10. Ten
TEN
J ax
I’m a fucking dick.
I shouldn’t have embarrassed her in front of everyone at the party by saying all those things and then forcing her to leave. I couldn’t stop myself, despite seeing the tears brimming in her eyes. Tears that she refused to let fall because of me.
Gripping the jersey in my hand, I know I fucked up.
But I have this thing about my ego. Clearly . I made it a mission to get the smart girl to leave. And then I put my jersey on her. And then I decided to humiliate her for calling me an alpha asshole. And now? Well, now I’m scaling the second floor of her dormitory to climb through her window.
Make it make sense .
I probably look like a stalker. I’m definitely a tracker, using my nose to find her cookie-like scent. When I finally pick it up, it’s clearly mixed with my own. And fuck me, I like it. Her window is cracked open a couple inches, making it easy to pull it the rest of the way open.
“What in the corn on the cob?” Harley shrieks.
Her knack for using fruit or vegetables in place of curse words makes me chuckle. “It’s just your resident alpha asshole, no worries.”
The room is dark other than the light coming in from the moon in the night sky through her window. Her hair is still braided, but she is buried under the covers in her bed. She lives in the nicer dorms. The ones where you get to have your own small bedroom instead of sharing it with some random stranger.
“Why are you here?” she asks pointedly.
I take a step toward her bed hesitantly. “I came to apologize for being a total tool bag.”
Harley drops the blanket she was holding up as a way to protect herself, revealing a thin black tank top. The sight makes my dick swell. Through the fabric, I can see the hardness of her nipples.
“I started it this time,” she states, giving me a small smile.
She’s so damn beautiful.
“Davidson,” I murmur.
“Zayden.”
Our eyes lock and I step closer to her bed, my knees hitting the mattress. I kneel into it with my left knee and place my right hand flat on the headboard. Her breathing turns shallow. Her heart pounds so loud, I can almost hear it push the blood through her body.
I hover over her like that, taking in everything about her. Her face is clear of all make-up, including the mascara she wears. I study every inch of her bare face. The way her eyelashes frame her bright, blue eyes. The dusting of freckles coating her nose. The single freckle hiding in her cupid's bow. How her lips are parted and shine the slightest bit from her tongue coming out and wetting them. The rise and fall of her chest.
“I think I’ll cash in on my winnings now, Davidson,” I breathe out.
“O-okay,” she stutters out, her eyelashes fluttering.
I close the distance between my mouth and hers, bringing our lips a breath apart. I stay there, flicking my eyes between hers. Burning the image of her flushed cheekbones, wide eyes, and parted lips into my memory.
“Zay—” Harley’s voice is cut off by my lips pressing to hers.
My heart races alongside hers, electricity pulsing through my veins at the feel of her soft lips on mine. I drag the metal ball in my tongue across her bottom lip, making her gasp in surprise. With that gasp, I slip my tongue past her lips.
Her tongue moves with mine, slowly at first. Her strokes are tentative, calculated, just like she is. I bring my left hand up to her jaw, tilting her head back more. The new angle lets me devour her mouth. Licking and stroking my tongue along hers with urgency.
Harley’s hand grips my shirt, pulling me in closer. I settle myself between her legs on top of her blankets. My entire body is on fire from this kiss. Each glide of her tongue on mine drives me higher. I’m painfully hard now. My cock is desperate, but my mind knows that this can only go so far.
I don’t do hookups. Especially with girls like Harley Thomas.
My teeth pull at her bottom lip. The quietest moan reverberates in her throat. My control snaps slightly. I drop my hand from the headboard to the hem of her tank top, slipping my hand just beneath the fabric. My fingertips come in contact with her stomach while I graze the bare skin of her thigh with my free hand. Soft, smooth, warm.
Fuck me.
I want to taste every inch of this girl’s body. I want to lose myself in her. I want to bury my dick in her warmth. But most of all, I want to claim her. Really claim her. Make her mine.
The thought is sobering enough that I pull back. I place another kiss on her lips. And another. They are wet and swollen. She tastes amazing. I want more, but I force myself to stop.
“Goodnight, Davidson,” I whisper against her lips.
“Goodnight, Zayden.” Her words are breathless.
I rise from the bed, not taking my eyes off her flushed face, bright eyes, and swollen, parted lips as I take those two steps back to the open window. Harley pushes the blankets off, following me to the window. I turn toward her, and being a glutton for punishment, I bring my hands to the hem of her tank top.
