Worth the Wait (Sexy Nerd Boys #1)
Read Worth the Wait (Sexy Nerd Boys #1) Online
Authors: K. M. Neuhold
Abby:
I have issues. Like, serious, major issues. And, the last thing I want or need is a man in my life to make things more complicated. Unfortunately for me my roommates drop dead gorgeous brother seems hell bent on seducing me. And, what’s worse is that he’s kind of the perfect guy. Resisting him just might kill me.
Ethan:
I don’t do relationships. I prefer to keep things casual, and I’m always up front with women so that no one ever gets hurt. But, my sister’s new roommate…yeah I might have a small obsession. Or, maybe I should say a TARDIS obsession because there’s a 100% chance that it’s bigger on the inside. What the hell is a guy supposed to do though when he meets a woman who is not only beautiful but also feisty, fun, and way into nerd culture? I may be doomed.
**Contains some themes of domestic abuse, non-consensual sex, and explicit sex scenes. Not recommended for readers under 17.
Worth the Wait© 2015
By K.M. Neuhold
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Book and Cover design by K. M. Neuhold
Cover Image by Valua Vitaly
Abby
Sweat pours off of me as I slam my fists into the heavy punching bag. Peace floods my body as I revel in the stinging flesh of my knuckles. Left, left, right, left. I tune out everything else around me. All of the other sounds of fist on flesh, the smell of sweat, they’re all a million miles away. It’s just me and the punching bag. It’s just me and my residual rage being poured out in the form of sweat and violence. Perfection.
I’ll tell you a little secret, I have enough of them I can spare one now. When you wake up in a hospital bed with the realization that you narrowly escaped death you’re a changed person. Before the accident I was weak, but now I’m strong. The one thing I swore to myself when I walked out of that hospital was that I would never let anyone hurt me again. I’ve already been hurt enough in my life. I’m not going to be a victim anymore. At least not a victim to anyone but myself, but that’s a different issue altogether.
“Abby!” I stop mid-swing and grab the swinging bag to steady myself. I drag in deep breaths. My lungs burn with the effort to get enough oxygen into my body. I turn my gaze to the middle aged man who owns the gym. Ironically, his name is Jim.
“What’s up?” I ask breathlessly, keeping a conspicuous amount of distance between us. Jim is a nice guy and he’s never done anything to make me think he’s trying to creep on me, but, well...let’s just say I have ‘issues’ with men.
“Wow, you were really focused, I’ve been trying to get your attention for ten minutes. The ladies who signed up to take your self-defense class are waiting,” He informs me, gesturing towards a group of mostly college aged girls standing in a group outside of one of the classrooms.
I nod and grab a towel to wipe some of the sweat off of my face before heading over toward the women.
“Hi there, sorry to keep you ladies waiting, I was a bit absorbed,” I apologize with a laugh.
“You were amazing over there,” One of the girls says in a quiet, awed voice.
I look over at her with a smile. She’s small and meek with dirty blonde hair and a mousy face. She’s the kind of girl you would see and forget about thirty seconds later.
“Thank you,” I acknowledge before gesturing for everyone to make their way into the classroom. It’s really just a private gym area used to teach different classes like yoga, tai chi, and self-defense.
Once everyone is in and I’m standing in front of them I take several deep breaths to calm my nerves.
Why did I agree to do this? I hate public speaking. And, it’s not like I’m an expert or anything, I just got into kickboxing last year, after
the accident
. It’s been working a hell of a lot better than therapy, if you don’t count the recurring nightmares and the fact that I still don’t want a man to touch me. Well, you know what they say: you can’t win ‘em all.
“I’m so glad that you’ve all decided to take your safety into your own hands by taking this self-defense class.” I jump right into the class with my prepared speech.
Once I get through this I have to tackle getting my things moved into my new apartment. This is going to be a friggin’ exhausting day.
“So everybody let’s pair off and we’ll start right away with practicing some techniques.”
