by Mia Watts
“Are we really going to set ourselves up for that kind of bullshit?” Kei asked.
“Selfishness aside, what choice do we have in the matter?” Jaxon returned.
He was right, of course. None of them could turn her out without knowing she’d be all right. None of them were heartless like that. Parker slept peacefully on, knowing nothing of the ethical battle that had just been fought and decided for her. He hoped to God she appreciated it.
* * * *
Mattress ticking and buttons roughened her cheek and she licked the drool that moistened the corner of her lip.
“I think she’s alive. I heard her moan.” Sounded like Dan. The guy with a perpetual laugh in his words.
If her eyes were open, she’d have rolled them. Had he been watching her sleep the whole time? What time was it, anyway? And what if she’d gone to bed in her underwear instead of her sweats, which she’d have done if she’d already had sheets on her bed. But she hadn’t, so fully dressed had been the fastest line between barely standing and full on zees.
“We should tell her that we left some pizza for her.” Ah, Henry, the sweetheart.
“Let her sleep. She’s had a rough day, then had to deal with the four of us acting like chauvinistic assholes.” She really did like Jaxon. Bless him.
“She moaned. Do girls have wet dreams?” Dan asked. “Oh fuck! Do you think girls rub themselves down first thing in the morning like guys do when they have wood? Fuck, I hope she lets me watch.”
“Dan, shut up. Try behaving like you normally do instead of like a sex-starved idiot this time,” Kei admonished.
She harrumphed again, trying to get across the point that she’d heard them without actually saying, dude, I can hear you.
The door slammed and silence descended.
Parker sat up. A note was taped to one of the bedposts. You can stay. Unpack your shit and we’ll talk later. Pizza on the mini fridge.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed, and sighed as she looked at her packed bags. “Unpacking my shit. Again,” she said to the empty room.
Someone had left half of the drawers in one dresser open and empty for her. Parker smiled. He’d also cleared half the top, although it looked like he’d put an arm on the surface and shoved. Judging from the things, it was Jaxon.
The only thing on the other dresser was a delicately carved box of weathered wood. It was beautiful in its simplicity. Rough carvings of people doing everyday things like fishing and talking in groups encircled the small piece. Definitely something she’d attribute to Kei.
The open closet door revealed a huge chunk of space someone cleared for her things. Out of curiosity, she poked her head in the bathroom. Someone had put her toothbrush in the holder. The medicine cabinet hung open where she found one empty shelf. Condom boxes, razors, deodorant, shaving cream, and pills had all been double stacked on other shelves.
A note had been stuck there, also. For your girl shit and tampons. Sounded like Dan. She giggled, surprised that she felt pretty confident about knowing that.
On the inside of the medicine cabinet door was a chore sheet. Her name was penciled in at the bottom in precise block lettering with a slight right-handed slant. That has to be Kei.
Wearing a smile now, she wondered if Henry had left her a note of indirect welcome. She caught her bottom lip in her teeth and turned toward the computer. A sticky note centered on the monitor provided her with her own username and password: Honeylips and Parker5.
Aw. They do love me!
Humming, she made her bed and unpacked her shit. Then settling down with the box of cold pizza and flat coke from an opened two-liter bottle, Parker pulled out her schedule. She checked her watch. The bookstore closed in less than an hour. She scarfed down the rest of her slice, grabbed her class sheet and ran out of the room, nearly knocking down a tall blond guy in the process.
“Sorry,” she yelled, as she ran down the hall and out of the building.
Chapter Three
“Aw, guys, quit playing target practice with the toilet bowl!” Parker whined loudly. “How would you feel if every time I had to pee, I got up and dribbled my way to the bathroom?”
A couple of sleepy mumbles sounded from the other room.
“Sorry,” Henry said, the only one of the boys who was awake with her at o’godawful-thirty in the morning.
Dan rolled out of bed, hit the floor. She knew it was Dan because he did that a lot when he had been up late to party after a game.
Parker brandished the toilet bowl cleaner. “Here goes nothing,” she muttered.
