Daphne
The library is quiet this morning, which is perfect because I’m unsure how I’d handle being around anyone but old Mrs. Traiger after that crap with my locker. Like most other mornings, she’s given me a long list of things to do and a cart of books to reshelve. After piling on the work, she’d retired into her little cubby behind the desk to read until the second class of the day. She almost never schedules anyone to come in first thing in the morning.
Today, I appreciate that even more than she knows.
Busying myself with my tasks, I’m on my way to put away the reference books that had been left in the two study rooms when I catch a tall figure out of the corner of my eye. I grimace and hurry away. Hopefully Mrs. Traiger has her hearing aids turned on this morning and realizes someone is here who likely needs assistance.
How hard is it to put the books on the restocking cart?I’ve collected a ton and placed them on said cart when the study room door clicks shut behind me. Sucking in a breath, I whirl around to find Micah leaning against the door, watching me. I don’t know why it hadn’t connected in my mind that it was him I’d seen. “You scared me.” I give him a tentative grin. “I wasn’t expecting you. Why aren’t you in class?”
He gives me a small smile, but I can tell something is off in his demeanor. Scrubbing his hand over the top of his head, he chuckles darkly. “You know what’s fucked up? I’ve been partying for months, fucking up my grades, drinking their booze and smashing the bottles on their walls and … nothing. Just fucking nothing. No reaction whatsoever.”
My brows raise. Oh my God. His parents. Tell me his parents got called in … and they actually showed up.
“I can do all sorts of stupid shit, but so long as they think it’s something they can overlook, they don’t care. They. Don’t. Fucking. Care.”
“Micah,” I step closer to him, cautiously putting my hand on his forearm, “what happened?”
“It’s dumb. You get attacked. I defend you. And that is what brings my parents out from wherever the hell they’ve been holing up. I haven’t fucking seen them in weeks. And then suddenly, here they are.”
I don’t know what to say, so I wrap my arms around his waist and rest my head against his chest, offering what comfort I can.
“And all they can see is that I’ve humiliated them because I used my fists, my strength, and my size. What should I have done? Would they have preferred that I had a polite conversation with those asshats who were insulting you? Because that wouldn’t have worked. They wouldn’t have gotten the message. Should I have looked the other way? Let them say whatever they wanted?”
His chest rises and falls against my cheek, his heart beating fast.
“You did what you thought was right.”
“You’d think they’d get their own son on some fundamental level, but instead it’s like we’re from different planets. They don’t fucking understand me at all.” He draws in an unsteady breath.
I’ve never seen Micah like this before. The pain bleeds right out of his voice and into me as if we were the same person. I tilt my head back, looking into his stormy, anguish-filled eyes. “I’m sorry, Micah. I’m so sorry they acted like that.”
“You don’t have to be sorry. You’re one of the few who knows what I go through with them. You may have been the only one besides Coach who recognized that I was screwing up my grades on purpose, hoping to get their attention. Just—fuck! Why pay attention to me now? Why not let me stumble on my own like they always do?”
I slowly shake my head. “I don’t have any idea. But you know your friends will always be there for you, no matter what.”
He swallows hard, and takes my chin between his fingers. “What about you? I need you, Daph. I need you most of all.” His lips come down hard on mine, demanding and possessive, his desperate need for me threatening to tear my heart in two. He deepens the kiss, sweeping me headlong into madness.
Lips still locked, he shrugs out of his blazer, then backs me up a few paces until my butt hits the edge of the table. At his urging, I shimmy my way on top of it, and he eases back for a second, staring into my eyes as if searching for something. The fire in his might be my undoing.
Micah’s hands slide under my skirt and up my outer thighs to my panties. His fingers hook the waistband, and when he begins to drag them down, I put a hand on his bicep.
“Micah.” My eyes must be incredibly wide as they roam over his features. He looks so broken. My chest tightens, and I want to help him but don’t know how.
His voice is gravelly and low. “I need you, Daphne.” His lips catch mine again, and his fingers rub circles over my clit. “Your panties are damp.” As I sit there, he bends at the waist, flipping my uniform skirt up, and puts his face right between my legs. He inhales deeply, nudging at my pussy with his nose. “Fuck, baby.”
I suck in some air. “What if someone—?” My eyes dart to the window in the door of the study room. The hammering of my heart is so loud, I swear it’s going to attract attention to what we’re doing in here.
“The library is empty. And I walked right past Mrs. Traiger, and she didn’t even look up from her book.” He bites down on the corner of his lip and pulls the crotch of my panties to the side.
My breath stutters out as I watch him devouring my exposed flesh with his eyes.
“Lie back. I want to make you feel good.”
I blink once. Breathe in. Breathe out. My gaze locks with his, and I nod. He tugs on the waistband of my panties again, and instead of stopping him, this time I shift to help him remove them. When the cool air hits my bare skin, I have a moment of panic.
Micah leans in and whispers near my ear. “You’re so fucking sexy I can’t help myself. And I’m going to make you come so hard, it’ll be a miracle if old Mrs. Traiger doesn’t hear you even if her hearing aid’s off.”
Pure lust jolts down my spine, making my core throb with need. My lips part as he kisses and nips a path from my earlobe down my neck. My nipples tighten into little peaks.