Boarding with the Bad Boy [COMPLETE + BONUS published edition]

THE BOARDERS: 04

Sam

I'll say it: the chick's got balls. Brandon Ott can be a cruel sonofabitch when he wants to be, and from the stories I've heard, Logan Somers has taken the brunt of that cruelty for just about all of high school. People tend to go one of two ways when they're picked on that incessantly for that long: they either shut down and slink off into the background, or they go berserker mode and do some of the craziest shit I've ever seen. Somers seems to be sitting in the rare balance of pissed off as hell and keeping her head. And that pisses me off, because that particular brand of fire is a real turn-on. Jesus, even knowing he was trying to be an asshole, hearing Brandon call her a 'wild fuck' had my dick twitching.

I'm curious to see if she shows up for the check-in meeting at eight. The school's usually strict about making sure every boarder meets with his or her corridor supervisor the Friday before classes start, but I can't imagine our CS—a young dude named Coleman, who seems more scared of us than we'd ever be of him— has any idea the Logan Somers on his list is actually a chick. So I'm not surprised when she doesn't make an appearance, but I am disappointed. I can tell Jared is too. He keeps his eyes on the hall behind Coleman's back, and the way he leans around, looking toward the stairwell, annoys the shit out of me.

We're midway through the meeting when Weaver slams an elbow into my ribs.

"The fuck?" I grunt, but he just gestures excitedly toward the glass windows surrounding the room. Somers has her head ducked as she tries to sneak past unnoticed. She's still wearing my hat, which both irritates me and has me wanting to hold her against a wall and kiss the shit out of her, which irritates me even more. The corridor supervisor can't see her from where he is, but I know some of the other guys do by the way they rustle and fidget. And, yep, now is my first solid opportunity to keep my promise to Ott and to guarantee the look she gave me when I crowded into her space in the dining hall tonight—the one that said she wanted me—never crosses her features again.

"Hey, Coleman," I say loudly, interrupting his timid lecture about alcohol in the dorms. "I think we've got a late arrival." I point to the window behind him and Coleman glances at it. Somers knows she's caught; you can hear everything through the glass and I wasn't speaking softly. Her eyes are hard and a little scared when they land on me, but she straightens and walks to the door as if that was her intention all along.

"Hi, Mr. Coleman," she says quietly. It's obvious she's working hard to ignore the rest of us.

Weaver leans into me. "Think you're gonna hit that?"

I force my annoyed grimace into a grin that says 'hell yes.' He puts out a fist for a bump, which I give him before turning my attention back to an awkward, shifting Somers and a confused corridor supervisor.

After a few minutes of quiet conversation, Coleman gestures to the room and says, "I guess, uh, take a seat, Logan. Lo."

She looks out at us and I can see the deer-in-headlights gleam of her eyes from where I sit in the back. I'm feeling pretty damn pleased with myself for putting her in this situation, and knowing she's intimidated and a little scared heightens my excitement. What can I say? I'm fucked up.

"I—" She looks like she's about to tell Coleman that she doesn't know where to go, when I jerk my chin in her direction.

"Come sit with me, Somers."

Her eyes lift to mine, and I can see her calculating what I'm planning. I'm leaned against the arm of the couch with Jared on my left, practically salivating over what's about to happen. There's a miniscule sliver of space between us, no way she could fit here, but she approaches without another option.

I watch her draw nearer, the predator in me itching for release.

"Are you...?" she asks finally, gesturing toward the two-inch space between Jared and me.

"Oh!" I feign surprise for a moment, before giving her my best smirk. She looks like she wants to slap me. "I thought..." I glance at Jared. "If there's not enough room there, you can just sit here." I pat my lap twice, like I'm calling a dog, daring her to do it.

"Don't worry," I whisper for the benefit of the room. "We'll be getting to know each other even better than this soon, Roomie."

"Mr. Evans," Coleman warns weakly from the front. I'm not paying him any attention, and neither is Somers. I can practically see her thinking about her options, and I watch her, silently letting her know that she has none.

A couple guys chuckle in giddy anticipation for what comes next and a flush rises in the girl's cheeks. After a long moment of hesitation, though, her entire face lights and her voice comes out high.

"Oh my gosh, Roomie," she gushes. "Thank you so much."

I lean back, preparing for her to put that perfect ass in my lap. She returns my grin before lifting her foot and placing it on my crotch, using me as a stepping stone to catapult herself onto the arm of the couch. I let out an involuntary grunt of pain when she puts all her weight on my lap.

"Damn," Jared mutters beside me. I barely hear him over my own string of curses as I hunch over my lap and focus on not dying.

"Sorry, what was that?" Somers asks sweetly, leaning down and cupping a hand around her ear.

When I don't respond, she thanks me in that light, flirty voice. I start to grunt a response, but she's still speaking: "It's nice to have a roommate that's so small—I mean selfless."

"Oh shit," Jared coughs into his hand. He's trying—and failing—not to laugh. I glare at him before directing my hard gaze on the chick now perched happily on the arm of the couch.

"You'll pay for that," I tell her, my voice low with the threat.

She shrugs. "You started it."

"Enough," Mr. Coleman says over the chuckles rolling through the room. "Miss Somers, Mr. Evans, if you can't behave yourselves, I'm going to write you up."

I slam my back into the couch cushions, fuming. "And I'll end it," I mutter to Somers as Coleman turns back to his notes.