Daddy's College Roommate: Bad Boy and Virgin Forbidden Romance

by Vanessa Kinney

  “Promise?”

  She brings her head down and gives me a long, sensual kiss. “Promise.” She holds out her pinkie and I wrap mine around it.

  “I guess it would be good to see the guys again. I’ve been ditching them a lot since I started studying.” Casey jumps off of me and it takes all of my willpower not to throw her over my shoulder and force her to stay.

  “I’m sure they’ll appreciate it.” She gets up to her tip toes, gives me a kiss, and is out the door before I can stop her.

  I hold out my shot glass and Dwayne smacks his against it. “You were gone for too long, man. We were starting to think that you got lost in some book.” Dwayne chuckles and slams back the shot. That’s his fifth in less than an hour. It won’t take long for him to knock out now.

  Nobody else could make it to the last minute invite, so it’s just Dwayne and me. We’ve been talking and drinking for the last hour in his room at the frat house. Dwayne’s been doing most of the drinking.

  “Just busy trying to get back on the field,” I answer and swallow the shot. The searing sensation is fast and burns the hairs on my nose. I haven’t had a drink this much since the night before the first tutoring session with Casey. I’ve been focused too much on making sure nothing gets in the way, especially not alcohol.

  Dwayne pours himself a shot, downs it, and then pours each another one. He clinks my glass before I bring it up and drinks it quickly. “Are you sure it’s not because of Casey?” He smirks at me and tries to pour himself another shot before realizing the bottle is empty. He rolls it across the table and grabs the other bottle, shakes it, and smiles when he sees the brown liquid inside.

  I take a sip of my drink and hold off from finishing. I can’t keep up with Dwayne anymore. And I can’t even if I wanted to. I can’t fall back on my old habits if I want to permanently stay on the field.

  “Part of it is because of her.” A smile bursts onto my face before I can stop it. I try to wipe it away but Dwayne’s got me. His hand clasps my shoulder and he shakes me a little.

  “Do you think you’re falling in love?” He makes kissing noises before slamming back another shot.

  Love?

  It’s possible. I never thought about it until now. But it does explain how I feel about her. How I can’t go a whole hour without thinking about that smile. Or how when I close my eyes I can almost smell the sweet coconut fragrance of her shampoo.

  Never in my life has a girl ever made me feel this way. There have been crushes before. Those usually leave within a couple weeks. But it’s been longer than that with Casey.

  Several months have gone by, and I still get excited for my tutoring sessions with her. Even the thought of spending a day with her seems so perfect in my mind.

  Is that what love is?

  “I don’t know,” I lie to Dwayne. “All I know is that she’s down to earth and I really like her.” I down the rest of my shot. Dwayne pours me another, but I push it to the side. I’ve had more than enough for tonight.

  “Have you…” Dwayne raises his eyebrows up and down before continuing. “Have you sealed the deal?” He laughs at his little joke, but I don’t reciprocate.

  “Yeah,” I answer dryly.

  “And how was she?” Dwayne’s eyes almost light up and he bites down on the bottom of his lip as he stares across the room.

  “It was good,” I answer, not wanting to give more info than I need to. Before Casey, I would share every sexual conquest with Dwayne. And he would do the same with me. It became a pissing contest between the two of us.

  Now, I could never do that to Casey. She means more to me than that.

  “I bet she’s better than her first time.” Dwayne laughs and slams his shot glass on the table before pouring himself another.

  Better than her first time?

  “What do you mean?” I ask. My stomach tightens and I clench my fist together. Something tells me I’m not going to like his answer.

  Dwayne smirks at me and twirls the whiskey in his glass. “Been there, done that. I taught her a couple moves.” He holds up his drink and tilts it in my direction. Half the whiskey falls onto the carpet. “You’re welcome.”

