Forbidden: A bully romance (An Academy Twin Rivalry Series Book 2) Read online

  “I used the difference quotient. It’s not a big deal. Pretty basic when dealing with derivatives and the two points.” I could almost hear Jaxon’s shrug as he claimed his seat again.

  Riggins turned to the class; his features pale as he nodded. “Well, as most of you know the difference quotient was discovered by Einstein in 19-″ Riggins stopped and blinked at something in the back. “Yes, again, Mr. O’Donnell?”

  “Actually, sir, it was Isaac Newton, not Einstein. I think we all got the week off, right?” Jaxon stood, the sound then echoed as the rest of the students in class followed suit and trailed out of the room, laughing and talking in surprised whispers.

  Jaxon was the last to leave besides me. He stopped by my chair and nudged my shoulder. “Come on, Liv.” He avoided looking at the flushed teacher still standing at the front of the class, staring over the seats.

  I slid out of my chair and glanced up, half-ashamed at my thoughts toward Jaxon as we walked from the room.

  “What’s wrong?” Jaxon ducked his head closer to me to hear my answer.

  I glanced at him shyly. I wasn’t sure what to think. So much of what I thought about him had been altered. I’d had what could only be considered a paradigm shift. “I… Well, I’m not sure how to say this, but how did you know that? I mean, I was in the same classes. I know where you were. Derivatives was nowhere near your curriculum in that class.”

  His grin was sweet and innocent and yet deliciously steamy. What if he turned and kissed me right there?

  “I had a lot of time to kill and usually I had to go to the library rather than go back to the apartment. There was a college student who had a tutor and I would study with them because the guy said it made it easier to understand when he worked in a group environment. I learned all kinds of maths and sciences. I also had some business course training.” He nodded his head down the hallway. “Look, they don’t all look like they hate us.”

  In shock, I slowly turned to inspect the others milling around the hall. The twenty or so students Jaxon had just freed from class continually glanced at him, their expressions more curious and amazed then filled with hate like before.

  I shook my head and turned my gaze up toward him again. “I have no idea how you did that, but if you keep this up, they’ll like you more than Braddox.” I knew I did.

  “Why? What’s wrong with Brax?” Jaxon’s brow wrinkled with his questioning glance.

  I laughed; the sound odd considering everything that had happened recently to the both of us. “You’re joking, right? He’s selfish and doesn’t do things to help others. You got the whole class out because you negotiated and then followed through. No one does that.” I shook my head in amazement, stepping around a group of people standing at a bank of lockers.

  Jaxon grabbed my arm and we stopped in the center of the hall. He swung me back to look at him. All teasing was gone from his features as he pointedly lowered his tone. “I wasn’t negotiating for the class, Olivia. I only wanted you.” There was so much more he was saying than just that he wanted me out of the class with him.

  Trapped in the magnetism of his hold and the laser-like intensity of his gaze, I slowly swallowed, unable to look away. “You… you were negotiating to get me out of class with you?” I suspected that was the case, but to have him confirm it did things to my insides I didn’t want to acknowledge, yet couldn’t deny.

  Jaxon reached up and brushed his knuckles across my cheek. “Of course. We have some things to discuss. I think you asked where I’d like you to bite me.” But the fire in his eyes promised there would be little talking between us once we were alone.

  I’d be completely fine with that.

  “Are you sure you should be touching what’s mine?” Braddox’s low voice sliced through the intimate moment between Jaxon and me.

  I didn’t pull back from Jaxon as I turned and shifted my gaze to find Braddox’s eyes. Fury riddled Braddox’s features and the tightness to his shoulders as he smiled while staring at us. I wasn’t sure if he was joking or if he was just putting on a front or what.

  A few people had stopped. Directly behind Braddox, Donnie stood with his arms crossed and his head back as he stared down at us.

  I nodded at Braddox’s friend. “Hey, Donnie.” We’d always been friends, or I’d thought we were. At least friendly, but he glared at me. Something in his eyes terrified me. I shrank from beside Jaxon, shifting until I was more beside him than in front of him.

