Worth the Wait (Sexy Nerd Boys #1) (2 page)

Abby

              I’m in a half asleep stupor when the door flies open unceremoniously.

I almost piss myself as a man saunters into our apartment like he lives here. My heart is pounding in my chest. Is this another nightmare? It certainly doesn’t fit with my usual nightmares which tend to be memories. My muscles tense as I do a mental run-down of my kickboxing moves.

              “Who the fuck are you?” I demand, springing off the couch, ready to put my skills to the test if he takes a single step towards me.

He stops in his tracks and looks at me for a few seconds. He certainly doesn’t look dangerous, if anything he looks sexy.
Jesus Abby get a grip, Ted Bundy was sexy too.

              “Oh god, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to freak you out, I heard the TV and thought that Lee might be up still.” He sounds truly apologetic.

As I take in his dark brown hair and blue eyes the pieces click.

              “You’re Lee's brother?” I finally let out the breath I was holding and relax my stance.

              “Yeah, Ethan.”

He’s making no attempt to hide the fact that he’s checking me out as he gives me a slow once over before walking in. It’s then I realize that I’m not wearing a bra and it’s probably completely obvious because I’m high beaming right through my tank top. I clear my throat and try to act like I’m not about to die of embarrassment. I shift uncomfortably, putting as much inconspicuous space between us as possible.  

              “You must be her new roommate?”

              “Yeah, yes. I’m Abby.” My face is burning with embarrassment.

              “Sorry again, I shouldn’t have just busted in here like a lunatic.” He looks around awkwardly clearly trying not to leer at my chest again. “I don’t sleep well.”

              “Neither do I,” I admit with a sheepish smile. “If you want to stay and hang out for a bit you can. Lee is asleep, but I’ll probably be up for a while.”

              “Doctor Who?” He says nodding towards the television.

              “Yeah, I’m a huge nerd.”

              “Who's your favorite doctor?” He asks.

I relax a little, I’m fairly certain that question was established to signify one’s self as a fellow Whovian.

              “Ten. You?”

              “I’m all about the fifth doctor,” He announces proudly.

              We have a brief moment of eye contact before I look away.

              He nods and settles down on the couch and without saying another word begins watching the episode I have on.

Ethan

              ‘
Holy Shit’
was literally my first thought when my eyes landed on her.

She is actually the definition of physical perfection. Her long auburn hair flows onto her shoulders framing her porcelain skin flawlessly. As my gaze landed on her tits. It was obvious she isn’t wearing a bra because her nipples were straining against her shirt. Hello massive erection. Jesus, I just kicked what’s-her-name out of my bed how can I be so turned on again just by the sight of her tits?

I felt like a jackass barging in and scaring the shit out of her like that but I had really wanted to see Lee. Sometimes I need to feel connected to someone and Lee's the only person I’m connected to. Everyone else comes in and out of my life, or my bed. But Lee is my little sister and my best friend.

              And, it turns out Red’s a giant nerd, too. So, she gets personality points as well. Now she’s curled up on her end of the couch quietly watching Doctor Who while all I can do is stare at her like a total douchecanoe.

"So, you go to Colorado State too?” I manage lamely. That’s ok, this will open the door to further conversation. Even though all I want to do is tear that damn shirt off and bury my face between her glorious tits.

“Yup. Pre-med,” She answers my next question before I can even ask it.

“Wow, you’ve hit the trifecta,” I joke.

She turns a scathing gaze on me. Ouch, if looks could kill.

“Excuse me?”

“Gorgeous, smart, and not afraid to nerd it up. That is the trifecta Red.” Her gaze turns even more deadly. I’m not sure what it says about me but I’m actually more turned on now that she’s glaring at me like that.

“First of all, if you ever call me ‘red’ again I will punch you in the balls. Second, I’m not interested so don’t waste any charm on me please.”

Damn, I’m not sure I’ve ever been so thoroughly and immediately rejected before. Not sure why I can’t stop smiling, maybe because it’s making her scowl even harder.

“I understand. No charm, got it.” I mock salute her.

She shakes her head at me.

“Where are you originally from?” I ask.

“Only about an hour from here.”

Her brief answers give the clear impression that she isn’t interested in conversation.

After a minute she sighs and looks over at me again.

“What’s your major?”

“Philosophy. I’m working on my masters right now, might go for the doctorate, we’ll see.” I answer reluctantly, this is when most people usually laugh.

“Cool,” She says with a nod.

“You aren’t going to ask what I’ll do with a doctorate in philosophy,” I challenge. That’s what people always want to know.

She shrugs.

“Philosophize I assume,” She deadpans.

