by C. Morgan
I’d gotten to know Dax’s friend, Ryker, a little over the course of last semester and we got along well. He was in a committed relationship with his high school sweetheart, so there was no weirdness between us with being thrown together so often because of our mutual friends.
The other guys who were here with us weren’t bad either now that they’d gotten used to seeing me around with Hadley. We got caught up with what everyone had done during break and were discussing our classes when a rowdy group of people walked into the bar.
Among them was none other than Brysen Burke. Against my better judgment, I stared at him for a second when I noticed him swaggering in with the others. My conversation with Abigail flashed in my mind and as I looked at him, I grudgingly admitted—just to myself—that she hadn’t been totally wrong about him being cute.
Well, not cute exactly. Hot.
The kind of hot that made a girl think about sweaty nights between the sheets and countless orgasms courtesy of the campus’s favorite bad boy. In fact, maybe I’d even been wrong about not getting any physical exercise in the last decade.
Several girls were staring at him right along with me, and the lust was clear on all of their faces. I’d have been willing to bet my fast-track to graduation that he got plenty physical with any number of the female population on a regular basis.
With his tousled black hair reflecting the neon blue lights behind the bar and the lazy way those poisonous eyes scanned the room as if searching for prey, I couldn’t deny that I wouldn’t have minded getting physical with him for a night or two if he hadn’t been, well, him. A leather jacket over a fitted black tee and faded jeans with biker boots on his feet gave him that I’m too cool for this vibe that reminded me exactly why getting physical with him would be an exceptionally bad idea, though.
Even so, my heart skipped and nipples pebbled when his gaze landed on mine. Well, not on mine directly, but on our table. Sure, he definitely glanced at me while looking at us, but the grin that spread on his arrogant face wasn’t for me.
Daxton grinned back at him, cluing me in to the fact that these two knew each other, and then he got up to go say hi. As soon as he scooted away from her side, Hadley took the window to lean across the table to talk to me without anyone overhearing.
“Don’t ever tell Dax I said this, but that Brysen guy is hot, right?” she said. “I’ve always had a thing for bad boys who are a little rough around the edges.”
“Rough around the edges?” I scoffed, managing to pretend like I hadn’t just been staring at him. “Please. He’s the very definition of privilege. Any roughness he has is bullshit, if you ask me. A show.”
She shrugged. “Either way, it works for him. I’ve got my guy now and he’s the only one I want, but Brysen’s not bad to look at.”
My response died on the tip of my tongue when I saw Dax motioning to our table, obviously inviting Brysen and his friends to join us. It threw me off completely from what I’d been about to say when they started ambling toward our table.
Abort mission. Abort mission. All my internal warning systems went haywire. He was not the kind of guy I should’ve been sharing drinks with on a Sunday night—or ever, for that matter. It was imperative that I stayed far, far away from him so there was no chance his actions could ever reflect on me, yet I found my butt frozen to the seat when he suddenly slid in beside me.
An expensive, masculine scent drifted to my nostrils along with a whiff of leather. It was faint, but it was there. Damn, why does he have to smell so good?
I tried to turn it off, but I suddenly felt overwhelmed and all he’d done was sit down. His heat burned into my side even though he wasn’t even that close to me, and the rich sound of his voice washed over me as he kept talking to Dax.
“Sorry about Hawaii, bro,” he was saying. “It would’ve been cool, but I already had plans.”
Daxton laughed as he took his seat beside Hadley again, draping his arm possessively over her shoulders when Brysen’s gaze slid over her. “It’s all good. It was an open invite. The beach parties were insane, but I’m sure your New Year’s was the same.”
Something dark passed over the guy’s features. Maybe it was just because I was sitting right next to him, but his jaw tightened momentarily and he seemed to tense before a surprisingly fake looking smirk was plastered on his lips.
“Yeah, man.” He ran a hand through his hair, but there was something off about the apparently nonchalant gesture. “It was off the hook. Maybe we’ll do Hawaii sometime this year. Think your parents will let us have their house?”