  Donnie didn’t alter the way he stared at me or the narrowing of his eyes. Nothing. He changed nothing as if I was a speck on the floor as far as he was concerned.

  Braddox smiled coldly at me and then at Jaxon. He nodded my direction but spoke plainly to his twin. “She’s mine. You’re in this school because I haven’t contested it. Stay off my radar and out of my way and we won’t have any problems. Got it?”

  Braddox didn’t wait for an answer as he turned from Jaxon and reached out to grab my arm with fingers that bit into my soft skin. “You’re coming with me, Olivia.”

  Dumbfounded, I stumbled along beside Braddox a couple steps and then yanked free from his hold. I shook my head and planted my feet. “You don’t own me. Don’t touch me again. Are we clear?” He’d already broken my trust. There was no way in hell I was going to be a part of his destruction of Jaxon’s fledgling social status.

  Nostrils flaring, Braddox stepped closer to me, his voice low as he spoke. “If you do this, you’ll be choosing him over me. You can’t go back from that. Do you understand?” Maybe it was something I should have done that morning at the cars instead of there in public.

  I inhaled deep as if there was a dose of courage in the air that I desperately needed. “Wow, double standards must be your forte, Brax. In one moment, you’re whispering to me how much you care and in the next you’re sleeping with someone else. I’m not with you. We broke up. That’s over and done with and we’re not going back. Got it?” I didn’t look away as the whispers and murmurings swelled around us.

  I didn’t care. Even if Jaxon wanted nothing to do with me, I wouldn’t go back to Braddox. He’d lost my respect and that’s all there was to it.

  Braddox stepped forward, lifting his hand as if he to hit me or pull me to him, something, but Jaxon stepped closer as well.

  Their presence tightened around me, making me feel both claustrophobic and safe at the same time.

  Braddox slowly shifted his gaze from my face to his brother’s, his eyes hard as he stared into the identical face. “You’re not ready to play in the West Shores sandbox, brother. I wouldn’t push this.” His words were soft and taunting.

  Jaxon lifted his arms and separated me from Braddox by pushing me backwards with gentle pressure. “That may be, but all over the world, no means no, Braddox. She doesn’t want you. Even if she doesn’t want me, she still doesn’t want you. You and your friend can keep walking.” He didn’t speak rudely or even raise his tone as he addressed Braddox.

  He might as well have slapped his brother as Braddox’s expression darkened and he backed up. “Got it.” Braddox turned back to Donnie and motioned the opposite direction we were headed and they strode down the hall away from us.

  Groups of people gave them wide berth as they passed by.

  Braddox had ultimately been challenged, but he’d backed down.

  His own brother was showing him up. I’m not sure who understood what exactly had happened there in the hall, but I could see in Braddox’s eyes that he’d taken notice.

  We’d made our choice.

  I rubbed my face and sighed, turning back to Jaxon. “Well, not even ten in the morning and we’re making definite impressions left and right.”

  “At least we’re doing it together, right?” Jaxon smirked at me and shrugged away when I threw a weakly teasing punch at his shoulder.

  “Come on. We have another class.” I was too tired to think about what we could be doing on our break. Maybe I’d think about that the next day or maybe we’d do something
later. Right then, I just wanted to sit down and listen to a boring lecture from a boring subject I had no interest in.

  That’s it.

  Was that so hard to manage?

  Apparently, when you dealt with the O’Donnells and lived with them on top of that, there were all kinds of things hard about that.

  The one Jaxon kept reminding me of was something I’d deal with the first chance I had.

  After a nap.

  Chapter 7

  Olivia

  Jaxon sat in the back again in our next class, more out of a dislike for the front of class than anything, I suspected. There were three empty seats across the front in the English course and I didn’t mind sitting in front.

  Especially when Staci strutted in with her tiny red skirt, mesh tights, and white leather halter. I doubted she was wearing a bra and I also highly doubted her boobs were real. Not a big deal if you were over eighteen, but why would she get them at our age?

