Bad Impressions (Revive Me #1) Read online

  As I carried them over to my bed, I heard footsteps hurrying up the stairs.

  “You’re home early after all,” I called over my shoulder.

  “I’m not a coward.”

  I froze in place. It wasn’t Ollie’s voice.

  Brad. Shit. Brad Marsh was standing behind me. In my bedroom.

  “What are you doing here, Brad?” I demanded, without bothering to spare him a glance, trying to keep the nervous waver out of my voice. And I had no intention of being nice either. He didn’t deserve any niceties from me. He’d pissed me off twice in the last day or so.

  “I’m not a coward, Soph. I had my reasons for what I did. I was protecting you.”

  “Protecting me?” I scoffed.

  His heavy footsteps shook the room and I spun around.

  My towel loosened around me from my sudden movement and I clutched it quickly to shield my boobs from his view. Although it was dark, there was still enough light for him to clearly see whether I was naked or not.

  He stopped in his tracks, his eyes drawn right there. Typical man.

  “Do you mind?”

  He hesitated, which was a shock in itself. Brad never hesitated. He was always so sure of himself.

  He folded his arms across his chest and refused to avert his eyes so I could fix my towel. What an asshole. Fine. He wants to play, we’ll play. He’s not gonna get one over on me this time. I’m in control now. I’m different now.

  I released my grip on the towel. It slid from my body and pooled on the beige carpet at my feet.

  It was in that moment, as his gaze slid slowly over my naked body, that I realized I hadn’t thought it through properly. I felt exposed and ill at ease. Completely uncomfortable. But I resisted my innate reaction to quickly cover up.

  I wanted him to feel like I did. I wanted payback anyway I could get it. I wanted to be in control for once.

  And judging by the strained look in his eyes, the stiff set of his jaw and the rest of his body, I was.

  Good. Deal with that.

  “Five seconds, Soph,” he ground out roughly.

  “Excuse me?” I asked with a cool innocence.

  He took a step towards me and the hungry, predatory look in his eyes almost made me lose my nerve. “You have five seconds to put some clothes on.”

  “Or?” I challenged, sounding bolder than I felt. When it came to sex, Brad operated in a whole other league. But I just couldn’t bring myself to back down.

  “Or…” he growled, taking another step closer, “….I’m gonna take what you’re offering and have you on your back on that fucking bed.”

  I raised my eyebrows, challenging him. He’d blown me off enough for me to feel confident in calling his bluff and maintaining the upper hand in our battle of wills. Was he really going to suddenly snap and change his mind just because I was standing naked in front of him?

  A second later, I got my answer.

  He lunged at me.

  Oh shit!

  His lips met mine roughly, taking me in a harsh, bruising kiss, stealing away my ability to breathe.

  His left hand fisted in my hair and his right grasped my hip, jerking me flush against him.

  The kiss was frantic and wild.

  And in that moment, I no longer cared that he’d taken over control once again; that he’d won our standoff. I could barely recall what we’d been fighting about.

  All I could do was feel. His hands and mouth on me. His jean-clad erection grinding hard and demandingly against my bare pussy.

  His tongue prodded between my lips, urging me to grant him access. I didn’t protest.

  A loud moan slipped from me as he slowed the pace and his tongue caressed mine. It was so incredibly erotic and sensual that I relaxed into it so completely that my knees almost buckled.

  He felt it and snaked his arm around my waist.

  Before I knew it, I was on my back on the bed with him looming over me.

  His hand slipped between my legs, lingering there for a moment, before he slid a finger into my pussy in an easy glide.

  It felt so incredible having him inside me again that I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out.

  He pulled back from our kiss, eyeing me for my reaction as he held his finger there inside me, unmoving. He was torturing me. I knew why. He wanted what he had last time. He wanted me to beg.

  “Brad,” I gasped, tugging on the lapels of his leather jacket. “Please.”

  He smirked and a second later his finger came alive, pumping inside me hard and fast.

  “Mmm…you’re so wet for me, Soph.”

