Too Sweet (Hayes Brothers #3)(30)
The next time I wake up, it’s bang-on six in the morning, the house perfectly silent.
Half an hour later, showered and dressed, I enter the kitchen, where Toby’s making himself at home, brewing coffee in nothing but a pair of gray slacks hanging low on his hips. His colorful tattoos dance across his muscular back with every move.
“Morning,” he says, smiling like the cat that got the birdy as he pushes a cup my way. “I love Mondays, don’t you?”
“If I had three orgasms, I’d probably love Mondays, too.”
He swallows a large gulp of his steaming coffee. It must hit the wrong pipe, and he breaks into a coughing fit. “You heard, huh?” he wheezes, coughing some more. “Sorry, we thought you were asleep.”
“I was, but my sister would wake the dead. Don’t look so mortified. I’ve had years to get used to this. Aisha’s always been a screamer.” I take an apple from a fruit bowl on the counter, snapping off the stalk before biting in. “And you’re not the quietest, either.”
An expression of bemused horror spreads across his face, and he parts his lips, but Aisha’s voice cuts him off.
“That’s why I bought you those cool headphones.” She appears in a short silk robe, rising on her toes to kiss Toby’s lips, the scene R-rated when she slides her hand to his groin, making him jump back. “So you won’t eavesdrop.” She looks over at me. “While we’re on the subject of noise pollution, we’re inviting a few friends over on Friday for board games. Either make yourself scarce or get a playlist ready.”
“Since when do you play board games?”
Aisha shrugs, stealing Toby’s coffee. “Since I’m dating a nerd. Toby here is a D&D king.”
“It goes to show how much you know about D&D,” he says. “They’re called masters, not kings, and I’ve never played that. I hear it’s fun, though.”
Aisha shrugs again, utterly disinterested. “Whatever you want to play, as long as there are shots and a tiny chance we’ll get bored and hit the club, I’m game.” She shoots me a stern look. “I’d ask you to join us, but I know it’s not your thing. You’d be bored.”
I wouldn’t. I’d probably have a better time than she would, but what’s the point in arguing?
My good mood sinks like a stone flung in a river. “I’ll stay out of your way.”
Aisha never wanted me to spend time with her friends, fighting Dad to the bone whenever he said she had to take me to the movies with her. Any other day, her blatant ‘I don’t want you around’ would fly over my head, but today I’m disappointed. Nico will probably be here on Friday, having fun one room away while I’m locked in my bedroom.
“Alright, good,” Aisha chirps, shoving a travel mug Toby filled with coffee into my hand to silently send me on my way.
◆◆◆
“Time’s up, kitten,” Brandon hollers, entering the auditorium. “Deal or no deal?” He strolls closer, smiling at Blair, who sits a few rows down.
“No deal,” I reply, leaning back to increase the distance between us after he stops a mere foot from my desk. “Should I expect you not to ask permission next time?”
“Alright, alright,” Mr. Finch says, entering the room, wearing his signature no-nonsense expression. “Settle down, everyone. Brandon, unless you want to repeat freshman year, I suggest you get out of my class.”
Brandon’s jaw tightens as he leans over the desk. “I’m not an animal, kitten. I won’t touch you unless—”
“Out, Mr. Price,” Mr. Finch clips. “I won’t ask again.”
“This conversation is not over,” he seethes, staring me down before he turns around and marches out the room.
As soon as he leaves the auditorium, Blair’s attention is on me. My stomach churns, the first tendrils of a headache settling in. This won’t be a good day. I know the reason behind her ugly scowl. She’s jealous...
God knows why. Brandon’s no prize, and I’m far from interested. He’s vile, using Blair whenever he wants a break from sleeping around with half the girls on campus. She’s the only one he comes back to for more, but the relationship Blair dreams about won’t happen.
She cocks an eyebrow, her eyes shooting daggers my way before she nonchalantly turns away, focusing on Mr. Finch. Not even five minutes later, she excuses herself and doesn’t return for the rest of the lecture.
Mr. Finch bores everyone in the auditorium, his voice sending half the students to sleep. Instead of making notes, I spend the hour writing lyrics.
I’m the first one out of there once class is dismissed but I stop dead when I glance at the opposite wall of the corridor, wallpapered with pictures of me.
Well, my face, not my body. Not a single picture of me naked exists, so these must’ve been photoshopped. They look like stills from a porn movie.
The woman uses toys, palms her breasts, sits on someone’s face, or holds someone’s dick. So many pictures of her on all fours pushing big dildos up her ass or being taken from behind in the shower. There’s one in the backseat of a car where she spreads her legs wide, jamming two fingers inside her pussy...
Cheers erupt around me as students leave their classes, stopping to admire Blair’s collage. I know it was her idea. She did this before, back in high school, but the pictures she tampered with back then were just lingerie models.