Palm South University Season 1 Omnibus (13 page)

But now, I have a troubling feeling that I might want her to be more.

“OH MY FUCKING FUCK!” Leslie screams when we all pile back into our private dressing room. The entire troupe is jumping up and down, trophies and medals in hand. The energy is uncontrollable.

“I seriously can’t believe this,” I chime in, shaking my head. “We won. First place. In four categories!”

“Well believe it,” Hayden says, picking me up and twirling me in his arms. “And I think we can all agree that we have you to thank.” He plants a long kiss on my lips.

“It was all of us. We’re a team.”

“True,” Kya says, unfastening her bra. I used to be shocked by how comfortable she was stripping in front of anyone and everyone, but I’m used to it now. “But we’ve all competed before and we’ve never done this well. You kicked ass today, Ashlei.” She winks and strips off her spandex, quickly replacing it with a pair of fitted sweats.

“To Ashlei,” Leslie says, pulling a flask from her Kitty Heels gym bag. We all chuckle as she takes a swig and begins to pass it around. Various members of the troupe clap me on the back in congratulations after they take their swigs. Then, everyone starts getting dressed, energy still buzzing around us.

“Hey,” Hayden says, grabbing my hand. “Come with me. I have a better way to celebrate.” He winks and a roaring fire instantly lights in my stomach.

Pulling me through the dressing room to a back bathroom, he locks the door behind us and props me up on the counter, pressing himself between my thighs in one quick motion. Slowly, he kisses down my neck, his strong hands gripping my hips as he does. He’s still in the tight, barely-there shorts from our final routine and nothing else. I drag my fingernails down over his chest and abs before tucking them beneath the thin fabric. Even though I just barely graze him, I can feel how hard he is and I bite my lip in anticipation.

“Wait,” he breathes, pecking my lips once more before backing up slightly. When he pulls a small plastic bag filled with white powder out of one of the bathroom cabinets, I immediately shake my head.

“No, Hayden. No way. You know I’m not into that stuff.”

“Come on,” he says sexily, his voice low and his eyes bright. “We just won in four categories. We qualified for semi-finals in January. Celebrate with me. Just one line. I promise, I’ll take care of you. I won’t let anything happen. It’s just going to make you feel even more alive than you already do.”

I bite my lip, feeling my heartrate accelerating. I know I shouldn’t, but the way Hayden is looking at me makes me want to. I’m already on a high, I
do
want to celebrate, and I do trust Hayden. I know he won’t let anything bad happen to me.

But I know cocaine is no joke.

But it could be fun, right?

But I shouldn’t do it…

Sensing my inner battle, Hayden moves toward me and slowly shakes some of the white powder onto my cleavage. Using a small blue plastic card, he situates it into a clean line and then looks up at me with heated eyes. He shoots the line, then takes my mouth with his in a frenzy, igniting the desire in my body again.

When he pulls back, he gently empties out a small amount of powder onto his strong trapezius muscle and situates it in a clean line. Then, he hands me the small metal pipe. “Just a little bit, Ashlei. Come up with me,” he pleads. I just sit there with the pipe in my hand, staring at the line and telling myself I should hand the pipe back to him. But something inside me is curious.

Hayden bites his lower lip, letting his teeth drag across the flesh before trailing his hand down my abdomen to land between my thighs. When his fingers snake their way through the fabric and plunge inside of me, I let out a sharp cry of pleasure and let myself fall back against the mirror.

“Come up with me, Ashlei,” he says again, working his magical fingers inside me. The ecstasy is already too much, I can’t imagine it any more heightened. But with Hayden’s hooded eyes devouring me right along with his hands, I can’t find the energy to argue anymore. Leaning up, I take a deep breath, plug one nostril, and shoot the line off his bare flesh.

It stings like hell and my eyes water as I wipe my nose, but Hayden is looking at me like I’m the sexiest thing he’s ever seen. He steals the pipe from my hand and tosses it on the counter before pulling my mouth to his. While his other hand still works beneath my outfit, the other grips the back of my neck, pulsing a need straight through me.

Suddenly, Hayden pulls my spandex off and rips his to the floor, leaving us both exposed. He teases me at my entrance with his head, nipping playfully at my bottom lip. “You’re so fucking sexy, Ashlei. This is going to feel amazing. Trust me.”

With that, he plunges into me and I let out a loud moan. At first, I don’t feel any different, but after a few minutes, everything changes. I feel incredibly alert, my senses extra-sensitive, and the pleasure I normally feel when Hayden touches me is amplified to a level I’ve never experienced before. Each time he thrusts into me, every time his thumb brushes my nipple, each flick of his tongue on my skin sends me spiraling toward a dangerous cliff of ecstasy.

“This feels amazing,” I moan into Hayden’s lips. “
Everything
feels so amazing.”

“Like this?” he asks, palming each of my breasts. I nod and grind my pelvis against his as he works in and out. “And this?” he asks again, this time letting his fingertips fall to circle my clit. My moans grow louder and it’s my only response before I tumble over the edge and experience an orgasm I never knew existed. It takes over my entire body, my entire soul, my entire being. And when I finish, I’m spent. Completely, totally spent. Crashing, fading, falling.

