Mistakes : A College Bully Romance

by Candace Wondrak

  “No,” he said. “I’m not happy, but that’s the thing—I’m never happy.”

  “So you drag everyone else to the mud with you?” My question was thrown like a knife, a sharp dagger, and I hurled that bitch straight to his heart. “Just because you’re never happy doesn’t mean other people have to be miserable too.”

  Dean looked at me then, and I meant he really looked at me. A hard, serious look—an expression I’d never seen on his face before. He looked older then, not the nineteen he was, as if he held some kind of dark past that led him to make such terrible decisions with his life.

  But you know what? I didn’t care. There was no reason this guy could possibly have to explain why he acted the way he did. There was no redemption for Dean, only revenge, and even if Mel stayed comatose for weeks, months, years, Levi and I would avenge her. It’s the least we could do, for hurting her.

  Dean? Dean had hurt her the most. Dean needed to be taken down a peg. I couldn’t wait until the day I saw him fall—I’d bring popcorn. I’d enjoy the shit out of that movie again and again, hitting replay at least ten times.

  Excessive? Oh, yeah, totally.

  What could I say? Hashtag no shame.

  “If you’re trying to see if I’m happy that Mel hurt herself, I’m not,” Dean hissed, jerking back as he stood up. He wasn’t as tall as Levi, but he had some muscles on that body. Still, it wasn’t enough to intimidate me. I wasn’t the kind of person to ever be intimidated. A good thing, but sometimes a bad thing.

  I got up, glaring at him all the while. He wasn’t reaching for his bag, so I wasn’t sure what he was waiting for. Something, obviously. This conversation was winding down, but it lasted longer than I thought it would. I hoped it was enough time for Levi to do what he needed to do. “You deserve so much more than a kidney-punch, Dean,” I whispered, glaring.

  “I know,” he said simply, shrugging. Dean said nothing else as he grabbed his bag, slung the strap over his shoulder, and walked away.

  I watched him leave the building, not wanting to pull out my phone and text Levi—having him turn his head back to look at me and seeing me on my phone immediately after our encounter might look fishy. So I waited until he left the union, until I saw him walk out those doors, and then I texted Levi that our little chat was done.

  Anticipation danced along every nerve in my body, and I prayed this endeavor of ours would yield some fruit.

  And by fruit, I totally meant dirt. Or even blackmail. Whatever you wanted to call it.

  Chapter Sixteen – Kelsey

  The next week passed slowly. So freaking slowly I wanted to dig my fingers through my hair and pull, all the while screaming into the void. I’d gone to visit Mel a few times, but there was no change. I’d even met her parents. They seemed…well, not like my parents. More overbearing, and a bit rude. I didn’t particularly like them, but that was fine, as I was assuming Mel would have to once again drop out of the semester.

  Which would mean she would no longer be my roommate, and since half an empty room meant less money going to SCC and its for-profit shit, I’d just get another roommate.

  Yeah. That part kind of sucked, and by kind of, I meant a lot. It sucked a lot.

  I didn’t want another roommate. I didn’t want anyone who wasn’t Mel. Maybe that was foolish of me, but she was my friend, and even though I wasn’t the religious sort, every night I prayed for that girl to open her eyes again. I prayed. Never thought I’d see the day when I folded my hands together and spoke to whatever God was listening.

  It was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving break, and I sat in my seat in bio lab, trying to pay attention to whatever worksheet my partner and I had to complete. Usually what ended up happening was she figured out all the answers and gave them to me because our grades were linked. One partner couldn’t get an A while the other scored an F. It didn’t work like that, not here. Not in this stupid class.

  I wasn’t going to complain, because after this class, I never wanted to take another science lab ever again. I hated it. I hated it so freaking much it was unbelievable.

  The minutes ticked by, and we were allowed to leave once our worksheet was done—and since my partner was one of the smarter ones in the class, we were one of the first to turn them in. Lucky me for complaining about Levi and nabbing myself a smarty-pants. As I tore the paper from my workbook, following my partner to the front of the room to turn it in, I couldn’t help but glance at the one man I shouldn’t.

