Malik (Carter Brother Series Book 1)

by Lisa Helen Gray

  I look over to Malik not knowing how to feel about working closely with him for the next few weeks. I am kind of excited about the chance at winning the internship, though if we didn’t win I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. I’m still undecided about what I want to do once I leave school, but having this opportunity is too great to miss out on.

  “Shall I go grab an A3 piece of card so we can get started?’’ I ask shyly.

  “Sure,’’ he says turning his head to look at me.

  My breathing hitches when his eyes land on mine. They seem darker than usual, more intense if that’s even possible. His eyes soften towards me, and I realise I’ve been gawking at him for a minute or two.

  I mutter about being back in a second, not waiting around to make a bigger fool of myself. I wait in the line for the storage room, waiting for the other students to grab their supplies. When the girl in front of me turns around suddenly, I have to take a step back before she ends up knocking me over.

  “Hey, you’re the new girl huh?’’ She says smiling, but the tone is anything but happy.

  “Yep that’s me,’’ I fake smile back.

  “You’re going to go up to the teacher and tell her you want to swap partners with me,’’ she says flicking her black hair over her shoulder.

  “And why would I do that?’’ I ask confused.

  “Because if you don’t I’ll make your life here at Grayson High a living hell.’’

  I want to laugh in the poor girls face, but I know it will only make the situation worse. The fact she even thinks she can make my already miserable life worse is laughable. If only she knew how broken I really was. How much I couldn’t care less what she does to me because the hurt of losing my parents trumps anything this pathetic little mouse could do to me.

  “Will you now Hannah,’’ a husky voice says from behind me, his breath fanning my neck. Feeling his body heat behind me has my body swaying back into him. Then he has to go put his hands on my hips, and I have to bite my lips together to keep me from making a noise.

  “I… huh… Hi Malik. Harlow here wanted to change partners, but I’m okay with Jimmy. She wouldn’t accept that, so she started going on at me. I was just informing her I could make her life hell if she didn’t leave me alone is all,’’ she stutters, her cheeks pink, and her eyes wild like she can’t believe she got caught. I’m hoping Malik doesn’t believe her lie; he will lose some major points with me if he does.

  “Is that right babe?’’ he asks nuzzling my neck. What the hell is he doing? I’d love to slap him across the face, anyone else and I would have, but it feels too good to have him stop.

  I shake my head no, hoping I’m doing the right thing by grassing on her. All I can do to justify it is remind myself that I can’t lie to Malik. Yep, less than 24 hours and I can’t lie to the lad. I’m definitely going to hell.

  “Hannah, why don’t you run along and go play your pathetic school yard games with someone else and leave Harlow alone. In fact, tell all of your friends to leave her alone,’’ he says, his voice deadly laced with authority. Even my back straightens from the tone in his voice. He’s being serious as shit and I don’t know whether to be grateful or worried.

  “Whatever. I didn’t want to be stuck with you for weeks anyway,’’ she huffs before going back to her seat, but not before sending me a deadly glare.

  When she leaves Malik still has his hands on my hips. Even when I step forward in the line he keep his hands there torturing me into oblivion.

  “You can let me go now,’’ I whisper to him, my voice sounding husky and so not like me.

  “I would, but I like touching you,’’ he whispers back into my neck sending my body aflame.

  Not answering him I move forward in the line again when I notice it’s our turn to grab our stuff. Students walking out from the storage room send us curious looks. Some, once they’ve moved past us start to whisper, not knowing we can hear them, or maybe they do and they don’t care. Malik just chuckles, following close behind me.

  Walking in, the room is a total mess, paper, pencils, paints and stencils are strewn everywhere. Looking through the mess on the work bench, I try to locate what we need but it’s useless. The door slamming behind me has me jumping, my head jerking over to the sound.

  “What…’’ the words die in my throat when I see Malik locking the door. Gaining my composure I look at him like he’s lost his goddamn mind. “What the hell are you doing?’’ I whisper hiss.

