Mad Boys (Blue Ivy Prep, #2)(63)

Not that I was going to do much more than read ahead for the next semester. We still had to finalize the syllabi so that students would get them before winter break in order to prep for the spring semester.

Contacts out, I actually enjoyed the soft blur of the world. As annoying as my vision issues had been over the years, this was the one time when my need to keep working actually seemed to back off. The soft focus on the world eased the tension of the past day, week, month…

The hot water poured over me and I twisted to let the water beat against my back. I hadn’t gone to the gym. I was going to have to set an alarm. Lachlan lived for physical sports and working out. It kept him sane.

I did it because my health demanded it, particularly after my stress levels resulted in a prescription for anti-anxiety meds at fourteen. Competing with students nearly four years older than me for class rank had never been a good time.

My intelligence was my greatest strength and probably the source of my worst experiences. “Yeah, enough with the maudlin bullshit,” I told myself and went to work on scrubbing my hair.

Despite the fact I’d need to shave again in the morning, I went ahead and shaved tonight. There was something to be said for cleaning up and making sure everything was in its place.

The scrape of the razor over my jaw and the sound of the bristle being erased settled me. We all had our self-soothing gestures. That was what my psychologist had assured me from the first time I skipped two grades.

As much as I needed the mental challenge, he worried that I wasn’t up for the emotional one. In some ways, he’d been right. In others… well, I’d made it. So it didn’t matter.

The feel of kissing KC just popped into my head along with the memory of her pressing against me when I lifted her. She weighed next to nothing. Despite the sharpness of her tongue and her wit, she was so fucking soft everywhere.

My dick stirred almost instantaneously. The other reason my nightly showers were necessary. Waking up with a boner was a fact of life, and having wet dreams about a student who was also my stepsister and couldn’t stand me was more than a little embarrassing.

Wrapping a hand around my cock, I focused on the way it felt to hold her and I was stiff as a board in no time. It took a little concentration to hold onto the images of her and the sound—the soft little exhales she made punctuated by gasps.

I came in a rush and shuddered. More of my tension spilled off me as I splattered cum against the tile. The water would wash it away. It didn’t take me long to finish the shower.

Once I toweled off and brushed my teeth, I dragged on my pajama bottoms and t-shirt. I preferred to sleep in less, but I always had to be ready for someone knocking on the door or needing me.

It was part of the commitment.

The rest of the suite seemed quiet when I shut off the lights and headed into my bedroom. This was my safe space. Organized into neat lines with every book in its place, the bed made, the suits in the closet hung and color coordinated.

The one place I could control. I snagged the e-reader off the desk on my way to the bed. A rustle of fabric and movement froze me in place though. The room was dark, I had the window covered cause even a little bit of light would jerk me away.

Flipping on the light switch, I gaped at a very nude Payton sprawled on my bed. She dropped one leg to the side so I got an eyeful of her cunt and I shifted to pin my gaze elsewhere.

I half-expected her to scream or something. If she was here for Lachlan—note to self, punch him later—she had the wrong room.

“Hey, Ramsey,” she said in a whispery voice. “I’ve been waiting for you…”

Waiting.

For.

Me?

I cut a glance at her again, firmly keeping my gaze above her neck. “Pretty sure you mean Lachlan,” I said. “This is most definitely not his room.”

She rolled up onto her knees and I backed up a step. “I know where he sleeps and that’s why I’m here.”

"Because he doesn’t sleep in here?” How the fuck was I getting her out of this room without a scene? I was maybe hours away from losing my position at the school already. This would seal the deal before dawn.

“I don’t want him,” she told me, walking on her knees across the bed. Right. She needed clothes. I did a scan of the room.

She’d left a pile right by the door to my room, where I wouldn’t trip over it coming out of the bathroom. It irked me that she just dropped them there. I scooped them up and thrust them toward the bed, tossing them at her.

“Get dressed.”

“Rams.” She practically pouted. “I need you…it’s been such an awful year and I didn’t get into any of your classes. And I’ll be eighteen right after Christmas…”

“Not helping,” I said, keeping my voice firm and stern. The absolute lack of interest from my dick definitely helped in the current situation. “Get dressed, Payton. You need to go back to your own suite.”

“But…” She pressed against my arm and I kept my hand locked on the tablet. The rub of her nipples on my skin was not what I wanted. “I need you.”

Clearing my throat, I frowned at her. “Miss Webber…”

“It’s so sexy when you go all teacher on me.”

I narrowly dodged her kiss, and the act of pulling my arm away caused me to touch her more. Goddammit. “Payton…”