  Levi.

  I noticed his worksheet was only half done. His sapphire gaze flicked up and met mine, and I knew once I passed him that he now stared at my ass. He definitely had a thing for it, not like I was going to complain. Once the paper was in the professor’s hand, my partner and I left, mumbling things like Have a good break and Happy Thanksgiving before parting ways.

  The dorm was my destination, and I let my feet drag, slowly making my way there once I was out of the science building. I actually wore two layers under my hoodie; the weather had taken a turn for the worse lately. Ash must have it good down in Hillcrest; I bet they were warmer. Not as warm as lower California or Florida, but still. I was jealous.

  Not that I’d talked to her lately. Still no messages from her, and I couldn’t help but wonder if this Thanksgiving break was going to be an awkward one. What if I saw her around town? We’d be home for a little less than a week; it wasn’t that far-fetched that we’d run into each other.

  I sighed to myself as I entered my dorm room, tossing my key and my bag on my desk. I’d get to it when and if I got to it. Refusing to linger on it was my way of avoiding it, since I couldn’t exactly run away.

  My shoes were kicked off and on the floor, my body laying atop my bed by the time the door opened and Levi snuck in.

  Because we had to sneak. We had to act like we hardly spoke to each other in public, just in case. We had to be careful. Dean couldn’t see us together. It really sucked, living a lie. I could hardly remember what it was like before, when Levi and I were sneaking around, finding the strangest of places to hook up. Those days honestly felt like they took place years ago.

  Funny how much things had changed in one semester.

  Levi locked the door behind him, placing his backpack near mine. He came to join me on the bed, stepping out of his shoes before crawling beside me and wrapping an arm around me. He held me to him, my back against his chest, and I felt his hot breath on my ear.

  This was how things were supposed to be. This was how life was meant to be. Even with all the shit going on, being in Levi’s arms relaxed me. Well, they relaxed me and worked me up, depending on what we were doing, but I’d take either one no matter what time of the day it was.

  “Are you ready for break?” Levi’s rough, low voice spoke in a bare whisper, sending a shiver down my spine. The way my body reacted to his voice was almost ridiculous. That man could be talking about rainbow ponies and I’d be standing there, losing myself to the timbre of his tone, my thighs clenching.

  “No,” I muttered, grabbing the hand of the arm draped across me and bringing it to my chest, my fingers lightly dancing across his. I didn’t want to go five or six days without seeing him. I depended on this man now; he was literally my strength when I had none.

  “Me either,” he whispered, “but I was thinking…”

  I couldn’t help but smirk at the way his voice trailed off. “You were thinking what?”

  “I was thinking maybe you could come to my house for Thanksgiving, if you want.” I felt him shrug behind me. “I figured you’d want to avoid your parents and your friend Ash.”

  If I went somewhere else for Thanksgiving, my parents would kill me—but, you know what? I didn’t care. Why would we have a family Thanksgiving anyways when we weren’t even a family anymore? My mom and dad were getting divorced, so what was the point in the fake celebration of thanks? Hint: there was none.

  “Your mom would be okay with me tagging along?” I asked, slow to turn around and face him on the b
ed. We laid on our sides next to each other, and the hand that I’d brought to my chest now moved to rest on the curve of my ass. “Just for the day, or for the whole break?” Frankly, I’d do either without hesitation. Any time spent away from my family would be a win.

  “I’m sure,” Levi said. “I’ve never brought a girl home before, so…”

  A smile grew on my lips, and I ran my hands up his chest, practically purring out, “Never brought a girl home? Hmm. So I’d be the first?” A stupid question; it was what he just said. Call me an idiot.

  I’d be the first, and hopefully the last.

  Whoa. Okay, that was a little much. That was…talking about the future and further down the line. I wasn’t comfortable thinking that far ahead, was I? Not in the past, but now…now the future was all I could think about, because I didn’t want Levi to disappear from my life. I didn’t want to wake up one morning and think to myself: I’m not going to see him today, or ever again. A life without Levi was a life I didn’t want.