Without asking, Brysen poured a beer for himself from our pitcher. Daxton didn’t even seem to notice and if he did, he didn’t care. The two guys kept talking, but I got the impression they weren’t really friends. Casual acquaintances, by the looks of things.
Good. Maybe that means he’ll leave soon. Because if he didn’t, I would. It was just too much of a risk spending any significant amount of time with the guy. Some of us didn’t have filthy rich dads at our beck and call to bail us out if things went south, and besides, my reputation was spotless. I wouldn’t have it marred by associating with the likes of someone like him.
Chapter 6
BRYSEN
Greedily sucking down my beer now that I was free from my father seeing and analyzing my every move, I checked out the hot chick next to me while speaking to Daxton. I’d noticed her as soon as I’d walked in, and it was fucking hard to keep looking at the guy across from me instead of staring at her.
Who the hell is she? I’d have thought I’d remember seeing someone who looked like her around campus, but I didn’t. Maybe she’s new.
Whoever she was, she was smoking hot and the exact kind of distraction I was looking for tonight. Especially since she was looking at me like I was a fly she wished she could swat. I loved a good challenge, and it’d been way too long since I’d had one.
Most of the girls around campus dropped to their knees for me if I even looked at them. But I wasn’t after a sloppy blowjob in the bathrooms and having the girl look up at me with big, hopeful eyes when it was done. Not tonight.
Blondie was offering something that would be so much more satisfactory once I got her. A chase with an undoubtedly sweet reward at the end of it. Despite the sour look on her face whenever she glanced at me, I just knew she would be sweet when I got to taste her.
There was a smattering of freckles across her nose that was adorable, but I had a feeling this adorable kitty had claws. It was there in the sharpness of her alert, light green eyes and the annoyed pinch of her brow on her otherwise soft face.
While I couldn’t see much of her body since she was sitting down, she seemed lean and toned. Her tits weren’t huge, but she had a hint of cleavage that I somehow found more appealing tonight than I would’ve if it’d been a full on, deep slit between her breasts.
Pent up after the Christmas break in the Burke House of Horrors, I planned on using tonight to blow off some steam. One way to do that and to get my kicks at the same time was by picking on her until I figured her out.
When Daxton leaned over to whisper something to his girlfriend once we’d made the obligatory small talk about the break, I turned to face the mystery girl. “What’s your deal? Why haven’t I seen you before?”
“Because I deliberately avoid the bad seeds on campus,” she said without skipping a beat.
A grin spread across my lips. I knew it’d been unintentional on her part, but she’d just guaranteed her spot as my point of interest tonight. “What’s your name, princess? Us bad seeds like to know who we’re being avoided by. It makes it easier to target you.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “I’m not interested in being a target. There are a lot of other things I’d rather be doing.”
“Such as?”
“Studying,” she said bluntly. “Some of us are serious about our careers. Not that you bad seeds know anything about being serious.”
“I’m seriously horny right about
now.” I smirked at her. “Want to help me out with that?”
“No.” She glared so hard at me that I could practically feel the daggers from her eyes piercing my skin. Which turned me on even more.
Despite the glare, there was a definite flush spreading across her cheeks as she held my gaze defiantly. Reaching out to hang my arm over the back of the booth we were sharing, I toyed with the ends of her hair. It was in a ponytail, but it was more than thick enough to still twist it around my finger.
I leaned in just far enough to hear it when her breath caught. “I’m still waiting on your name.”
“I’m still waiting for you to take a hint.” She scooted back until I released her hair, then cut a glance across the table toward Daxton’s girl. “Are we done here yet?”
The girl, Hadley, if memory served, smiled but shook her head. “We haven’t had our burgers yet.”
“You okay, Ruby?” Ryker asked, clearly having missed the part where she didn’t want to give me her name but beginning to understand the fact that she was uncomfortable now.
