Malik (Carter Brother Series Book 1) (26 page)

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My bedroom door opens, nearly slamming into the wall as Max, Myles, Malik and Denny walk into my room. Denny looks worse-for-wear as she flops herself down on my bed.

“I hate Max. Like really hate him,’’ she groans into the bed sheet.

“Why?’’ I chuckle, ignoring the lads fighting over something, most likely a snickers bar. You can never tell with a Carter boy. Once I thought they were having a serious fight and I ended up in tears begging them to stop, not liking that they were fighting. They pulled away from each other after that, but I soon learnt it was over a cupcake and ended up walking out.

“Because I’m so fucking tired and he dragged me out of bed. Literally. How my parents didn’t hear him sneaking in my bedroom window is beyond me. I usually only have to burp and my mother’s there scolding me to be more lady like.’’

“Why did you drag her out of bed?’’ I ask Max.

“Because she can’t miss this,’’ he grins waving a phone at me.

“I don’t know about Denny, but I think I’m already missing something.’’

“We heard about what Mr. Haynes did to you earlier by that Charlie girl. At one point I thought it was hot how angry she got talking about it, but when she wouldn’t get to the point quick enough I started to get annoyed. I don’t know. The chick has skills anyway. She got us Mr. Haynes’s number,’’ he grins mischievously.

“And what are you going to do with that?’’ I ask slowly, looking to Myles and Malik who are both wearing similar smirks. The only difference is Malik’s is sexy or sexier. Whatever, the point is, they’re up to something that will most likely get them into trouble.

“We’re going to call his wife,’’ he states proudly like he just found the cure to cancer.

Sheesh!

“So you’re going to tattle to his wife about how mean he is?’’ I ask seriously, trying not to laugh.

“Watch and learn little Evans. Everyone has to be quiet, okay? For me to do this with a straight face I need you all to behave. Got it?’’

Malik walks over to me grinning. My heart speeds up as I watch his muscles flex beneath his t-shirt. Holy hell, my man is hot.

When I stop checking out his body, I meet his eyes and smile. He’s looking at me like I’m most likely looking at him. Like he wants to strip me naked and have his wicked way with me. The thought has me clamping my thighs together. Malik notices and smirks. Giving me a wink he jumps on the bed next to me, snuggling behind me and pulling me against his hard body. And when I say hard, I mean hard. It seems someone is just as turned on as I am.

I wiggle my ass into his groin and he growls into my ear, pressing firmly down on my hips to stop me from moving. I want to giggle, but it will just draw attention to us and at the moment Myles, Max and Denny are too busy trying to go over the conversation that they’re about to have with Mrs. Haynes.

“You drive me crazy,’’ he whispers in my ear before giving it a hard nip.

My back arches from the sensations flowing down my neck.

“Ditto,’’ I whisper back, keeping my eyes locked on the conversation in front of me.

“Right, you ready.... Oh Jesus, would you like us to give you ten minutes?’’ Max snaps at Malik.

“Yes,’’ Malik says the same time I giggle a, “No.’’

“Seriously bro? Ten minutes. Harlow, when you’re ready for a real man you know where I live,’’ he winks at me, causing Malik to tense up next to me.

I reach down to Malik’s hand, linking our fingers together as I shake my head grinning at Max, “No thanks.’’

“It’s a great offer though right? Denny, the offers goes to you too, I’m in a 2 for 1 kind of mood.’’

“Just get on with it,’’ Denny snaps, but amusement fills her features.

“Okay mom,’’ he salutes sarcastically.

Myles takes that moment to reach forward and slap his brother across the head, “Come on, I have homework to do.’’

“When don’t you?’’ Max glares rubbing his head. “Okay, Jesus. Be still my people. I am making the phone call.’’

The phone is placed on loud speaker, the ring tone filling the room before a feminine ‘hello’ answers the phone.

“Hi, I’m Buster Cherry from Just for Him,’’ Max starts, and I nearly laugh. The name sounds like bust-her-cherry and not Buster Cherry. I have to shove my face into the pillow so that my laughter is muffled. It doesn’t help when Malik squeezes my hips in warning or when Max continues.

