Worth the Wait (Sexy Nerd Boys #1) Read online

  “You look fantastic tonight, Lee,” I turn around in the passenger seat to tell her.

  She’s wearing a sparkly red tank top and tight black pants that show off her curves. It even looks like she did something different with her makeup.

  “You look great too, it’s almost like you’re trying to impress someone. Are you even wearing a bra?” She asks pointedly with a wicked smile casting a glance between Ethan and me.

  “This shirt doesn’t need a bra,” I say with mock defensiveness. “And, if I wasn’t going to wear a bra it just didn’t make sense to wear any underwear either.” I say playfully in Ethan’s direction.

  He whips his head towards me.

  “Eyes on the road buddy.”

  “So….” Lee gestures between Ethan and me.

  I shake my head at her and give her the ‘don’t ask’ look. The last thing I need is for Lee to freak Ethan out with relationship questions right before this party. I’m determined to not lose my shit if he leaves with another girl. And, that plan requires copious amounts of alcohol.

  The party is massive and extremely loud. Gah, I’m so not a party person. I lost Ethan and Lee shortly after we got here and now I’m nursing a beer trying to avoid eye contact with all of the guys checking me out. My phone buzzes in my pocket.

  Ethan: I’m standing behind the most beautiful woman I’ve seen in my entire life. I’m definitely taking her home tonight to do unspeakable things to her.

  My stomach clenches and bile rises in my throat. Fuck me, I knew this was going to happen. What did I expect with Ethan? Just because he supposedly went a full six weeks without a booty call, and he said all of these stupid amazing things to me, that doesn’t mean that he’s really different. He’s still Ethan. He’s still a sexy playboy who isn’t now, and never will be into an exclusive relationship. I am so stupid. I can’t help but glance around the room trying to catch a glimpse of whoever the chick is he’s planning to take home.

  “Looking for someone?” Ethan’s deep voice reverberates in my head and his warm breath caresses my neck and gives me goose bumps.

  I turn to face him and can’t keep the smile off my face.

  “Just looking for some random guy to take home and sink my claws into,” I quip, trying not to let the relief show on my face.

  “I see. Well, I just wanted to tell you I saw you from across the room and couldn’t take my eyes off you. How about if we get out of here?”

  “Wow, that was a really lame and cliché pick up. I think I’ll pass. I’m going to keep my options open.”

  “Sweetheart, you may be able to find a guy with a better pick up line, but I guarantee you won't be able to find a guy who will be able to make you come like I will.”

  That line would have been equally as lame as the first if I didn’t have the memories of last night still replaying in my mind. My nipples tighten and Ethan’s gaze drifts downwards. His pupils dilate and he takes a step closer.

  “Let's go home, Red,” It’s half suggestion, half plea.

  “What about Lee? We drove her here and I doubt she’ll want to leave so soon.” I point out, although I desperately want to go home and find out what ‘unspeakable’ things Ethan has in mind.

  “She probably found Nikki and is going to get a ride with her. Text her and ask,” He suggests.

  Abby: We were thinking of getting out of here early. You with Nikki?

  “Hi there you must be Ethan,” A petite brunette slinks over and places herself between Ethan and me like I’m not even here. A somewhat panicked look enters Ethan’s steel eyes.

  “Nope, sorry,” He says quickly.

  “Ethan, don’t be rude,” I smile wickedly as I throw him to the horny little wolf. Maybe I’m a masochist, or maybe I have a sick need to test him. I don’t honestly know. The brunette smiles seductively and places a hand on Ethan’s chest.

  “I’m Candy,” She introduces herself and I snort into my beer, and then cover the noise with a fake coughing fit. This receives a dirty look from Candy. Hell, did her parents want her to become a stripper? Poor girl never had a chance.

  “I’ve heard all about you Ethan, and you are exactly what I need tonight. Do you want to get out of here?” She asks Ethan, undeterred by my presence or snort of derision.

  “I appreciate the offer Candy, but no,” Ethan says politely.

