Beautiful Defiance: Cambridge High Mayhem (Kiss Starter: Cambridge High Book 1)

by Ashlyn Mathews

  “I’m going to pick you up and put you in bed.”

  I slide my arm under her knees and pick her up. Inside the bedroom, I set her on the bed.

  “I’ll be right back. You need to take another dose of medicine.”

  I hurry to the kitchen and grab her bottle of meds and a glass of water. I return to the bedroom, shake out the pills, and hand them and the glass to her. She takes the antibiotics, follows it with a chug of water, and sets the glass on the nightstand.

  “You’ve done so much. How will I ever repay you?”

  She licks her lips. I stare at her mouth. Her eyes widen.

  “Anything but a kiss. You’re underserving of my first kiss, Seven.”

  A kiss isn’t what I’m after. The damn cut on her bottom lip pisses me off to no end. I hate the jerk who dared hurt her. I’m also pissed she won’t give me his name.

  “You should get some rest. If you need me for anything, anything at all, wake me, you hear?”

  “Thanks, Seven.”

  “Goodnight, Leigh.”

  “Night.”

  I get off the bed and walk out of the bedroom with my hands jammed in my pockets, her words looping through my head. You’re underserving of my first kiss.

  I’m underserving? Her first kiss? What she says brands my flesh. It hurts and leaves a lasting mark. I flop onto the couch and stare at the ceiling.

  I don’t need a kiss from Beautiful Defiance to consider us good and even for me saving her life. Or for her to give me the jerk’s name who hurt her. Some way, somehow, I’ll find the guy who ruined the perfection of her face.

  10

  SEVEN

  Three years ago . . .

  “Meisa, you’re a terrible swimmer.”

  “Am not.”

  “Are too.”

  “Go drown a cat, Seven.”

  “I’m not for cruelty toward animals, so no go. Anyway, is that the best you got?” I raise a brow. The gesture gets all the girls hot for some reason.

  “What would you have me say? Go kiss a hairy toad?” She flips her long black hair behind her shoulder.

  “Toads aren’t hairy. They’re just ugly.”

  “And gross.”

  “Bloated too,” I throw in for good measure. “They’re gas balls ready to explode.”

  She scrunches her face, and I can’t stop staring.

  Meisa Okamoto, the Japanese exchange student spending the summer with Rue and Riley’s family, is pretty. She also has a weird sense of humor, another turn-on for me.

  “I’ll show you I’m better than terrible.”

  She takes off her clothes, revealing a swimsuit. Damn her. She lured me to the dock with the promise of a kiss, but intended on doing something else.

  “Meisa, what the hell are you doing?”

  “Something I should’ve done the moment I caught you kissing another girl.” She balls her clothes and throws the pile at me. “Stop me if you dare, Seven.”

  She tips her chin and backs up toward the edge of the dock. She’s defying and daring me to stand by and witness her show of recklessness?

  “It’s too far to the other side,” I growl.

  “Dangerous too?”

  “Yes.” I snatch her clothes off the ground and toss them at her. “Get dressed. We’ll do something safe, like archery and mountain biking.”

  “I don’t want safe. You like dangerous, and I want you to like me.”

  “It doesn’t take defiance to do that. I already like you.”

  She’s at the edge of the dock. I look past her shoulders. There’s nothing for her to grab on to if she gets tired. There’s only open water. I stretch out my hand.

  “Come on, Meisa. You know I’m not the greatest swimmer.”

  “Admit it, you’re terrified of the water.”

  I am after I almost drowned. Or should I say, I did drown. That’s what my father said.

  He yanked me out of the lake and performed CPR after I swung off a rope swing and then passed out when I bore down for the impact. Yeah, it’s embarrassing as fuck knowing that the Valsalva maneuver, as the medical professionals called it, killed my showing off to a bunch of girls, and killed me, too, before Dad saved my life.

  “I’m not admitting shit. But I will if you get your clothes back on and stop with this defiance crap of yours. The counselors gave us explicit orders to stay away from the water unless they’re out here too.”

  “Following the rules is cowardice and boring.”