I grinned. Ruby. I like it.
Almost as much as I liked the fact that she prickled at every word I said. “Yeah, Ruby. You okay?”
She sighed heavily, but nodded at him. “I’m fine. Just anxious to get back to the dorms. Tomorrow is a big day.”
“Why?” My brow furrowed as I cocked my head at her. “Just because we’re supposed to be going back to class?”
“Not supposed to be,” she corrected me unapologetically. “We are going back to class. Unless you’ve got an adjusted schedule and don’t have to follow the same dates the rest of us mere mortals do.”
“An adjusted schedule. A bad seed. Just what is it that you think you know about me?” I asked, actually interested in knowing for once. “Those are a lot of assumptions to make about someone you’ve just met.”
“Relax, bro,” Daxton’s voice snapped from behind me. I hadn’t seen him getting up, but he must have at some point. “There’s no need to be so abrasive with her. Ruby’s cool.”
I twisted around to look up at him, then decided to stand up so he wouldn’t be towering over me. Dax and I were about the same height but with me sitting down, it felt like he had a definite advantage.
The guy was an acquaintance, not a friend. It wasn’t like me to hand any advantage to anyone, but that counted especially when someone wasn’t a friend. I refused to make it easy on him or anyone else to get one up on me.
Once we were face to face, I heard the noise of the chatter at the table fading. Clearly, people had realized there was something going on. Good thing I have zero interest in keeping everyone happy.
Making a scene came naturally to me. As did picking a fight. Dax and I were already nose to nose and on our feet. Might as well make it worth our while.
“What did you just say to me, Breyer?”
He didn’t back down even though his girl was suddenly there, trying to pull him away. “You heard me, Burke. Ruby is cool. There’s no need to rile her up.”
“What are you?” I retorted. “Her brother? Something tells me she doesn’t need you to fight her battles for her. Unless of course there’s more to it than that. You got a secret thing going with your girlfriend’s BFF, Dax?”
Red streaks started creeping across his cheeks. Not from embarrassment or shame over having been caught out, but from sheer rage. Oops, did I push a button?
“There’s nothing going on between us,” he spat. “I just won’t let you play your stupid fucking games with my friends.”
“My stupid fucking games?” I got in his face, not knowing whether he realized that he’d just gone and pushed one of my buttons. I didn’t care whether he knew it or not, though. I was so goddamn over everyone accusing me of being a child with nothing better to do than playing games.
Sure, I had been playing with her, but he wasn’t my father. What fucking right did he have to call me out on it?
Meanwhile, Daxton’s girl looked scared when he refused to cop to her pleas to leave and my boys were egging me on. They were familiar with my antics. They knew I wouldn’t let this shit fly.
“Your stupid fucking games,” Dax repeated slowly. “Everyone knows how you roll. If I’d known you were going to bring that crap to my table to drink my beer while doing it, I wouldn’t have invited you to sit with us in the first place.”
“Oh, boo hoo.” I lifted my hands and pretended to rub tears out of my eyes. “The cool kid doesn’t want me to sit at his table anymore.”
He rolled his eyes at me, and I snapped. Tommy’s voice telling me to get my act together echoed in my ears, but I ignored it. I knew full damn well that I wasn’t supposed to rock any boats or make any waves. I was supposed to be a good boy this semester, but fuck that.
A part of me even knew that a fight with Breyer’s kid would enrage Tommy more than just a regular old fight would, but I didn’t give a shit. It was Daxton who’d started this, but I’d end it. If I got in trouble for it, then it was what it was.
No one got away with telling me what to do, and that would’ve been the case even if he hadn’t followed it up by calling me out on my games and then by rolling his eyes at me like I was an amusing yet disobedient toddler.
So, yeah. I knew what was expected of me, but I’d never been good at living up to Tommy’s expectations. I sure as hell wasn’t going to start trying now.