  He steps around a disappointed looking Candy and puts an arm over my shoulder.

  “Was that necessary?” He grumbles in my ear.

  “Define necessary?” I mock.

  I check my phone, no answer from Lee.

  “Maybe she has her phone on silent. Should we go look for her?”

  Ethan nods and we start to make our way through the house.

  “Hey Ethan, I didn’t know you were here,” A handsome sandy haired man calls from the couch as we pass.

  “Hey Dex, yeah just looking for Lee then I’m heading out.”

  “I saw her go upstairs with some dude a few minutes ago,” He informs us.

  Some dude?

  “Are you sure?” I ask cautiously.

  I know Lee had gotten around a bit in the past but it really seemed like she was committed to Nikki at this point, however secretly.

  “Positive, she looked pretty wasted though. You might want to go check on her.”

  Ethan bolts for the stairs in full big brother mode. As soon as he reaches the top of the stairs he starts opening every door he comes across. Whoever owns this house has a lot of bedrooms. We receive cries of indignation from many of the rooms, but no Lee.

  “Stop, seriously, I changed my mind. Stop!” The sounds of protest turn my blood to ice.

  “Ethan,” I gasp.

  He’s through the door before I can say another word.

  “Whoa, man we’re busy in here,” The beefy necked guy on top of Lee complains.

  “Doesn’t sound like she wants to be man. Or did you think that ‘no’ meant ‘yes’?” Ethan challenges.

  He stalks forward and grabs the guy by the back of the shirt. Lee is still fully clothed, although her clothes are a bit askew. Thank god he didn’t make it any further before we busted in.

  “Come on Lee,” I grab her hand and pull her out of the room. Ethan has that guy handled, I need to get Lee out of here.

  “Where are we going?” Lee asks between sniffles.

  “To the car, I’ll text Ethan to meet us there. You’re going to be okay,” I assure her.

  She seems dazed and definitely drunk.

  Abby: We’re waiting by the car

  Ethan: Be right there. Is she ok?

  Abby: Physically- yes, emotionally- hard to say yet

  Lee is silent the entire drive home.

  “Do you need anything?” Ethan asks her as soon as we’re in the apartment.

  The concern in his eyes melts my heart.

  “No, I’m just going to bed,” She still seems like she’s in a haze as she heads to her bedroom.

  Ethan collapses on the couch and puts his face in his hands as soon as she’s out of sight. I sit down next to him and place a hand on his back so he knows I’m there. We sit in silence for what feels like an eternity.

  “I should have killed him. I wanted to kill him,” He says finally. “If we hadn’t gotten there when we did...he was going to…” He can’t even get the words out.

  “I know,” A tear runs down my cheek.

  I wish I’d had a big brother to come to my rescue, maybe I would be a different person then. I would certainly be less damaged.

  Chapter 20

  Abby

  I wake up on the couch next to Ethan. We must’ve fallen asleep at some point out here. I look around in a haze trying to tell what time it is. There’s a faint light coming through the windows so it must be extremely early. I get up to go peek in on Lee.

  “Hey,” She says as soon as I open her door.

  “Busted, sorry I thought you’d be asleep. It’s really early,” I admit in a whisper so that I don’t wake Etha
n. Plus, somehow it seems wrong to talk at normal volume before the sun is fully up.

  “It’s okay. You can come in if you want,” She offers.

  I step in and close the door behind me. I climb into bed beside her and pull her into a hug.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” I ask. She nods her head but doesn’t say anything. A tear slides down her face silently. It suddenly registers that I consider Lee to be my closest friend, but I’ve kept so many things from her.

  “I don’t know what to say, I feel like it was my fault for going upstairs with that creep to begin with,” Lee admits, silent tears streaking down her cheeks.

  “I was raped,” I whisper.

  Lee's eyes grow wide at my confession but she still doesn’t say anything.