“I’m sorry to have missed him Mrs. Haynes. Could you let him know Buster Cherry called from Just for Him about his outstanding balance.’’

“Outstanding balance for what? I’m sorry, but I’m confused as to who you are,’’ she replies in a high tone.

“He has charges for our male match that he rents three times a week now Mrs. Haynes,’’ Max replies in a professional deep voice. To be honest, with my head in the pillow it sounds nothing like Max, but I obviously know it is. He’s really good at doing voice impersonations.

“Male match? I’m so sorry Buster Cherry, but I’m a little lost. Can you explain this to me?’’

“I’m a little out of sorts here Mrs. Haynes, but your husband signed an agreement and so did you. Are you telling me you don’t know about your husband’s private affairs?’’ he replies sounding aghast.

“No. He told me he has after school clubs and other after school volunteering. He really loves those kids and spends most of his time with them,’’ she says sounding choked up.

My head snaps up to Max and the others and we must all be thinking the same thing because Mr. Haynes
never
volunteers for after school clubs or cares about his students. She seriously does not know her husband very well it seems.

“Here we go; it says here you signed a contract that we send out to all our married clients. We don’t condone cheating Mrs. Haynes and it clearly states here you signed here to consent your husband to have sexual intercourse with one of our male matches.’’

“I did not sign such a thing. I would never condone such a thing. My Lord,’’ she says sounding outraged. “How does this
business
work may I ask?’’

Max takes in a breather trying to compose himself. Malik is chuckling into the back of my neck and I’m finding it hard not to laugh myself. She has bought it, not once has she said you must be joking.

“Well, Mr. Haynes came in for the introduction where we ask all clients what they look for in a man and what sort of sexual experiences they’ve had in the past and what they’re looking for in the future. I have to say Mrs. Haynes, your husband is very experienced.’’

“That rat bastard. My mother always told me he was never good enough. That living with his mother until he was thirty five did something to him. I knew I should have listened. Do you know what I have to put up with? He farts when he cums,’’ she yells into the phone.

Max has to cover the mouth piece on the phone because none of us can hold our laughter in much longer.

Once Max is composed he tries to fight his grin before talking back into the phone, his voice not as serious as it was.

“Well I can see why you are upset. I’m sorry Mrs. Haynes but I have other customers to get to. If you could tell him he owes money for anal intercourse with other sexual acts, his site male match, and for using the same male match six weeks in a row. Usually we like to keep them rotated so they don’t become attached to one another,’’ he grins, hiding a chuckle with a cough. “But it’s the anal beads, cock ring, and lube and several of the other sex toys that have run up his bill. It also seems he’s been trying to connect to his match outside of his match time. If you could have him call the manager, Mr. Ben Dover he will be happy to sort out a payment plan for over the course of the year.’’

“How much exactly is this bill?’’ she screeches and I kind of feel bad for her. We’ve done this to get back at Mr. Haynes, but at the moment, it’s his wife who is getting upset.

“At the moment thirty thousand, but if he misses the next payment in .... Hello? Mrs. Haynes?’’ Max calls, but all that greets us is the dial tone. I can’t help but falling into a fit of laughter.

“I feel sorry for her. Maybe we should have done something else,’’ Denny whines.

I actually agree with her, maybe we could have done something else to get back at him. I do feel bad, but I can’t help but find the whole situation funny. It’s not like they’re going to break up. She’ll find out he’s not going anywhere after school and that will be that.

“True, but the fucker deserves it. He gave me lines today for looking up Mrs. Martin’s skirt. She’s fucking hot,’’ Max grunts.

“What lines did you have to write?’’ I ask curious.

“I shall not sin and I shall respect women,’’ he laughs, and we laugh along with him.

Myles grabs a film from his bag throwing it over to me and as I do every time, I grab the DVD and put it on. It’s what we do most nights.

The next day I meet Malik at school. He had to run in early to talk to one of the teachers about an assignment he’s working on.