  “If it keeps you alive, then I’d rather you stick with being less reckless and courageous.”

  “I’m reckless and courageous?” Her face lights up.

  “That’s not what I mean. You’re putting words in my mouth.”

  “Go eat crow, Seven.”

  “I will after you drop the idea of ever swimming to the other side of the lake. Promise?”

  I’ll eat crow. Eat disgusting Brussels sprouts. Eat any goddamn vegetable my mother sets in front of me. I’ll do anything to get Meisa’s promise.

  “No can do. I’ll wave to you from the other side.”

  She launches herself backward and hits the water with a loud splash. I hurry to the edge of the dock. Meisa glides through the water backward. The sun’s out, but the lake is surrounded by large and tall trees. The shade drops the temperature of the water to ice cold.

  “Meisa, get your ass back here,” I call out to her.

  She flips me the bird.

  Grinding my teeth, I sprint to the boathouse at the other end of the dock. I’m not a great swimmer, but I can float my way to her. I grab a life jacket and strap it on, hurrying back to the edge of the dock. I look for Meisa’s dark head of hair. I don’t see her. Where the hell is she? I call out to her again. Nothing.

  My scream of terror lodges in my throat. My gut knots. I dive in after her. My fists punch the water. My legs kick in and out. The life jacket keeps me afloat, but the weight of my wet clothes drags me down.

  I swim harder and faster until I’m in the middle of the lake. I spin around in circles, searching for a sign of Meisa. Small hands circle my ankles and drag me underwater. Down. Down. Down.

  It’s pitch black. The hands let go. A face floats in front of me. Wisps of long black hair. Eyes wide open. Lifeless amber eyes. Meisa.

  “No! No! Don’t die on me. Please. No.” I clasp her face in my palms. Press my mouth on hers. “Breathe, damn it. Breathe.”

  Life shines back in her eyes. Her body lights up in this soft glow. She smiles. “Seven. It’s okay. I’m okay.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I didn’t save you in time.”

  “You did save me. Thank you, Seven.”

  She leans in and presses her lips to mine. I close my eyes. This isn’t real. Meisa is dead, and nothing, including a different ending to my nightmare, will bring her back to life.

  11

  SEVEN

  I wake up to a weight on my body and a curtain of hair on my face. When the hell did Leigh make her way from the bedroom to the couch? Fuck, did she need something and I was deep in my nightmare?

  Doesn’t matter. What matters is she’s safely in my arms. I swipe aside her hair, and not wanting to wake her, I adjust her body so that she’s closer to the back cushions rather than the edge of the couch, and her cheek is resting in the crook of my neck. I’m not stealthy enough.

  Her eyes flutter open, and covering her yawn, she locks her gaze on mine.

  “What time is it?”

  “Good morning to you too.”

  “Seven.”

  “Early,” I say.

  “What day is it?”

  “A school day.”

  “Shit.”

  “I second that.” I slide my arm across her lower back, wanting to stay in this position for as long as possible.

  Leigh has other ideas. Of course she does. She peels my arm off her back and rolls off me and onto the floor. She reaches for her cellphone on the coffee table and glances at the screen.

  �
��Five-thirty. I’ll make the bus.”

  “Why when you can climb back on top of me, we can snooze for awhile longer, and I’ll drive us to school?”

  “Be seen with you? Uh-uh.”

  She stands, and sliding her fingers in her hair, she shakes out the strands, then combs her fingers through them.

  “What’s wrong with being seen with me?”

  “One, your entourage of girls will come after me, harassing me to no end. Two, Thomas gave me strict orders to stay away from you. Something to do with your dad disliking gold diggers and any girl without pedigree is seen as one. And three, me and you are not friends. We already agreed on that, remember?”

  Yeah, I see her points. They’re valid except the one about my dad. A girl started that rumor after I didn’t return her interest. Girls can be fickle that way.

  “Leigh, I saved your life. You owe me.”

  “Are you guilt-tripping me into being your friend?”

  “Fuck sakes, no. I’m good with us being frenemies.”

  “Jesus, how do you know that word? Never mind, we are more enemies than friends.”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  “That’s not convincing, Seven. Pinky swear.”