  This man was everything to me. I’d said it as an insult before, but now I meant it in a different way when I said Levi ruined me. He ruined me for other guys. He took my world and turned it upside down, and the worst part? He made me like it, made me love him. I was helpless in the hands of this man, which went against everything I used to stand for.

  “Yeah,” he spoke softly, his eyes half-lidded. “We can also catch up on the app, too.”

  Ah, right. So it wouldn’t be all lovey-dovey, Kelsey, meet my mom; Mom, meet Kelsey. It would also be about checking the last week of videos those cameras had caught. Hopefully there’d be something we could use, something that painted Dean in the wrong light.

  I had no idea what that would be, but I knew it’d be something. There had to be something.

  “Sounds like a plan,” I murmured, bringing my face to his, meeting his lips with mine. I would never get used to the way Levi tasted, or how he felt when he held me close. How his lips parted and let my tongue play with his, the groans that left him when I nibbled his bottom lip and ran my tongue over it, teasing, begging.

  Levi was slow to move, crawling over me, pinning me down with his lean, strong frame. I felt so small underneath him, his muscles drowning everything out. My world spun each time we were together, my mind and body on a high no other guy or drug could ever replicate. Levi was my drug. He was mine, and I was never going to give him up. Not again.

  We’d both fucked up. We’d both made some horrible decisions we regretted, but if I let our pasts dictate what our futures held, I knew I’d only add onto that pile of remorse.

  No. I needed him, and he needed me. We were only whole when we were with each other.

  Levi took his mouth from mine, dragging it to my neck, showering my throat with fervent, passionate kisses that took my breath away and made my heart beat a mile a minute in my chest. Thud, thud, thud; I could practically hear it when his hands traveled down my body, cupping and pushing against my breasts for only a split moment before going even lower, working to undo the button on my jeans.

  His azure stare met mine as his head followed suit, moving down. He yanked those jeans off me like a master, like he’d done it a thousand times already. Maybe he had; I’d lost count of how many times we’d been together. There was no greater stress-reliever than sex, after all, and when it came to Levi, there was no man better suited for the job.

  The next thing he helped off my body was my underwear. He slid those black panties off me almost too slowly, giving me a half smirk that drove me wild. Strong hands spread apart my thighs once my lower half was free of all clothing, and his gaze ate me up, raking across the most intimate part of my body like he owned it.

  And he did. If my body ever belonged to someone else, it was him, just as his body was mine.

  I let out a low moan the moment his head lowered to my sex, his tongue flicking out and swirling around my clit before adding pressure on it and sucking. My eyelids slammed shut; I could no longer watch him give me head. It was too much.

  At least, that’s what I thought, until I felt him stick a finger inside of me, not letting up on my aching nub. My back arched of its own accord, letting his finger fuck me deeper, harder. Every nerve inside of my body exploded with pleasure when Levi’s teeth lightly dragged across my clit, and I couldn’t stifle the cry that escaped me when the orgasm came. My fingers held onto the sheets, my lungs heaving for breath, but the man wasn’t done with me yet.

  His mouth left my clit, but his finger still worked inside of me, and with a hazy, lust-filled gaze, Levi whispered, “You really are fucking gorgeous, Kelsey.”

  No one in my life had ever called me that except him, and it blew my mind that anyone could find me, Kelsey freaking Yates, fucking gorgeous. I wasn’t the gorgeous type. I wasn’t a model. I wasn’t tall and skinny; I was the girl next door type. Short, brown hair the color of literal shit, with an attitude to match. Not gorgeous material.

  But still he insisted on calling me that, and it drove me nuts. But in a good way.

  Levi was slow to pull his finger out of me, and I was able to peek my eyes open to watch him work on getting off his own jeans, his erection present with the bulge in his pants. Honestly, there was nothing better than seeing that bulge and knowing it was there for me and me alone.

  The moment his cock sprang free, eight inches of hard, veiny-ness, I swallowed. Some people didn’t look better naked. Some guys you just wanted to ask them to tuck it back away, but this guy? Oh, no. If I was fucking gorgeous, he was a fucking Greek god brought to life, every single inch of him glorious and sinfully sexy.

