by Carly White
“I do, I just got sidetracked.”
Chris smiled big. “What has you so sidetracked?”
She knew that he knew, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of hearing it. “I have a big test next class and I need to keep my grades up is all. It’s a lot of work and I was never good at the programming classes. I don’t know how I am going to fit you into that one. We have assigned computers and it’s a pretty small class.”
“Don’t worry. I think I have had enough lessons today. I will meet you after class.”
“Are you really going to follow me around everywhere while you are here?”
“Well not everywhere, but I want to stay close. I wouldn’t be here if James hadn’t asked me and you know he is not one to take threats lightly. I just got back out, so he must know something that I don’t know. It will be over soon and you can go back to doing, whatever it is that you do.”
“Good. The sooner, the better.” Cassie looked down for a moment as she moved through the double glass doors to Mel Roy’s on 3rd. She went there a lot. Cassie never being one to cook and she waved to the waitress and went to the small corner booth that she used whenever it was open. It had a great view of the small park across the street.
“What’s good?”
“All of it. They have good BLTs that I am sure you will like.” He had always been crazy for them before he went in and by the way his face lit up, she was sure that he still was.
“Yes, that is what I will have. Order for me while I go make a call in the back.”
“The back? What does that even mean?”
Chris shrugged. “I will be back there. I need to get this and I don’t want people listening in. That’s what it means Cass. I swear sometimes you act like you don’t know how this works.”
She watched him go and then ordered like he wanted. He was gruff since their kiss or maybe she was looking into his tone more. Cassie still did not want a babysitter, but she couldn’t think of a sexier one. Chris was brash and rude, but the man was built like an inked god. It was hard not to notice the way people looked at him, women in particular around there that weren’t used to the rugged city type. He stood out everywhere they had been and with all the attention he was getting, it just made it harder for her to deal with it.
When he came back the food was already on the table and starting to get cold. Something was wrong, but true to his nature, he didn’t want to talk about it.
“So are you going to be leaving soon?”
“Not yet Cass. What is it that you want to do so badly, that you want me out of here?”
“Nothing. There are a few parties I wanted to go to. There is one tonight at Beta Phi, but there is no way I am going with you.”
“Why?”
Cassie could think of a million reasons, but none of them she could say out loud. She had a date and with Chris so close to her brother, she knew he was never going to allow it. James didn’t want her dating anyone and if he knew Bryan, there was little doubt that he would hate him. Bryan was everything that Chris and James were not.
“I just need some time alone.”
“I am letting you go to class by yourself.”
“That’s because you don’t want to go. I am not taking you to a party to embarrass me.”
Chris just shook his head no like it was the end of the discussion. It sure felt like it to. They ate the rest of the meal in silence and took off on their own directions afterwards. Cassie figured that he would pop up later that evening and when Bryan called her, she told him that something had come up and that she might be a little late. She would be there, but maybe not as soon as she had hoped. Cassie had to figure out how to shake Chris so they could go out. Cassie had liked him from her first year and even though he was a professor, she couldn’t wait.
“Alright Cassie, I will talk to you later. Call me before you leave. I can’t wait to see you.”
Chapter 7
Cassie watched the clock through her class. Her mind alternated from the kiss from Chris and Bryan, who was hopefully going to take her mind off of the former. She had already heard rumors about Karen and her new ‘hot’ boyfriend, so her mind was settling more on Bryan by the end of the class. Hoping that he wouldn’t be there, she groaned inwardly when he was waiting patiently for her.
“I can’t believe you are really going to do this. Isn’t it enough that you are staying at my house? How about you go get some gang-whatever stuff done and you let me go to that party?”
He shook his head no again and she glared at him, but that didn’t seem to faze him either. Taking a deep breath as they got into her car, she asked him again nicer. She wanted to go bad and Cassie wanted to see Bryan. They had never been intimate, but with the way her body was feeling, it was all she could think about.
“I wish I could, but I can’t. I have a duty to you and I gave your brother my word that nothing would happen to you.”
“Nothing will. It’s just a party. Come on Chris. I am sure you are sick of babysitting me already.”
“It hasn’t been so bad Cassie. Besides I just talked to James and some stuff has went down so he was calling to make sure you were alright and to keep you in my sight.”
“Why do you even listen to him? I never got it.”
“Your dad saved me years ago and I have loyalty. You guys are like family.”
Cassie didn’t like the sound of that. She had been having less sisterly feelings and thoughts about him. She wondered if that was what he thought of her. Did he look at her like his sister? “Well I have never kissed family like that before.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, well on the loyalty part of it, you guys are like family.”
“And the other part?”
He looked towards her, his dark eyes held something not brotherly at all for a moment before he looked back at the road. “You are hot as shit Cassie, you know that, but you are still off-limits to me. If I could, I would .”