My whole body shakes with laughter. It’s the kind of laughter that the harder you try to stop laughing the more it actually makes you laugh. After a few seconds Abby starts laughing too. By the time I get ahold of myself we both have tears running down our cheeks from laughing so hard.

“I don’t know why that was so funny,” I admit after I catch my breath.

“I haven’t laughed like that in a really long time,” She admits. “I actually feel a little lighter, like laughing like that got something off my chest.”

A sad look crosses her face and she looks away.

“Teach probably, and hopefully write books,” I say trying to bring her focus back from whatever is making her sad.

“That’s cool. I think it makes sense, we’re all looking for answers to the big questions and philosophy is a good avenue to do that. Why are we here? Is there a god? What happens when we die? All that good shit.”

We lapse back into silence. For some reason I’m dying to know more about Red, definitely not typical for me. I’ve always been a one night stand kind of guy. I typically don’t give a shit what a girls major is, or if she has any siblings, or what’s her favorite food. But, for some reason I really want to know.

“So…” I try to think of something else to say.

She turns her wrathful glare on me again. All I can think about is what her mouth would feel like on my cock right now.

“Look, it’s two in the morning, I don’t think we really need to learn all about each other’s deepest, darkest secrets and desires right now do we? I just want to sit here in silence and watch my damn show.”

I put my hands up to indicate surrender. I make a show of zipping my lips. Well, I guess she told me.

The sound of dishes banging startles me awake. I look around disconcerted. I must have fallen asleep on Lee and Abby’s couch. A feeling of disappointment sweeps over me briefly as I notice Abby must have gone to bed at some point. I look towards her bedroom and can’t help but wonder if she sleeps naked.

“Oh no.” Lee stands over me with a disapproving look.

“What’s up sis?” I ask shooting her a smile before glancing towards Abby’s room again, silently willing her to wake up and come out to play.

“That look on your face that suggests you’re looking to jump my roommate.”

Damn my sister can read me too well. I open my mouth to say something but she holds up a hand to stop me.

“Look, I don’t usually say anything about who you hook up with, but she’s not for you. Okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“Aside from the fact that I would prefer not to have to find a new roommate after you pull your whole ‘wham, bam, thank you mama’ routine. She’s...she doesn’t date.”

“I don’t date either,” I remind her waggling my eyebrows.

              “Well, she doesn’t have casual sex either,” Lee clarifies.

              “Is she a virgin?” I ask, that’s enough to fill my spank bank for months on end.

              “I don’t think so, but I honestly don't know for sure. She refuses to talk about anything relating to men at all.”

              “Women?” I raise my eyebrows curiously. Say it isn’t so. While the image is hot the idea that she would be so very unattainable is upsetting.

              “No, I’ve seen her check guys out. I think there’s something up that she just doesn’t talk about. But seriously, keep it in your pants please,” She begs.

I don’t give her any sign of agreement. She takes my silence for consent.

              “So, what about you, are you seeing anyone?” I ask casually.

What I really want to know is if she’s stopped running from the fact that
she
likes girls. Our parents are religious and when they caught Lee playing doctor with another girl when she was six they told her all about how god hates lesbians. For some reason it really stuck with her.

              “Oh you know, just casual sex with a lot of random guys,” She jokes.

At least I hope it’s a joke.

“Do you want coffee?” She offers

              I nod my head and yawn before pulling Lee into a tight hug.

Abby

The unmistakable, mouthwatering smell of bacon is my alarm clock.

My stomach growls immediately. At least I have the foresight to put on a bra this time before leaving my bedroom.

“Morning Red, how’d you sleep?” Ethan asks without turning his attention away from the stove where he has bacon and eggs cooking.

How did I sleep? I never know how to answer that question. I don’t think anyone wants the real answer. ‘Oh you know just horrifying, recurring nightmares about the worst night of my life, same as usual.’ Yeah, I think most people prefer that I lie and just say ‘fine’.

“Earth to Abby.” Ethan turns and brandishes a TARDIS shaped spatula in my face. “I love the spatula by the way,” He says noticing my gaze.

I just nod.

“Don’t mind her, she’s always like this in the morning,” Lee informs him as she comes up behind me and throws an arm over my shoulder.

“Excuse me for not being a morning person,” I croak.

“I can excuse that, however I cannot excuse your breath right now because it could kill a horse,” She laughs as I slap my hand over my mouth and run down the hall in mortification towards the bathroom to brush my teeth.

By the time I’m minty fresh Ethan and Lee are sitting at the table with plates in front of them, there’s even a plate already set out for me.

“Eat up Red,” Ethan says gesturing towards the food.

“I want to drag Abby out for a good time tonight, do you wanna come Ethan?” Lee asks between sips of coffee.

