30. Ella
30
***Ella***
I stared down at my phone, looking at the time slowly ticking by. I’d been waiting for Vaughn to show up in the library for nearly half an hour. He’d never been late for our tutoring sessions before and I was worried. I’d already texted him to ask if he was coming but I hadn’t gotten anything back. My mind went straight to the worst option possible. Besides him being dead or hurt, it was him finding out about what I’d done the night before. I was still scandalized by it myself, so I could only imagine how he would react.
I tapped my fingers on the table and chewed on my bottom lip. I considered calling Mom while I waited but I felt like she’d know I did something crazy. Her sex sixth sense was remarkable. I couldn’t talk to Natalie about it, though, so I was close to bursting. I wanted someone else to tell me that I wasn’t out of my mind.
Giving up on waiting patiently, I called Vaughn. I was too antsy to just sit around. His phone rang and rang until the call went to voicemail. Groaning, I started shoving my things back into my backpack. Being in the library, in complete silence, was going to make me nuts. I was replaying the night before over and over again, going over every little detail. How it had happened, how Booth and Fisher felt, had it been good enough for them? I needed to go straight to my room and journal. Except I didn’t even trust my journal anymore, thanks to Mom.
I’d just stood up to leave when the door was flung open. I jumped and gasped while clutching my chest. “Jesus!”
Vaughn looked like an angry bull as he came in and slammed the door shut behind him. He was standing like he was ready to charge and I could see a vein in his neck throbbing. His nostrils were even flaring. “Ella Rae Daughton.”
I dropped my backpack and took a step back. “Why do you look like you just shot up steroids?”
“I have a question for you.” He stepped closer. “Why the fuck were your panties in Booth’s room?”
My face felt like I’d set it on fire as I stared back at him with wide eyes. My panties? Internally, I was freaking out. I was screaming about how dumb I’d been to leave my panties and how dumb I’d been to sleep with Vaughn’s friends at all. I couldn’t imagine telling him the truth, though, so I went the defensive route. I twisted my face into a scowl. “How the hell do you know what my panties look like?”
He moved closer. “Tell me the truth, Ella.”
Deny, deny, deny. “Answer my question, Vaughn. How do you know they were my panties?”
“Goddammit, Ella, I saw your laundry. That part doesn’t matter! What matters is that they were in my best friend’s room.”
“What do you mean, you saw my laundry?” Denial and defensiveness were making a super combination of crazy. “Have you been looking at my panties, Vaughn? You pervert.”
His eyes narrowed as he turned around and shook his head. “Jesus, Ella. Just fucking tell me the truth. Are you fucking Booth?”
Facing his back, I could admit it. Especially since he hadn’t asked about Fisher, too. Still, I was quiet as I answered. “I did.”
He spun back around to me. “What the hell is your problem, Ella? You couldn’t find anyone else on this campus to screw? It had to be my best friend?”
I had found someone else but he didn’t need to know that. “I didn’t sleep with Booth just because I was looking for someone to screw, Vaughn. It just happened.”
“It just happened?” He gave me a look that made me feel two inches tall. “You never could take responsibility for your fuck ups. I just thought maybe you’d grown up a little since you were thirteen.”
Anger surged through me and I rounded the table to plant myself right in front of him. “You think I’m not taking responsibility? I said it happened. What more do you want? You want the details? You want to know-”
“Stop talking, Ella.”
“-how he fucked me? You want to know positions and an orgasm count?”
Breathing harder, Vaughn inched even closer. “You’re a brat, Ella. Someone told you not to do something and you just had to do it, didn’t you?”
“Not everything is about you, Vaughn! I didn’t do it to spite you. You were far, far from my mind while I did it.” I was seeing red and I wanted to jab him where it hurt. “Booth made sure of that.”
“Fuck you, Ella.”
“Fuck you, too, Vaughn. I hate you!” Breathing just as hard as Vaughn, I stared up at him with a growing desire to rip his hair out. Or throat punch him. Or-
Vaughn grabbed my arms and pulled me up onto my tiptoes. His eyes flicked down to my mouth and he growled. “I mean it, Ella. Fuck you.”
My blood was fire in my veins. I shoved my hands against his chest. “I mean it, too.”
His eyes shifted to my mouth again and the tension shifted. Without warning, and without knowing who moved first, his mouth was on mine and his hands were on my waist, dragging me into his body. It was an eruption. I grabbed his hair and held on while he spun me around and pinned me to the door. His mouth was harsh on mine, his teeth raking over my lips, his kiss almost more bite than kiss. His hands were everywhere all at once, touching my bare thigh and then cupping my breast in a hard grip.
I tugged on his hair and panted his name when he stroked his hand down my thigh and tugged it up around his hip. Grinding into me, he gripped my ass and kissed down my throat. His bites stung but I couldn’t get enough of them.
I raked my nails over his shoulders and he yanked my cardigan down my shoulders, pinning my arms until I could work them free. I moaned when he cupped my breasts and pushed them together so he could bury his face in them. I got my arms free and slipped them inside his shirt. His skin was hot under my fingers.
Vaughn sucked at my breasts, giving a little pain with every bit of pleasure. Moving his mouth back up to mine, he reached under my dress and shifted his hips so he could slip his hand inside my panties. His mouth hovered over mine as he growled at me. “You’re fucking soaked, Ella. Why are you so wet for someone you hate?”