  “I’m not one of your girlfriends, Leigh.” I rise off the couch and stand.

  “No, duh. You have something between your legs they don’t have.”

  I roll my eyes. Jesus H. Christ, I rolled my goddamn eyes like I’m an exasperated girl. When I get a chance, I better check and make sure I have a dick. I’m beginning to think being around Leigh is reducing me to being a pansy-ass pussy.

  “Pinky swear,” she says.

  “Negatory that. My word is good.”

  “Not for me. How about a handshake or a fist bump?”

  “Uh-uh. We do something reserved for us.”

  Her eyes narrow. “What exactly would that be?”

  “You kiss the right corner of my mouth, and I kiss your left.”

  “From what vantage point? Me looking at you? That would make your right my left. Or am I kissing what is your right if I were to stand behind you?”

  She smirks.

  This girl and her smart-assery.

  I throw my hands in the air. “Choose a side, Leigh. How about that?”

  “Sure. Less thinking involved.”

  No shit. I’m already thinking long and hard on what her lips will feel like on my skin.

  “Okay, close your eyes, Seven.”

  I shake my head. Stroke my chin. Tsk for good measure. “Sorry, Defiance, but I have a say in how this goes down, and my say is my eyes stay open. Now if you prefer to close yours—”

  “Nope.”

  “We’re agreeing?”

  “Apparently?” She shrugs.

  I smile, liking too much that we’re on the same wavelength.

  “Do it already so I can give you a chaste-as-fuck peck.”

  “So eloquent.” She steps closer. “So romantic.” Crowds my space. “So utterly Seven.”

  She stands on the tips of her toes, and like a stupid insect caught in the web of the wily spider, I watch her face come closer to mine, my heart ratcheting against my ribcage and my mouth going dry.

  Her lips connect with the flesh at the corner of my mouth. I shouldn’t be getting off on how soft her lips are on a part of me that doesn’t get any action. I prefer a girl’s mouth on other parts of my body. But electric heat zings up and down my body and settles in my crotch. A groan slips from me.

  Leigh lingers, and another groan starts at my core, travels to my chest, and threatens to edge out from between my clenched jaw. Leigh’s lips, soft like cotton, are killing me softly. Not to mention the cut on her bottom lip intensifies the experience, lending a roughness to the softness, and it gets me damn hard.

  My fingers itch to grasp her by the waist and yank her against the bulge in my pants. Her lips still on my skin, she raises a brow, daring me to go with the dangerous thought.

  We’re not doing this to take this situation of ours from frenemies to friend zone to something dumb like boyfriend-girlfriend in two seconds flat. We’re doing this because my word isn’t good enough for Beautiful Defiance. I’ll show her which one of us calls the shots around here.

  I step back and swipe my palms on my jeans. Yeah, I’m not turned on by that closed-mouth kiss. Not even a little bit.

  “My turn.”

  “Do you mind if we sit? I’m worn out.” Shaky smile from her.

  “Aw, shit, your cut and the pneumonia. I’m sorry, Leigh. It was dumb of me to forget.”

  “If it makes you feel better, I forget stuff when you’re around.”

  That so?

  How about I help her forget catching the bus?

  She sits on the couch. I grab a spot next to her. Turning into her is awkward. I propose a dangerous idea. A way of punishing her for saying something that strips away another layer of armor over my heart.

  “Straddle you?”

  “Yeah. Look, I’m not happy about it either, but one kink in my back and I could be out for the season. You don’t want everyone mad at you because you kinked my back, do you, Leigh?”

  “Seriously?” She narrows her eyes. “God, Seven, you don’t ask for much, do you?”

  I shrug. “Hey, I want us to be safe.”

  “Straddling you is the very definition of unsafe.” She chews on her bottom lip.

  “Scared?” I lean into her.

  “No!”

  “Then what’s the problem, Defiance?”

  Tipping her chin at me, she climbs onto my lap and straddles my thighs.

  “Happy?”

  “Mmm, hell yeah.”

  “Wipe the grin off your face, Seven.”