              Ethan nods through a mouthful of eggs and for some reason my stomach gives an excited twitch. Why should I care if he comes out or not? I need to get a damn grip on myself, he’s just a piece of man candy, nothing more.

The real problem is that it has been far too long since I’ve had any man candy myself. Even that sentence is a joke because I’ve never had, or wanted, man candy. Justin had ruined the idea of dating for me, as well as the thought of being touched by anyone. I can’t even touch myself without thinking of his disgusting forceful hands on me. I shudder at the memory.

              “Are you okay Red?” Ethan asks with concern.

Why does he even care? He doesn’t know me.

              “I’m going to take a shower.” I jump up and take my plate to the sink. I can feel Ethan’s eyes on me the whole way, causing goose bumps to erupt all over me. I really need to stay away from Ethan Hodge for my own good. For his own good too, for that matter.

              “Lee, help, I don’t know what to wear,” I complain nervously looking for something halfway decent to wear.

              “It’s just a bar Abby,” She assures me with a laugh. “We’ve been out a bunch of times, you never care what you wear.”

              “Not true, you just didn’t live with me then so you didn’t see the pre-bar panic attack as I always realize that nothing I own is sexy.” I pout.

              “Sexy, huh?” She arches an eyebrow at me.

I had seen Ethan do that same thing last night. Ugh, why am I thinking about Ethan?

“Does that mean you’re looking to bring somebody home?”

              I tense up at this implication. I never offered Lee any information about my past and she never asked. It’s a great arrangement and I don’t want it to change. Because, even over a year later I still don’t want to talk about the accident, or anything else.

              “No, I’m perfectly happy dating myself.”

              “Oh yeah, how’s that going?” She laughs as she sifts through my clothes.

              “It’s going fantastic, I think I may be the one. I’m quite certain I could propose any day now,” I banter.

              “You know it can be fun to date guys too. Just saying,” She offers gently.

              “Not in my experience,” I mutter under my breath.

              “Oh, I know. I have a really cute skirt you could wear.” She claps her hands in excitement.

              “No skirts, I don’t like my legs.”

It’s mostly true, I just left out the part where my legs are covered in deep scars that I really don’t want people staring at. They’re like a neon sign ‘hey everyone having fun at the bar, look at my nasty legs and feel bad for me’. No thank you.

              “Okay, then how about these skinny jeans and that green tank top.” She grabs the suggested items and hands them to me.

              “Perfect, thanks.” I give her a hug before she goes to get dressed herself.

              “Oh hey, Lee,” I call down the hallway. “Is Nikki going to be there?”

              “I think so, she said she might be there with her twin sister.”

              That girl has a twin? Holy sex fantasy batman, I think that Ethan and Lee are going to have to fight over a threesome with those hotties.

Ethan

Lee: We’re heading out now, meet us at The Leprechaun when you get done at work

              I chuckle at the name of the bar and reply that I’m on my way over now. I punch out and wave goodbye to my boss.

I type the bar into my google maps and jump in my beat up old Honda. Say what you will about how my car looks, but it’s 15 years old and still runs perfectly.

              I’m assaulted with noise as I enter the bar. I always remember as soon as I enter a college bar the reason I prefer house parties to bars. My buddy, Asher, and I discovered early in our college career that as long as you kept the ladies happy they’d come back every weekend. And, we had always kept them plenty happy.

              “Ethan!” Lee's voice cuts through the noise and I turn to see them at a table in the corner.

              Before I can even make my way all the way over to them I’m stopped by a skinny blonde with too much make up and not quite enough shirt, just the way I like them. Or, at least, the way I usually like them. For some reason right now all I can think about is getting over to Abby and seeing how many times I have to call her ‘Red’ before she actually punches me.

              “Hey, I haven’t seen you around here before.” Blondie smiles up at me.

              “I’m here with my sister,” I say gesturing towards Lee and Abby’s table trying to give her a polite brush off.

               Blondie doesn’t even look, she keeps her smile trained on me.

              “Buy me a drink?” She reaches out and brushes her hand against my shoulder.

I glance over towards Abby and see her glaring daggers at me. For some reason this makes me all warm inside. Blondie mistakes my smile for agreement to buy her a drink and takes my hand to lead me over to the bar.

              “I’ll buy you a drink but then I have to get over to my sister and her friend,” I tell her as we reach the bar. Blondie gives me the kind of pouty face that usually gets me hard in seconds flat, but tonight it’s not working. I hand the bartender a ten dollar bill and leave Blondie to find another guy to bring home tonight. There are plenty of guys in here who I’m sure would give their left nut for a night with her.

              “Who’s your friend?” Abby asks the second I reach the table.

I can’t help but smile. As I slide into a seat across from her.

              “Not sure. I didn’t get a name,” I reply honestly.

