by Liv Morris
Moving back up to my lips, I groaned as he ran his hand down to my hips and pushed his erection against me.
“Wake up, sleepy head!” Lexy swung open the door and Ty collapsed on top of me, pulling the covers over our heads.
Shocked by what she had walked in on, Lexy stuttered, “Um, I, uh, shit, guys. I thought you were alone, Bailey.”
The door slammed shut just as Ty and I burst into a fit of laughter. Pulling the blankets back down, he smiled and kissed my lips.
“I guess we’re busted,” he laughed.
Slapping him away, I reached for my bra. “You could say that. I better go talk to her.”
Pulling me down and kissing me once more, he held me against his chest.
“Okay, now you can go,” he said, kissing the top of my head.
Kissing his lips as I crawled over him, I grabbed my bag and headed for the bathroom. Dressing quickly in a white t-shirt and black shorts, and knotting my hair on the top of my head, I ventured out to find Lexy.
“The bathroom is all yours.” I quickly said before I shut the bedroom door.
I found several stragglers from the night before eating breakfast in the kitchen. Lexy’s mom was all too cordial when it came to our friends staying the night after a party, and since it was Lexy’s birthday, she had a full spread of pancakes, bacon, and eggs.
“You little slut,” Lexy whispered, grabbing my elbow and pulling me into the hallway. “You have some explaining to do.”
“We kissed.” I shrugged. “That’s it.”
“You’re a terrible liar!” she exclaimed. “Are you two together or what?”
“Yeah, we made that official too.” I smiled. “I really like him, Lex.”
“I knew you did!” She pulled me into her arms for a quick hug. “Now we can officially double date! I’m so excited!”
Before I could reply, Ty walked past us and entered the kitchen. He turned and smiled at me just before he grabbed a bottle of water. I couldn’t help but blush, remembering what we had just been doing in the other room.
We held hands as Ty drove me home from Lexy’s. Promising to see me soon, I was surprised when he showed back up at my house an hour later with a stack of DVDs.
“I thought soon meant maybe tonight,” I laughed as he walked into my bedroom.
Giving me a quick peck, he shrugged. “Eh, I was bored.”
“You live in Milton now. You’re going to be bored a lot,” I teased.
“I guess you’ll have to entertain me then,” he said as he threw himself down on my bed and reached for the television remote.
“You’re going to owe me several chick flicks if I have to sit through these movies.” I whined as I picked the DVD that I hoped would have the least amount of fight scenes.
“Deal.”
He patted the spot next to him on the bed, and I curled up in his arms as the previews began. My phone vibrated on the nightstand and I sighed, hoping the text message was from anyone but Jeremy. I really wanted him to lose my number or find someone else to harass.
***
With only three days left of summer break, we walked through the entrance of Milton High School and took our spot in line behind the other students. We were here to pick up our class schedules and claim our lockers for the upcoming year.
“Where is the rest of the school?” Ty asked, looking up and down the hallway.
Lexy threw her arms in the air and twirled around. “This is it, city boy. Your one hall school house.”
“What did you expect?” I laughed, grabbing Ty’s hand.
“I expected more than this.” He ran his other hand through his dark hair. “This is the size of the entrance to my old school.”
“Just start saying y’all and you’ll fit right in,” Lexy laughed.
Colton slapped the back of Ty’s shoulder. “Now you know why we got here early to claim our lockers. There aren’t many of them!”
“I’m going to have to stop thinking everything you say is a joke.” he sighed and squeezed my hand.
We grabbed our class schedules and moved down the line to secure four lockers side by side. Laughing as we left the building, Ty shook his head as he took one last look at the school.
“Hey, at least we have four classes together,” I said, trying to distract him.
He smiled and put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. “Yeah, I’d probably get lost if you weren’t there to lead me to class.”
