My Sweet Demise (Demise #1) (6 page)

Why did Kent want to punish us all?

Chapter Three

When we arrive at Camden’s house, she’s outside washing her car. The neighbor is out front drooling on his Dockers. Kent is no better. He leans over the steering wheel to watch her bend over the hood in her short shorts and bikini top.

“Oh,” he groans, his voice deep and wanting.

“She is such a cliché.” I smack his shoulder. “Stop it.”

He smirks at me but he’s looking at her. “But she’s hot.”

“She makes Auburn Hair look chaste.” I open my door and get out.

“Auburn Hair?” He laughs and meets me around front, eyes never leaving Camden’s ass. “Is that what you’re calling her?”

“Do you know her name?”

“No.”

“Then that’s what I’m calling her.” I grunt under my breath and refrain from slapping him silly. Why does he want her? Why Camden? “Help me get my stuff and stop staring at her.”

“Yo, wing-woman? Introduce me.” He licks his lips. He’s in manwhore mode, all gleaming eyes and muscles.

“Kent. I’ll run interference between any girl you want, but please not her. She’s my enemy.”

“She didn’t do anything to me. At least not yet.” He runs a hand through his hair and finally looks at me. “How do I look?”

“Gorgeous,” I answer unthinkingly. I blush and look away from his penetrating gaze. “I mean you look fine.”

He gently touches my chin and brings my face toward his. I feel trapped suddenly. He cocks his head to the side and stares intently into my eyes. There’s a patch of fair stubble growing on his jaw and chin. It looks rough encircling his soft mouth. “You get this one pass. I’ll leave the roommate alone. But you owe me later.”

I sigh in relief. I don’t know why the idea of Kent with Camden bothers me. Maybe because now I know what’s going to happen if he wants her. Kent’s going to open her legs wide and punish her. He’s not allowed to punish her because the idea makes me ill. I don’t have to understand everything my body does to know that it doesn’t like something.

“Thank you. Ignore her and help me get my stuff.”

“Well, well, look who’s here to get her Ikea furniture.”

Kent raises his eyebrows at her but does what I say.

“I hope you don’t mind. I turned the sprinklers on last night to water the lawn. It looked thirsty.”

Oh no. My mattress is a soggy mess and my wooden bedframe already smells of mold. The paint on my dresser is peeling and all of my clothes are drenched in mud.

“Damn,” Kent mutters. “None of this is salvageable.”

I fall to my knees in the grass and bite back a sob. I don’t have money for this. I have three hundred and something left after I give Kent my rent money. That’s all I have to live on until I get paid in two weeks. This overwhelming pressure of always being a step behind, that is more common in my life than anything else, begins to take over. When Becca and I were young she took most of the responsibilities, but she couldn’t take away my feelings. The times we scrounged our menial resources together just to buy a meal to share, or to pay rent, or just to have a roof over our heads for one night—these were feelings that had no problem resurfacing anytime I felt it might happen again.

“Raina,” Kent soothes softly, “we’ll get you some new furniture. Don’t cry.”

I sniff. “How? I’m broke.”

“This is how. Stay here and don’t get in the way. It’s punishment time.” He gets up, waves at Camden, and then makes a run for the front door.

She chases after him and together they go into the house. I leave my waterlogged furniture and risk stepping inside after them. She’s already gotten rid of my presence in the house. There’s no sign of me anywhere.

Her screams can be heard from the living room.

“You are not taking my stuff!”

“What did Raina do to you?” Kent demands. “Tell me and if I sympathize, then I’ll leave your things here. Otherwise I’m replacing everything you destroyed with your stuff.”

“She’s a stuck-up bitch. You know the kind.”

“I do. Raina’s not one of them. She’s actually really cool. You lose.” Kent comes walking out with Camden’s expensive memory foam mattress.

My jaw drops.

Camden chases after him but it’s no use. Kent is on a mission to punish and he does it well. He moves out her dresser, flinging her clothes on the wet lawn. He takes her large flat-screen and TV stand. She screams at him from the front lawn as he shoves her stuff in the back of James’s truck.

“Get in the car, Raina,” he orders once he’s satisfied.

He’s grinning from ear to ear as he speeds away.

“You’re my hero.”

“Some would disagree, but I’m not one of them.”

The drive back to the apartment is quiet. When we get there Kent and I struggle with the furniture, bringing it upstairs, and then he leaves me to set it up. I feel slightly guilty when I test out her bed, but better when I think about my soggy mattress. The new one is so comfortable. I fix it up with my sheets and pillows, fill her beautiful white dresser with my clothes, and set her television up. I’ll have to talk to Kent about cable. If he’s going to keep bagging girls on the couch I’d rather not be anywhere near it. Now I know why James has his own living space in his room.

After I’m content with everything I lie down on my bed and stare up at the ceiling. There’s a knock on my door and a second later Kent comes in.

He smiles. “Nice bed. Mind if I test it out?” He sets his backpack down, and then jumps on my bed. He rolls onto his side, finding my eyes. “It’s even more comfortable than my bed.”

“Thank you. It’s not from Ikea.”

“I wanted to tell you I have a late class tonight and I’ll see you later at Oblivion. Save a round for me.”

“Will do.”

He stares at me and I stare at him. A sense of awkwardness and electricity invades the space between us. It feels like we both want something from one another. I don’t know what I could possibly want from a guy like Kent.

“Thank you for helping me today.” I reach over unthinkingly and touch his jaw. My fingers scrape over his golden stubble. It makes a sound against my fingertips that awakens the hunger inside of me. I slide my fingers down his jaw, over his chin, and stop at his throat, feeling his pulse pound. It’s strong and steady the entire time I hold his gaze; his dark eyes have me ensnared. I couldn’t look away if he dared me.

