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

  This is a dangerous subject in my bed, alone, in the dark.

  “That is a question left better answered another night Red,” Ethan jumps out of my reach before I can punch him for calling me ‘red’ again. “Good night, don’t let the bedbugs bite.”

  The bed feels cold and empty now that he’s gone. But I fall asleep much better than usual with a smile on my lips.

  Ethan

  I force myself to leave Abby’s room and head back to my own apartment before I do something I’ll regret. I’m feeling too out of control and all I can think about is tasting her lips. I’m so fucking horny and normally I would just go find a random but all I can think about is Abby.

  I collapse on my bed and unzip my pants. Abby’s apples and cinnamon scent still lingers on me from laying in her bed. I can just imagine what her breathy little moans would sound like as I bury myself inside of her.

  I think back to the night she told me she’d never had an orgasm before. God I want to be the one to give it to her. I want to feel her tight pussy pulse around my cock as pleasure rips through her. I stroke myself thinking about her sexy fucking mouth. I would give anything in this whole damn world to feel those sexy lips wrapped around my cock.

  “Fuck,” I groan as release thunders through me. It’s fucked up that I can come harder just thinking about Abby than I ever had with my cock inside any other woman.

  Abby

  “You are such a dumb bitch, do you know that? Or are you too dumb to even know how dumb you are?” He taunted cruelly.

  “Justin, it was nothing. I was waiting for you and he approached me. I told him I had a boyfriend. End of story,” I defended myself. I was hanging on to the passenger door for dear life as he accelerated dangerously. “Please slow down.”

  “Don’t ever fucking tell me what to do. I saw the way you were looking at him and now I’m going to take you home and remind you who that tight little pussy belongs to.”

  My stomach churned at his words.

  I wish he would fucking die.

  I sit bolt upright in a cold sweat. I hate that particular dream the most. The dream where I remember over and over again how I wished he would die. My last thought before the truck hit us was a wish for his death.

  I’m not crazy, I don’t think that I somehow magically summoned a careening truck with my mind. But, I also don’t think that good people wish for another person’s death. And even fewer are relieved when it comes true. I reach for my phone to check the time and find a text message from Ethan.

  Ethan: I have an emergency…

  I smile as I curl up in bed with my phone in my hand. It’s early still but the message just came through about ten minutes ago. Ethan must have work early today to be up at 7am.

  Abby: This better be an impending zombie apocalypse

  Ethan: Actually you were right about the planet of the ape’s thing. We’re gunna be taken out by pissed off apes any minute now.

  Abby: You’re a dork

  I can’t help but smile. In spite of how closed off and bitchy I can be, nothing seems to chase Ethan away. I need to chill the fuck out already and let him in a little.

  Ethan: Have a good day and watch out for apes ;)

  Chapter 8

  Abby

  I’m fairly certain I’m causing my spine permanent damage carrying around five tons of books around campus all day.

  I’m taking a lot of rough classes this semester and if the classes don’t kill me the books certainly will. Lee told me this morning she would be working after class today and wouldn’t be home until late. So I have the apartment all to myself to study for several hours. Not that there’s too much to do, being the first day. But, I’m anal like that. I love to get ahead in classes so when it gets hard I’m already on top of the material.

  School work is my mental sanctuary, it always has been. I got a 4.0 in high school because burying myself in homework and books took me to a different place. When I’m writing an essay I’m not the girl who’s been abused, I’m just another student. When I’m studying and focusing my mind on memorizing facts and making mental connections with all of the material, I don’t have time to be pathetic. Also, like with my kickboxing, the outcome is a direct result of the amount of work you put in. No surprises. School is simple, unlike life.

  I pull out my microbiology book and start reading the chapter that we’re going to be covering next week.