“Hold that thought,” Dan said, walking in bleary eyed and scratching his bare ass.
Dan had a great package, and she’d been right. He didn’t have an extra hair on his torso anywhere. Nothing but lovely smooth muscle and thickly hanging cock. She protested, but really, this was the sight that greeted her every morning, and as cocks went, Dan’s was spectacular.
He had perfectly round ass cheeks, too. The kind where when you looked at him from behind with his orb-tacular ass and thickly corded thighs, you could see his balls even with his legs closed. God, that was hot. She’d even come to like his slightly flakey, but surprisingly sharp wit.
“Nice,” Parker snarked. “Classy, even.”
“Do you want me to wait until after you clean the bowl?” he asked.
She pointed at his half-mast cock with the brush. “I meant that.”
“No one’s making you look.”
It was hard not to.
Dan snorted, positioned and pressed his cock down.
Parker dropped the brush and ran. Fucking hell. That’s it. She’d been in the dorm with these guys for two weeks and they’d relaxed around her. Maybe she ought to do the same.
The doorknob to the bedroom twisted. Parker’s eyes widened and she dove for the closet, hiding beneath a pile of partially clean and partially dirty jeans the boys had dropped on the floor.
Which scholarship genius left the bloody door unlocked! Parker bit back a swear word. Thought they wanted to keep my presence hush-hush.
“Hey, asswipes, there’s a dorm meeting in ten. Did you ever tell your new roomie I stopped by?”
Parker hooked her finger around a jockstrap. Thank you, Dan. Nudging it off her eye, she peered out of her smelly hiding place to see what was going on.
“I’m takin’ a piss, Leo, and you’re not the dorm mommy anymore,” Dan called.
“Didn’t you hear? I’m off probation this quarter and I’m up for House Resident at the end of the year. Find your fucking roommate and make sure his ass is in the common room in ten.”
Leo. Shit. She’d been dodging him since she discovered who he was and how flipped out the guys got when they realized she’d run into him one morning.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. We got it.” Dan said, coming back out of the bathroom.
“Hey, who’s that chick I keep seeing over here?”
“Which chick?” Dan asked carefully.
“The hot blonde one with the great ass.”
“Henry’s girl,” Dan replied, grinning.
“No way would a cunt like that suck the geek’s cock.”
She hated him already. Intensely.
“Fuck off, dickwad,” Dan snapped.
Leo laughed. “Just tell that bitch that when she’s done with Henry and wants a real man, I’ll think about letting her lick my balls. And you bitches had better be at the meeting today. We’re nominating for Student Council and reps in the dorm. We’re catching everyone before morning classes start.”
Leo opened the door wider, then slammed it closed with everything he had. Kei swung his legs over the side of the bed sleepily. Jaxon buried his head under his pillow and grumbled. Henry jabbed at his keyboard and Parker slowly crawled from beneath the pile of jeans in the closet.
“I hate him,” she said softly.
“We all do,” Dan muttered.
Parker looked over at Henry. He was so mad his face had gone scarlet and hi
s hands were shaking. She had an idea and it brought a smile to her lips. “Want to get him back?”
“How?” Jaxon asked.
“He thinks I’m hot, right?”
Jaxon snorted. “We all do.”
“I’m gonna sex it up a little and join you boys in the common room. Then I’m going to hang all over Henry.”
“What?” Henry’s voice squeaked an octave. “He hates me already.”
Kei grinned. “I like how you think.”
Jaxon nodded and Dan fell into a fit of laughter. Parker’s smile broadened. It had taken a little while, but she finally felt like one of the guys.
Kei stood, his navy knit boxers clung to his lean hips and swelled over the bulge at his crotch. She tried not to stare, but she’d been dying to see him naked. She’d have thought that with this many guys around her full time, she was bound to see some random dick action. All she got was daily Dan. Which, all things considered, looked fantastic.
But Kei. His body kind of glowed with health and the golden tones of his heritage. Also hairless across his chest, she couldn’t help but fantasize about his sleek body and wonder if that beauty carried below the waist.