My heart races as I walk into school. My shoulders are slumped, my head looking down with my P.E. bag slung over my shoulder. The last time I had P.E. was when I had my photo taken naked. It’s not something I’m looking forward to. I’m even taking both bags outside on the field with me or in the gym with me, either way it’s not leaving my sight. Then I’m walking home to shower like I used to. There is nothing that will get me to go back in those showers. Not even Malik’s naked body could tempt me. Okay, maybe his naked body could probably get it to cross my mind.

Thinking of his naked body, all wet, and all that hard muscle has my mind in a daze, reeling over what we did last night. By the time everyone else left Malik and I by ourselves it was late and my Gram’s wanted me to go to sleep. Malik went home like usual when she asked, but I could tell he was annoyed about leaving when things had just started heating up. He was so worked up he called her a cock blocker under his breath on the way out. Gram’s had heard him, but he recovered quickly by saying he said ‘nice knocker’ pointing to the old knocker on our door. My Gram’s looked at him as if to say ‘Do you think I was born yesterday?’ but Malik ignored it with a tight grin and went home.

An hour later he was back, sneaking into the house with the key Gram’s keeps at Mark’s in case of an emergency. He didn’t leave mine until this morning when his alarm went off. We only managed to get in a few hours sleep, which is why I’m walking down the hallway looking like a zombie.

Standing by my locker is Denny and Charlie, both girls laughing and joking about something. When I get closer they both look, motioning me over. When I get there both girls lean in giggling like they have the biggest secret ever.

“Mr. Haynes is in Mr. Rogers’s classroom,’’ Denny sniggers.

I raise my eyebrows at her wondering what the hell she’s getting at before she looks over to Charlie to take the stage. For a second before she starts speaking I remember the phone call Max had done with Mr Haynes’s wife. I’m hoping like hell he isn’t in there blaming me. I wouldn’t put it past the asshole; he’d blame me if his car broke down.

“He’s in there shouting at him about you. Apparently, from what we could hear, Mr. Haynes is trying to get you kicked out of school.’’

“That’s fucking stupid,’’ I yell, but quiet down when Charlie gives me a sharp look and Denny smacks my arm. “Hey, that hurt.’’

“They were arguing pretty loudly that Principal Collins had to step in. Mr. Rogers has been fighting to get you to stay, telling them they have no grounds to expel you blah blah blah. I think Miss Collins just wants the school to look good, so she’s trying to calm Mr Haynes down, but he’s refusing to teach you now. With that picture of you being public knowledge it’s not looking good for the school, so Miss. Collins has no leg to stand on.’’

“Oh fuck!’’ Denny gasps grabbing my arm tightly.

“Ouch,’’ I snap moving my arm away from her. I’m starting to worry I’m going to have to file a complaint to the police about her abuse today. “I’m not going in there if that’s what you’re thinking. I haven’t done anything wrong. I have a few...’’

“Um, Harlow... Mrs. Haynes is coming this way and she looks really fucking pissed,’’ Denny hisses getting my attention. My head whips around to see a tall, slender woman in her late forties storming our way. She’s wearing a grey charcoal suit with black pumps and her hair is a neat twisted bun at the back of her head. She’s beautiful and not someone I expected Mr. Haynes to be with. How is she married to him? She said her mom told her not to marry him, so it’s not from an arranged marriage or anything. Maybe it was a blind date?

“Fredrick Haynes,’’ she yells moving closer to us and the classroom. My head swings back to the classroom door. Mr. Haynes’s turns his head to the door looking confused before walking towards it and opening it.

It’s like watching a train wreck about to happen and you can’t do anything to stop it. I’m about to step in and own up to what happened last night and keep everyone else out of it, but then she screeches at the top of her lungs when she sees him. The whole school stops what they’re doing to get a look at what’s going on. A few even have their phones out and angled at the distraught woman.