We pulled into Lexy’s driveway to prepare for the final party of the summer. Colton and Ty lit the grill while Lexy and I set up the tables and chairs in the barn. Within an hour, the barn was full of our classmates. We had invited all the juniors and seniors to this party, but it seemed as if the entire town had shown up. I walked through the crowd for the next hour, talking with friends I hadn’t seen during summer break.
Weaving through the groups of chattering girls and hooting boys, I found Lexy near the barn entrance.
“I’m running up to the house for a minute!” I shouted over the music. “There are twenty people in line for the bathroom out here.”
Lexy waved, and I hurried through the barn door.
I made my way through the trucks and cars that were parked outside the barn. Keeping a steady pace toward the house, I jumped back when a dark shape emerged from behind the nearest truck. Taking a step toward me, I realized who it was.
“I figured if I waited long enough, I’d find you walking to the house,” Jeremy took another step toward me, and I could smell the whiskey on his breath. “You never liked waiting in lines.”
“Why are you here?” I took a step back. “This is a high school party.”
“I’m here to talk to you since you won’t answer my calls or emails or texts,” Jeremy slurred.
“There’s nothing to talk about.” I put my hand over my nose as I tried to walk past him. “Ugh, how much have you had to drink?”
Grabbing my elbow and pulling me back into him with too much force, Jeremy’s voice rose. “You’re my girlfriend, but I’ve heard you’ve been whoring around with some new guy.”
Attempting to rip my elbow from his grip, he only squeezed tighter. I gasped and glared at him. “We broke up months ago, Jeremy. Let go of me!”
Pushing me against the brown truck we were standing next to, he placed his other hand on the passenger window near my head. “No!” he yelled. “You are mine! You’ll always be mine!”
He slammed his hand into the glass, causing me to jump. I had never seen him so mad or drunk. Fueled by my own fear and anger, I began to push back at him.
“Get off of me!” I screamed as I slammed my free fist against his chest. “Are you crazy?”
Before I could scream again, Jeremy was flying toward the ground and pulling me with him. I crashed shoulder first, causing Jeremy to release his grip on my elbow. I winced as someone pulled me to my feet.
Stumbling a few steps away, only because someone was dragging me, I was vaguely aware that another person had picked Jeremy up by his green polo shirt and had him pinned against the brown truck where we just stood.
Reality set in when I realized Colton was holding me up by my waist, and Ty was yelling at Jeremy between punches.
“No!” I screamed as I heard Ty’s fist crash into Jeremy’s nose. “Colton, stop him!”
Successfully scrambling out of Colton’s grip, I ran toward Ty.
“Stop, stop!” I yelled as I attempted to push Ty away from Jeremy. His eyes were black with anger as he continued to hit Jeremy. I stepped back once I realized that I wouldn’t be able to stop him.
“Colton!” I yelled. Colton stepped in and struggled to pull Ty away by his waist. Jeremy slumped to the ground.
Running to Ty, I threw my arms around his neck, causing him to switch his focus to my eyes.
“Colton, make sure Jeremy gets home. I’ll call and tell them what happened.”
“Fine,” he sighed, pulling Jeremy from the ground and pushing him toward his truck
.
Leading Ty away from Jeremy, I didn’t stop until we had closed the door to Lexy’s guest bedroom. Ty paced back and forth until his breathing slowed.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he pulled me into a tight hug. “I was standing outside the barn when I heard you scream. We could barely find you from all of the cars. I’m so sorry I didn’t get there faster. Are you okay?”
“Hold on a second.” I kept my composure as I reached into my back pocket for my cell phone. Dialing an all too familiar number, I waited until there was a connection on the other end.
“Mr. McCain,” I tapped my foot against the ground until I knew he was awake enough to understand me. “It’s Bailey.”
Grumbling from the other end of the line caused me to pause. “Yes, that Bailey. Look, Jeremy showed up drunk at our party and things got out of hand.”