“Fucking A, Dan, put some pants on. No one needs to see that first thing in the morning.”
Dan, seeming to know her thoughts, winked at her and pulled on a pair of tighty-whities. She darted her gaze away, then thought, what the fuck. It’s not like she had anything to be ashamed of.
Still in a pair of borrowed boxers and undershirt, Parker shimmied out of the lose shorts. She ambled over to the closet and took down her lowest riding jeans and thick black belt. The buckle would hit just above her pubis—right where she wanted Leo’s attention when he ate his heart out over the way she hung on Henry. He was going to pay for the comment. No one messed with one of her boys.
“Henry,” she said, her back to the room.
“Yeah?” he answered, his voice catching.
“Wear a couple of pairs of extra tight undies today. We have something to prove.”
Dan laughed. Even Kei chuckled as he made his way to the bathroom. From Henry’s muttering, she assumed he did as she’d asked, even though she kept her back to him for privacy.
“Don’t turn around,” Henry demanded.
“You’re safe,” she soothed.
“You’re one wicked, wicked girl, Parker.” Jaxon came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist for a quick reverse hug.
Parker reached back, caught him behind the neck and drew him forward. She rested her head on his shoulder and finally tasted his pillowy firm mouth. Jaxon’s fingers pressed her abdomen in a reactionary clutch.
Giving over to the sensation, she tugged his bottom lip with her teeth, suckling it gently before letting go and stepping away to find an adequately inappropriate shirt.
“Let me know if you have any more of those to pass out,” Jaxon said huskily.
“Dude. Next time it’s my turn,” Dan groused. “That was fucking hot.”
“Maybe it’s not your lips I’m angling to taste,” she replied flippantly.
“You could wear that red shirt,” Jaxon murmured. “It looks sexy on you.”
“A bikini top,” Dan suggested. “A tiny one that barely hangs on to her nipples and has one of those tie things in the back so that if you pull the cord just right, it pulls off at just the right moment.”
“Gave this some thought, did you?” Kei asked.
“Maybe a little,” Dan said.
“I have a small black Star Wars t-shirt,” Henry offered.
“Henry! That’s perfect,” Parker said.
“It is?” four male voices asked in unison.
Parker went to Henry’s dresser and pulled her shirt off, not caring when her breasts touched air. She dug through his shirt drawer until she found the faded black tee with equally faded script and a shadowed figure of Darth Vader.
Her nipples tightened, and she felt the familiar thrill of knowing all four men watched her. She took her time stepping into the well-worn jeans that hugged her ass. The snap, zip and low riding belt cupped her hips well below her belly button, almost to the top edge of her low riding boy shorts. Then she raised her arms, listening to the collective groans of her roommates when her full pert breasts lifted, tips pinched, ceiling-ward.
Men are so easy. She pulled the shirt over them. Twisting the hemline so the fabric pulled snugly across the front of her body, she tucked the extra fabric behind her back. It stopped at her waist, flashing several inches of flat, toned belly. She drew on dark eyeliner and mascara, slicked on baby pink gloss, and brushed her hair out until it shone.
“What do you think?” she asked, turning.
“I think I’m in love,” Dan said.
“Me too,” Jaxon agreed.
“Whumlphmnsnnuuuuhhh,” Henry said.
She dared to meet Kei’s eyes, most anxious to know that her daring display had pleased him. Kei watched her with hooded eyes, thick arms folded across his chest and his lips firmly pressed together. Her pussy tingled at his dark unreadability. What she’d give to know his thoughts right now.
He probably thinks I’m a slut. Great move, genius. Flash the boys some boob. Indulge in your curiosity about how they taste. Be the sexual tease. Her smile faded and she dropped her gaze. She liked all the guys, but she liked Kei best, and she had no idea why. He hadn’t given her any direct signals.