  She skimmed over the other kids in class, narrowing her eyes when she spied me. It took a moment and then she recognized me. Her gaze darted around the room and I could almost feel the tension amp up when her gaze fell on Jaxon.

  She licked her already-glossy bottom lip and tilted her head back while ignoring me.

  She slid into a seat somewhere behind me, but I refused to turn and check. Jaxon wasn’t mine exactly. We hadn’t defined anything between us, it was more of a feeling when we were together and a supposition that I had any right to him at all.

  My mouth went dry as it occurred to me that Jaxon and I had only really talked about being together physically. He’d taken me out for one date. I didn’t have any more right to claim him than Staci did.

  Not that we were dogs who marked our territory by pissing on our men, but that’s what it felt like. How did I stake my claim and make it obvious he was mine? Did I need to ask him for permission? I could have sworn I’d claimed him at DeGuido’s, but what did I know? She kept coming around. Maybe I needed to work on being scarier.

  Was I planning on having sex with a guy who had no idea I expected monogamy? Wasn’t that why I was giving up on Braddox? He’d slept around. And not just with anyone, but with Staci. That’s what felt so much like betrayal. I didn’t even know her, but there was something about her that rubbed me the wrong way.

  I stared straight ahead for the duration of the class, ignoring everything – the lesson, the sounds around me, even the buzzing of my phone as I got a text message from someone.

  I couldn’t put my finger on what it was about Staci that I didn’t like, besides the fact that she had a chest she flaunted and she seemed overly confident in her abilities in bed. I certainly didn’t have her confidence in anything I did, let alone my abilities in the sexual arena.

  Class ended and I stood, ignoring the fact that I didn’t fit in with my civilian clothes and my long absence.

  I tossed a glance over my shoulder at Jaxon, before ducking out the door. He was surrounded by Staci and a few of the other girls and for some reason, I was fine with that. Not that my territory wasn’t threatened, but my certainty in him and me was more distant than present.

  I’d stepped out of line at the restaurant when I had no idea what Jaxon was actually thinking. What if he felt like Braddox? What if he didn’t want to settle down to one person?

  He might just want to mess around with me. I had no doubt we were attracted to each other. If I made him burn even a tiny fraction of how he made me feel, he wouldn’t be able to think about anyone else.

  We had gym next. Walking with him wasn’t an option when I was so insecure about everything.

  Between Braddox and Staci, I wasn’t feeling like I belonged at the stupid school anymore. Had things gotten so upside down in my life, I was more comfortable in the animosity drenched hallways of East Shores over the money-laden comforts of the West?

  I tugged the strap of my backpack higher up my shoulder and ignored the glares hitting me like darts from around the hallway. I didn’t look around as I walked forward with my eyes staring over everyone else’s heads. I’d been the Rich Bitch of the West at East Shores and now there I was the Outcast of Shores. No one wanted me anywhere.

  At least I knew my way around the school of West Shores Academy. I knew the teachers and what to expect. My element was in the richness of the West, but I’d learned how to be more conservative with my money and material things while living on the East, no matter how short of a time it had been.

  I rolled my head side to side as I pulled open the locker room doors. The silence of the room closed around me. The calm was fleeting, but I closed my eyes for a brief moment and inhaled deeply.

  Why did things have to be so complicated? I couldn’t understand why I had to lose my dad or why Jaxon and Braddox had to lose their mom. None of it made sense. Why did my mom have to lose her family legacy to my father’s ill-conceived business dealings?

  Whatever. I had to shrug it off.

  I bumped the wall with my shoulder, oomphing as I straightened. No idea why I did that. I rolled my eyes at being clumsy when I never was. I must be more tired than I thought.

  Picking a locker out, I changed into the gym clothes I’d packed and shoved my things inside.

  Pulling my thick braid from under my collar, I ducked through the door that led to the gym at the same time I could hear other girls entering from the hallway.

  I took a seat on the bottom bleacher seat in the center of the gym and stared at my phone.