Knowing I had his attention, I continued. “His face looks pretty bad, so you can imagine what I look like. You might want to remind him tomorrow that he needs to leave for college and forget he ever dated me. Unless you want the sheriff’s son in the news for assault and battery. Colton is bringing him home now.” I didn’t wait for his reply before I hung up and threw my phone to the floor.
Wrapping my arms around Ty, I allowed the tears to take control of my body. Every part of me began to tremble, causing him to tighten his grip around my waist.
“Shhh,” he whispered. “You’re okay, baby. You’re okay.”
“I hate them!” I cried. “I hate them so much.”
Ty sat holding me for what seemed like hours. The tears continued to fall, even when I was too exhausted to move. I felt him lift me and lay me across the bed. Never letting go, he crawled into the bed next to me and pulled the covers over both of us.
“Go to sleep, baby,” he whispered. “You’re safe now.”
Curling up closer to him, I slowly began to drift off. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I didn’t want this to happen.”
“Shhh,” he whispered in my ear and I drifted into a restless sleep.
I awoke in the middle of the night and immediately sat up in the bed. Panic set in when I realized that Ty was gone. I tried to remember where my phone was. Scrambling out of the covers, I blinked when the bathroom door opened.
“I thought you left,” I choked out as I jumped out of bed and ran into Ty’s arms.
“No, I’m not going anywhere.” He wrapped his arms tightly around my waist and kissed my forehead. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I got hit by a truck,” I sighed, rubbing my shoulder. “I can’t believe that happened.”
“So that wasn’t normal?” he asked carefully.
“No,” I shook my head. “He’s a pretty intense guy, but not violent. The whiskey didn’t help either. I’m so sorry you were involved. Are you okay?”
Kissing my forehead again, he smiled down at me. “Let’s go back to bed. You need to rest.”
I hugged him tightly before turning back toward the bed.
***
Waking in the morning, I groaned as pain shot across my right arm. Twisting my body around in Ty’s arms, I saw that he was already awake. His eyes were blood-shot and tired.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, running my thumb across the puffy skin under his left eye. “Did you sleep?”
Brushing my hair behind my ear, he sighed. “Not really. Last night was pretty intense. I keep wondering what would have happened if I wasn’t there. I should have gotten to you sooner.”
“I’m fine.” I slid my arm around his waist. “None of that was your fault. I’m sorry you were even involved.”
Twisting back around, I gently lifted his right hand. “How is your hand? Are you okay? It looks broken.”
“It’s just bruised,” he said, turning me back to face him. “I’ll have fun explaining it at football practice, though.”
“I’m so sorry. None of this should have happened. I wish I could have been the one to punch him, though.”
“You got a few hits in before we showed up,” he laughed, and his face began to relax. “I’m guessing you two had a dramatic relationship.”
“Nothing compared to what happened last night.” I sighed, settling back in next to him. “I haven’t talked to him in months.”
“Who did you call last night?” he asked with an uneasy tone.
“I called his dad,” I replied before burying my face into his chest.
Ty laughed, causing me to raise my head. “So I just bloodied up the face of the sheriff’s son? That’s perfect.”
“They won’t know it was you,” I tried to reassure him. “No one else was around when it happened, and that’s why I called him last night. If he knows that Jeremy put his hands on me first, there’s nothing they can do. I’ll have my dad call him tonight too. Unfortunately, they’re best friends.”
“Which explains the part where your parents want you to end up with Jeremy,” he sighed and covered his eyes with his bruised hand. “This keeps getting better.”
“Ty, I’m sorry,” I said, closing my eyes. “I warned you that my past was complicated. I won’t blame you if you break up with me at any point and leave.”
He immediately turned on his side and gently placed his hand on my neck. Running his thumb across my jaw-line, he stared into my eyes. “I don’t know what I have to do or say to make you understand that I’m not going anywhere. I love you, Bailey. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone. And I will hide in this bedroom with you and bruise my knuckles on any jerk as long as it means you are safe and happy.”