  “Oh God!” I screamed as he teased my clit with his thumb.

  I slid my hand down to his jeans and cupped his dick through them. He jerked at my touch. A low rumble came from his throat.

  His hand left me suddenly and he sat up straddling me.

  “You sure?” he asked, concern playing on his face.

  I couldn’t actually believe he was offering me a way out. He was sweating and panting and so damn hard. How the hell would he be able to stop if that’s what I’d suddenly decided? But, the look in his eyes told me that he would stop…for me. If I needed him to.

  But I didn’t.

  “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  He smiled and cupped my face, kissing my lips long and lingeringly, before trailing his hands slowly down my body. My neck, my shoulders, my breasts. Lower and lower. His eyes followed, drinking in every inch of me.

  When he reached my left side, I winced in pain.

  He noticed right away. Oh no.

  Crap. I should’ve known he would. The first time we’d been together, he’d been so incredibly attentive. And that night he’d been drunk. Now he was sober.

  He touched the same spot again, this time with a little more pressure. I couldn’t help it; I winced again.

  “I can’t see in this light,” he muttered, climbing off the bed.

  “Brad, what are you doing? We were—”

  “You’re hurt,” he cut in.

  “No, it’s nothing. Just a bruise. It’s almost gone.”

  But it was too late.

  He flipped on the main light switch and it flooded the room with an almost-blinding yellow tinted light. He climbed back onto the bed and choked out a gasp.

  The look in his eyes scared me.

  Pure unadulterated fury.

  His gaze swept from my side to the bruises on my upper arms.

  And then he touched the faint remnant of another bruise beside my left eye. I jerked away.

  “Stop!” I cried, hastily gathering the duvet to shield myself from his invasive gaze. It was awkward and embarrassing.

  “How did I not see this earlier?” he asked, gesturing to my eye.

  “Makeup.”

  “Tell me what happened,” he barked at me.

  “He…he grabbed me. I got hit and I fell.”

  He didn’t say anything for several moments. He just stared at me, studying me closely. Studying the bruises. I knew what was coming.

  He was gonna lose it.

  He was the last person who I ever wanted to know about this, given his family history. I was so stupid. I should’ve thought about the risk before I’d challenged him. Just…whenever I was around him…he had a crazy ability to make me lose myself. To make me stop thinking about the consequences of anything. When it came to Brad I was always right in the moment with him, never seeing anything beyond it. Shit.

  “Jake did this?”

  He knew his name?

  “Sophie!”

  “Yes! Okay? Yes!”

  “How many times?”

  “Brad—”

  “How many times?” he snapped.

  “Once! Once is one time too many.”

  He finally looked me in the eye.

  I’d just recited the phrase he’d taught me when I was a teenager. It was his warning to me about guys. It was something he and his mom had learned from the ordeal with his awful father.

  His exp
ression softened then and he settled beside me on the bed.

  He wrapped his arm around me. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not to you, Soph,” he murmured sadly into my hair.

  “It’s over now,” I assured him.

  “You swear to me?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I swear it.”

  “Good.” He pulled away and scrubbed his hand over his face in distress. “Fucking hell.”

  “You can’t tell Ollie. Please, Brad.”

  He looked at me. “Soph, don’t you think we’re already keeping enough shit from him?”

  “I know, but…he’ll lose it.”

  “And you don’t think I will?”

  “I know you’ll at least listen to me.”

  He grunted a response.

  A long extended silence fell between us as we both got lost in our own thoughts.

  “There’s something I need to tell you, Brad. That night when we…you know? Well, I—”

  The front door slammed downstairs, startling both of us.

  A second later, Ollie’s voice called out, “Hey, Soph! I managed to get off early! Where you at?”

  Brad cursed and scrambled off the bed.

  I snatched up my pajamas and hurriedly slipped them on.

  I’d just managed it when Ollie burst into the room a few moments later. God, do the men in my life not understand the concept of privacy? It was then that I realized Brad wasn’t in my room. He’d gone? What the hell?