  “I will if you tip my way. Remember, we don’t want to kink my back.”

  She rolls her eyes but leans forward. “You know, I feel sorry for whichever girl makes the mistake of falling for you. You’re a pain in the ass.”

  “Ditto for you.”

  Another eyeroll from her. I zone in on the corner of her mouth. She’s not near enough. I cup the back of her head and bring her closer. She’s so close, I see her pupils dilating. Such clear amber eyes. And those full red lips.

  “Leigh.” My voice is husky, low.

  The package in my pants grows. Does she feel me? Fuck yeah, she does. Her eyes widen. Her lips part. Satisfaction courses through me. She’s as affected by me as I am by her. I grasp her hips and will her with my mind for her to grind on me. She’s wearing her white lace-trimmed undies.

  “Are you wet, Leigh?”

  “That’s none of your business.”

  Before the school year is through, I plan on making it my business.

  “Do it already, Seven. I have a bus to catch.”

  I would, but I like this slow burn between us.

  “You should’ve taken me for my word. We wouldn’t be in this precarious position.”

  “Such a big word from the jock who’s failing two of his classes.”

  “How—”

  “I have my ways.”

  “Do tell?”

  “Why do you need to know?”

  “I’d like to punch the face of the person who told you, that’s why. Failing anything is embarrassing as fuck.”

  “No one snitched on you. When I went looking for your locker combo, I might’ve ‘stumbled’ onto your grades.”

  She air-quoted “stumbled.” Stumbled my ass. She went looking for something to hold over my head in case she couldn’t, one, steal the battery from my truck and two, booby trap my locker. Leigh is a piece of work, and the way her mind works is turning me the fuck on.

  “You are ruthless.”

  “How so?”

  I call her out.

  Her amber eyes sparkle. “Caught. Will ruthless be your next nickname for me?”

  “Hell no, I won’t give you the satisfaction.”

  “Darn.”

  Small smile from her, and damn it, she is beautiful.

&nb
sp; I shift my pelvis upward the same time she rolls her hips. Her heat cocoons my dick. I groan.

  “Leigh, fuck.”

  “Sorry, big guy, but we’re not going there.”

  My big guy twitches in my pants. I groan, again. “Brutal. You. Are. Brutal.”

  She laughs. “Next move is yours to make.”

  I dig my fingers into her skin. Open my mouth. She shakes her head. “Keep to the kiss. Chaste. No tongue action.”

  Damn, and here I thought I could tongue that sinful corner. I move my hands from her hips to the sides of her face. My eyes open, I press my mouth on the corner of hers. Her skin is soft. Warm. Smooth. I inhale. Flowers and vanilla. Sweet. I could eat her up. Eat her out. Bury my nose in the curve of her neck. Bury my face against her pussy. She’d be wet on my face. Sweet on my tongue.

  That’s what I imagine Leigh would be like and taste like. I’ve never gone down on a girl, but for Leigh to feel all sorts of good, I’ll do it.

  Except Leigh’s not a casual hookup type of girl. She’s after a relationship, and I’m not looking for a girlfriend. Casual is all I’ll offer a girl. I drop my palms from her face and sink back into the couch.

  “Get cleaned up. Get something in your stomach for your meds.”

  She gets up off my lap. Thank fuck. I was seriously rethinking the casual-relationship thing during my speech.

  Leigh stands. Sways. I lurch up and clasp on to her waist. “Hey, there. No need to hurry. We have more than enough time.”

  “I’m not riding in with you.”

  “I saved your life. You owe me. Owing me is getting a ride from me. Easy as pie.”

  “Easy isn’t what I need. We agreed on that.”

  “You’re sick.”

  “I’m better.”

  She puts her hands on my chest and pushes. I don’t budge.

  “Leigh.”

  “Don’t, Seven. I don’t need your pity or your mercy.”

  “Then I won’t give it, but it doesn’t take away the obvious. You owe me for saving your life.”

  Hard glint in her amber eyes. Locking of her jaw.

  “Like I’ve said before, I’m not in the business of owing anyone anything.”

  She marches to her bedroom and returns with a black plastic bag in her hands.