Hard to Forget (Hard to Resist Prequel) (4 page)

He smirked boyishly and I pretended to gag while he play punched my arm.

“Well I just came by because I thought Bryson was here. He said he was hanging with you today.”

Mark frowned as he looked around me and spotted Grace’s car. “Bryson didn’t tell me he was coming over today.”

My heart clutched. “
W-what do you mean? Where is he then?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, Nat. Probably at home. I’m kind of busy right now but if you need anything, call me.”

Mark shut the door quickly, leaving me no time to ask any more questions. I dashed for Grace’s car and she frowned as I shut the door behind me.

“So?”

“Mark said that he didn’t know anything about Bryson being at his house today.”

“What the hell? That fucker lied?”

“I don’t know, Grace. Just take me home. I’ll call him later.”

“No,” she growled, putting the car in drive. “We’re going to his house. If he isn’t there, then I’ll take you home. Can’t believe the nerve of that dickhead . . .” Grace continued to rant on and curse beneath her breath over Bryson but I zoned out. I was panicking in my mind—worrying about what he was really doing and why the hell he would lie to me. The only reason he would lie was if he was doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing.

Grace pulled up to the curb and I couldn’t help but stare at the silver Honda that was parked in his driveway. “Do you want me to go in with you?” she asked.

“No.” I rushed out of the car and as soon as I met Bryson’s door I banged on it.

He came to it quickly and as he looked down at me, his eyes widened. “Nat?”

“Why are yo
u here instead of Mark’s?” I snapped.

“I was th
ere but I left early to . . .  study and shit.” He glanced over his shoulder but I frowned as I ducked beneath his arm to get into the house. “Nat, what are you doing? There’s no one here.”

“How do you know I’m l
ooking for someone?” I asked, spinning around to face him.

“
Alright, Bry!  I think I’m about to head out.” At the sound of her voice, I felt a huge stab at my heart. Stepping out from around the corner of the living room, Sara was fixing her hair. She looked up and noticed me standing in front of him and a huge smile played on her lips. She fixed her tight grey T-shirt and then the button of her jeans. “Today was fun, huh?”

Bryson stared, wide-eyed, at me. I couldn’t believe him. I shook my head and tried to step past him but he caught my arm. “Nat, we didn’t do shit. Stop it.”

“Fuck you, Bryson! You lied to me!”

“I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you would have made a big deal about it.”

“This is hilarious,” Sara said with a chuckle. She grabbed her purse and her keys and stepped in front of me, fixing her lips to say something smart but I couldn’t hold it in any longer. In one quick swing, my fist crashed into her jaw and she stumbled backwards, landing flat on her back.

“Shit, Natalie. Calm down. I’m sorry!”

“There’s no point in apologizing to me, Bryson. You didn’t have to lie. You brought her here—to your house! How do you expect me to react?”

“I expect you to trust me, Natalie. You always accuse me of shit. Of course I wasn’t going to tel
l you. We have a test tomorrow and she was quizzing me. You’re overreacting right now. I thought our love was stronger than this.” His green eyes pleaded with me and I felt a twinge of guilt come to surface. He was making me feel like the bad guy and it was working. I felt like I was so wrong to come to his house. He was my boyfriend and I was supposed to trust him. I knew Sara was trying to fix her tits and her jeans to make it seem like they did something but I let the anger take over my common sense. I was furious but he was making me feel guilty.

“Natalie,” he sighed. “I’m sorry, babe. Please, forgive me. It wasn’t like that. I told you we’re friends.
Nothing else.”

My fists loosened and I
felt heat burning in my throat. It began to dry out and not long after I fell against his chest. Sara groaned as she rolled onto her side and Bryson pulled away from me to help her up. He apologized for me and she was lucky that all of my strength seemed to fade because I wanted to hit her again. I wanted to give her a black eye and possibly slap whatever attitude she had left in her mouth, out.

After she was gone, Bryson went to tell Grace that she could leave and then carried me upstairs to his bedroom.
He went back downstairs and came back up with chocolate chip cookies and iced-tea. Bryson had his sweet moments. He knew that when I felt down I loved anything with chocolate in it. I didn’t know what to say to him. I wasn’t going to apologize because I meant everything that I said and was happy that I’d hit Sara. I didn’t care if I had embarrassed him because she deserved it.

“Are you going to talk to me?” he asked as he lay beside me.

I kept my eyes focused on the TV screen as I bit into my last cookie.

“Not at all?” he asked teasingly. He kissed my temple and a part of me melted but a part of me was still frozen solid. “Look, Nat, I’m sorry.
Okay? How many times do you want me to say it? I’m. Sorry.”

My head turned to look at him and I could see the sincerity behind his irises. Moving his hand forward, he wrapped it around my waist and pulled me closer to him.
“Why did you bring her here of all places?”

He rolled his eyes.
“Is it really that serious?”

“Yes it’
s serious, Bryson. Damn it. Do you not see how I feel? How would you react if I hung out with a guy that you hated and brought him to my house to “study”?”

Bryson shrugged, as if it was no big deal. “I wouldn’t react the way you did.”

“Whatever.” I slid away from him but he chuckled while reeling me in again.

“I love you, babe. It’s cute when you’re mad.”

I hated when he did that. When he tried to make it seem like everything was a joke. The sad part about it was that I always fell for it. He always made me drop the subject, especially with his lips and his hands.

He slid in for a kiss and I kissed him back because even though I was upset with him, I had missed his touch all day. I wanted to be against him, between his legs, and even on top of him.
We took off our clothes while continuing to keep our lips against each other. The room steamed up and the panting grew louder from both me and him and we didn’t stop until we were both satisfied. The worries drifted. I loved him to death and I wanted to keep making it work between us. I didn’t want us to separate and I knew that because he was one of the most popular students in school, it was going to cause hell between us when Sara told everyone what happened, but we had to remain strong. We had to keep holding on. I didn’t want to seem weak so I stuck by his side as much as I could. I didn’t want to be the lame, vulnerable girl that let everything get in the way of our relationship so I continued to believe in us.