  “You okay?” Ollie asked, eyeing me curiously.

  “Yeah. Why?” I answered, trying not to sound as breathless and freaked out as I was.

  “You just look…flustered, or something. You sure you’re okay?”

  “She’s just embarrassed,” Brad’s voice came from behind him suddenly.

  Ollie spun around in surprise. “Shit, I didn’t know you were here.”

  I could hear the suspicion in his tone. Oh my God. If one of us didn’t do something, he was gonna find out.

  Brad held up his hand. There was a box of unopened tampons there. “She called me with a bit of an emergency situation.”

  Ollie looked to me for my confirmation.

  I nodded, blushing with unbelievable embarrassment. Dammit, Brad. “Yeah.”

  “Right. Okay then,” Ollie said, clearly embarrassed as well. He turned to Brad and slapped his shoulder. “Thanks, man.”

  “Sure,” Brad said with a nod.

  “You wanna stick around and hang out?”

  Brad shook his head. “Nah, I’m gonna head home. I’m pulling a double shift tomorrow.”

  “All right,” Ollie said. “Soph, I’m gonna order pizza. Any preference?”

  “No, you know me. I’m good with anything.” Just go. Please, just go.

  My prayers were answered when he smiled and took off, heading back down the stairs.

  Brad blew out a breath. He threw me the tampon box and mouthed, “Sorry”.

  Before I could respond, he took off without another word.

  Chapter 4

  ~Brad~

  Last night was inexcusable.

  I’d completely lost control.

  What the hell had she been thinking? Standing there naked in front of me like that? Looking at me with those come-fuck-me eyes of hers?

  She was different now. I’d been so sure she was going to back down from my challenge and put her damn clothes back on.

  But she hadn’t. She’d just stood there daring me. Daring a man who had already been hanging by such a thin sliver of self-control as it was. I hadn’t stood a chance. My dick had been hard the moment I’d burst into her room and seen her there in nothing but a damn towel.

  I’d snapped big time.

  And it was a fucking wakeup call having Ollie almost catch us like that.

  I’d been an absolute idiot. Out of my mind.

  There was something about that woman that just pulled me in. She made me lose control whenever I got too close. I’d never wanted anyone the way I wanted her. I wanted to do so many things to that hot little body of hers. But it didn’t stop there. It was much more than that. I wanted the whole fucking package. I wanted to stake my claim on her. Make her mine.

  I knew I was just kidding myself. It could never happen. There were so many reasons.

  The worst one by far was that she was Ollie’s little sister. Going there even once, let alone almost twice with what’d happened last night, was a hell of a betrayal. I was a complete dick for doing it.

  But it wasn’t the only reason. Like I’d told her the other night: she was better than Marsden, better than all of us. She didn’t belong here. She needed to get out again and spread her wings. And I couldn’t hold her back from that. Being with me would end up doing that to her. It would keep her rooted to this place.

  I’d known it that night we’d been together. The way she’d looked at me then. It had been more than sex to her. And I…fuck it…it had for me too. So, I’d done what I’d had to: I’d blown her off. Better a short period of hurt than a lifetime of regret for her.

  She’d called me a coward the other day, but she had no idea how hard it’d been for me to walk away like that. With the way I felt about her, it’d been one of the hardest things I’d ever done.

  After last night, it was damn clear that it had to be that way from now on. I couldn’t slip up again with her. I was poison to her. The darkness swallowing her light. She deserved better. And I wasn’t the guy to give that to her.

  It hadn’t helped matters that it’d been so fucking long since I’d got my dick wet. I needed to take the edge off and soon. I needed to rein in my control and I couldn’t do that with a permanent fucking hard on.

  Yeah, that was it. I needed a warm body to set my head straight and to get my mind off her. I needed to erase her from my thoughts with a good fucking distraction.

  I took one last drag of my smoke and headed on back inside the pub.