I look around at all of my boxes trying to decide where to start my unpacking. I feel like I’m going to drown in a sea of boxes. I hate moving, but when Lee had told me she was looking for a roommate I’d jumped at the chance.
I met Lee last fall in Chemistry class. We were paired as lab partners. As annoying as moving is I don’t want to live alone anymore. I figured maybe not sleeping in an empty apartment would help to curb some of my nightmares.
There’s a knock at my bedroom door.
“It’s open,” I call from my spot on the floor, elbow deep in a box of clothes.
The door opens slowly and my roommate's head pops in.
“What’s up Lee?” Her full name is Leah but she told me the first day we met that if I ever call her Leah she would sock me in the stomach. She’s small but I’m almost certain she could take me.
“Two things,” She says in her perky voice and holds up two fingers. “First, I just thought that I should give you a heads up. My brother does live in the apartment across the hall and he has some boundary issues. He tends to come and go as he pleases. I hope that doesn’t bother you. ”
I hadn’t met Lee's brother but I knew they were close, she talks about him constantly. I nod to signify I don’t mind.
“Second, I’m having...someone over.” She avoids my gaze and toys with her short, brown hair. I love her hair. It’s boy short but it suits her pixie face perfectly. I wish I could wear my hair that short. I twirl one of my own auburn locks in a finger as I wait for Lee to continue talking. When she doesn’t continue I go ahead with my own question.
“A guy?”
The first time I met Lee we were in the middle of a conversation about how much we both hate chemistry class, when suddenly I noticed her gaze drift, along with the gaze of every man in the room, to the bouncy ass of a sorority chick as she made her way across the front of the room. I don’t give a shit who Lee wants to hook up with. The problem is that Lee has the impression that people would give a shit that she likes girls. So, unfortunately, she is deep in the closet.
“No,” She shakes her head curtly. “A girl...a friend.”
I desperately want to pry but any time I’ve so much as skirted the subject of homosexuality she immediately changes the subject. I’ve decided not to push. I just hope this “friend” is willing to make the first move.
After thirty more minutes of unpacking and organizing my room it’s starting to look fairly decent. I try to work a kink out of my neck, and then look around deciding that’s about it for tonight. I stand and stretch and head out to the kitchen.
I sneak a peek in at Lee and her friend on the couch. She’s breathtaking, I might even go gay for this girl. She reminds me of Mila Kunis, who by the way is my all-time lady crush. She has long dark hair, caramel skin, and big doe eyes.
“Are you going to be a creep in the kitchen or come watch Netflix with us?” Lee calls after a minute or so of my stalker leering.
“Sorry, I was trying to decide what I was hungry for,” I lie with an easy shrug. Lee gives me a glare that says she knows that I was spying on them. Trying to save face I head into the living room and plunk down in the recliner by the couch.
“Nikki, this is my roommate, Abby,” Lee introduces us.
“So how do you two know each other?” I ask lamely. I’ve never been very good at small talk. Social situations have never been my forte. In fact, Lee might be the first friend I’ve ever had. Wow, my life is depressing.
“We had sociology together last year, and we ran into each other at the bar a few weeks ago so we’ve been hanging out since then.” She casts a sidelong glance at Lee. Her gaze is kind of scorching. Go Lee! I silently chant.
“Well, I’d better get to bed,” I announce with a fake yawn.
Lee rolls her eyes at me.
“Good night.”
I pull my legs up to my chest and curl into a ball in my bed. Night time is really the only bad time. In the quiet dark there’s no studying to distract me. I would like to go one night without a nightmare about the crash or the three shitty years leading up to it. That fucking crash changed my whole life. As if leaving physical scars on my thighs wasn’t enough, I had to have deep fucking emotional scars too. Although, to be fair to the crash, the emotional scars span a lifetime. Only the physical scars are a direct result of the accident.
Every night it’s the same. I hear the crunch of the glass breaking, feel the sting on my thighs, I feel time slowing down. The same moment over and over again. It’s been a year and a half since the crash, but it hasn’t gotten any easier. I’m starting to give up hope it ever will.