  He doesn’t say anything as he prowls towards me slowly, his lips formed into a sexy smirk. What the hell is he up to? Taking a step back my back slams into the bench behind me giving me nowhere to go.

  “You’ve got nowhere to go,’’ he smirks.

  “What are you up to?’’ I glare, hoping this isn’t another stint to get all the girls to hate me. I’ve only been here two days, but even I can see he has some control over the girls here at Grayson High. He’s obviously a big deal in this school and someone like him could crush me in a second.

  “Nothing much,’’ he shrugs. “I’ve wanted to get you alone since you walked into registration this morning. Then I found out your locker got vandalized from my brother and not you. I thought we were friends,’’ he says, his body a breath away from mine. His proximity has my mind doing funny things and I can’t think straight.

  “We just met,’’ I state flabbergasted.

  “We also spent the night together, or did you forget about that?’’ he says raising his eyebrows.

  “Huh, what?’’

  “Your Nan forgot I kept you company last night. When she checked on you when she got back she must not have seen me in bed with you,’’ he grins. “I woke up when you started crying out in your sleep, after you calmed down I walked back home,’’ he shrugs.

  Oh my God, this cannot be happening. Did he really stay the night or is he pulling my leg? My face, as per bloody usual, is bright red. I can feel the heat in my cheeks burning. I’m not even sure what to say back to him. Am I meant to say thank you?

  “All night?’’ I whisper, my voice croaky.

  “All night, baby. Best night’s sleep I’ve had in ages,’’ he grins. “So, why didn’t you tell me?’’

  “Tell you?’’ I breathe out, my mind reeling over the fact I spent the whole night in bed with a boy.

  “About the locker,’’ he sighs in defeat, his body moving closer towards mine.

  “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I haven’t seen you since you came to sit next to me fifteen minutes ago,’’ I deadpan.

  “You were staring at me all through registration,’’ he tells me confidently.

  “I was not.’’

  “Babe, you were,’’ he says rolling his eyes.

  “I looked at you a few times, that’s it. Don’t let it get to your head.’’

  Not expecting the move I squeal when he lifts me up by my waist and sits me down on the work bench. When he steps between my legs, I gasp, liking how close he is to me. His face is so close I can feel his breath across my face, his lips so close to mine it’s driving me mad. My breathing escalates, my palms grow sweaty, and my hands start itching to touch him.

  “For some reason when it comes to you, everything goes to my head. I met you yesterday, but I’ve not been able to get you out of my goddamn mind. What have you done to me?’’

  “I didn’t do anything,’’ I whisper, my whole body heating from his words.

  His breath fans softly across my face he’s that close. His lips hovering over mine is torture, like he’s toying with me, wanting to drive me crazy. He places his warm hand against my hot cheek, his eyes burning into mine so intensely I have to close my eyes tightly. This is wrong. We’ve known each other less than a day, but for some reason I can’t stop myself from leaning into his soft hand palming my cheek. It feels good. It feels right.

  His lips are closer now. So close I can feel the softness of them hovering over mine, toying with my emotions. Maybe if I move my head just a li
ttle… we’re both snapped back to reality when banging on the door startles us. Jumping away from Malik, I end up banging my head against the shelves behind me. I’m a complete dork I swear.

  “Mr. Carter, Miss Evans, can you open the door please?’’ the teacher says, her voice not sounding very happy.

  “Shit,’’ Malik says, but when he looks up he’s wearing a grin. I roll my eyes at him trying to look indifferent, but what I really feel like is a bowl of jelly. My body is on fire all over; it also feels light and shaky from his near kiss. “This isn’t over Harlow,’’ he whispers to me before moving out of the room.