  It was finally time to start closing up. It’d been one hell of a long-ass day. I’d been in since 8am doing inventory and worked all the way through. It was approaching 2am and I was beyond ready to call it a night.

  I made my way behind the bar. Tiff was eyeing me slyly.

  I wasn’t in the mood for her games and I snapped, “What?”

  “You’ve been a moody asshole all night. Moodier than your normal surly self anyway.”

  I blew out a breath. “Just…spit it out, Tiff.”

  “Corner booth. Brunette. Big tits. Skin tight strapless mini-dress. Your type.”

  I glanced over at the booth. Sure enough, the chick was my type. A brunette with curves in all the right places. The dress she was wearing looked like it was painted on, leaving nothing to the imagination. Just the way I liked it. Yeah, she was my type all right. Unlike Soph, who wasn’t my usual type at all. Blonde with a tight little petite body. Stop. Get her out of your head.

  The brunette flashed me a come-fuck-me grin that told me all I needed to know. She was up for it.

  I watched her undress me with her eyes, making no attempt to hide it. She wanted me to see. Her painted crimson lips closed over the straw in her drink and she held my gaze as she worked her mouth up and down. My dick stirred at the erotic display. She winked and laughed, her high ponytail bouncing as she did. Images of tugging hard on it as I fucked her from behind flashed in my mind. Holding her there at my mercy as my cock plunged so fucking deep into her slick pussy.

  “She’s been flirting with you all night, but you’ve been oblivious,” Tiff said, pulling me out of my not-so-nice dirty thoughts. She eyed me suspiciously. “That’s not like you.”

  She was right. It wasn’t like me. I was a perceptive guy. I could pick up on the most subtle of cues. I knew what the problem was: Soph. She was the damn problem. Since she’d been back, she’d been boring her way into my head and throwing me through a loop.

  That bullshit was about to end.

  “It’s been a long shift.”

  Tiff nodded, fortunately satisfied with t
hat explanation. What else was I gonna say? Your best friend is driving me insane and all I can think about is fucking her within an inch of her life, claiming her and owning every part of her? Yeah, not likely.

  “I took the liberty of playing matchmaker.”

  “What?”

  She grinned, looking really pleased with herself. “She knows you’re up for it.”

  Oh no. I knew what that meant. Tiff and I could barely tolerate one another. She wouldn’t do me a favor without…wanting one in return. I glared at her and folded my arms across my chest. “What is it?”

  “What?” she asked, playing coy.

  Urgh. She always made me work for it. It was like pulling teeth just trying to get a straight answer out of her most of the time. She needed to have a full-length conversation over every little fucking thing. “What do you want?” I clarified, even though it was already crystal fucking clear what I’d meant.

  “I think you know.”

  Not this again. Fuck. “Tiff, I don’t think—”

  “Just talk to him.”

  “Fine,” I grunted. “I’ll talk to Ollie. That’s all. One talk.” He better just fuck her, so I can finally hear the end of this obsession of hers. Jesus Christ, she’s been beating me to death with it for too damn long. They better just finally hook up.

  “Good,” she said in that fake sugary-sweet tone of hers. “Much appreciated, handsome.”

  She turned away and headed out to the floor, letting everyone know that it was last call. I took one last glance at the sexy brunette and gave her a nod. Oh, it’s on.

  ***

  “Yes! Oh God! Yes! Yes!”

  Fuck me, the girl screamed like a porn star. One of those really annoying ones, the kind that had you muting the video right away, because the sound was such a turn off. Although, I knew it wasn’t fake, like most of that porno shit was, because I was damn good at what I did, it didn’t make it any less goddamn annoying. Even when she wasn’t screaming, every time she spoke was like nails scraping across a chalkboard.

  Thankfully, my dick was too preoccupied to register the major turn off the way my mind was. I had her on her hands and knees on my bed and I was balls deep, fucking her hard from behind.

  When she moved to speak again, I stopped yanking harshly on her ponytail and shoved two fingers into her mouth. She moaned, her tongue swirling around them. Good girl. Put your mouth to better use.