Chapter 28
Creed
Zara Harrington sits in my lap, her nails scraping the back of my neck and weaving into my hair. I’ve got one hand on her hip, the other under the hem of her skirt, kneading her ass.
She’s been trailing after me like a fucking puppy for two years, batting her eyelashes and smiling cute smiles, hoping for a ride on my cock. Today’s her lucky day.
I need to erase Millie from my system.
And what better way than indulging in someone else?
Zara’s a looker. Always has been. Dark eyes, dark hair, perfect makeup and full lips. Her body’s a sight, legs up to her armpits, full tits threatening to spill out of her cleavage, but... she doesn’t do shit for me while I’m still replaying Millie’s words.
She’s scared of me.
Said it out loud, and I haven’t slept since. She’s right to be scared. I fucking get it. I’m not safe. Never have been. I’m impulsive, controlling, and violent. There’s nothing good in me.
I’m my father’s son. Fucked up.
But her admission hurts all the same.
I take a swig of my beer, glaring at Noah. He’s across from me with Hyde, their eyes narrowed as they watch me grope Zara in the middle of the common room.
Hyde’s raised eyebrow doesn’t annoy me, not really, but Noah’s condescending look rubs me the wrong way.
Everything’s been rubbing me the wrong way since Noah interrupted my conversation with Millie in the gym. Though conversation might be an exaggeration.
She said two words.
Everything’s been rubbing me the wrong way since Noah stripped out of his hoodie, and Millie’s cheeks ran redder than the red that flashed through my head at the sight.
Everything’s been rubbing me the wrong way since I saw the lust in her eyes when she looked at his bare chest.
Maybe Zara’s perky ass can rub me the right way.
She wiggles closer to my groin, working hard to wake up my unresponsive cock. My legs are spread wide and she’s probably uncomfortable, but I don’t give a shit about her comfort.
I don’t give a shit about her fingers toying with my hair, or her glossed lips making a mess in the crook of my neck. I don’t give a shit about her, period.
She’s nothing but a means to an end, a way to do the right fucking thing for once in my miserable life and leave my best friend’s little sister alone.
Zara sucks and nibbles, moaning softly, every sound faker than the last. I squeeze her ass harder, making her yelp and hiss.
“How about we take this somewhere private?” she asks, moving her free hand to my chest, her fingers climbing slowly.
“Creed,” Noah warns, eyes boring into mine.
What the fuck does he want?
I’m bowing out, aren’t I? I’m quitting, leaving Millie the hell alone, and he’s acting like I’m making a mistake.
I am. Zara’s the last chick I should grope given how she glues herself to any guy who’ll touch her, but that’s beside the point.
Hyde doesn’t say a word, watching me with hard, narrowed eyes, head tilted to the side like a suspicious dog.
I bet he’s trying to work out what triggered this.
He knows Zara’s not my type. I told him I wasn’t interested in her at least a dozen times, yet here I am, ready to bury my cock down her throat.
Though it might be problematic, given half an hour of her ass wiggling all over hasn’t stirred even a semi hard-on. I’m still soft...
Maybe she can’t rub me the right way after all.
“What do you say?” she purrs in my ear. “You seem tense, Creed. I can help with that.”
“Patience,” I chide.
“I have no gag reflex, you know?” She giggles, grazing her nails down my throat to poke below my Adam’s apple. “You can shove it this deep.”
Will she shut up if I do?
The back of my head hits the couch then bounces right back when the door opens and Dash enters, his arm wrapped around Millie’s shoulder.
Fuck. What’s she doing here?
I can count on the fingers of one hand how many times she’s set foot in the common room.
She’s not in a sweater for a change, but a black and red Gravemont hoodie, the college logo stitched at the front, and there’s a pretty smile on her face as she whispers something meant only for Dash’s ears.
He grabs his heart, faking outrage. “Mini Ward, you wound me!” he declares, glancing around and stopping at our gathering.
His eyes light up at first, but the glow dims when he notices Zara, her lips back in the crook of my neck, sucking like a hoover. I slap her ass, making her whip upright.
“Don’t fucking mark me.”
Her cheeks run red. “Sorry. I just thought—”
“You thinking is not what I want.”
“Jeez, you don’t need to be such an ass about this.”
I know, but an ass is exactly what I am.
She goes back to toying with my hair, and my eyes flick to Millie. She hasn’t noticed me yet and a part of me wants to look away. I don’t know if I’m ready to see her expression when she spots Zara, but a bigger part craves her reaction.