  I jump off the couch and my fingers clutch the collar of his shirt, ripping the thin fabric. “What the fuck are you talking about?” He looks at me, smiles, and grabs the bottle of whiskey off the table and brings it to his lips. He holds a finger in the air, takes a swig, and lets out a burp.

  “I fucked her before you did.” He takes another drink and throws the bottle to the ground when he finishes it. “I was her first.”

  I shove him up against the wall and lift him off the ground. The whole time Dwayne is just smiling at me like he doesn’t have a care in the world.

  “You’re lying,” I shout. “Don’t fuck with me, Dwayne.” The blood is rushing to my face and I bring my fist up to his. He looks at it, starts to laugh, and tries to smack it away. I hold steady.

  “I. Fucked. Her.” Every word that leaves his lips feels like a jagged dagger entering my stomach. The world around me starts to get blurry and my breath gets shallow. I let go of his collar and I take in a deep breath. I clench my fist and I spin around and aim it toward that stupid grin on his face. Somehow, Dwayne side steps me and I punch a hole through the dry wall. I pull my fist out and knock him down to the ground. I let the rage consume me as I start to see red. And I’m not planning on stopping until Dwayne is nothing but a beaten, red mess.

  13

  Casey

  I walk through the wooden doors and take out my ID handing it to the officer behind the table. “I’m here to see David Cooper.” The officer takes one look at me, slides his pudgy fingers across the table, and starts to write my name on a clipboard.

  “He’s in the detention center,” the officer says. His chair creaks as he gets up and waves me over to the door. He holds up a finger in front of a camera, there’s a buzz, and then he opens the door for me.

  “Why were they arrested?” I ask. Half an hour ago, I got a call from Melissa to let me know that David was arrested. I was half asleep when I got the call, but I rushed over here as fast I could. The whole time, the worst possible scenarios were running through my head.

  “He was fighting with his room-mate.” He walks me to the end of the hallway, holds a finger in front of the camera, and opens the door for me. The detention center is a small and has a couple wooden seats along the wall. At the center of the room is a table, which is occupied by Melissa, Coach Vaughn, Dwayne, and David. Dwayne and David are facing away from each other while Coach Vaughn looks like he wants to rip them a new one.

  I wave my hand at David, but he doesn’t even look up in my direction. He has a cut at the right side of his forehead and a bruised cheek. Dwayne, on the other hand, is worse off, with a swollen right eye and a hand that’s wrapped up.

  What the hell were they fighting about?

  Melissa gives me a half smile as she turns her attention back to David and Dwayne. She looks down at the report in front of her. “I don’t know why the two of you were fighting and I don’t care.” She’s about to continue when Coach Vaughn stands up and slams his hands on the rickey wooden table. I’m surprised the table doesn’t break under his force.

  “I’m going to have both of you running laps until you wish you were dead. Teammates do not fight. Not on my team, at least.” He walks away from the table and runs his hand through his hair. Every second that passes, his face turns a little redder. He clenches and unclenches his head, throwing daggers at Dwayne and David. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

  Neither of them look up from the table. They just shake their heads. It’s funny how the both of them look like little kids being scolded by their parents.

  Melissa clears her throat. “Unfortunately, gentlemen there will be consequences. Dwayne, you will be suspended for the next two games.” Dwayne looks up from the table, opens his mouth to object, and reconsiders when he sees how Coach Vaughn is staring at him
. He ends up just nodding. Melissa turns her attention to David. “Before this happened, Coach Vaughn and I were discussing the possibility of letting you back on the field for practice. With tonight’s development, that possibility is gone.” David nods.

  Coach Vaughn walks around the table to David’s side. I never realized how tall and wide Coach Vaughn is. He makes David look small. He holds his spot until David looks up to him. Coach Vaughn stares him down before letting out a sigh. “As of this moment, you are no longer the team captain.”

  David shoots up, his chair clattering to the floor. “That’s not fair, Coach. I worked hard for that spot. You can’t just take it away.”

