Page 11 of College-Virgin & Dark Bully Next-Door

“Graduating is a big step. You can get away from all the shit you’re over. Plus, now you can have some grown up fun.” He winks, a dark brow curving with the movement.

With that, he continues … toward his house. I blink at him. What about his date?

Yes, that’s it. Remember he has a date. Several dates. Remember you’re mad at him. You will always be mad at him because being anything else would be worse. An attraction to him would definitely be worse.

Even if I put that incident aside, even if two years ago never happened, an attraction to Ashton Warren is a no-no.

Ashton is a serial heartbreaker.

Yes, I might not have seen him in years, but Iknowhis reputation hasn’t changed. Back then, he never kept a girl for longer than two weeks. He used them, then dipped out as soon as he was done. A leopard never changes its spots; isn’t that what they say? That’s his life, whatever. I’m sure the girls want it as much as he does, but I don’t want to waste any of my firsts on him.

So I shake it off. No curiosity. No questioning what he does. It’s not like our lives overlap. I can just ignore him. His stupid brother, too. I can get through one more summer with both of them. It’s fine. It’s fine. I’ll make sure it is.

I go inside and upstairs, texting Bonnie that I’m not feeling well. She offers to come up, but I tell her not to worry about it. I turn and grab pajamas and stare at them for a moment. Fuck them. I flop into bed and scrub my eyes, trying to kick Ashton Warren out of my head for good.

But someone who’s been lodged in there for years isn’t so easy to kick.

Fuck him for bringing up the past, all those soft memories I want to push down. When the music at the pool turns up, I pull a pillow over my head and scream.

Chapter 3

Ashton

Fucking Sky Bennett. I look down at my cock and grab my shirt in both hands. I throw it and hiss through my teeth. I had a beautiful girl on my arm. One that was ready to party and have a good time with the bonus of being right next to my house, and now I’m alone, in my room, looking at the pink light in Sky’s room with a raging boner that just won’t get the picture.

There was a time when I looked at her as just a little weird kid. A spunky little weird kid who would know the weirdest facts that were wrong for every situation. I remember teaching her to swim after Chase asked me to. I try to remember her showing me bugs and me slapping them out of her hand and that sad, pouty face she’d give me as her nose and cheeks went red.

Seeing her now, all grown up…

A movement across the way captures my attention. From my place on the edge of my bed, I watch as Sky gets up and paces her room. Every line of her body, the body I tried desperately not to stare at earlier, is highlighted by the chandelier light overhead. Even after two weeks, I’m still flabbergasted. When did she get so… sexy? Where did the chubby girl with the waist-length pigtails go? She still has a little meat on her bones, but every curve is now defined. Now, she has a firm-looking ass I’d like to bite, tits I want to have in my face, shapely legs I can picture wrapped around my waist—

Oh, fuck.

I let out a hot breath and shake my head. “No. We’re not doing this. Not to her.”

But my cock is at attention, and I have to dosomethingabout it. I drop back in bed and kick out of my trunks. I wrap my hand around my cock and try to think of any of the girls I’ve been with. Any of them. But it doesn’t do the job.

I groan and give in. Those curves, the way Sky smelled when I was close to her, that sharp tone, the fact she didn’t throw herself at me like the other girls do, didn’t let me touch her, all of it was so hot that it took me an embarrassingly short time to finish.

Then I clean myself up and lay there, naked, staring at the old poster of a band I used to like right next to the Rocky poster.

Two weeks haven’t yet passed since I’ve been back home, and Sky Bennett is already driving me insane.

***

“The things these kids are into nowadays,” Dad grumbles as I enter the dining room. He’s sitting around the dining table, his eyes glued to the newspaper in his hand. “Bungee jumping off the Royal Gorge Bridge.” He scoffs. “Bastard’s lucky only his feet got broken. Why they take these risks, only God knows.”

“Morning, Pops,” I mumble, taking my seat and reaching for the coffee jug at once.

“Morning.” His eyes fly to me, and the irritation deepens on his face. “Speaking of risks, have you given any thought to what I said yesterday?”

I pause mid-pour, then rest the jug on the table. “I already told you, I’m not going back to college. I told you that two years ago when I dropped out, and I haven’t changed my mind.”

“What good has that decision done, huh? You got a broken shoulder from that stupid boxing match. Medical bills ate up all your earnings. You’re broke. In debt—”

“Which is why I’m here,” I interrupt, masking my irritation with a calm tone. “I explained what I needed to do, and you agreed to support me.”

“Correction. Yourmomforced me to agree. Don’t get it twisted. I’ll never support a dream that keeps hurting you. A dream that could kill you.”

---