  “It was my boyfriend when I was in high school. It, uh, started small with him forcing me to give him hand jobs when I didn’t want to. Then, I just felt so gross about the whole sex thing that I really wasn’t into the idea of being touched by him or anyone else. Eventually, he started forcing me to have sex with him. Even if I would cry and tell him to stop, he never would. Sometimes he would hit me if I cried too much.” Tears are rolling down both of our faces now. “He’s dead now, he died in a car crash last year.”

  “I’m so sorry that happened to you,” She gives me a hug.

  I feel so much lighter now it’s out in the open. I thought telling people would make it worse, and in a way it is more real, but I also feel so much better knowing Ethan and Lee are here to support me.

  “I was upset last night so I drank too much. Then that guy, Brad, approached me and started flirting with me. I don’t know what I was thinking when I agreed to go upstairs with him. We started kissing and fooling around. I wasn’t into it so I told him to stop, but he climbed on top of me and held me down. He wasn’t going to stop,” Lee explains, her voice quivering.

  “I’m so glad Ethan and I found you when we did.”

  “Thank you,” She whispers.

  “So why were you upset in the first place?”

  “There’s something I haven’t been honest with you about,” Lee admits apprehensively. “Nikki and I aren’t just friends, she’s my...girlfriend.”

  “I know sweetie, it’s been obvious since we first met that you like girls,” I tell her with a smile. “And, Ethan and I both love you anyway. We don’t give a shit, and we’ve both been hoping you and Nikki would get together because you’re so perfect for each other.”

  “So my sexual orientation is the world's worst kept secret?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Well, now I feel even more stupid. Nikki and I had a fight yesterday because she’s been pushing me to make our relationship public. She doesn’t want to hide it. That’s what I love so much about her, she is so confident and honestly doesn’t care what people have to say. But, I told her I wasn’t ready, and we fought, and you know the rest.”

  “Whoa, love?” I pick up on the key adjective.

  “Ugh, I don’t know. I think so,” Lee blushes.

  “Well, I hope she deserves you because you’re a catch.”

  “She does, the question is whether or not I deserve her,” She sighs. “So, since we’re in a sharing mood please tell me what’s going on between you and Ethan because the curiosity is killing me. And, please spare me any details he is my brother after all.”

  “Nothing really,” I shrug. Lee pins me with a look that says she’s going to disembowel me if I don’t fess up. “Okay, we had sex.”

  “Ew. Go on.”

  “And that’s it. I don’t know. I mean, we agreed not to put any sort of label on things and we’re not exclusive or anything.”

  “Oh please, you are blind if you don’t see that he is absolutely in love with you.”

  “What? No way. He doesn’t even believe in love or relationships. And, after everything with me I think it’s better to just keep things casual. Besides I have a lot on my plate right now, I’m going to be applying to med school soon and I can’t afford to lose focus on my classes and applying to med school soon. I’ve given up a lot in order to have the future I want, it would be unfair to...myself...if I lost focus now.” I stumble over my words, almost coming out and saying the one thing I never say. The one thing I never even think about.

  My blood runs cold as the thoughts surface and I shove them down deep again. Lee gives me a curious look, catching my sudden discomfort.

  “I’m just rambling. It’s too early and I haven’t had coffee, yet. Also, you’re bother scrambled my brain with the hot sex,” I lie in the most reassuring way I can.

  “Ick. Okay, stop talking.”

  Aversion success. A soft knock at the door makes us both jump and then start laughing. Ethan peeks his head in.

  “Sorry, am I interrupting girl talk?” He teases with a smile.

  A look of concern flashes through his eyes as his gaze lands on Lee. She gets up and wraps him in a hug. Hushed words pass between them that I can’t hear before he kisses the top of her head and shoots me a smile.

  “I have to head out for work, I’ll see you later?” He says.

  I nod and wave at him.

  As soon as he’s gone Lee and I settle on the couch with steaming mugs of coffee.

  “So, what am I going to do about Nikki?” Lee asks with a desperate whine in her voice.

  “I would say that if you want to be with her, then you need to get over your fears about being ‘out’. And prove to her you’re willing to be public with your relationship.”

