Bad Romance (6 page)

“Thanks for getting me home. I figured if Shannon was all wrapped up I would be on my own. I didn’t know Dax would drug me.”

“Yeah, about that.” He went uncomfortable with me for a second.

I grabbed his arm before he could talk.

“No, don’t say sorry. Please, it wasn’t your fault. I’m not even sure it was my fault. But I don’t think anything happened. I mean, even if Dax did something, which I’m not sure he even wants to touch me.” I paused and tucked my hair behind my ear.

“You see, Clara, when I came back in the room, the door was locked.”

I froze. My whole body got tense.

He wouldn’t, would he?

“You were laying on his bed, and you had no top or bra on. But Tamara was there and looking very pleased with herself. She was fully clothed. You had pants on. I couldn’t get it out of Dax what happened. I don’t know what he has planned for you. He mentioned the blacklist, which is some stupid bullshit that only happens when someone pretty much breaks a deal with a frat, so why he would use it on you…” He got up quickly and stabbed fingers through his hair.

His perfect style went right out the window. Then he started to pace. I hated pacing. It was the overactive way to handle things.

I got up and stood in front of him to stop him. My five—five frame was dwarfed by him. He looked so sad, those light eyes gazing down at me with guilt, regret, and self loathing. Dax must be a redeemable human if his best friend was Todd.

“Well, I’m pretty sure he did whatever to piss you off and make me look bad. So, what do you say we just get our day started and get ourselves to class? I have calculus first, then world history. Let’s just think about school and forget about last night, okay?”

You would think I was handling this well. I was silently screaming inside. My stomach had bottomed out, and I was doing a mental inventory of all my body parts to see if I could tell if I’d done anything dirty with Dax, or someone else he hired to do something with me. I put on a really brave-looking smile that Todd seemed to totally buy. Literally, the guy’s eyes lit right up with mine and he pulled me into a hug, resting his chin on top of my head.

“Tell you what.” He pulled me out of his arms and seemed to hold me at arms’ length. “You go get a shower, get feeling human again, and I’ll go make up something to eat that won’t kill your stomach. Then I’ll personally walk you to class. I have econ at ten, which is in the same building as calculus, so it won’t be that far.” He gave me a quick wink, which continued to melt my heart even more. I was staggered by not only how nice this guy was, but how quickly I was forgetting about Dax.

Wow, this guy was good.

I gave him a nod, and a smile of my own. I collected my clothes and headed to the bathroom that was attached to my room. After I set everything down on the countertop I gazed up at myself, inwardly cringing at the image before me. My hair was a nest of rats, my eyes had bags under them, and were blood shot to hell. Not really looking forward to meeting my professors like this, I got to work. First shower, then a splash of make-up, then food. My stomach rolled at the idea, but it needed to be done if I was going to survive the day.

***

Todd

I watched as she walked away. She turned to look back at me one last time and I gave her a reassuring grin before tucking my hand into my back pocket and pulling out my phone, which had been going off the moment I’d hung up on Dax.

It wasn’t just calls. A series of threatening text messages lit up my iPhone screen and I couldn’t help but scowl.

If you fuck this up for me, brother or not, I will end you!

She’s blacklisted, you fuck.

If I don’t see you walk out of that house alone before I leave in sixty seconds we are going to have words.

They just went on from there. Each sentence was more violent than the next, so that it really wasn’t worth reading. I’d known Dax since he was fifteen. His anger was under control for so long. Until he realized Clara Parker lived next door to him. Something snapped inside the normally cool and calm manwhore and whatever it was, he was close-mouthed about it. What he didn’t know was I was having my father, head of security for a major cyber firm, looking into his background and how he connected to Clara.

Clara.

Just thinking about her got my cock hard and ready to go. She was a true test in self control, and totally worth waiting for. She brought life to a dull room. Seriously, with her sexy curves, clueless nerdy personality, and the effortless way she breezed through life made her that much more appealing. The woman had no clue she was hot. So hot Dax threatened nearly all the pledges and half of the frat house when they saw her enter the party. Why he even gave a shit about the woman he was determined to ruin was beyond me.

I deleted every text and cleared out my voice mail and headed down stairs. The kitchen was recently stocked. As I pulled eggs and sausage from the fridge, I popped open the freezer and found hashbrown patties. I fired up the stove and got to work making her a full breakfast. No doubt the drawbacks of Dax’s clever idea of slipping her a roofie would make her rebel to most of this, but I planned on getting as much down her as possible. The sound of the front door opening and shutting drew tension to my body. Instinct told me Dax wouldn’t come in here making due on his threat. But Dax wasn’t really acting like himself lately, he was acting like his—fucking.

“
Fuc
k yes. I’m goddamned starving.”

Hearing the feminine jingle of Shannon’s voice physically removed all the tension. I looked back over my shoulder at the pretty, bubbly female. She looked freshly fucked and ready for the day.

“Aren’t you chipper?” I smirked in her direction.

She rolled her eyes at me and dipped her bare fingers into the pan with the sausage and pulled one free quickly.

“Those aren’t done—” Too late, down the pie hole they went.

Shannon just shrugged and went about making a cup of coffee.

“So, you keep my girl all safe and sound like you promised?”

I cringed. I did promise that and had failed horribly. She was on me faster than a fly on a pile of shit.

“What the fuck happened, Todd?”

“Well—”

“Hey, that actually all smells good.” Clara came into the room and slipped onto a stool at the center island.