  Chapter Five

  By the time dinner time comes I’m a complete mess. After mine and Malik’s near kiss this morning in art I’ve been a nervous wreck. After walking out of the storage room Mrs. Townsend gave me a knowing smirk before she continued to go and help the student she had been working with before getting us out of the storage room. My face must have said it all and more when we walked out, because when I turned around to my seat, Hannah, the evil witch from earlier had given me a death glare. Ahhh… if looks could kill I would have been dead on the spot.

  When I went to my French class after art I wanted to walk straight back out. I’ve decided it’s the worst class I have so far. My luck hasn’t been with me today as Hannah had been in there along with a group of her clones. Let’s just say my ears are bleeding from having to listen to them talk shit about me all lesson.

  Now it’s dinner time and Myles isn’t where he said he would be. Not wanting to starve the rest of the day I move over to the hot plate counter. Looking at the choice of food on today’s menu starving sounds like the safest option. I don’t even want to know what the green looking sauce is, or what it tastes like I think moving down the line. Just when I think I’ll be getting away with yogurt and fruit, the dinner lady stops me, slopping down some kind of stew in a bowl on my tray. I look up at her like she’s insane, but soon straighten my features when she gives me that look that says ‘you don’t take that I’ll poison you’ expression. Instead, I give her a fake smile, getting out of line before she shoves the green stuff onto my tray too.

  Turning around towards the back of the hall, I sigh with relief when I see Myles and Denny both walking into the dinner hall together. I hate the thought of eating alone, especially with so many of my ‘fans’ surrounding me. I don’t get very far towards Myles and Denny before my leg catches on something tripping me over. My whole body flies forward, along with my tray and I let out a startled screech.

  Seriously? This cannot be happening to me. I’ve been here for two days, two freaking days and I’m already making an ass out of myself. Someone has it out for me, they honestly do.

  My eyes water once I hit the floor with a loud thud, the whole room erupting into loud cheers and laughter. My knees sting, but it’s the burning on my chest and stomach that has me biting down on my lip to keep me from screaming out. Sitting up quickly, I grab the serviette, wiping away chunks of vegetables and meat away from my now burning chest. Once I’ve gotten most of the concoction from off my chest, I notice my white school blouse becoming see-through, my black bra clear for everyone to see. Humiliated isn’t the word I would use right now, I’m completely mortified.

  Closing my blazer tightly around me, I try to pick up what I can from off the floor, dumping it onto my tray. I’m just about to stand up when a foot steps onto my hand making me cry out in pain.

  “Oh, I’m sorry; I didn’t see you there,’’ a voice I recognise sneers.

  This is just great, just fucking great. I try to move my hand from under Davis’s foot, but he just steps down on it harder, and it has me crying out louder than the first time.

  My frightened squeal is loud when his foot is suddenly shoved from off me so quickly. Through my teary eyes I see Davis’s whole body falling to the ground then Max straddling him with his fist up in the air ready to strike. My eyes drift to Max’s, his face filled with rage and despair before he finally connects his fist to Davis’s face. I cringe at the loud sound of flesh hitting flesh and my stomach coils.

  Thankfully it’s over before it’s even started because Myles chooses that moment to grab his twin brother from off Davis. Davis lays there glaring up at Max and Myles with an expression of such hatred. I’ve never seen such hatred come from one person before, and it makes me wonder if I’m missing something, especially when Davis stands up straightening his uniform before confronting Myles, standing against him face to face.

  “Hey you okay?’’ Denny asks worriedly helping me up off the floor.

  Too afraid to talk in case it shows how scared I really am or draws attention to myself I nod my head.

  Looking back over to Max, Myles and Davis, none of them have seemed to have calmed down. By the look of Max and Myles’s tight fists something is about to go down. Something that has been brewing for a while it seems. My suspicions are confirmed once Davis opens that foul mouth of his.

  “Stay the fuck out of my way. Did you not learn your lesson last time?’’ he sneers at Myles, but it’s Max that steps forward protecting his twin brother.

  “What? You think I’m going to stand back and watch you pick on an innocent girl? Have you ever tried picking on your own sex or does it not make you feel manly enough?’’ Max snarls at him.