Denny, Charlie and I on the other hand are standing right next to them both, all of us wearing grim open mouthed expressions. My eyes keep diverting around the corridor, scared if I look at either of them they’ll verbally attack me. Okay, maybe not as much from Mrs. Haynes, but Mr. Haynes I wouldn’t put it past. He doesn’t need an excuse to verbally abuse me.

“Honey, what are you doing here? Is everything okay?’’ he asks nervously, his feet shifting back and forth.

“Is everything all right? IS EVERYTHING ALL RIGHT? No Fredrick, it is not fucking all right.’’

“Maybe we should take this to my classroom,’’ he whispers, his forehead and upper lip dripping in sweat.

“Oh no, I’m leaving you, you cheating bastard. I found these,’’ she yells shoving a stack of papers in his arms. He catches them looking confused until he sees what’s on them, his face draining of any colour. From here the papers look like bank statements, but I can’t be sure.

“I can explain...’’ he starts, but Mrs. Haynes slaps him across the cheek, the sound echoing down the halls making everyone gasp. I even notice a few flashes from the camera phones a few kids were holding up, no doubt already uploading the picture onto Facebook.

“How can you explain booking a hotel every two days at the very same time you’re
supposed
to be here teaching? I’m surprised I even found you here at all. I thought you might have been lying about your job too because let’s face it, you hate freaking kids.

“Three years Fredrick, three fucking years you’ve been having an affair. And not just by someone half your age, but a young fucking male. You make me sick,’’ she roars, tears streaming down her face.

My head snaps to Denny mouthing ‘what the fuck’ to her. There is no way Max’s prank last night could be remotely true. Not unless he knew about the affair and that’s why he did it.

“I’m not seeing a.... Oh my Goodness Mariana. You really believe I would have sex with a boy?’’

“You’ve been paying for him,’’ she sneers, her black mascara running down her cheeks.

“Come on Mariana; let’s get you to my office,’’ the principal says, softly approaching her.

Mrs. Haynes rears back, glaring at her. “Don’t come near me,’’ she says before focusing back on Mr. Haynes. “I’m going to make sure everyone knows about this Fredrick. I want a divorce. My mother always said never to marry you. After all, you still kissed your mom goodnight when we first dated, but even married you have to call her each night to say goodnight and for her to read you a bedtime fucking story,’’ she bites out.

Everyone standing in the hall starts to laugh making Mr Haynes go bright red. His fists are clenched and the veins in his neck are popping out. The wild, venom look he has in his eyes as he surveys the room is lethal and has me taking a step back not wanting to be caught up in the crossfire.

“I’m sleeping with Lilly Mae Collins,’’ he shouts angrily looking wide eyed as soon as the name leaves his mouth.

Everyone around us quiet down; only a few gasps can be heard. I’m confused as to who she is until the principle speaks up.

“My daughter?’’ the principal whispers, her voice deadly when she takes a step towards him.

“Yes... no... I.... look, it just happened.’’ He runs his fingers through his hair, clearly agitated with the situation. There’s no way he can retract what he said now that it’s out there in the open. I’d feel sorry for the guy if he wasn’t such a dickhead. This just proves my point.

“Just happened? She turned nineteen a few months ago Fredrick and this affair has been going on for two years? Oh my Lord, she was your student then too. I’m going to be sick. I suggest you go pack your things Mr. Haynes then make your way to my office. I’m really sorry Mrs. Haynes. I didn’t have a clue.’’

“Oh my God,’’ I whisper as I watch Mrs. Haynes nod, tears still streaming down her face. She gives one more look to Mr. Haynes, looking at him disgusted before turning around and leaving.

“Get to your classes please students,’’ the principal shouts.

I’m too shocked to move, but Denny shoves me into my shoulder snapping me out of it.

“Need the loo,’’ is all she says before rushing off.

“Come on, before we get detention,’’ Charlie says from beside me.

I nod my head in agreement, too stunned to even speak. I’m about to walk into the classroom when I hear Malik shouting my name from down the hall. Turning I grin as I watch him run towards me. He really does look fit in his school uniform, but not as fit as he does out of it.

“Is it true what I just heard?’’

“Depends what you heard,’’ I chuckle.