My thumbs slip beneath the thin fabric, slowly pushing it up her body. I force my eyes to remain locked with hers as I reveal every inch by painstaking inch of naked skin. She holds my stare, lifting her arms up as her breasts are exposed. I let the tank top fall to the floor behind her before reaching into my back pocket to pull the jersey she dropped at her feet not even two hours ago.
I help her put it on, never once allowing my gaze to stray from hers. Once she’s fully covered again, I track my eyes down her body. The sight of her in only my jersey makes my cock weep. Her pale skin in contrast with the thick black line on the hem where it brushes her thighs. The image of her hard nipples pressing into the gray fabric. It’s a picture that will forever live in my wet dreams from this moment on.
She doesn’t know it yet, but she belongs to me.
I climb over the windowsill and turn my body so that my forearms rest inside the window. I tap the wood with my index finger. “Close this when I leave.”
She huffs, “Obviously. Probably not a good idea to leave it open if the likes of you can get inside.”
“Obviously,” I repeat, the corner of my mouth turning up a bit.
“See you in class Monday.”
“Monday,” I tell her, dropping myself down from the second floor.
“Oh, my lemon!” Harley screeches, her head poking through the window at me.
I glance up from my crouched position on the ground. “Don’t worry, doe eyes. You’re not as high up as you think you are.”
I make my way back to my bike with my hands inside the front pockets of my jeans. I already know that I need to find a way to see her before Monday. If I don’t, the weekend is going to drag on far too long.
The ride back to the mini mansion is quick, and when I show back up the party is in full swing still. I park my bike in the garage, closing the door behind me. Once inside, I go to the fridge and grab a beer.
“Hey,” I hear from the door to the house.
I look up to meet Ross’s gaze. “Hey.”
“I take it you made it right?” he asks.
“Yeah, uh, I think so.” I grip the back of my neck. “I was a dick. I’ve been a dick since she showed up.”
“Yeah. You were. And you have. Next time you’re gonna use your alpha charge to demand things, do it on someone else when it comes to her. I like Harley, Jax. She’s super funny and down to earth. Something you already know.”
“She is. I just…” I just, what? How do I explain this to one of my best friends? Expelling a breath from my lungs, I sit down on one of the roller seats. “I kissed her tonight.”
“What?” A voice squeals from behind him.
“Dammit, Alicia,” Ross groans.
“Give him her number. You can’t kiss a girl and not text her,” Alicia demands.
“Ow! Stop jabbing your scrawny, little finger into my ribs,” he snaps.
“My fingers are not scrawny!”
“Go. Away.”
I watch him place his giant hand over her face and push her back far enough to close the door. He shakes his head and walks over to the fridge, pulling out his own beer. He takes the second roller seat and starts to spin himself around.
“So, let me get this straight,” he says, opening the can. “She calls you an alpha asshole, which you most definitely are both of those things. After that, you proceed to kick her out of your party in front of everyone we go to school with. And then you show up at her dorm to apologize and you end up kissing her. Did I leave anything out?”
“Yes.”
“Yes?” He raises an eyebrow.
“First, I offered to get her a different jersey. And then she called me an alpha asshole.” I take a sip of my beer.
“Right.” He rubs his jaw. “Was it good?”
“Having her in my jersey? Claiming her publicly like that? Fuck yeah it was good,” I spit out.
“No, you idiot. The kiss. Was the kiss good?”
“Oh, uh.” I turn my face away.
“Holy shit,” Ross mutters. “Are you blushing?”
He wheels the chair over to me and attempts to turn my face back toward him. I place my foot on his seat and kick him back several feet.
“Fuck off,” I grumble. “Yeah, it was good. Really fucking good.” I meet his wide-eyed gaze and clear my throat. “It was so…her. I think it was the best kiss I’ve ever had in my life, if I’m being honest. But that’s not all,” I mumble.
“What do you mean?”
“When I got there, she was in bed. All she had on was a tank top and I think a pair of underwear. I don’t know, I was distracted. Anyway, I stripped off her shirt before putting her back in just my jersey.”
“You’re screwed,” Ross whispers dramatically.
“Are you done being a dick? Will you give me her number?” I ask.
He shrugs. “I don’t know, I like seeing this mushy, marshmallow side of you. Tell me more about the kiss.”
“I hate you. I’ll get it from Alicia.” I stand from the roller seat.
Ross grabs my arm as I walk by, stopping me. He stares up at me, an amused smile on his face. “Is this the girl that brings the alpha to his knees?”
Is she? Is Harley Jules Thomas going to be the girl who flips my life upside down? The one who I can never get off my mind? The one I want to stake my claim on for the rest of my life?
There’s a good chance that she has already accomplished all of those things, including bringing me down on my knees.