“Wow, well thanks.” Cass’s face started to get red. She had not been expecting such an answer, though at second thought she should have. Chris was many things, but he never lied to her. If anything, he was always to blunt with all things. He just told it as it was and then left her to deal with it. He had lied about Karen though. Not for long, but he had withheld that information at first.
“You seem surprised.”
“I am.”
“You know how I feel about blondes. When I first came home, I spotted you in the crowd. I would have never thought it was you.”
“So you like the blonde hair huh? You should see the roots. I just wanted a change. Everyone knew me as James’ redheaded sister. So when I came up here, I dyed it and no one knew who I was. If you guys start slinging up here, that is going to change.”
Chris hadn’t thought about that and he could see her need to distance herself from it all. She wanted to get into social work and having that kind of background, could make it hard. “No one will know who we are. I didn’t bring my bike and jacket for that reason. That is why I am driving a four-door sedan with you.”
“Yeah, but they know you were my boyfriend.”
“You shouldn’t have said that.”
“Don’t I know that now. If I would have known you were going to bang my roommate, I wouldn’t have.”
“You act like you don’t know me at all.”
Cass sighed and looked out the window. “Maybe I had hoped you would have changed by now.”
He looked over at her for a moment. She had the most wistful sigh to her voice and it made Chris wonder if she wanted what he wanted. It could never happen though.
“Men like me never change Cass, sorry.”
***
Cassie waited until Chris was asleep. She gave him back the bed with the excuse that she felt bad how uncomfortable he had looked that morning. Chris was tired and he was asleep before nine thirty. Getting up slowly from the couch, she heard it groan under her weight and she looked back at the bed with apprehension. “Where a
re you going?”
“To go take a shower. Try not to fall into someone else’s bed while I am gone.”
“Ha ha.”
She grabbed her towel and a change of clothes like she was going where she said. Chris turned over and she stopped to take in the bare expanse of his back and hip. The sheet was pulled down to his waist and she had the urge to pull it down and see what he was wearing underneath. Shaking her head of the thoughts, she left the room. Cass couldn’t have him, but she could have Bryan. Chris had just gotten her hot and bothered for him.
Walking passed the bathroom she stuck her stuff inside and kept going down the hall to the stairs. She passed Karen on the way out and wanted to slap the smug look off of her face. “Don’t you dare go in there Karen. I won’t let it go again.”
Karen looked at her surprised that she knew. Cass had a reputation of losing her cool and the woman backed up slightly without thinking. “Yeah I know. Don’t think you are special. He told me all about it.”
Her eyes were big and Cassie just smiled back at her before she left. She didn’t have any misgivings about Karen, she never had liked her. It was Chris she trusted not to do it again before her. Women were far less loyal than their male counterparts.
Calling Bryan as she was leaving, he told her he was still at the party and that she should come down. It wasn’t the first time the two had went out, but it was going to be the first time they were to get intimate. Cassie’s body needed something more and since she couldn’t have what she wanted, she was going to have to make due.
Bryan wasn’t so bad. He had been all she could think of until a day ago when Chris came back into town and once again turned her life upside down. Bryan was the opposite of Chris. He talked softly and always said the right thing. Cass couldn’t see him saying or doing the things that she knew Chris did. It was different in a way that Bryan seemed to be more of a man. He wasn’t as muscular as Chris, but she was sure that he would be enough under his button down shirt.
When she got to the frat party, it didn’t take much to spot the teacher in the mix, even though he was trying to blend in. She smiled at him from across the room and he started towards her.
“I was starting to think that you were not going to make it.”
He moved in to kiss her, his lips soft and Cass couldn’t help but notice the difference. The kiss was sweet and there was no hard pull to his hard body. “Why don’t we go somewhere where we will have a little privacy?”
“Yes, that sounds good.”
“First let’s get you a drink though.”
Cassie smiled and watched him go to the kitchen to get them some drinks. She waved to a couple girls she knew from school and waited for him to get back. It was loud and she was more than happy to go upstairs to one of the bedrooms when he came back with some kind of mixed drink. It tasted funny and she asked him what it was. Bryan looked almost offended, so she drank some more to appease him. Her body just needed release, to take her needs out on someone.
She followed him up the stairs and walked in on two couples before they found a bedroom that was empty. He immediately pulled her to the bed. Cassie kissed him again, but when his kisses became more forceful, she pushed him back. “Wait Bryan. Can we just slow down for a minute?”
A moment of irritation ran through him before he smiled and told her to drink up. “I don’t mind going slow if you need a little time. I am sure you will be more relaxed after a drink.”
Chapter 8
Karen stepped into the room and slowly closed the door behind her. She shouldn’t be there, knew better, but her mind was still on the way the man had slammed into her from behind. Karen had already forgotten that he had moaned out Cassie’s name when he had finally come. It made sense since it was his girlfriend, but she wanted it to be her name that he groaned the next time around.