But something was telling me that
believing in our relation wasn’t going to be healthy for me. I ignored the warnings and the red flags that I received from Bryson. I tried ignoring everything that I felt other than happiness. It started to work eventually.

Chapter Six

It was finally Friday night, the night of the party. Bryson always wanted me to look my best at parties so Grace and I went to his house early just to get ready. He wanted all of the guys to know that the hot chick in the short dress was his and no one could have her but him. I didn’t mind it. It actually made me feel good to know that some people were jealous of us and our relationship.

Especially Sara
“The Slut” Manx. I despised her with a passion. We were neck-at-neck all that day and when Bryson showed me more attention than her it made our rivalry even worse. She hated me, I hated her. It was simple. Grace called her a “hating-ass hoe” earlier that day and I agreed. She was so envious that it seemed unhealthy.

After fluffing my hair, applying some mascara, lip-gloss, and even a thin line of eyeliner, I was ready to go. Grace stumbled out of the bedroom in her high gold stilettos. She had a black halter-top dress on, her legs were glowing beneath the light, and her mocha skin looked smooth to the touch.
Her brown freckles were a bit more evident but I knew that she was going to add some powder to her face once she entered the bathroom just to hide them. I loved Grace’s freckles but she hated them.

“I’m almost ready, Nat,” she said as she rushed for the bathroom. Giggling, I watched as she swung the door open, fl
ipped the light switch, and began to apply powder. Music began to play from down stairs. The bass was so heavy that it thundered against the soles of my feet. The vibrations were getting to me and I wanted so badly to go down there and dance. No one was there yet but Grace and I had a habit of getting the party started. “Just one more minute,” she chimed as she dabbed some foundation over her nose. “Tell me what happened last night.”

I sighed, looking
from her to the floor. “Sara acted like she and Bryson did something and I punched her.”

“What?” she squealed as she turned to face me. “Holy crow, how did I miss that?”

I laughed as I shook my head. “It felt good, too.”

“I bet!”

“And it won’t be happening again tonight,” a deep voice said from behind me. A pair of arms hooked around my waist and pulled me against them. I knew who it was from his voice and his touch and heat flourished from the inside out as he spun me in his arms. “Hey beautiful,” he murmured, his voice deep and hypnotic. I gazed up into his emerald green eyes that were garnished with extremely long eyelashes. His lips were full, pink, and of course kissable. “You look good, as always.”

“Thanks,” I said shyly.

Leaning forward, he planted a kiss on my neck and I melted. I wanted to hook my arms around his neck and have him carry me to the nearest bedroom. I wanted him to pin me against a wall, stroke his way inside of me, and then give it my all. The ringing doorbell interrupted our embrace and he pulled away.

“Tonight should be fun, huh?” Grace asked as she stepped out. Her black hair was glossy, long, and stopped just at the shoulders. She looked priceless but most of all ready to party. I’d decided to go with a black dress as well but with thick straps and blue stilettos. I was ready for the night.

“You ladies look divine,” Bryson said as he took a step back. “Let’s go get this party started, huh?”

We nodded with a few giggles and followed Bryson down the stairs. As we hit the first floor, the lights were dim but the rave lights were bouncing off of the walls in various colors. There was a friend of Bryson’s that considered himself a DJ and offered to play for free and I had to admit that he was pretty good. His beats and remixes always helped us get a little wild.

Bryson went for the door but Grace and I decided that drinks were needed in order to actually get down and dirty. She pulled out three bottles from beneath the cabinet and grabbed two cups. “Nat, yo
u seriously look hot!” she said over the music.

“You look hotter, Gracey,” I said with a small smile. I watched her pour the drinks and then she slid a cup to me.

“This night shall be memorable,” she said.

“Yes. This is the third party of the year
. Third’s the charm, right?” I winked and then we both tossed our drinks back. The alcohol burned my throat and my face pinched but hearing Mark say, “Aw, take it like a G,” caused me to open my eyes.

He was already staring at me, his eyes wide and his smile a bit cheesy. Lifting his arm, he revealed a case of beer while stepping forward. “Hi Mark,” Gracey whispered shyly.

“Sup, beauty.” He twisted his baseball cap backwards before placing his elbows on the counter to lean on them. “So, Nat, you gonna give Bryson something good tonight?” He winked but I scowled at him, a smile hinting at his lips.

“I don’t know. A
re you going to get jealous over it?” It wasn’t very sweet of me to say but he had put me under pressure. I had to think quickly.

His face flipped as he stared at me. His blue eyes softened as he stood straight and folded his arms. “Why would I get jealous?”

“Yeah,” Grace said. “Why would he get jealous?”

I shrugged, as if I didn’t know the real reason. “Just kidding.
How was your “workout” with Madison last night?”

“Great,” he sighed. “Tonight should be even greater.”

Chuckling, Mark grabbed a cup from the counter behind him and poured some vodka into his. He poured some into Grace’s cup and then mine and we both looked at him as if he were an idiot. “No one’s getting off easily tonight. Come on, drink up. Let’s get fucked up!” he roared over the music. A smile hinted at his lips and Grace and I both looked at one another before grinning like fools and downing our drinks.

More people started to fill the kitchen after a few minutes so we decided to go for the living room where the party was just starting. The DJ was playing better songs, the bass was drumming through me, and I felt beyond free. The rave lights danced off
our skin and Grace and I danced like there was no tomorrow. That was the thing about those house parties. We never really cared about what we looked like or how we felt. We just did whatever felt fun. We made the most of everything.