  “I can and have. I won’t have my team captain fighting with his own teammates. It doesn’t set the example that I want.” Coach Vaughn nods to himself before he walks over to Melissa. “That’s it. I have nothing else to say to these numbskulls.”

  Melissa nods and gets out of her seat. “On top of the school’s punishment, both of you will have court-ordered community service.”

  Nobody says another word. The door buzzes and the officer holds the door open. Everyone shuffles out of the room with their heads down.

  “Thanks for coming,” Melissa whispers in the hallway. “At least, David will be able to concentrate on his studies now.”

  David has several forms to sign so I wait for him outside the station. The cold air nips at my cheeks. The door to the station opens several minutes later and David strides out. I reach out and grab for him, wanting him to get rid of the cold on the tip of my fingers.

  “What happened between the two of you?” David looks at my hand and then up at me with disgust on his face, my stomach drops. This isn’t going to be good. He yanks his arm away and turns away from me. His stride is long and fast. I practically have to run to catch up to him. My heart hurts and my hand shots to my chest. I rush behind him and grab at this shoulder. “David, talk to me.”

  He rolls his shoulder from my grasp, his face burning red. “Don’t touch me!” he shouts. He looks at me and shakes his head. “Don’t you dare touch me,” he mutters.

  “What did I do?” The pang in my heart grows as he puts distance between the two of us. I don’t follow him. He’s several feet away from me when he turns around, runs his hand through his hair, curses under his breath, and stomps back toward me.

  “I know,” he mumbles. “I know about all of it.”

  I tilt my head. I don’t understand what he’s talking about. None of this is making any sense.

  “You know what?” I want to close the distance between us. I want to just apologize for whatever I did. To tell him that we can move passed it. Instead, I hold my ground. I don’t know if my heart can take being rejected again.

  “Dwayne.” His face turns into a scowl. “He told me everything.”

  The tears bite as they start to fall. “I was going to tell you. I really was.” I reach out for his hand. He needs to know how sorry I am. How much he means to me. “There just wasn’t a good time to tell you.” My throat breaks and I’m on the verge of breaking down. I take in a breath and my body shakes.

  I don’t want to lose him over this. I can’t lose him over this. I pull at him and press my head against his chest, letting my tears fall into his shirt.

  He doesn’t move. He doesn’t say anything. When I look up at him, there’s only hurt in his eyes. And something else.

  “I’m sorry. I should have told you. I know that now.” I run toward him and bury my head into his chest. His body is warm and I can smell the light fragrance of his cologne. “It’s all in the past. He means nothing to me now,” I plead.

  David doesn’t wrap my in his arms. He doesn’t say or do anything. Just stands there as my tears fall on his jacket. I shudder and plead with him.

  He makes the first move. He pulls his body away from me and takes a step back. I bring up the sleeve of my coat to wipe away the tears.

  “I don’t believe you. Who else are you sleeping with?” He looks at me with hurtful eyes, unsure of what to believe.

  The words sting at my heart. I grab for him instinctively and my lower lip shudders. “No one. You’re the only one.”

  “Liar! You’re always keeping secrets from me.” He kicks the side of the building, clenching his hand into a fist.

  I take a step forward and reach out for him. David swats my hand away. “David, you have to believe me,” I cry.

  “I don’t have to do anything. I don’t ever want to see you again.”

  And just like that, I fall to my knees. Everything around me starts to spin and I burst into tears.

  “I never want to see you again, Casey Boone. Not now. Not ever.”

  His words penetrate me and hurt me at my core. With my legs trembling, I get up and take off.

  I rush down the street and back to my dorm. I don’t look back once. I can’t bring myself to do it.

  Thoughts of the last couple months stream into my head. None of this makes any sense.

  By the time I make it to my dorm room I’m nothing but a bumbling mess. I slam the door behind me and drop onto my bed.

  Why won’t he believe me? Why won’t he let me explain it to him?

  His words echo inside my head, reaffirming one thought inside my head.

  I never want to see David Cooper again.