Tears filled my eyes. Ty loved me, even after he learned about the craziness that consumed my life. “I love you too,” I whispered.
Leaning down, Ty gently kissed my forehead, eyelids, cheeks and chin before finding my lips. The kiss instantly grew intense as I ran my fingers through Ty’s dark hair. Rolling on top of Ty so I was straddling him, I began to kiss his neck down to his chest. Grabbing the hem of my shirt, Ty pulled the thin material over my head. Running his fingertips down my back, I let out a ragged breath as he rocked me against him.
Lifting my hips, Ty quickly unfastened the buttons on my white shorts and slid them down my legs. Rolling over so he was on top of me, I reached down and unzipped his khaki shorts, granting me access to feel him through his boxers. Groaning, Ty kicked his shorts to the floor and quickly removed my bra.
Running his fingers across my breasts, I softly moaned as he thrust my hips up and I felt him against me. He ran his hand down my side until he found the lace hem of my panties. Sliding his hand between my skin and the lace, I gasped as his fingers found their way inside of me. Pulling down his boxers, I grabbed Ty and felt his fullness.
Groaning, he looked into my eyes and kissed my lips sliding his tongue into my mouth.
“I want you,” he whispered.
I looked directly into his eyes. “I want you too.”
Reaching down, Ty grabbed something from the pocket in his shorts. Once I heard the foil crack, I realized what it was.
“Were you expecting this?” I exclaimed, taken back by how prepared he was.
“No, but you can’t blame me for hoping. We can wait, Bailey. There’s no rush.”
“No, I want to,” I replied. “I just didn’t expect you to be so responsible, I guess.”
He smiled and kissed my lips again. Taking his time, he kissed down my neck to my breasts. Digging my fingers into his back, I had never wanted to be with anyone like this. I heard the foil packet open. He leaned to the side of me and removed the last piece of material that was separating us.
“I’ve never done this before,” I whispered, looking into his eyes.
“I haven’t either,” he stated, taking me by surprise. “I’ve been waiting for you to come along so it would be with the right person.”
“I love you,” I said, unable to bring my voice above a whisper.
“I love you too, baby,” he whispered back.
Kissing my lips again, Ty moved on top
of me. I tensed as I felt him slide inside me. Relaxing once the burning sensation passed, I began to match his movements with my own. With heavy breathing and quiet groans, we made love until both of our bodies gave into the pleasure of our first time.
Ty collapsed on top of me, releasing into the condom. Kissing my lips again, he shifted half of his body to the bed, leaving the other half draped over me. Running my fingertips down his back, he let out a deep breath. A soft giggle escaped my lips as I felt him reach down and dispose of the condom with some tissues he grabbed from the nightstand.
“Stay with me today,” Ty whispered, already slipping into a peaceful sleep.
Kissing his lips, I closed my eyes. “With you is the only place I want to be.”
***
After spending most of the weekend in my bedroom with Ty, I woke up Monday morning excited for the new school year. Dressed in black skinny jeans, knee high black riding boots, and a yellow top, I spent extra time curling my hair that was now well below my shoulders.
Pulling my Jeep into the high school parking lot, I found a spot next to Lexy’s Mustang. I joined Colton and Ty who were standing near the front of Lexy’s car. Ty wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed the top of my head.
“Are you excited for your first day of school?” I winked at him.
“I’m excited that you are here,” he whispered, then kissed my ear.
“We were going to draw you a map. You know, so you don’t get lost,” I teased.
Rolling his eyes, he laughed. “I think I can manage this one-hall mad house.”
“You should join a club or two.” I looked at him. “It will help you get involved.”
“I think you keep me involved enough,” he said as he pushed my hair behind my ear. “But if you’re going to be there, a few clubs won’t hurt my college applications.”
“Do you guys talk at all?” Lexy laughed beside me. “Bailey is in every club, Ty. Join one, and she will be there.”
