Chapter Four

Leah

Seeing Chelsea cuddled into Darius’s side staring up at him with stars in her eyes and him looking at her like he is mentally undressing her feels like someone poked a red-hot branding iron over my heart. I knew coming here would be hard, but I didn’t think after all this time he would still hate me. For months after he ghosted me I had no idea what happened or what I did wrong. When I left for college at BVU, I had no idea he would be there. It wasn’t a problem at first, we even became friends, until one night, when I was training late at the gym, I heard him and his team talking about my team and who is the most bangable . He laughed and told a story about me I never fucking knew happened! From that night, everything changed. I was dropped from the team and weeks later I lost my scholarship and had no choice but to transfer.

“You okay?” I pull myself from my spiraling thoughts and focus back on Garrett. I try to plaster on a smile for his sake but I can see I fail miserably when his shoulders slump.

“Yeah, sorry just…yeah,” I say.

“Look, Darius and his friends are a pack of jumped-up juice heads who think they are holier than God himself.” I can’t help it, laughter bubbles out of me at his words because he isn’t half wrong. The five of them do prance around with an air of superiority surrounding them. When my laughter dies off, I find Garrett grinning wide at me. He seems more at ease now than he did a moment ago. “Want a drink?” I nod eagerly and allow him to lead me through the hordes of people that are clustered inside the house. Garrett reaches back and grips my hand, pulling me along. I try to spot Katie and Cody but I can’t see them among the mass of bodies, Garrett doesn’t seem to have any issues finding his way around the place.

As we round the corner and come into the kitchen, my breath hitches at the sight of Darius sitting on the counter with people surrounding him. It’s not his popularity that has me short of breath, it’s the sight of Chelsea between his legs, running her hands all over him. As if he can sense my gaze on him he shoots me a scathing look that makes me feel like I am discarded trash. Garrett handing me a cup has me tearing my gaze from Darius.

“Do you have anything in a bottle?” He frowns which prompts me to explain further. “A girl can never be too careful, ya know?” Realization dawns on him at my words. He leads me to the other side of the kitchen where there are bottles lined up along the counter.

“No sealed bottles but you can pour your own?” I reach for one of the bottles only for it to be snatched from my hand, I snap my gaze over to an angry looking Beckett.

“Beck, what the hell?” I snap angrily. He pulls his heated stare from Garrett to peer down at me. He reaches into the back pocket of his jeans and pulls out a hip flask, making quick work of pouring some into a cup and handing it to me. “Thanks?” I say, slightly confused.

“Next time you need a drink, you find one of us and don’t touch any of this shit. Most of it is spiked.” My eyes widen in horror as I look from him to the bottles. Beck shakes his head and leans down to whisper in my ear. “Don’t trust anyone here, Leah. Word will spread about who you are to Corvin and the wolves will come hunting. You need anything, you come find me.” When he pulls back, I stare up at Beckett Dawson in a whole new light. He and I have never been close per se but him saving my ass tonight means more than he will ever fucking know!

I’m starting to feel pretty drunk but the atmosphere here is amazing and I feel safe enough to allow myself to let loose a little, knowing my brother and the guys are here keeping an eye on me. Corvin would never allow anyone like him to come near me. Knowing that I never have to cross paths with that piece of shit ever again has me feeling lighter than I have in a long time. My mom and dad are so angry at me. They had to take out a second mortgage on the house to pay for me to go to CHU. I hate that they had to do that. I also hate lying to them but I also can’t tell them the truth as they would never look at me like I’m their perfect little girl anymore.

“Oh my God! Leah, this is my favorite song. We need to dance!” Katie shouts as she grips my hand and hauls me away from my spot next to Garrett, dragging me over to the makeshift dance floor in the center of the living room. Cody, who was already dancing with some others, squeals at the sight of us and rushes over to give us each a hug. When the beat of G-Eazy and Chris Brown’s song “ Provide ” flows through me, my body takes on a life of its own as my hips begin to sway side to side. I raise my arms above my head as I let my body roll to the beat. Katie and Cody mimic me for a beat before they let loose and begin dropping down low and slowly working their way back up, pushing their asses out as they go.

The three of us have gathered a crowd, which isn’t new to dancers like us. Guys think just because we can twerk and pop our asses the way we do that we are some horny available women that are begging for their dicks inside us. When a guy I don’t know reaches for me, I pull back only to smack into a wall of steel. When my body hums to life, I know who it is without even having to look over my shoulder.

“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 of Pia Mia’s song “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 times before. 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 he disappears 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.