  The one good thing that came out of that accident was a big settlement from the company that owned the truck that crashed into us. I don’t have to worry about money. I got more than enough to not need student loans and to be set for at least a few years after college while I work my way into a good job. I know I’m lucky and that makes me feel all the more guilty. I wished for Justin’s death and he died. Now I’m reaping the financial benefit. It’s fucked up when I actually think about it. Even if he was a shit boyfriend.

  “Justin please, I’m not ready,” I begged him as he pulled out a condom and stalked toward me.

  He didn’t acknowledge my protest as he began unzipping his pants.

  “Justin, listen, I said I’m not ready.”

  “Jesus, Abby, I’ve waited long enough. I’ve put up with all of your bullshit and your half-assed blowjobs. You owe me this.”

  He pulled my shirt over my head and unbuttoned my pants.

  I stopped fighting it. I learned it didn’t help to try to fight the blowjobs either. If I closed my eyes it would be over soon.

  I tried to think of something else as he positioned himself between my legs. Terror settled in the pit of my stomach. I couldn’t think of a single way to get out of this. He was going to take my virginity one way or another and there was no way for me to stop him.

  “Justin, please don’t,” I begged one more time.

  He drove into me unceremoniously. I gasped at the sharp pain and uncomfortable fullness between my legs. I tried hard to hold back my tears but I couldn’t. I know he saw that I was crying. But, that didn’t seem to bother him. When he finished he told me to go clean myself up. I sobbed silently as I sat in his bathroom and wiped the blood from my thighs, the last evidence of my virginity being washed away.

  I shake my head to try to fling the memories out of my mind. I wish there was some way to wipe all of my memories away for good.

  It’s six o’clock by the time I put my books away and decide I’d better think about dinner.

  Ethan bursts into the apartment with the ever present grin on his face as I’m making mac and cheese.

  “You hungry?” I ask.

  He looks surprised that I’m offering him food but nods after a moment of hesitation.

  “Thanks,” He says before plopping down on the couch.

  “How was your first day of class?”

  “Boring,” I say with a shrug. “Probably the same as yours. Syllabi and boring stuff all day.”

  “Yeah, the first day is always a snore,” He agrees.

  Ethan puts Sherlock on Netflix and we fall into a comfortable silence as we both dig into our mac and cheese.

  Chapter 9

  Ethan

  I saunter into Abby and Lee’s apartment just after six o’clock, looking forward to having dinner with Abby like we’ve been doing for the past week.

  “Hey Bro,” Lee nods at me from the couch where she’s eating a sandwich and watching some bridal show. I don’t get how she watches that shit.

  “Where’s Red?” I ask, trying to keep too much disappointment from my voice. Lee narrows her eyes at me suspiciously. Clearly I’m not fooling her.

  “She’s at the gym. She does kickboxing and teaches a women’s self-defense class on Wednesday nights.” My mouth falls open in shock.

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “No, why?” Lee barely takes her eyes off of the television.

  “This I’ve got to see.”

  I enter the gym and look around to see if I can spot Abby. My eyes fall on her quickly, she’s not exactly easy to miss. She’s
in the corner beating the shit out of a punching bag.

  Her long, auburn hair is pulled up into a messy ponytail, sweat is dripping down her face and body. She’s wearing a sports tank top that is clinging to her body in a ridiculously enticing way and her spandex pants are no better. I should probably see a therapist because I’m getting a massive hard on watching a girl kick the shit out of a punching bag. Her face is raw with emotion, her green eyes alight with unbridled rage. I can’t help but wonder who did this to her and if it has anything to do with the way she flinches away from being touched.

  “Can I help you sir?” A middle aged man approaches me and asks. I pull my gaze away from Abby briefly and notice the man is staring me down with dislike. He must’ve seen the way I was looking at her.

  “No, I found who I was looking for,” I nod in Abby’s direction and make a move to go toward her.

  His hand reaches out and rests on my shoulder.

  “A word of advice son. You don’t want to mess with that girl, she’ll eat you for breakfast,” He warns.

  I let out a laugh.