  Stephanie would be in home ec. Most likely she was sleeping. I needed something to do with my hands so I wouldn’t be watching and waiting for the rest of the class to join me.

  Me: What’s your day look like?

  I continued staring at the screen like I was locked into the most engaging conversation ever, while waiting for her reply.

  S: You have no idea. Have you seen Beetham? I wanted to talk to him about… well, I have a lot going on. I’ll be back at class after lunch. I went home after first. You good? Need anything?

  My jaw dropped as I gaped at the phone.

  Me: Are you guys still together?

  S: I’m not sure. It’s still his baby, you know? He says he’s interested in being there some days and other days… he disappears, you know?

  I shook my head, because I didn’t know. Guys didn’t make sense. Add in the sex, the babies, and all the other stuff and I wasn’t sure I wanted to have a boyfriend or someone I thought was my boyfriend. There were too many variables.

  Me: I’m in gym. Braddox and Jaxon almost fought in the hall.

  S: I’ve heard so many rumors about you! Did you know that you’re screwing both of them at the same time? If I didn’t know it was a lie, I’d be jealous ??

  I grinned and twisted my lips to the side ruefully. I had no doubt that wasn’t the mildest of the rumors going around about me and the O’Donnell twins. I huffed as I typed more.

  Me: Not that I’m not interested, but who knows what I’d get from Braddox. He screws anything that will walk.

  S: Don’t they all?

  I cocked my head to the side as I absorbed her point. Braddox had proven I couldn’t trust him.

  Was I going to walk into that with Jaxon? Did he think the same way as Braddox regarding women?

  Staci’s voice announced her and the group of girls coming out of the locker room before I looked up and saw her.

  As if I didn’t see her, I looked in the direction of the boys’ locker room. I didn’t know she was in my gym class. She’d enrolled at WSA after I left. It made sense that I didn’t know her class schedule. So now I had English and gym to avoid every chance I had.

  The guys started filing out and Jaxon followed last, wearing a pair of board shorts and a t-shirt with the sleeves ripped out, showing his naturally-built muscles that rippled as he moved.

  He found me and a smoldering in his gaze took my breath away. Each step brought him closer. I couldn’t help feeling like prey stalked by a stealthy mountain lion.


  I stood from the bleachers to approach him, as if I could block out everyone else watching me, hating me in the crowd.

  As if a mirror followed behind him, Braddox walked out of the locker room dressed in blue shorts and a black tank. He arched an eyebrow at his brother as he passed by, glancing at me and moving to stand by Donnie who had appeared at some point as well.

  Staci approached Braddox, curling her long, painted fingernails around his neck as she all but hung off his side. Her tight gray shorts barely skimmed the tops of her thighs and she wore an even tighter white t-shirt. The latter easily proved she was braless and I had no idea how she expected to do whatever activity the teacher would assign us dressed like she was.

  The class stood around as if waiting for something to happen between Braddox and Jaxon or Staci and myself.

  I didn’t care what she was doing to Braddox. He stared at me as she stroked his neck and kissed his cheek, as if challenging me to be jealous or to react in some way. I met his eyes, mine wide as I studied him, questions twisting my insides. He wasn’t hurting my any more than he’d already betrayed me.

  I sadly smiled at him and turned away, clearly saying it wasn’t enough and it wasn’t going to work.

  Why would I be jealous about something when he’d thrown any chance at us away?

  Everyone saw me turn my back on Braddox. A visible shift in the expressions on their faces warned me I’d done something unforgiveable.

  But what?

  Other girls had broken up with guys in West Shores. In fact, no relationship lasted more than a month or two – except Braddox and I.

  Did people think we’d betrayed something because we weren’t together anymore? I couldn’t figure out why anyone would care who I was with.

  The teacher walked in, distractedly checking his clipboard and then glancing at the group. “We’re doing fitness stations today. For some reason, the state cares how many sit-ups you guys can do in one minute. I don’t care, but whatever. The board cares what the state wants. Pair up. Girls together, boys together.” The teacher randomly walked off, leaving us to pair up.