Right after the accident my mother convinced me to see a therapist. I went but I wasn’t ready to talk about it. It was too painful. I couldn’t face it. I didn’t want to relive it voluntarily. And, all the therapist seemed to want to do was medicate me. I don’t need medication, I do a bang up job of self-medicating.
Lee is my closest friend and I haven’t even told her about it. I put my memories in a box in my mind and I do everything I can to never open it. Unfortunately, my subconscious has other plans for me during the night.
After a few minutes of tossing and turning I give up and reach under my bed for my ‘crutch’. My hand falls on a small box and I pull it out. Inside is the only thing that allows me to sleep. I open the lid and am greeted with the skunky smell that sends an immediate calming shiver through me. My ‘herbal sleep aid’ as I call it. I only need a few hits before a sense to peacefulness drifts over me.
Tomorrow night I’ll be able to fall asleep without it.
I promise myself this every night. And, every night I break my promise from the night before.
“Justin, what are you doing?” I giggled and squirmed against him as he pressed himself into me on his couch.
“No one is gonna be home for hours,” He said with a glint in his eye.
A shiver ran through me, half excited, half frightened. Justin and I had been dating for a few months now and he hadn’t pressured me to do anything other than kiss. But, I could tell he definitely wanted more. I was afraid if I didn’t please him he’d find someone else. I didn’t want him to leave me. For the first time in my life I felt special.
“What did you have in mind?” I asked with a slight quiver in my voice.
“You just relax and let me take control,” He suggested. He didn’t wait for an answer before pulling my shirt over my head.
“Justin, wait, I’m not ready.”
“All the other guys’ girlfriends are at least going down on them. Don’t you want to make me happy?” He took my hand and placed it on his erection.
Justin was attractive. And, I knew this is what girlfriends do. I just didn’t feel ready. I tried to pull my hand back but he grabbed my wrist roughly. He unzipped his pants with the other hand and pulled his dick out. He put my hand on it and rubbed against it. I felt disgust in the pit of my stomach.
“Suck it baby,” He instructed, grabbing my hair.
“What?” I asked stupidly.
I regretted then ever wanting to date a guy like Justin. I should have stuck to the nerdy, inexperienced guys that I usually went for.
“You heard me. Be a good little whore and put my dick in your mouth,” He instructed with an edge of menace in his calm voice.
I awake in a cold sweat. I still feel disoriented from the drugs. But, unfortunately they didn’t keep away the nightmares tonight.
I reach for my phone to check the time. It’s one in the morning. Well, on the bright side I don’t have anywhere to be in the morning since school doesn’t start for another week.
I roll out of bed and make my way to the living room. It looks like Lee went to bed, I can’t help but wonder if it was alone. I look but don’t see Nikki’s shoes still here. That’s a shame. I curl up on the couch and put my favorite show on Netflix.
Ethan
I lean against the kitchen counter of my friend Asher’s apartment as I watch the party play out around me. There are a lot of pretty girls here. A lot of girls look like they’d be down for one night of fun. I usually don’t even have to do much, they almost always come to me.
“You’re Ethan right?” A petite brunette asks sauntering up to me. And, we have a winner.
“I am, who are you?” I give her my most charming smile.
“Lisa,” She offers her name.
I don’t really care. The only reason I even confirmed my name was so I could make sure she’s screaming the right name later. I’ve tried fake names before but I find it extremely distracting. Fake name or not though, I always make sure a girl knows what a night with me is about.
“Listen Lisa, I can tell that my reputation precedes me so I just want to make sure we’re clear on a few things. I do one night only, no kissing, no exchange of phone numbers, and no future plans. That’s the deal sweetheart, if you’re okay with that then I can promise you that I will make this night worth your while.”
“Do most girls run away when you tell them your rules?” She asks coyly.
“No,” I reply honestly. “Like I said, my reputation tends to precede me, I assume you heard that I always deliver on my end of the deal.”
She nods.
“Let's get out of here then. Your place.”