Shannon and I were having a visual standoff that was silent, deadly, and told me that this conversation was not over with according to her. I watched as her features smoothed out and she turned towards Clara.

“It’s super yummy, stole some sausage. So, how was your night?”

Clara darted her gaze towards me. Deer in the headlights had nothing on how Clara looked at me for a save. She didn’t want to tell her friend, and I wouldn’t make her. I was just worried we all would soon find out what Dax had done.

I turned around with a platter full of cooked food.

“
So, who is ready for a full tummy an
d a great first day of school?”

She mouthed a thank you, and I nodded with a reassuring smirk. If I needed to protect her from Dax I would. Clara didn’t deserve his wrath. No one did.

Chapter Six

Clara

I was refusing to leave my house. My eyes were pinned to the porch of the house next door as if the very devil himself would march out and take me to the net
herworld.

I had to laugh at myself because that wasn’t too far off.

Leaning over further, I pressed my nose against the glass, then my cheek. It looked silent in the world of hell next door. Just as I was about to pull back I felt warm breath on my neck. Tingles shot up my spine as Todd’s husky voice filled my right ear.

“What are we looking at?”

As I breathed in deeply, I took a step back into his arms. I squealed and turned quickly. My palms flattened against his chest, and I could feel every single plane of muscle this man had on his chest. It was hot. Well, it was more than hot. My panties got wet and I pushed off quickly and hit the big window with a rattled thud. I swallowed. The burn in my cheeks only intensified when I realized my cheeks were on fire.

Todd, in all his gentlemanly glory, dipped his head and looked back up at me through his enviable black lashes.

“Didn’t mean to scare ya, kid.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and took a step back.

Shaking my head, I moved forward and touched his shoulders.

“No, please. I was just waiting for Dax to leave. I would rather not cross paths with him.”

He lifted a brow and his gaze became concerned.

“Is there a very overpriced looking Ducati motorcycle out front?”

I turned to look out. I did spot a motorcycle. Brand? No clue. I didn’t know things like that.

“
I see a bike, but it’s green. Does he have a green one?” I could hear the frantic edge in my voice before I could temper it and l
ooked over my shoulder at Todd.

He’d come close again. The heat of his body was like a warm blanket. It might have been nearly ninety degrees outside, but inside, his heat was a comfort. We had all the windows open that could open, and the ceiling fans on strong. My dad thought it was clever to keep the house in its ‘original splendor.’ A smile broke out on Todd’s handsome face and he seemed to glow. He held out his hand.

“
We’re safe. That’s Tommy’s bike. He has classes on Tuesday and Thursday only. If the ostentatious piece of black metal isn’t out front, he’s already left. We’re safe. To add to that, he has human sexuality and psychology today. The building is at the other end of campus, so we will be Dax free for the majority of the day.” He tapped my nose and I felt so feminine and adorable. I wasn’t either of those things. I was kinda awkward and fussy on a good day. So Todd
 had just performed a miracle.

Without an ounce of trepidation, I took Todd’s hand and allowed him to guide me out of the house. I felt safe with this guy. I might not feel a mind numbing sense of arousal, but did I really need to? Dax did crazy things to my libido. Todd kept me safe while keeping my body at a steady ninety-nine degrees of aroused, which was pretty darn good if I say so myself.

But did I really want just good?

Or did I really want the mind-numbing?

Confusion drove me hard in that moment and I had to wonder—was I that girl? The one that picked the guy that was bound to treat her like shit, cheat, and break her until she trusted no one ever again.

I shook off my musings and turned my head, gazing up at the handsome man taking it upon himself to escort me to class. Against his BFF’s wishes no doubt. I felt the smile tug against my cheek and he chose that moment to look down at me. My cheeks flamed. I darted my gaze forward as we walked down the street. I could see where the houses ended and The Pomona Colleges began. The Downtown Claremont area was a hub, slowly being swallowed up by the colleges that were the Ivy League of the West Coast. Only the smartest of the smartest kids attended. Yes, I was educated for free, and my father was a professor. I still was required to prove myself in grades and SAT scores.

The other perk?

This was a wet campus. The colleges put on huge parties that rivaled any movie with an X party just to keep its kids safe and in their loving arms. They had the lowest assault rate, arrest rate, and no one drank and drive. Most of us lived on or very near campus and were able to walk to anything most of the time.

As my mind ran through my list of professors, my schedule, and the fact that I’d managed to even land a lab on a Saturday made me want to hyperventilate. Calculus, world history, bio, and humanities. I was going to be a wreck by the end of the day. As I took a step off the curb to cross the one-way road, I stumbled. Strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me in close.

“Whoa there, stumbles.” His finger lifted my chin. I was blushing something fierce.

“
S-sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. I was actually kinda mentally freaking out over my future, my classes today, and how I’m going to get it all done. I was so certain that I could do this, and get it all done early. To just be ahead of the game. I didn’t even stop to think if my body or my damned brain could do this all. I mean sure, I’m smart, I study like a demon when p
ushed—”

Warm lips brushing over mine quickly cut short my nervous tirade.

Wasn’t expecting that.

My lips flopped open and shut like a fish out of water as I looked up at a very smug and pleased, Todd.

“There now, all better,” he rumbled low in his chest.

He let out a sigh, and his breath smelled like mint and orange juice.

“You see, you will do this. We both will. You want to know why?”

I shook my head.

Honestly, even if I wanted to talk at this point I knew I wouldn’t be able to.