  “I don’t know if I can,” she says staring into her coffee like it holds all of the secrets to life.

  “I know it’s hard, but I think you have to decide which scares you more being openly gay or being without Nikki,” These words of wisdom from my lips actually surprise me. I know as much about relationships as Gordon Ramsey knows about anger management.

  Lee lets out a sigh and chews on her bottom lip.

  “Anyone who matters in your life won’t give two shits if you date girls, I promise you.” I set my coffee down and wrap her in a tight hug. “I love you Lee, no matter what.”

  “I love you too.”

  Ethan

  Lee: meet us out tonight, I need to talk to you and I need your support for something

  Ethan: of course, see you when I get off work

  I read Lee's message several times trying to decide if I should be worried about her after everything that happened last night. I text Abby to see if she knows any more about how Lee is doing.

  Ethan: Is Lee ok?

  Red: Better than ok

  Red: I am so fucking horny today, I can’t wait to see you tonight ;)

  Damn it now I have a hard on at work and a goofy fucking grin on my face that I can’t get rid of.

  “Girlfriend?” Asher asks with a knowing look. I punch him lightly on the shoulder.

  “Not quite man,” I shake my head and bite back what I really want to say, which is: ‘I fucking wish’.

  “Well if she’s special enough to hold your attention for this long you should probably lock that shit down before other guys start to realize what she has to offer.”

  “I’m working on it,” I laugh.

  Ethan: you’re a naughty girl getting me all riled up while I’m at work, I think you’re going to need a spanking later

  Red: I love when you talk dirty to me, it makes me so wet

  Mother of god she has got to be kidding me with this. I look around to see if there are any customers getting ready to come up to the register. The store is empty and Asher is all the way over in the mystery section stocking books. I decide I can risk a few minutes of torture.

  Ethan: what else makes you wet baby?

  Red: your tongue on my pussy, I love the way you devour me until I come in your mouth

  Ethan: your pussy is so fucking sweet. Here’s my secret for the day: I’ve jerked off to the thought of eating your pussy too many times to count since the first time we met

  Red
: god, that’s hot

  Ethan: see you tonight baby ;)

  Chapter 21

  Abby

  I really hate karaoke night.

  “You’re lucky I love you so much,” I inform Lee with a longing look at the bar.

  I wish people would hurry up so I can get some booze in me to make listening to drunk people singing off key more bearable.

  “I know you hate this. But it’s the perfect way to show Nikki I’m ready. Oh, there’s Ethan. Ethan!” Lee waves Ethan over and we all edge over to a table that was just vacated.

  “Hey Sis,” Ethan gives Lee a kiss on the cheek before making his way to my side. “Hey there you beautiful, naughty, tease. My dick has been hard all day because of you,” he accuses playfully.

  I look up and hold his gaze before running my tongue along my lower lip. He groans and pulls me closer.

  “Hey, whoa, before you two kids start going at it like bunnies I do need to talk to you,” Lee pleads.

  Ethan takes a deep breath and a step back in order to give his sister his full attention. My heart swells a little at his attentiveness to her.

  “Okay, what’s up?” There’s concern in his gaze as he waits for Lee to say what she has to say.

  I nod at her encouragingly.

  “Ethan, I’m a lesbian,” She blurts out anxiously.

  Ethan’s whole face breaks out into a huge smile and he darts around the table to pull Lee into a bear hug.

  “You still love me?” She whispers incredulously.

  “Lee, I’ve known you liked girls since you were in elementary school. Of course I still love you. I just hope Nikki is treating you well.”

  “I love you,” She starts to cry against his shoulder. “I was stupid to be so afraid.”

  “Lee, I’m dying to know your plan to win Nikki back. How do you know she’ll even be here?” I ask once Lee stops crying.

  “She always comes to karaoke night, it’s her favorite. The first time we talked was at a karaoke night. Nikki sang ‘I kissed a girl’. She was so sexy and confident I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her. Afterward she came over to my table and bought me a drink and we started talking and then we kissed,” She explains. “So I’m going to sing a song just for her.”