Page 4 of Keeping Score

“Shit, sorry, D. I didn’t know she was yours.” I want to bristle at the way he speaks about me like I am some possession, but the moment Darius’s hands land on my waist and I feel him plaster himself against my back, my retort dies on my tongue. His lips brush the shell of my ear and an involuntary shiver races down my spine. Having him this close to me again feels so fucking right. I don’t even care if Corvin catches us right now, I want him to know so then nothing has to be a secret anymore!

“Move for me, Goldie.” Like a slave to its master, my body obeys. The beat ofPia Mia’ssong“Do It Again” pulses and my body moves. I push my ass back against him, and when a hiss escapes his lips, I am filled with a sense of need to have him closer. I reach up and lock my arm around his neck, holding him there while I move against him in time to the beat. Honestly, all I am doing is grinding against his dick but I turn slightly to see a fire burning in the depths of his dark brown eyes. You would swear I’m giving him a competition piece that I have trained months to perfect. His black hair flops forward onto his forehead. I itch to push it back like I have so many timesbefore. He still cuts his hair in that crew-cut style, the five o’clock shadow he now sports only adds to his bad boy vibes. Darius is the epitome of tall, dark and handsome. Unlike other guys here, he doesn’t dress to impress. In true Darius Lockhart fashion, he wears his signature white tee, dark wash jeans, shit-kicker boots and his black, yellow and white letterman jacket. “You like that?” I stifle a gasp when he pushes forward and I feel his hard cock poke into me from behind.

“Darius–” I breath out, but he cuts me off smiling and looking at me like he used to. Hope spurs to life inside me at that look—maybe, just maybe he might give me five minutes to talk to him.

“Can you feel how fucking hard I am right now?” I swallow, suddenly so parched and dart my tongue out to moisten my lips and nod. He tsks and shakes his head, scraping that stubble along my cheek again, causing me to shudder. “You know I need the words, Goldie.” It takes everything inside me not to moan at the sound of that husky rasp in his voice that I know all too well.

“Yes,” I say in a breathy voice.

“Do you want me, baby?”

“Yes.” He darts his tongue out and licks my ear lobe before sucking it into his mouth. This time I can’t stop the moan from breaking free.

“How badly do you need me, Goldie?” he says before clamping his teeth down lightly on my lobe.

“So fucking bad,” I say in a sultry tone I don’t even recognize.

“Good.” His grip on my waist turns punishing and forces me to stop moving to the beat. “Because you will never know what it feels like for me to fuck you again.” I stiffen in his hold as he presses his cock into my ass. “Just knowing how much you want it is gonna make fucking your friend so much sweeter,” he snarls before shoving me away from him and pushing his way through the crowd. I’m left standing here, staring at his back until hedisappears into the crowd. Shame, guilt, anger and most of all heartache courses through me at his cruel actions and hateful words.

I’m such a fucking fool!

I stand here berating myself as I stare down at my feet until a pair of Air Forces come into view. I slowly raise my gaze to see Garrett standing in front of me with a sad smile on his face. I try to muster a smile for his sake but I can’t. Once again Darius Lockhart has proven he has the power to destroy me. Garrett offers me his hand. I stare at it for a beat, unsure what he is asking. He shrugs his shoulders and starts bobbing his head to the beat of Ella Mai’s song “Whatchamacallit”.When a boyish smile breaks free on his face as he sways off beat I can’t help but laugh. He doesn’t stop making a fool of himself until I place my hand in his and that is how I spend the rest of the night, dancing with Garrett. He doesn’t say anything but I know the only reason he came to dance with me is because he saw what happened with Darius. I decide in this moment, Garrett and I are going to be good friends.

Darius

Walking away from her was bitter sweet. She’s always known how to move in a way that makes me putty in her hands, but not this time. The moment I saw Corv disappear out the back with Lana, I had to shoot my shot to get under her skin and it fucking worked. I knew she still wanted me, but I needed the proof and last night I got it. Breaking Leah is going to be a lot easier than I thought—seeing her fucking crumble to a million pieces at my feet is going to be fucking amazing.

I wake with a smile on my face as I replay the memories of last night over and over again on repeat in my mind, until I roll over and see my drunken mistake. I wake Carey or is it Chloe? Who the fuck knows and who cares. I chuck her clothes at her to get dressed and usher her from my room as fast as I can. When she speaks and the smell of whatever she drank last night hits me in the face, I fight the urge to gag. The girl looks like a fucking panda with make-up smudged everywhere. I open the door andhave to literally push her out it. She spins around with her mouth open to say something, but before her words can make it to my ears I slam the door and rest my forehead against it. I can already tell that girl is going to be a stage five fucking clinger!

“Well that went well.” I spin around at the sound for Corv’s voice, to find him standing at the base of the stairs with his hair looking like a birds nest, shirtless and in a pair of black sweats.

“Yeah,” I say as I head for the kitchen to get some coffee. I’m not hung over but I’m not one hundred percent either. Corvin follows after me and perches his ass on one of the stools at the bench calling for me to make him a cup as well. Silence stretches between us as I wait with my back to him for the coffee machine to do its thing.

“Did you see my sister last night?” I tense at the mention of Leah, and the annoyed tone of his voice has me worried someone told him about me dancing with her. I keep my back to him as I answer.

“Nah, why?” I ask in a bored tone.

“Don’t get mad.” At the sound of uncertainty in his tone I spin around and pin him with a look that has him throwing his hands in the air. “I said don’t get mad!” he pleads.

“I didn’t say shit,” I defend.

“Your mouth didn’t but your face did!” I roll my eyes.

“You fucked Lana, didn’t you?” He flinches and gives me an all-teeth guilty smile that has me shaking my head.

“When will you learn?” I say tiredly.

“Dude, the girl can suck better than a hoover and is always down to fuck,” he says that like it makes her fucking with his head last year okay. Lana is the captain of the cheer team and a royal bitch. She fucked with Corv’s head so bad last year it had him in a dark place. That girl is a fucking basket case and needs to be put into a padded room with the fucking key thrown away.

“No pussy is worth the shit she put you through,” I say in a firm tone that I hope conveys my dislike of him going anywhere near that bitch. I turn back to the coffee machine so he doesn’t see the look on my face. I know he really cared about Lana and I hate that she fucked him over. When I tried to be there for him last year, he said I couldn’t relate because I didn’t know what it’s like. I wanted to tell him I did but I couldn’t without outing myself.

“Enough about her. We aren’t getting back together.” I snort which he ignores and carries on. “Leah was dancing with fucking Garrett!” That has me spinning back to him. I have to remind myself not to give anything away, so I lean against the counter and clench the granite in a death grip.

“What do you mean?” I push as I try to hold onto my composure.

“Saint and Crue said something happened that upset her and then Garrett showed up and acted like agentleman.” He spits the word out like it hurt him to say it. “Then they danced the night away until Beck cut in and walked the girls back to their dorm.” I send up a silent thank you to Beckett and remind myself to be on the watch whenever he is around.

“What a dick,” I rush to say as I turn back to the coffee maker to fill our cups.

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