  “Yeah, I know,” I assure him, completely undeterred. I shrug off his hand and head towards Abby.

  “Damn Red,” I say with a low whistle as I approach her.

  She stops her assault on the bag and whips around to look at me, her mouth falling open in shock.

  “What are you doing here?” She asks in surprise.

  I shrug, not wanting to admit that when Lee told me Abby did kickboxing, and was at the gym right now, I couldn’t resist coming to see for myself.

  “I got hungry and you weren’t at home cooking dinner,” I answer teasingly.

  “Okay, bye.” She waves her hands in a ‘shoo’ motion and turns back to her punching bag.

  I don’t budge. After a few more minutes of taking her rage out on the bag she stops and turns to face me again.

  “Can I help you with something?” She asks with annoyance.

  “No, I’m just impressed,” I tell her honestly.

  She stares at me for several seconds, clearly at a loss for words, which puts a smirk on my lips.

  “And, honestly wondering how you could be so shit at rock climbing when you clearly know how to control your body.”

  She gives me the finger in response and I laugh. I look down at her full pink lips and wonder just how badly she would kick my ass if I kissed her. Whoa. That thought did not belong in my head. Rule number one: no kissing.

  Damn I need to get my head on straight. A strand of her hair falls into her face and I reach forward to tuck it behind her ear. She flinches and then swats my hand away before doing it herself. I tuck my hands into my pockets sheepishly, afraid if I don’t I’m going to try to touch her again and then I might be leaving here in a body bag.

  “You do realize that you are a complete enigma don’t you?” I ask in amusement.

  “How so?” She challenges.

  “You don’t like to be touched and yet you love to cuddle. You are insecure and yet you can obviously kick major ass. And, you’re all prickly like a cactus but there’s this softness on the inside dying to be let free.”

  She rolls her eyes at my explanation.

  “I’ve got a self-defense class to teach,” She says and tries to skirt around me.

  My eyebrows go up in surprise.

  “Okay, I guess I’ll see you later, Red.” Something passes through her emerald eyes that almost looks like disappointment.

  “Want to come over later and watch Doctor Who tonight?” She asks suddenly.

  “It’s a date,” I agree.

  Abby

  “Hey, don’t hog the popcorn.” I demand as Ethan holds the bowl just out of my reach with a playful smile.

  “You’ll have to ask nicely, Red.” He instructs in a sing song voice.

  “Give me the damn popcorn.” I gripe and try to climb over him to grab the bowl.

  He leans back and holds it out of reach.

  “That wasn’t nice sweetheart, try again. This time without profanity.” Ethan’s eyes connect with mine. Suddenly, I’m aware of the fact that I’m pressed against him, our faces mere inches apart, in my attempt to get the popcorn. I search for the telltale signs of panic in my body from the contact and find none. He’s not grabbing me or forcing me to touch him, and I like the way it feels to have his body so close. His eyes fall on my lips and I get the feeling that he’s about to kiss me. This was probably his plan all along. And, part of me wants to let him. Maybe it would feel nice. Maybe I would actually like it. Maybe sex doesn’t have to be the stuff of nightmares.

  “Ahem.” I jump at the sudden sound. Lee is standing in the hallway to the living room looking between Ethan and me suspiciously. She glares at Ethan like she’s trying to communicate something to him through her eyes.

  “Um...maybe I’ll make another bowl of popcorn” He jumps up and makes his way to the kitchen.

  “Wow that was some death glare you gave him. You’ll have to teach me so I can get him to scamper away like that, too.” I joke.

  Lee's eyes soften and she plops down next to me on the couch.

  “You guys have been spending a lot of time together the past few weeks. It seems like he comes over every night to see you.” There isn’t a question at all but the implication is clear. ‘What’s going on between the two of you?’

  “Yeah, we’re just friends Lee. It’s totally innocent.”

  Lee doesn’t look convinced.

  “You said yourself, he only does one night stands. If we had sex he wouldn’t be over here, right?”

