Chapter 7

Donnie stumbled back and rubbed his jaw as shock blended with reality. “What the fuck, man?”

“You’re an asshole.”

“You take a cheap shot and I’m the asshole?” Donnie asked. He approached Alex and stood chest to chest with him, their faces inches apart.

Teghan scrambled to her feet and pushed herself between them. There was no doubt in her mind that if things progressed, Alex would get his ass handed to him. Donnie was twice his size and Teghan knew Alex had never been in a fight. “Stop it!” she screamed.

“Get out of the way, Teghan,” Alex said, not breaking eye contact with Donnie. He reached towards her in an attempt to move.

Donnie smacked Alex’s hand. “Don’t you dare lay a hand on her,” he said, pointing his finger in Alex’s face.

Alex stepped around Teghan and rushed at Donnie. They fell to the ground, sound of bones smacking against flesh, arms, legs, fists flew haphazardly—to the point that Teghan didn’t know what body part belonged to whom.

“Stop!” Teghan screamed. She stood, crying and watching helplessly as Donnie and Alex rolled around on the ground fighting. What the hell was happening? Why had Alex gone postal? He wasn’t a violent person. And Donnie didn’t seem violent either—at least he’d never given her any indication that he could be.

“Trevor!” Teghan yelled when she caught sight of him.

“What the hell is going on?” Trevor asked, pushing his way through the crowd and into the circle. “Alex!” He rushed over, grabbed Alex’s shirt and yanked him off Donnie.

Annabelle put her arm around Teghan’s shoulder and tried to usher her away. Teghan refused.

Trevor stood in front of Alex, preventing him from going after Donnie again. “Calm down, man.”

“He was making a move on Teghan,” Alex said wiping the blood from his lip.

“I wasn’t doing anything she didn’t ask for,” Donnie said.

“Teghan? That’s what this is all about?” Trevor asked.

“That bastard was moving in on my girlfriend.” Alex pointed at Donnie.

“I’m not your girlfriend, Alex!” Teghan shouted. She walked up to him, her face streaked with tears. “Please stop,” she begged with trembling lips. Alex knew damn well she wasn’t his girlfriend. Why was he being so possessive? She had to stop this and make him understand.

“Get out of my way, Teghan,” Alex ordered. “I’m not finished with him yet.”

“What else you got?” Donnie motioned with his hands for Alex to come at him again.

“No!” Teghan shouted. “This shit stops now!” They all stopped and looked at her. Her face was red with anger and her body was shaking.

“Teghan,” Trevor said calmly. “Tell me what happened.”

“I don’t know.” Her lips continued to tremble as she fought to regain some semblance of control. “I was dancing with Donnie and next thing I know, I’m on the ground and these two are beating on each other.”

Trevor looked back and forth between Donnie and Alex, his expression angry. “Which one of you two dickheads hit my sister?”

Teghan groaned. All she needed was for Trevor to start fighting with them. “No one hit me, Trevor. I fell when Alex hit Donnie.”

“You alright, Teghan?” Donnie asked as he approached her.

“Stay the fuck away from her,” Alex said stepping in front of Teghan, blocking Donnie’s path.

“Damn it, Alex. Stop!” Teghan looked at him. His lip was cut and swollen. “I’m not your girlfriend anymore. You can’t act this way.”

“Fuck this. I’m outta here.” Alex walked away.

“Alex!” Teghan shouted as she turned to go after him.

Donnie grabbed her wrist. “Don’t,” he said, his green eyes pleading with her. “Let him go, Teghan.”

Teghan yanked free from his hold. She knew Donnie was right, but it was Alex. She had to go after him.

“He’s right, Teghan,” Annabelle said. “If you don’t want to be with Alex then you need to let him go.”

“Give him some time to calm down,” Trevor said. “I’ll go talk to him.”

“Thank you, Trevor.” Teghan gave her brother a hug.

“Go get yourself cleaned up. You look like hell,” Trevor said.

Teghan choked back a sob. It was just like Trevor to make a crass statement like that during a situation like this. “Annie, will you go with him?” Teghan asked.

“Sure.” Annabelle hugged Teghan. “I’ll meet you back at the dorm, okay?”

Teghan nodded. Annabelle was the voice of reason in their group and she always knew how to make things right between everyone. Slowly, the crowd dissipated and the party resumed. “I’m leaving,” she said.