She finally moves away from Dash, just as Zara shifts, straddling me fully, her arms wrapped around my neck. She’s saying something, but I’m not paying attention because Millie turns and her gorgeous eyes land on me.
Even from thirty feet away, I catch how her whole body stiffens when Zara grinds over my limp cock.
In the past thirty seconds, I ran through a kaleidoscope of Millie’s possible reactions. I thought she’d frown or scrunch her nose. I thought her eyes would tear up or she’d leave. I even considered her simply ignoring the scene, but I didn’t account for this quiet acceptance painting her face.
She’s not hurt, not angry, not disappointed... she looks like she expected this. Fuck. Is this what she was afraid of? That I’d pick someone else? That she’d give me her words, her body, her trust, and I’d betray it all?
We stare at each other, her expression not shifting until Dash nudges her shoulder. She tears her eyes away, smiles at him, then turns on the sole of her white Chuck and leaves.
“Get off me,” I snap at Zara.
She cocks an eyebrow. “What?”
“Get the fuck off me before I move you myself.”
“What the hell is your problem?” she huffs, jamming her knee into my thigh as she lurches to her feet, readjusting her top. “You’re weird, Creed.”
I don’t grace that with a reply as she stomps away, her ponytail swinging left and right.
“What was that about?” Hyde asks.
If I were as obnoxious as Dash, I’d grab my cock and say she wasn’t doing it for me, but I just shrug.
“Not in the mood.”
His brows scrunch and eyes move toward Dash still frozen in place, staring after Millie. My skin fucking crawls and knee bounces while I hold myself back from heading to the bar.
“Alright,” Hyde finally says, pushing to his feet. “Come on. There’s something I want to talk to you about, and I need a few drinks to get it out.”
Fuck.
***
The bar it is, though I’m fucking sober, so what’s the point?
Hyde sits on my right, tearing the label off his Corona while I nurse an alcohol-free beer that tastes like piss, my hand wrapped tight around the bottle, and Jed’s watching me and my fake beer with a frown between his brows.
It’s not every day I show up and behave.
Normally, fists start flying soon after I enter. Bottles are next and then, if I’m still conscious, anything goes. Chairs, tables, even the flat-screen one fine May evening, so Jed’s probably waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Same here. I can’t promise I’ll stay on my best behavior much longer. Millie’s passive face when she saw me with Zara is burned into my retinas. A few drinks, a few right hooks, and maybe I’ll stop feeling certifiable.
For now, I down one zero beer after another, waiting for my best friend to sort his thoughts and speak. There’s something on his mind, but fuck knows what.
He was making out with a hot freshman on Saturday, so maybe it’s more than casual sex. Hyde usually sticks to one-night-stands but it’s not uncommon for him to keep a girl longer.
His sour face points toward an uncomfortable truth so maybe he did something dumb like got her pregnant. Or maybe I’m overthinking and it’s just Noah’s interest in Millie he wants to vent about. Or something else entirely.
Fuck knows, but I’m safe. If he found out I fucked his sister, we wouldn’t be drinking right now.
I’d be dead.
He’ll tell me whatever’s eating him when he’s ready, and while he’s gearing up, I’ve got plenty to think about.
I’ve done a stellar fucking job of making myself miserable since I walked away from Millie. I’m not hanging out with my friends because she’s constantly revolving around Noah. Quiet, composed Noah, who doesn’t lose his temper.
The idea of her choosing him because I can’t be what she wants feels like a nine-inch blade in my chest. I can’t be, because the hard, cold truth is I haven’t stopped thinking about that equipment room.
I remember the way she moved beneath me, how easily I stopped thinking about anything except taking more.
I remember how her nails broke my skin and her breath stuttered when I bit her lip.
She was pliant and fierce all at once. She trusted me and didn’t look afraid.
She wanted more. She fucking begged for it, her hips meeting mine, fingers scrabbling to keep me close.
And it scares the shit out of me.
I was seconds away from giving in again on Saturday night after the fight. Seconds from losing whatever restraint I’d managed to build, because the need for her was so strong it drove me halfway out of my mind when we kissed.
It shouldn’t turn me on, knowing she can take everything I throw her way. It shouldn’t make my cock hard, remembering how her body asked for more when I was pushing her past the point I should have. I shouldn’t entertain the idea of being that rough, because I took it too far.
The bruises all over her body are concrete proof.
I took her virginity for fuck’s sake.
Unknowingly, but still, it shouldn’t have happened that way. I didn’t ask if she could handle me fucking her like a savage. I didn’t consider how I’d feel when the heat faded and the guilt set in. I just took.
And that’s the part my mind keeps circling back to.
I didn’t stop.