  “That’s true.” Lee agrees. Her phone buzzes and she looks down to read a text.

  “How’s Nikki?” I ask in a would-be causal tone.

  “Fine, we should all hang out soon. Nikki and her sister can come over. You should get to know them. They’re really cool.”

  “Sounds good.” I agree.

  Ethan returns with a second bowl of popcorn and looks between Lee and the TV.

  “We’re watching the Lord of the Rings Lee, not really your kind of movie.”

  “Alright, I’m out of here. But you two kids keep it clean.” Lee winks at her brother as she disappears back into her bedroom.

  Chapter 10

  Ethan

  I’m rousted from an absolutely fantastic dream of licking whipped cream off of Abby’s tits. I grumble angrily at Lee for loudly banging dishes around in my kitchen. I adjust my morning wood and stumble out of my room. I stop short when I see it isn’t Lee in my kitchen.

  Abby is there in a pair of yoga pants and a loose fitting V-neck shirt that shows off a generous amount of cleavage. I can’t help but stare for an ungodly amount of time.

  “Eyes front soldier,” She snaps when she notices my gaze trained on her cleavage.

  “Sorry,” I mumble with a yawn. “What are you doing?”

  “Making breakfast and then I have a surprise for you. But, the thing is you need to go pack a bag for the weekend and not ask any questions because it’ll ruin the surprise.” She instructs.

  “What?” I shake my messy hair out of my eyes, trying to clear the sleep fog from my brain. It almost sounded like Abby said she and I are going away together for the weekend.

  “Please,” She shoots me those damn puppy dog eyes that I can’t say no to.

  I grumble as I head back to my room to pack a bag. I want to ask if she and I are going somewhere alone for the weekend or if this is a group getaway with all of the girls plus me. The idea of it just being Abby and me twists my insides into excited knots.

  I throw a few handfuls of clothes into my duffel bag and head back out to the kitchen. There’s a large stack of pancakes on the table. Abby sets a bottle of syrup out as well. A drip of syrup lingers on her finger from the cap and she brings her finger to her mouth to lick the offending syrup off. Dear god that is what wet dreams are made of.

  To say that over the past few weeks I’ve become obsessed with Abby’s lips would be an understatement. I’ve ne
ver been tempted to break my strict ‘no kissing’ rule before, but with Abby...oh Abby. Some days all I can think about is that mouth; what would it taste like to kiss her? What do her lips feel like? Or my favorite; what is she going to say next and is it going to be funny, scathing, nerdy, or unintentionally sexy. I’m like a drug addict.

  “Are you going to eat or just watch me eat?” She asks snapping me out of my fantasy about her mesmerizing mouth.

  I fake a cough to cover my laugh and dig into my pancakes.

  Abby

  “Are we there yet?” Ethan whines from the passenger seat.

  “My god you are such a child,” I gripe.

  “We’ve been in this car forever.”

  “We’ve been in the car for two hours. We still have three hours to go so relax and enjoy the scenery. We can play a game,” I suggest.

  “Or, we could talk and find out each other’s deepest secrets and dreams,” He jokes.

  I try to shrug nonchalantly. I’ll tell him my dreams but he’s finding out about my secrets over my dead body.

  “Okay, tell me about your childhood.”

  “It sucked. Lee was the only thing that kept me sane. My parents are crazy and we got the hell out of there as soon as we could,” He says matter of factly.

  “So I take it you’re not very religious then?”

  “Hell no. How about your childhood?” He asks. I tense and keep my gaze firmly on the road.

  “Sucked,” I respond.

  He waits for elaboration but I don’t give him any.

  “Alright, so we have shitty childhoods, let’s scratch that subject. How about the future? Do you think you’ll ever get married? Have kids?”

  “I don’t know. I’m currently working on feeling comfortable with a man even touching me so I think that any plans for a husband and kids are probably a pipe dream.” I let out a self-deprecating laugh.