paled. “Oh, God,” she murmured. “Did something happen to you at that party? Did someone hurt you? Is that why you’ve been off all summer?” Before I could answer, she continued, “I knew I shouldn’t have left you there alone.”

  “No,” I jumped in. “No, no, no, Sally. No one hurt me. I promise.”

  I watched her shoulders relax and her face soften. “Are you sure?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I promise.”

  She took a deep breath, calming herself after her brain had been assaulted with all the dark images her mind took her to. “Okay. So, then, what’s going on?”

  “Well…I ran into Duke Maddox that night,” I started to admit. “I mean, like, I literally crashed into the boy.”

  She winced. Sally knew I wasn’t comfortable around popular people. “Oh,” she muttered.

  My wince matched hers. “Right? Anyway, when he turned around to see who was trying to mow
him down, he saw it was me and…uh…”

  Her brows shot up. “If he was a dick, I will break all ten of his fingers and ruin his baseball future,” she threatened, and I loved her for it. Granted, ruining someone’s life for just being mean to someone seemed rather extreme, but I wasn’t going to argue. Sally was fiercely loyal to the people she loved.

  I shook my head. “No. He wasn’t mean.”

  She cocked her head. Now she looked confused. “So…what happened?”

  “He…he kissed me,” I grimaced.

  “He what?” she hissed in surprise.

  I nodded. “It gets worse,” I admitted.

  Her light brown eyes blinked in confusion. “Worse? Getting kissed by Duke freakin’ Maddox is a bad thing?” She shook her head. “I’m confused, Willow.”

  “Sally, I took advantage of him,” I said, finally confessing my deep, dark secret to her.

  She still looked confused. “How? You just said he kissed you.”

  “Yeah, but he was drunk, Sally,” I informed her. “He was drunk and didn’t know who he was kissing.”

  Her head jerked and her brows pinched. “What?” Her hands started flailing about. “Wait. Hold up,” she said. “Who did he think he was kissing if he didn’t know it was you?”

  “Did everyone get that?” Mrs. Hill asked, and I wanted to groan and thump my head against the desk.

  Instead, I told Sally, “I’ll tell you everything at break, okay?”

  She gave me a confused nod, but we spent the rest of second period doing our best to listen to what Mrs. Hill had to say. But as soon as the bell rang, Sally had me by the arm and was dragging me to the east end of the English building for some privacy.

  Once she satisfied with our level of privacy, she demanded, “Okay, spill. Who did he think he was kissing if he didn’t know he was kissing you?”

  I let out a frustrated huff. “I meant…he knew it was me, but, come on, Sal. You know Duke Maddox would never kiss me sober.”