Without warning, I pulled my fist back and swung. A fight erupted around me as my friends and his jumped into the fray, and I grinned at the chaos that ensued. Now, this is more like it. Finally, there’s some fucking excitement around me again.
Chapter 7
RUBY
Holy flaming ballsacks, that happened fast. I watched in total disbelief as the situation around me descended into utter chaos. What had started as a simple comment from Daxton to protect me had deteriorated into an all-out brawl in less than three minutes flat.
As the madness broke out around me, all I could do for a minute was stare. Stare in absolute, wide-eyed shock as guys who had been sharing pitchers just a few minutes ago suddenly swung at each other like they’d been enemies for life. It was… incredible.
And not in a good way.
Did these boys have testosterone shakes for breakfast, or were they just born with a taste for blood?
I wasn’t sheltered or naive. I’d seen fights before, even if it hadn’t happened often. After school throw-downs and some scuffles in the park had been it for me until I’d come to Edgewater.
This was only the second fight I was seeing here, but it was also the second one started by Brysen. The guy was quickly becoming the King of Chaos in my books and while Hadley might have a thing for the bad boys, I most certainly didn’t.
This was one mess I wanted nothing to do with, and the same thing counted for the guy responsible for making said mess. The last thing I needed was negative attention from my peers, the staff on campus, or anyone else for that matter.
There was a reason I’d kept my head down all through high school and continued to do so to this day. My future was going to be better than my present, but not if my spotless record became marred with my involvement in incidents exactly like this.
Edgewater was and always had been a stepping stone for me. But unlike what Brysen’s game plan seemed to be, my next step wouldn’t be jail. Then again, it wasn’t likely he’d see the inside of a cell.
None of these guys probably would. They were all connected and their daddies would sort it out for them.
Just the thought of my father receiving a middle-of-the-night call from campus security about this was enough to make my throat close up. The man was a well-respected dentist, but he wasn’t anywhere near Brysen or Daxton’s dads’ level. Especially not around here, since he wasn’t an alum like them.
I probably wouldn’t get in too much trouble with my parents if security was to call them, but I didn’t want to take the chance of getting into any trouble at all. Not with them and not with the cam
pus administration.
Trouble and I had a fantastic relationship. One where I stayed far away from it and in return, it didn’t come to find me—which was exactly the way I liked it. I definitely wasn’t about to change that now just because some boys couldn’t keep their fists to themselves.
As the fight raged around me, I slid out of the booth and tried to grab Hadley’s hand. She didn’t even look at me as she yanked it away from mine, desperately searching for Dax in the fray. There were some students trying to break it up, but they weren’t having much success. I’d lost sight of Daxton after Brysen had thrown that first punch, but Hadley was screaming for him and seemingly trying to get to him so she could pull him away.
“Hadley,” I shouted urgently above the noise. “We have to go. Now. We need to get out of here.”
“Not without Dax,” she replied without looking at me. There was sheer terror in her eyes as she pushed herself up on her toes and winced when she saw him taking another punch. “What is he doing? Why isn’t he trying to get away from them?”
I glanced at the mass of fighting bodies and shrugged. “Maybe he can’t?”
She cursed under her breath, her gaze rooted to the spot where he kept appearing and disappearing from view as the crowd around him moved and surged. It was surreal to be watching this happen.
I’d have thought for sure that the bar management would’ve stepped in by now but if they had, I couldn’t see them. “Please, Haddie? We really need to go. Dax will be fine. These are his friends. They’ll take care of him. I’m sure he’ll call you later.”
“No, I have to stay.” She finally turned to face me, and I could see the determination etched into her features. She wasn’t going anywhere without him. “Let’s move over there. He might be able to hear me calling to him if we’re closer.”
The over there she was talking about didn’t seem like an appealing place to be at all. More people had joined the fight, and there were boys pounding on each other everywhere. Where she wanted to go, however, was where the main group had migrated to while they’d been trying to prove God knows what to God knows who.