  He whipped off his shirt, baring his muscled torso, flexing a bit, letting me see his hairless chest flex and harden. There was no better sight in the world. Levi helped me out of my shirt and my bra, tossing them to the floor beside us, and then it was his body on mine, his body heat invading mine, and my skin accepted it eagerly.

  Levi pushed inside of me with one hard jerk of his hips, and I let out a groan as he filled me up to the brink. It wasn’t that hard to do, especially with his length being so long.

  “Fuck,” I whispered, muttering the word under my breath as I dragged my nails down his back, a bit hard, but I liked it when I left a mark, and I was pretty sure he did, too. My hands then went to his ass, holding onto the sides of his cheeks as he started to thrust, pounding into me with reckless, wild abandon.

  My body was on fire. Felt like literal fire any time he was near me. My senses were heightened, every single part of me feeling Levi’s cock somehow. The pleasure, the sensation of giving in completely, losing myself in someone else. I never knew it could feel so good before Levi, before I faced the fact and admitted to myself that I was so deeply in love with this man.

  Who knew sex could feel even better when love was involved? When it wasn’t just a random hookup? I never thought…I never knew—well, it turned out there were a lot of things I didn’t know, but with Levi here, we’d figure them out together.

  Levi’s hips rocked back and forth, our moans intertwining and mixing, creating new sounds in the air. We made love like people who never wanted to come up for air. We fucked like animals, wild and free, grasping and needy. We were united in the way people hardly were. A love so fierce it burned down any obstacle that sat in its way.

  It grew to be too much for me, and my body shuddered with another orgasm, my inner walls clenching around his cock as I cried out, nails digging into his ass, helping him prod deeper into me.

  Levi watched me come, a hungry, desperate look on his face. It wasn’t too much longer before he found his own release, throwing his head back as his hips rocketed his cock into me, my body taking everything he gave. Sweat lined his brow, his skin a bit flushed, and he was unhurried in pulling out of me, plopping down beside me and giving me a long, hard kiss that told me he needed a five-second break.

  That was fine. During his five-second break, after the kiss was done, I reached for my phone and texted my parents about our new Th
anksgiving arrangements. Wouldn’t want them to get their hopes up or anything.

  It was when I was on top of Levi, riding his once-again hard cock like a wild horse that needed to be broken in, when my phone dinged. I left it on the edge of the bed, and as I rocked along Levi’s cock, I glanced at the message.

  “Fuck,” I muttered, this time not an exclamation of sensual pleasure. This time I’d meant it as a curse.

  Through gritted teeth, Levi managed to say, “What is it?”

  I moved to set my hands on his chest, breathing hard. My nipples were hardened points, my skin red from the workout of riding him. “Looks like we’ll be having two Thanksgivings.” My blasted parents refused to let me spend it with Levi. At least not all of it.

  I’d spend Thanksgiving with him and his mom, and then the weekend with mine.

  I could not emphasis how miserable that was going to be for the both of us, but it was too late to turn back now. We’d already passed the point of no return.

  Well. This should be fun.

  Chapter Seventeen – Levi

  When Wednesday came, I grew antsy, my anxiety only festering when I started to pack a bag for the weekend. I was bringing Kelsey home, and she was going to meet my mom. It wasn’t even the fact that I’d never brought a girl home before—it was something else.

  My mom…she wasn’t the nicest person around. It’s where I got it from, I think. My dad wasn’t in the picture, hadn’t been in the picture for a very long time.

  Everything would be fine. We’d get through the weekend, spend some quality time together away from SCC, and it would all be good. I’d even meet her parents, so I guessed you could say things were serious.

  But that was the thing with me and Kelsey, wasn’t it? Things were always serious. Things had never been just for fun between us, not even if you went back and looked at the first night we were together, when she’d come to the Sigma Chi house looking to get fucked up. Even then, I’d known this girl was doing something to me. Changing me. Making me want things I never wanted before.