Hayden comes moments later and then he pulls me into one of the showers with him, planting small kisses down the back of my neck as he runs his hands through my wet hair. Even as the high fades, every touch sparks my sensitive skin and I feel alive. But slowly, the guilt starts to creep in along with the realization of what just happened. Before today, alcohol and the occasional joint were the only drugs I’d ever messed with. Now, I’ve jumped over the fence into hard drug territory. It was electrifying, it was terrifying, but what scares me most is…

It was fun.

THERE’S NOTHING QUITE LIKE the feeling of seeing something you’ve worked hard for pay off. You bust your ass for weeks, months, or maybe even years and then it all comes together and you finally feel like you can breathe again.

That’s how I feel right now as I stare up at the big stage while a local band kills their set and the crowd goes crazy. Crowd. Yeah, there’s actually a big turnout at an Alpha Sigma event. I shake my head, still shocked I somehow pulled it off, and glance down at my clipboard.

“Okay, Filthy Innocents are wrapping up. Give our headliner the five minute warning,” I say into the mouthpiece wrapped around my head.

“Ten four,” Jeremy answers and I roll my eyes.

“You don’t have to talk like a fucking trucker, Jeremy.”

“Ten four.”

As I make my way across the crowded lawn to the stage, I spot Skyler, Cassie, and a group of their sorority sisters close to the front row. It’s Cassie I notice first, her scarlet hair standing out in the crowd of brunettes and blondes. She’s dressed in a tight little green dress that takes my eyes down her body whether I try to fight it or not. Which I don’t, by the way. She looks great tonight, and she’s definitely the one I noticed first.

But it’s Skyler who keeps my attention.

A stark contrast from her sisters, she’s in distressed jeans and her sorority jersey. Her hair is pulled up into a messy bun and even though I can tell she has makeup on, it doesn’t look like she tried as hard as her sisters to look as amazing as she does.

Fucking Christ, the girl is gorgeous.

“Well if it isn’t the –”

“Don’t even say it,” Cassie cuts me off, shoving me playfully as Skyler and the rest of the girls turn around. The three blondes, one I know to be Erin Xander and the other two I’m not familiar with, give me a onceover before turning back toward the stage. Skyler’s eyes, however, stay fixed on mine.

“You know, I can honestly say you surprised me tonight.”

I cock a brow. “Oh?”

“Yep,” she nods. “I did not think A Sigs could get down like this. I’m impressed.”

“Me too,” Cassie chimes in, her cheeks flushing a bit with the words. It’s not lost on me, and I can’t say it doesn’t give me a thrill to know that blush is because of me.

“Let’s get a drink before the headliners go on,” one of the blondes says, grabbing Skyler’s arm before turning to Cassie.

“I’ll save our spot,” she says. The girls all nod and squeeze their way past me toward the Alpha Sigma house where the open bar is. It’s an illegal open bar, one the campus coordinators wouldn’t approve as part of the concert, but I knew without booze this show would go down in flames. So, our basement was transformed into a speakeasy.

“I’ll stay with you.” Cassie turns to me wide-eyed and I flash a smile. “It’s the least I can do, since I’m assuming it was probably you who got all your sisters here.”

She flushes a deeper red. “It didn’t take much to convince them. Music. Food. Booze. And boys.”

“Which of those did you come for?”

She gulps. “The first one… mostly.”

I grin. “How’s your first semester going?”

“It’s good.” I can tell by her hesitance there’s something she’s not saying. “Lots of parties and sorority events. I’m having fun.”

“But?”

“But what?” She looks at me confused.

“You’re upset about something.”

“Why do you say that?”

I shrug. “I can just tell.”

Sighing, she looks down and picks at her nail polish. “It’s nothing, really. I just… I moved here with my best friend. We both rushed together, but she went Zeta. Ever since rush, she’s been a mega bitch and it’s just getting worse every day. She doesn’t understand why I went KKB and she thinks Zetas are better. She keeps pulling away from me and I feel like I’m going to lose her this semester if I haven’t already.”

“Is she really that great of a friend if she’s treating you like this?”

“She used to be. I don’t know, maybe this is just the whole growing up thing. I just miss the girl I knew a few months ago.”

I lean in closer, speaking over the sound of instrument tuning and mic checks. “People change, Cassie. You’re going to notice in the next few years and probably for the rest of your life that some friends stay and some friends go. The trick is learning that real friendships don’t have to be fought for.”

She smiles, looking up at me through her lashes. In the bright blue and green lights of the concert, she looks sort of angelic. And I know she kind of is – she’s innocent in a way I’ve never seen a girl before.

Suddenly, there’s a surge in the crowd as the lights go down and Cassie is knocked forward hard. When she smacks into me, she apologizes, but I just grab her arms to steady her. “You okay?” She nods, but then suddenly the air around us is thicker than before. Her body is pressed against mine and I can feel the slightest hint of shaking as I hold her. Before I know what I’m doing, I lower my mouth to hers, our lips touching just as the first notes of the new set play.

She sighs into my mouth and I pull her closer, parting her lips with my tongue and moving my hands up to cup her face. Her hands fist my shirt and a soft, almost inaudible moan escapes when I dip my tongue in again. It’s then that I realize what I’m doing.