  Not now. Not ever.

  14

  David

  I made a mistake. I didn’t see it at the time, but now I know.

  The last couple days, I’ve been beating myself up over how to fix it. Every time I close my eyes, all I can see is Casey crying her eyes out. Those beautiful blue eyes of hers glossed over with tears. Tears that I brought about.

  I shouldn’t have reacted the way that I did. Blaming her for choices she made when she was younger. Blaming her for being with someone else beside me. Telling her that I never wanted to see her again. All of it was a mistake.

  I let my anger consume me. Everything happened all at once. Finding out Dwayne slept with Casey, my chance of getting back on the field taken away, and my team captain title stripped away.

  I couldn’t take it. And I lashed out at the only person who cared about me. The only person who came in the middle of the night to see me.

  Now, I need to show her that I care about her. That I made a mistake. And that I was willing to do anything to fix it.

  I grab my coat off the couch and I’m out the door. I need to make this right. The sooner I do it, the faster I can see that pretty smile of hers.

  It doesn’t take more than a couple of minutes to get there. I take a breath and knock on the door. And I wait.

  The door creaks open a little and I let out a sigh of relief. “What do you want, David?” Dwayne’s eyes are bloodshot and tired. I haven’t talked to him since the night at the police station. This is the first step that I have to take in making things right. Also something told me that, Dwayne can help me out.

  “I want to make things right. I want to apologize.” Dwayne stares at me, and for a moment I think that he’s going to slam the door shut. And if he did, I wouldn’t blame him one bit. I overreacted at the time and let my emotions get the best of me. Dwayne leave the door open and walks over to his table. There are books scattered on the desktop. He sits down and starts to scribble into his notebook. “I shouldn’t have punched you. I’m sorry, Dwayne.”

  Dwayne looks up at me from his books and nods. “It’s not all your fault. I was drunk off my ass and being an asshole to boot.” He taps the end of his pencil on the table. “I shouldn’t have talked about Casey that way. I don’t know what came over me.”

  I hold out my hand. “How about we put it behind us and start over?” Dwayne looks at my hand and a smile breaks on his face.

  “One little fight ain’t going to break us up, man. We still have a national title to win.” He grips my hand and gives it a firm shake. I sit down and take off my coat. Dwayne looks at me. “So, you really like her?”

  “I really do, Dwayne
. I really really like her.” I can feel my heart swelling as thoughts of Casey streams into my head.

  This next part is going to be a little more challenging. In order to make things right with Casey, I’m going to need his help. He might be able to give me some information to repair the damage that I’ve done.

  “Dwayne, I need your help.” I dig my thumb into the middle of my palm. I’m not one to ask for help often. I like to handle things on my own for the most part. Stepping out of my comfort zone and being forward with Dwayne is something I would have never done before. That’s how important Casey is to me right now. I will do anything to patch up things with her. Even if it means asking for help.

  “What can I do?” There’s no hesitation in his words. He sits upright in his chair and turns all of his attention to me.

  I take a couple minutes to explain to Dwayne what happened at the station. To tell him how badly I fucked up. When I finish, I let out a sigh.

  Putting everything out in the open is exhausting. I almost can’t believe how much of an asshole I really was to her. The things I said and how cold I was to her. It’s not the person that I want to be. Not when she means so much to me.

  “I need to make this right, Dwayne. Can you tell me what kind of girl Casey was in high school? Maybe it can help me figure out a way to make it up to her.”

  Dwayne runs his hand through his hair, puts his pencil in the middle of his textbook, and closes it. He gets up from his chair and gets two bottles of water from the fridge. He sits down next to me and takes a big sip before he starts. “You’re not going to like this. Just remember that high school kids can be cruel.” He takes another drink of his water and clears his throat. “After her epilepsy attack, Casey lost all of her friends in one night. Nobody wanted to hang out with her and everyone pretty much avoided her. In the blink of an eye, she became an outcast.”