  “Stay out of my way Max, this has nothing to do with you.’’

  “It has everything to do with me,’’ he says deadly calm making my heart race.

  “We’ll see. I’ll break her before the school year is over,’’ he grins evilly.

  That’s when the whole room falls into silence. The only noise I can hear is the thumping in my chest and the buzzing in my ears. Everyone’s heads turn towards the cafeteria door, so following suit, I turn and gasp when I see Malik walk in looking murderous. His face is twisted up in such rage, and anger it makes me take a step back and bump into Denny. It’s only when he gets closer that I notice how cold his eyes look as he takes in Davis before his eyes flicker over to me, scanning my whole body from top to bottom, stopping when he sees my hand. The hand that has been throbbing constantly since Davis stood on it. That’s when he steps forward and everything happens so quickly I would have missed it had I blinked.

  “Holy shit!’’ Denny whispers next to me.

  “Ever, and I mean ever, lay a hand on her again and you’ll wish your mother drowned you at birth,’’ he warns him, his voice deadly and quiet as he wraps his hand around Davis’s neck.

  “Or what?’’ Davis croaks smirking, but I see the flicker of fear in his eyes, and so does Malik if his twisted grin has anything to do with it.

  “Trust me, you won’t enjoy finding out,’’ he says, his fists tightening around Davis’s neck before shoving him away.

  Just then the teacher takes that moment to walk in to the dinner hall shouting at everyone to continue their lunch. I wonder what has taken them so long to get here. I’m pretty sure I saw a teacher in here earlier before it all kicked off, so I wonder why they didn’t stop it.

  “Is there a problem here?’’ a teacher I hadn’t met yet snaps at the lads. The teacher’s eyes flicker over to me, his eyes raking over my shirt before curling his lip in disgust. Hope it’s because of the look of the food and not because I have what looks like shit down my shirt, the asshole.

  “No problem sir,’’ Max says cheerfully, his hard angry temperament from earlier now disappeared.

  “Good, now go eat your lunches before lunchtime is over,’’ he dismisses us walking off.

  What a complete waste of space. I just got assaulted, that much he can see and that asshole couldn’t have cared less.

  Davis, now obviously bored with the confrontation takes a seat in his chair, munching on his food like nothing had happened. I take a moment to enjoy the satisfaction of knowing he has a cut lip and a bruised jaw. It’s the least he deserves.

  “Hey babe, you okay?’’ Malik asks me. His eyes are soft when I look up at him, no longer having any
signs of the raging teenager he had been few minutes ago.

  “If I say I’m okay I’d be lying. I stink of cafeteria food, if you can even call this food,’’ I grunt. “My Gram’s is going to have a shit fit.’’

  Chuckling he brings me into him closer making me forget all about the cafeteria food, the throbbing pain in my hand and the scene that just played out in front of the whole school. All I can think about is how good he smells being this close to me, and how good it feels having him touch me. Will I ever get used to how he makes my body respond? I have a niggling feeling the answer will always be an astounding no.

  “What happened?’’

  “I tripped,’’ I shrug, shoving my hand behind my back. I don’t want to give him another reason to turn around and clock Davis one like his brother just did. Looking back over to him, I smirk inwardly watching him wiping the blood from his lip with a tissue someone must have handed him.

  Take that asshole.

  “You didn’t trip,’’ Denny grunts rolling her eyes. “That dickhead tripped you over on purpose.’’

  “Come on, we need to find you some new clothes to wear. I have a spare shirt in my locker you can borrow. It might be a little big though,’’ he shrugs smirking, his eyes glancing at my chest.

  The thought of wearing his clothes has my body on high alert. Just imagining the feel of his shirt against my flesh has tingles fluttering in my stomach.

  I nod my head to agree, giving Myles and Max a chin lift. Yeah, I become badass when I tripped over in front of everyone and made a fool of myself.