“You’re still here,” he whispered.
As much as Cole had rattled me, going home didn’t appeal to me either. When I’d told Mum, I was going to a friend’s house, she’d barely batted an eyelid. I wasn’t sure when she stopped caring about what I did in life, but it had been some time over the past four years after my dad died. It’s like she no longer saw me as her daughter. I was an inconvenience to her life and she’d rather I left like Jonah had.
“Not because of you,” I hissed back. “Don’t distract me.”
“What did you say to my dad?”
I glanced at him, finding his gaze on the TV but his head was angled close to mine.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing doesn’t explain why he asked me what I did to you.”
“It’s not my fault I ran into him after you pushed me up against your fucking door, okay? Did you expect me not to be flustered?”
What the fuck? Don’t tell him that! Jesus, Meredith, you’re not helping your case here.
The smile on Cole’s lips was so arrogant, I almost called him out for it. Clearly pleased with himself for having an effect on me.
Prick.
“Flustered? I don’t think that’s the right word for what I made you.”
“Oh, and what would be the right word?”
I shouldn’t have asked that question. I knew it the moment the words left my mouth. Cole moved his hands until his knuckles brushed against my thigh, all the while still holding the controller and keeping his attention on the race. My breath hitched at the motion and my body betrayed me entirely.
“Wet.”
That one word made me hot and cold all at the same time. I nearly jumped away from him. Except then it’d be obvious to his brothers Cole was making me uncomfortable. I didn’t back down from a fight nor did I let boys walk all over me.
“Don’t make me fucking laugh,” I hissed. “You can wipe that arrogant look off your face and go fuck yourself with it. I will never be attracted to you.”
You both know that’s a lie.
It was a question of whether he’d call me out on it. Yes, I thought Cole was hot. What girl wouldn’t? The glaring issues with finding him remotely attractive reared their ugly head. Cole was two years younger than me. He was my friend’s little brother. And I wasn’t interested in playing games with him.
“If you say so, Meredith.”
His fingers kept brushing against my thigh. It had the exact reaction I knew he was looking for. My body heated and flames licked over my skin, making me want him to keep going. It’s not as if I didn’t understand the mechanics of sex. I had explored my own body, wanting to know what the big deal was. I’d never had another person touch me in a distinctly sexual way or even look at me the way Cole had been doing when he dragged my hands down his stomach earlier. My body was confused by the new sensations and hadn’t caught up with my brain yet. The logical thing to do would be to push him away and tell him to fuck off.
I wasn’t being logical right then.
“I do.”
“Tell me to stop then.”
My words caught in my throat as his stroking grew bolder, his thigh pressing more firmly against mine.
“For fuck’s sake,” Duke grunted, chucking the controller next to him as he lost the race.
How Cole and I had kept playing and gained second and third place was beyond me at this point. Raphi had come in first and the smile on his face could light up the whole room.
Cole moved his head away from me but his hands remained where they were. I didn’t know what to do or say, only that I needed to get away from him. He’d well and truly messed with my head this evening.
“Hey, Raphi, do you think one of your parents might drive me home after this one? I could get the bus if not.”
I could feel Cole’s eyes on me but I refused to look at him.
“I’m sure Dad won’t mind,” Raphi replied with an easy grin, completely oblivious to the way his brother was pressed up against me.
The sooner I could get away from Cole, the better. Then I might be able to sort through my messy emotions regarding the boy next to me. For someone I’d never interacted with on a personal level before, he’d sure left a fucking impression on me.
A bad one.
I was damn sure this boy was bad for me in every single way.
Why the fuck did my body not get the memo when I told it Cole Carter was off-limits and I was not going there. Ever.
Traitor.
Chapter Seven
Meredith knew my eyes were on her. The way her body kept angling away from me and her refusal to turn her head my way made it obvious. I’d bothered her. She didn’t like her reaction to me on Friday. In fact, I think she hated it. But the way she’d spit fire at me when I taunted her only made my need for her worse. The need to force her to her knees and have her beg.
Perhaps I was fucked up for wanting shit like that from a girl I barely knew. Especially when I’d never been with anyone before. And yet I couldn’t help it. My fascination with her bordered on the insane. I couldn’t get Meredith out of my head. It’d been this way for years and now, I needed to have her. I wouldn’t hold back.
The library was particularly quiet this afternoon. Somehow I’d ended up with the same free study periods as her. I only came in here to watch Meredith. The way her strawberry blonde hair curled over her shoulders. Hair I wanted to fist in my hand.
I noticed her stand up, leaving her books where they were as she walked towards the shelves. Rising to my feet, I followed her at a distance. She stopped down an aisle of books, her eyes scanning the titles. No one else was around. I stuck my hands in my pockets and leant up against the shelves a few feet away, just watching her.
“What do you want?” she asked in a quiet voice.
“Nothing.”
“I don’t believe you.”
A smile graced my lips.
“You don’t have to.”
Her gaze fell on me, her green eyes a mixture of curiosity and irritation. She was holding back as we were at school and in the library. Meredith would probably lose it if we were alone. Just as she had done on Friday when I’d had her in my room.
“Seriously, Cole, what do you want? Here to taunt me some more? If you’re going to continue, I will walk away and tell you where to go.”
I shifted closer, watching her take a breath.
“I want you,” I said, in a voice barely above a whisper.
She blinked as if not expecting me to give her a straight answer.
“You want me? What the fuck? Are you insane? You don’t even know me.”
I took a step towards her expecting her to back away but Meredith stood her ground. She turned to me fully, an expression of disgust written all over her face.
My fiery little queen. You really are magnificent.
“I know plenty. We already established that much.”
The way her body tensed and her eyes flashed told me she hated anyone knowing her secret. She had nothing to be ashamed of. Not everyone liked to put it around and I respected her for that. Besides, I wanted to be the one between her legs. The only one. I’d take her virginity and give her mine in return. Then I’d make sure she never wanted to go anywhere else. I’d make Meredith mine.