“That Mr Haynes is doing the principals daughter?’’

“Yep, that’s true,’’ I shrug moving around him.

He laughs for a second before catching up to me, his arms going around me pressing my back to his front.

“Miss me?’’ he whispers into my neck. And just like that I’m putty in his hands. I melt into him, loving the feel of his fingers brushing lightly across my stomach over my shirt. Even through the material of my blouse my skin burns from his touch.

“Ahum,’’ I mumble forgetting what he even asked me.

He chuckles huskily, “Someone misses me,’’ he replies sounding arrogant.

“Come on you two love birds you have registration,’’ Mr. Rogers chuckles.

My face flames bright red and Malik just chuckles behind me, his chest vibrating against my back.

By the time lunch time arrives everyone who wasn’t in the hallway this morning now knows about Mr Haynes and his private affairs. No one has seen Mrs. Collins since then either. Rumours are she’s gone home to talk to her daughter. Some students who know her have said she acts like the good nerdy girl who is obsessed with all her classes, but the real Lilly Mae is a slut bag. In fact, I’m sure I heard one girl call her the town’s bike and another said their mom wouldn’t let her babysit them once because she made a pass at their dad. How true these statements are I don’t know. I’ve never met the girl, but something has to ring true about them because I can’t even fathom what she sees in him.

I can see the headlines now, ‘Mr. Haynes, school teacher, takes a ride on the town’s bike’ in the paper tomorrow morning. The way this town gossips I wouldn’t put it past the newspaper to print it. I read in one paper about delinquents not taking a sign saying ‘no walking on the grass’ seriously. I’m surprised Grandma’s friend Edna’s gnomes weren’t published in there.

Forgetting to make up a packed lunch this morning, I’ve had to brave hot dinners. The line isn’t that long which doesn’t surprise me. The girl in front looks deep in thought as she stares between the spaghetti bolognaise - without the spaghetti - and what I think is supposed to be chicken and dumpling stew. Not liking the look of either, I grab a yogurt and a banana and make my way over to the tills.

After I finish paying I turn to find the rest of the gang when an arm shoots out stopping me. The touch startles me causing me to jump and my tray to shake. My grip tightens on it hoping my so called food doesn’t fall to the floor. The thought of having the whole cafeteria staring at me and laughing again makes me want to vomit.

“Hey, it’s Harlow isn’t it?’’ a girl I don’t recognize asks. Confused I look around to see if this is some sort of prank, but no one is looking over at us, so I relax a little but keep my guard up.

“Yes? I’m sorry but who are you?’’

“Oh, I’m in the year below you. My sister is in your year and I just wanted to let you know we understand what you’re going through. We went through the same thing a few years back. If you ever need to talk to someone we’re always around. I know what it’s like holding it all in,’’ she says before walking off, leaving me to stare at her retreating form wondering what the fuck just happened. I’m so busy staring at her that I don’t feel the body walking up behind me until I feel his hands sliding around my stomach.

“Hey babe,’’ Malik breathes out, his lips skimming lightly over my neck. Stuck between wanting to pull away and sinking further into him, I decide to turn and face him instead.

He’s looking down at me amused; his dimple in his left cheek popping out has me melting. I love his dimples. It’s one of my favourite things about him. Well, that and his body, but I also love how sensitive and caring he is deep down.

Also, that around everyone else he is this quiet brooding type, but when he’s with me, alone, he opens up more and relaxes enough to just be himself. He’s never scared or worried that I will one day tell someone his secrets or how he really is and that means a lot to me. It means he’s as serious about us as I am about him.

“Hey,’’ I grin.

“Want to share my sandwiches?’’ he says frowning down at my attempt to have lunch.

“Please,’’ I say dramatically. “I thought I was going to starve all day eating this. I’m pretty sure that yogurt is out of date too,’’ I frown.

“Come on,’’ he chuckles grabbing the tray and throwing it in the nearest bin. He doesn’t even bother to remove the tray, he just leaves it sticking out of the bin like it’s disposable.