He licks his lips and swallows hard. I feel it under my fingertips rather than hear it. “I’m sorry for blowing up on you earlier. I don’t like being told what to do when it comes to my life.”

Instinctively, I lean closer to him, my fingers never leaving his pulse. It speeds up. “I won’t tell you what to do anymore. Unless it’s beneficial to your health.”

Kent nods slowly, his eyes stuck on me. “I should go.”

“Then go.” I slide my fingers over his stubble again to hear that scraping sound. It makes a shiver travel down my spine.

“Do you want me to go?” He lifts his head, almost in a trance, so I can scrape the hair under his jaw.

It’s my turn to swallow hard. “Kent?”

“What, Raina?”

“I saw you having sex with Auburn Hair.” It comes out in one long single word. Once it’s out I can breathe again.

His eyes widen and he leans back as if I slapped him. “You did?”

“Yes…”

He sits up and scratches the back of his neck. “You watched me?”

“No! Of course not. Maybe a little. For like a second. I was shocked!” I defend myself. “It’s not every day I see people having sex.”

He looks mildly offended. “That’s either creepy or really hot. I can’t tell which and it’s pissing me off. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“How is that hot?”

He shrugs and gets up. “Next time whistle or something. Let me know you’re there. How much did you see?”

I look down at my hands.

“That much?”

From under my lashes, I hesitantly meet his eyes. “That much.”

“Are you scarred for life?” He smiles crookedly.

“Kind of. I can’t stop thinking about your penis.” Too late I realize what I said.

He chuckles and his eyes twinkle. “You’re not the first girl to say that to me, so don’t be alarmed. My penis has many fans.”

“I’m surprised it doesn’t have its own zip code,” I mutter dryly.

He really laughs now. He picks up his backpack and inches for my door, grabbing his bulge firmly in his hand through his jeans. “Say bye, Raina.”

I look at his crotch and wave. “See you never, Kent’s penis.” I ignore the long, thick outline of his penis and exchange it for his eyes. I like looking into them. They suck me in like nothing else ever has. Getting sucked into something isn’t the same as making the decision to fall in.

“There goes that smart mouth again. You must want to find out what I do to them.” He lets his crotch go and leans against the door.

“Does it involve your penis?” I guess, mouth suddenly dry.

“It might.”

Uh-oh. I swallow hard and look away. “You’re going to be late for class.”

“Did you like watching me fuck her?” His voice is low and dangerous.

My lips pop open in shock. “You were so rough.”

I can tell from all the way over here how his breathing deepens. He runs a hand down his face and then crosses his arms over his chest. “I don’t have sex any other way.”

“Does that feel good to them?”

“They love it,” he assures me naughtily. Nothing else on his face moves when he says it but his lips. As if he’s so sure they love him he doesn’t have to question their pleasure.

“Go to class, Kent.”

He nods like that’s probably a good idea. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Tonight,” I promise, way too eager.

When he’s gone I roll over and bury my face in my pillow. What was that? The buzzing was back. It was here in a way that even I couldn’t deny. For the first time I understood its presence. It was attraction. Pure, naked, unprovoked attraction. His dark, sexy eyes had leaked their dirtiness all over my room. I stared at my fingers, remembering the feel of his stubble on them. Who knew a few unshaved hairs could be that much of a turn on?

I was turned on. The revelation was like a bucket of cold water being poured over my head. That couldn’t happen again. Kent could not turn me on. He was the wrong kind of guy for me, the kind I spent my life ignoring—manwhores with pretty eyes and too many muscles. It would be so easy to fall for his bullshit. It would be so simple to say yes, I did get excited watching him thrust into another woman. The thought ashamed me, as it should. I spend the rest of the afternoon ignoring it, eating leftover pizza in my room and texting Becca.

Me: Hey sis. How’s school?

Becca: Boring. How’s life without me?

Me: Invigorating. I got kicked out of my room.

Becca: Rain.

I can picture her big sister face. All dark eyebrows and glittering hazel eyes.

Me:
I already found a new 1.

Becca: Y R U telling me this?

She’s got big sister radar like crazy.

Me: I’m living with 2 men.

My phone rings immediately. “It’s fine,” I insist.

“It’s fine that my baby sister is living with two strange perverts? Move out. If you need money I’ll send you the rest of my student loan money.”

“No, you need that. It’s fine. I promise. Kent’s too busy screwing every girl within a five mile radius and his roommate is sweet and shy.”

“Kent?”

“Yeah.” I get a sinking feeling.

“Kent Nicholson? Light blond hair? Crazy black eyes? And that body, oh man, I want to have his babies. That Kent?”

“There’s a lot of Kents in the world. How did you know it was this one?”

“Because there’s only one Kent Nicholson in Jacksonville. Come on. Everybody knows who he is. Well, everyone with a vagina. You do have a vagina, don’t you, Rain?”

I make a face at the phone. “I think so. It’s that thing in my head that tells me not to waste my v-card on anything with muscles, right? Did you miss that memo?”

She laughs throatily. “I missed it last night, and this morning. I mean seriously, Rain, I can barely walk. Talk about bone.”

“Eww, Becca. Did you use a condom?”

“Four.”

I sigh, ignoring her giggles. “What do you know about him?”

“He likes to spank.”

“No. Kent.” I cover my face with my hand and groan. “Dude, TMI.”

“Sorry.” She doesn’t sound sorry. “Why do you want to know about him so badly?”