Well, that wasn’t true. He’d told her flat out never to kiss him again. She wanted to. One taste of him wasn’t enough. She wanted to get her fingers on him, feel his smooth golden skin and explore every inch of his perfect body. She wanted him to want her the same way. She wanted him to think she was worth knowing and worth sharing himself.
“Henry, you’ll have to pretend like me hanging all over you is completely normal. Do you think you can do that?” she asked him, trying to ignore the nervousness that shifted her stomach to uneasy depths.
She hated that Kei could do that to her with a single look. His opinion of her shouldn’t matter so much. She could still feel his eyes on her and her cheeks heated with embarrassment. She felt like a silly child who knew she’d done wrong, and as a result, had been silently scolded by someone worthy of her respect. Well, fuck Kei.
“Uh huh.” Despite his affirmative, Henry didn’t look confident.
Parker put on a bright smile. “That’s right. Just pretend like I’m always hanging on you and this is old hat.”
“Maybe you should practice a little so it doesn’t make him stupid when he’s out there in front of everyone,” Jaxon suggested.
Kei flipped his wrist. “You got a minute and a half.”
Parker hurried over to Henry and straddled him in his desk chair like she had two weeks ago. “Put your arms around me,” she instructed.
He did. Awkwardly.
“Really? Can you try that with enthusiasm?”
He let her go and hugged her again, this time pulling her tight. His face paled.
“You’re not going to come again are you? That would ruin the effect,” Dan said.
Parker didn’t dignify Dan’s snipe. Instead, she looked steadily into Henry’s eyes. “Put your hand on my ass like you own it, and kiss me.”
“Sloppy seconds!” Dan cheered.
“Shut up, Dan,” Jaxon and Parker chimed in jointly.
“We gotta go,” Kei interrupted.
“Kiss me, Henry. Make it believable.”
Henry’s lips screwed up and he leaned forward.
Parker giggled. He really was adorably dorky. She cupped his face and alternately smoothed her thumbs over his lips. “Relax these. Good. Now pretend I’m about to feed you a tiny spoon with ice cream on it. Perfect,” she crooned when his lips parted.
She leaned to him this time, matching his lips with hers and lightly stroking the tip of her tongue to his, just inside his mouth. Henry was a quick study, picking up her moves and taking the kiss deeper. He remembered to grab her ass, his fingers kneading bot
h cheeks, one hand diving lower between her legs where they were splayed over his thighs.
Parker yelped and stood abruptly. “Yeah, yep, you got it. Okay, boys. I’d say we’re ready. Some of us more than others,” she said, laughing nervously.
“Let’s go show Leo a little humility,” Dan said.
Chapter Four
Kei thought maybe this wasn’t such a great idea after all. Getting one over on Leo had its appeal, but pissing him off and putting them back on Leo’s radar didn’t have a good payoff. He frowned, watching Henry and Parker stroll down the hallway together, arm in arm.
Henry looked nervous, continually wiping his free hand on his thigh as though his palms were sweating. They probably were. Parker’s hips swung with careless seduction. She didn’t even have to try to turn men on. She just oozed sex appeal.
Kei walked behind, eyes locked on those delicate depressions on either side of her spine just south of her waist and north of her jeans. Henry’s thumb looped in her belt and she slipped her fingers into his back pocket, which made him trip on his feet. Parker slowed automatically, giving him time to collect himself before all five of them wandered into the loaded common room.
Guys still milled about, horsing around and generally being guys at the dull base roar of most college men. A few hooted when Henry walked in with Parker. Parker kept her eyes glued to Henry like a lovesick freshman. Damn, she was good.
Kei went on alert, his gaze scanning the room, ready to intercept any asshole who might try to hit on her. Parker directed Henry to one of the couches already taken and subtly pushed him onto the armrest. When he sat, she took his lap and wrapped both arms around his shoulders.
Parker giggled and buried her face in Henry’s neck. Kei thought the poor kid might need blood pressure meds after this.
He sure as hell did.
“God. I might come just watching those two,” Dan muttered.
“Join the crowd. I think most of the guys here feel that way.” Jaxon nodded to the room at large.