She walked slowly up to the bed and started to take her clothes off. Down to just her panties, Karen sat on the bed next to him, pulling the sheet down to reveal a semi-hardness that she was sure could be perked up quickly. Touching him gently, the man was soon moaning in his sleep, his hips rising as the rubbing became harder. Karen grew bolder, moving to nip softly at the shaft, dragging her teeth across the covered length.
“Mmm Cassie.”
“Not this time.”
The hand in her hair pulled free and she felt him jerk underneath her. “Karen? What the hell are you doing?”
“Pleasing you while your girlfriend is away.”
“I thought you guys were friends?” Chris was sitting up as he started to wake up further. He covered himself and then tossed a pillow at her to do the same. “You need to go before Cassie gets back and freaks out.”
“She’s gone. I am not so worried about her.”
“Just go. You women are vicious.”
Karen looked at him like she wanted to kill him. “I don’t know why you are so worried about Cassie. She is going to meet a professor and I don’t think they are studying at this hour.”
She had enough on to get out the door, leaving Chris to get up and put his own clothes on. When he saw that the shower gel and shampoo were still on the shelf, it only to a quick look in the bathroom to see that she was gone. Cursing himself and Cassie, he made his way down to the row of frat houses on the far side of the school. It didn’t take much to figure out which one was having the party, several goers outside in different states of intoxication.
Pulling in with her car, he slammed the door and stalked up to the loud sprawling old house. There were people everywhere and his eyes looked around for Cassie. He didn’t see her, but he did see one of the girls he had met the first night he was there. Walking up to her, he asked where Cassie was and she pointed up to the stairs and the bedrooms above.
A part of him knew what she was doing, but he didn’t want to believe it. He couldn’t have her, but Chris didn’t want anyone else to either. The very idea of some old man professor touching Cassie made his blood boil, pushing him to climb the stairs quickly.
Chris had the same trouble when he started looking in each room. Several times he had to stop and wait for the woman’s face or hair to be seen so he would know if it was her or not. When he finally did find Cassie, she was almost passed out and looked drugged. Chris beat the man who was touching her with his fist, wishing he had something more.
“Chris?”
Looking over to Cassie, he went to her, fixing her clothes and pulling her out of the room. She didn’t fight him much, but after Cassie stumbled several times, he picked her up and took her down the stairs and out of the frat house. He ignored the looks and didn’t realize he had blood on his hands until he was pulling the seatbelt around her.
Wiping his hands on his pants, he tried not to panic. The last thing he needed was to go back to jail over a small incident like that. He couldn’t help himself and admonished himself for losing control. He had seen red and now he was sure he was going to have to pay for it.
“Thanks for picking me up Chris.”
He didn’t say anything, just nodding, unable to speak in his own anger and self-loathing. He drove her home, making sure that he stayed in the speed limit, waiting for cops and sirens to come, but they never did. Chris finally relaxed when they got back to her house and he was thankful that there were very few lights on as they walked up. Chris saw the state of his shirt and it was best to not have more witnesses seeing him with blood on his shirt. He hadn’t stopped to see how bad the professor was hurt and beyond his own freedom, he didn’t care.
It was obvious the man had given her something. She was going in and out of consciousness with a strange smile on her face. It wasn’t anything he was familiar with and he wondered if it was some new drug going around.
Cassie had to be carried once he got the door shut. She was having trouble walking and he didn’t want her to fall. It was bad enough that he had let her get away. Chris didn’t want to hear it from James. His phone had rung while he was taking her home, but he hadn’t answered it
. Chris was sure it was James calling to let him know what was going on there.
“Chris?”
He laid her in the bed, but she wouldn’t let go of his neck. Cassie pulled him in for another kiss like the one from before. Her moan was quicker and his body crushed hers as Chris forgot himself for a moment. Breaking away from her hold, he got up and covered her still in her clothes. “You need to sleep it off Cassie.”
“But I need you Chris.”
“If you still want me in the morning, then. Not now. Just get some rest.”
Leaving the room was hard to do. He wasn’t sure if she was sober enough though and in truth, she was still off-limits. He had seen too much and the way she had moaned his name was hard to forget. Chris knew he had to and went out to the hallway to return the missed calls from Cassie’s brother.
Chapter 9
A week went by since the incident and Cassie was mortified with what had happened. She remembered the kiss and her trying to push Chris. Cassie also remembered that he had turned her down. The next morning, she had thought about going to him. He was still passed out when she woke up, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
As for her professor, he wasn’t hurt too badly. There were no cops called because his hands weren’t clean and Cassie was thankful that Chris hadn’t gotten in trouble for it. She didn’t know if she would be able to forgive herself if she had been the reason that he went back to jail.
It was awkward between the two of them. Cassie tried to avoid him as much as she could and Chris in turn spent more time getting things ready to add the small college town onto their delivery maps. She didn’t say anything more about what had happened and neither one of them said anything to James. He wouldn’t understand and Cassie was thankful for that small mercy. James would have insisted she come home and that was the very last thing that Cassie wanted.