Abby’s hair is slightly curly tonight and she has makeup on. Not too much makeup, unlike Blondie, but enough that it’s obvious that she tried to look hot tonight. I’m itching to ask why she’s so dressed up but that feels presumptuous. Maybe this is how she always dresses when they go out on Thursday nights. After all, I’ve only known Abby for 24 hours, I don’t know anything about her other than that she’s smart, sexy, and loves Doctor Who. That’s certainly enough to make me want to know a hell of a lot more.

              “Well, I hope you at least get a name before you fuck her,” Abby says bitterly before taking a large gulp of her drink.

Abby’s death glares are getting me all hot and bothered in a way that Blondie hadn’t been able to.

              “I wasn’t planning on it,” I say purposefully vague to get under her skin all the more.

              “You weren’t planning on getting her name before you fucked her?” Abby narrows her eyes at me again like she’s about to give me a piece of her mind. I’d love to hear it, no joke I want to hear her bitch me out. I smile at her and this just seems to piss her off more. She’s fun, and I apparently suddenly have some weird fetish.

              “I wasn’t planning on fucking her,” I finally clarify with a grin.

              “I see, you just bought her a drink out of the kindness of your heart?” Her tone is incredulous.

              “She asked, and I’m a gentleman. Why do you care so much?” I ask with a knowing smile.

She’s jealous, and if she’s jealous that means she must be attracted to me. I know Lee said that she’s hands off. But, would one night of fun really hurt anything?

              “I
don’t
care,” She says before finishing the rest of her drink in a single swallow and flagging down a waitress. “Can I have another rum and coke please?”

              “I’ll take whatever’s on tap,” I order.

Lee gets another rum and coke as well.

              A few minutes later a gorgeous little brunette stumbles over to our table. I do a double take because she seems to have a sexy clone right behind her. Damn, again I should be thinking of how to get them both in my bed, but instead all I can do is look over at Abby.

              “Lee, I’m so glad to see you here. I was hoping you would be here tonight.” She gives Lee a coy smile.

              “Who’s your friend Lee?” I ask waggling my eyebrows at her.

Lee shoots me a dirty look.

              “This is Nikki, we had sociology together last semester,” Lee introduces us with obvious discomfort.

              “Nice to meet you Nikki. I’m Ethan, Lee's big brother.”

              “I’ve heard a lot about you,” Nikki tells me. “I actually came over here to see if Lee wanted to be my pool partner? My sister Remy won’t stop talking shit about my pool skills.”

              “Of course she does,” Abby and I say at the same time.

Abby pushes Lee out of her chair before she can protest.

              “Don’t worry Ethan and I can keep each other entertained,” She assures her before Lee can open her mouth to protest.

              “We most certainly can,” I wink at Abby and she blushes a deep crimson. Apparently there isn’t anything Abby can do that I don’t find sexy.

              Once Lee is safely gone I flag down the waitress and order several shots.

“It’s time to get to know you better, Red,” I say passing her one of the shots and pulling another one towards me. “Have you ever had a screaming orgasm?” I ask with a wicked smile.

Abby blushes about ten shades of burgundy. I gesture towards the shot in her hand.

“It’s called a screaming orgasm. I can’t remember what’s in it but it’s one of those shots that’s almost too easy to drink.”

              She gives me another death glare before bringing the shot glass to her lush lips and downing it easily.

              “That’s really good,” She agrees.

              “So you’re saying that you like screaming orgasms?” I tease.

              “Say ‘screaming orgasm’ one more time and see what happens,” She threatens dryly.

              “Fair enough.” I pass her a second shot. “I assume you know how to play ‘never have I ever’.”

She stares at me blankly.

“For example, I might say ‘never have I ever had a threesome’ and if that is a true statement I don’t take a shot but if I have in fact had a threesome then I would take the shot. Got it?”

She nods and takes the shot in her hand, I gesture for her to start the game.

              “Okay, um...never have I ever had sex.”

We both take a shot. I pass out the next round.

              “My turn. Never have I ever had a one night stand.” I take a shot and Abby keeps her shot glass firmly on the table. Not a big surprise there given what Lee said last night.

              “Never have I ever been in love.” Neither of us take a shot this time.

              “There’s no such thing as love,” I challenge.

              Abby bites her lip but doesn’t argue. I expected her to challenge me.

              “Maybe you’re right,” She finally says with a shrug. “Is that why you only do casual sex?” she hit the nail on the head with that one.

              “Yup,” I nod and then push another shot towards her.

              “Never have I ever had a threesome.” I take a shot and unsurprisingly Abby doesn’t.

              “Really?” She asks curiously.

              “Yeah, it wasn’t as cool as I thought it would be though,” I admit but don’t elaborate.