“Let me walk you to your dorm,” Donnie said. “You shouldn’t be out this late alone.”

Who the hell was he? Her father? Teghan left the house without another word. So much for pledging that sorority. How would she ever face any of those girls again? She was so pissed she wanted to kill Alex and Donnie for embarrassing her like that. What the hell had they been thinking?

“We’re here,” Teghan said.

“Are you going to let me come up so we can talk about this?” Donnie asked.

Teghan rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” she said, opening the door and going inside. The only thing she cared about right now was changing and crawling into bed, pulling the covers over her head, and forgetting the entire night.

Donnie sat on Teghan’s bed and she cringed at the sight of him. She pulled a can of soda from the mini-fridge and handed it to him. “Better put that on your face before it starts to swell,” she said.

Donnie put it on his cheek, underneath his right eye. “Ouch.” He winced.

Teghan huffed. “Serves you right.” She gathered some clothes from her dresser and grabbed her cosmetic bag from the desk. “I’m going to change. I’ll be right back.”

He tossed the soda on the bed and grabbed Teghan’s hand as she walked by him, pulling her down onto his lap. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For fighting with Alex.”

“It’s not like you punched yourself in the face,” Teghan said. “I just never thought Alex would do something like that.”

“He’ll be okay, Teghan.”

She looked at him, at the remorse in his eyes, at the bruises on his face, and at the sadness pulling on his lips. Teghan tossed her clothes and makeup to the floor. Taking his face into her hands, she gently kissed his bruised cheek before making her way to his mouth. Her kiss was soft at first, and then became harder, demanding. It was a greedy kiss, ripe with passion that left her hungry for more. She kept her lips on his as she adjusted her position on his lap and straddled him.

“Teghan,” he groaned with pleasure as he began to work the buttons on her blouse.

Her breath hitched when he guided her shirt from her shoulders. He wrapped one arm around her waist, holding her on his lap as he fumbled to unhook her bra with one hand.

“Here.” Teghan reached behind her back. “Let me help.”

Donnie cupped her perky breast in his hand before taking it into his mouth. His tongue raked over her nipple, coaxing it into a tight, hard peak. Teghan arched towards him, her head falling to her shoulders. The feel of his hot mouth on her lit a fire deep in her that raged with each flick of his tongue. She ran her fingers through his hair and held him to her. She bit her bottom lip. “Mmmm,” she moaned. God, why hadn’t she let this happen sooner?

Donnie wrapped his other arm around her waist, lifted her off his lap, and laid her on the bed. He came over her, pressing his erection between her thighs. He slanted his mouth over hers and their tongues feverishly slashed at each other as if they were both afraid that the other would put an end to what was about to happen; to what they both so desperately wanted from each other.

“Donnie,” she breathed against his lips.

“I’ve wanted you from the moment I met you.” He kissed down her neck, lingering on her rapid pulse before savoring the salty warmth of the valley between her breasts. His kisses were deliberate, firm yet gentle. He looked up at her under his lashes, a roguish grin on his face, as he unbuttoned her jeans and tugged them off over her hips. “You’re so sexy,” he whispered as he stood and removed his own jeans.

The sound of his voice, deep, husky, drowning with need, whispering seductive compliments had her pausing for the briefest second. The knowledge that he was going to be the second lover she’d ever had, that they’d reached the point of no return, made her wonder if this was really what she wanted. Then he touched her again, and her mind went silent.

He ran his hand down her naked body until he found the silky slit between her thighs. A startled, desperate cry tore from her lips when he slid a finger into her fiery hot warmth. She dug her heels into the mattress and pushed against his hand, urging him to go deeper. Donnie nipped at her bottom lip and bit at her neck. She cried out as the pleasure-pain ripped through her body. Donnie stroked the delicate flesh, coaxing it, teasing it until Teghan was moaning his name. More! She needed more of him. He slid his finger from her. No! Her hips moved with his hand, desperate to keep his fingers buried inside of her.

Teghan watched the way his muscles rippled under his tanned skin as he undressed himself and fumbled for a condom. The look of desire burning in his eyes had her throbbing with anticipation. She’d wanted this more than she realized, more than she could’ve imagined.

She put her palms flat on his chest and looked at him as he tried to enter her. Doubts started to creep back into her mind. Suddenly this seemed very wrong. As if taking it to the next step would be a decision she’d live to regret.

Donnie stopped. He put all of his weight into his arms and looked down at Teghan. “I’ll be gentle,” he whispered the promise against her lips.

Teghan hesitated. She wasn’t ready. Not yet. Not like this. They weren’t even dating. A loud wailing sound filled the room. “Oh shit!” Thank God! She pushed Donnie off of her, jumped out of bed and grabbed her bathrobe.

“What the hell?” Donnie asked.

“Fire alarm,” Teghan said. She tossed him his jeans. “If we’re not out of this room within two minutes, the RA will come knocking on the door.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” He yanked the condom off and pulled on his jeans. Teghan grabbed his hand and led him out of the dorm. He was shirtless and shoeless.

Teghan, dressed in just her bathrobe, shivered as a light breeze swept over her. Donnie put his arms around her and laughed. “Could this night get any worse?” he asked, kissing the top of her head.

“Yup.” She stepped away from him and nodded over his shoulder.

Donnie spun around to see Alex, Trevor, and Annabelle walking towards them. “Great.”

“Let me handle this,” she said, stepping in front of Donnie.

“What’s going on?” Annabelle asked.

“Fire drill,” Teghan said.

“Really?” Annabelle folded her arms over her chest. “So, where’s the rest of the dorm then?”

Teghan looked around. The quad was nearly empty. A few students trickled out from nearby dorms. Son of a bitch!

“We’re not stupid, Teghan,” Alex said.

Teghan swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “I never said you were.”

“Then cut the crap already and just say it. You were fucking him, weren’t you?” Alex said.

Donnie stepped around Teghan and pointed at Alex. “Don’t talk to her like that.”

“Fuck you,” Alex bit out.

“Enough!” Teghan shouted. She grabbed Alex by the arm and dragged him away from the group. “Alex—"

“Just stop, Teghan,” he said. His voice was full of a sadness that broke her heart. “I can accept the fact that we’re not together anymore, but I won’t watch you with him.” He pointed at Donnie.

“Now it’s your turn to cut the crap. You can’t handle anything, Alex. You can’t handle the break-up, or the idea of me being with someone else, and you sure as hell can’t handle being friends.”

“That’s not true,” he said.

“Isn’t it? What other explanation is there? If you truly wanted to be my friend, you wouldn’t be acting like this.”

“I saw you, Teghan! I saw the way he kissed you.” Anger flashed in his brown eyes. “And I saw the way you let him touch you last night.”

Her eyes widened. “What?”

“Yeah, that’s right. I saw everything. Tell me, Teghan. Why didn’t you just let him fuck you last night? On the cold, hard concrete under the stars. It would’ve been really romantic.”

Teghan slapped him. “How dare you! You hang all over my friend, you fall asleep with her in your arms, and you have the nerve to question what I’m doing?” She wiped tears from her eyes. “Go to hell, Alex!” God, why did this have to be so hard? Why did it have to hurt so much?

Alex grabbed her wrist as she turned to walk away. “I didn’t do anything with Beth,” he shouted.

Donnie rushed over, grabbed Alex’s free arm and twisted it behind his back. “Get your damn hands off of her,” he said through clenched teeth.

“Stop it!” Teghan screamed. Alex released her wrist at the same moment that Donnie released Alex’s arm. “I can’t do this,” she sobbed. “I will not watch you two beat each other up.”

“Teghan,” Donnie said.

“No.” She shook her head back and forth. “I’m done. It’s obvious that I’m the problem here so consider me gone.”

Alex’s eyes frosted over as the truth set in. “What’re you saying?”

“I don’t want to see either one of you again.” Teghan walked away.

“Teghan!” they shouted in unison.

She ignored them and continued to walk towards her dorm.

“You can’t just walk away like this,” Alex said.

She stopped and turned to face them. “Why the hell not? You two seem to do whatever the fuck you want without any concern for me.” Teghan shrugged. “Well guess what? I don’t give a shit anymore either.”

“What do you want from me, Teghan?” Alex asked, his voice full of defeat.

Teghan looked at him. “I know nothing happened between you and Beth, but like it or not, something did happen between me and Donnie. You have to accept that.”

Alex shook his head. “No. I won’t watch you with him.”

“And I won’t choose between you two,” she said, before walking away.