LOVE AND HATE (A Billionaire Romance) (42 page)

I stepped onto the moving truck, and Debbie handed me another box. She grabbed the last one and smiled at me. “All done!”

I managed a small smile. “Great.”

Debbie was Blake’s surprisingly kind mom—nothing like her son. I was glad my father had found someone he loved so much, which was the only reason I agreed to her and Blake moving in. While I already regretted it, I was determined to make it work, for their sakes.

We headed upstairs, and I tossed the last box in Blake’s room, where he was unpacking. He smiled slyly and said, “Careful with my stuff there, kid. It’s fragile.”

I allowed myself a scowl and left the room in a huff, hurrying to my room to shower the disgusting sweat off my face and body, relieved to be done moving their stuff. After my shower, I went downstairs, where Dad was helping Debbie unpack her kitchen supplies. He looked up at me with a huge smile, and I reminded myself that my dad’s happiness was important.

“Hey, Lyssa honey, we’re going out for pizza later since it’s kind of late to cook. Sound good?” Dad asked, beaming at me next to his new wife.

I smiled. “Sure, sounds good.”

I helped unpack until Dad called out that it was time to go. I grabbed my jacket and my wallet and bounced to the car, suddenly starved. All the energy I had used helping Blake and Debbie move in had left my stomach empty, and it growled in ravenous agreement. I popped open the back door, slid in, and found Blake already there. I frowned, keeping tightly to my side of the car. Stupidly, I’d forgotten—just for a moment—that he would be coming with us. Blake, oddly enough, must have shared some of my discomfort. He glowered and shifted in his seat, as if to increase the space between us. For some weird reason, that rankled me.

Our parents chattered happily as we drove to the restaurant, and while I tried to keep my attention on my phone or out the window, the proximity between Blake and I was distracting. I could feel an unfamiliar, almost electric tension buzz between us. The shadows cast on his face from the evening sky through the window made him look dark and enigmatic, and they highlighted his strong facial features. I imagined caressing his face, and inexplicably, small trembles ran through my body. Angry at my instinctual reaction, I turned sharply to stare at the moving landscape. I would have to stay away from him as much as possible. I couldn’t let his good looks and that silent, smoldering something he possessed get the best of me.

I was finally able to breathe when we got out of the car at the restaurant. I took a deep breath and followed my family inside. We were seated quickly, and Dad and Debbie sat across from each other, leaving the empty seat in front of me for Blake. He slid into the chair and flashed me a devilish smile. I couldn’t be sure, but I had an unsettling feeling that he was mocking me. Had he sensed my discomfort in the car and assumed it was due to the odd magnetic attraction that I struggled to conceal? Awkwardly, I looked away from his teasing gaze and took refuge in my disdain.

I glared at the menu, hoping he wouldn’t hear my stomach rumbling. We ordered and waited for our pizza, and I sipped quietly on my iced tea. Debbie looked at me and asked, “So, Alyssa, are you excited about your first semester at college?”

I nodded and swallowed my tea. “Super excited. The chemistry and engineering program I’m enrolled in will be challenging.”

As I explained to Debbie about schoolwork and what I was studying, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Blake listening, most likely judging me for being such a dork. It didn’t matter, though. I loved learning, and once I was on campus, I’d barely see him, anyway.

“What about you, Blake?” my father asked, turning to look at him.

Blake shrugged and said nothing. His mother chimed in and answered for him. “We still haven’t decided yet. Blake has so many talents.”

I snorted out loud. The thought of Blake being considered good at anything besides football was hilarious. My snort earned me harsh looks from both Debbie and my father, and I quickly apologized. Blake smirked at me from across the table, juvenile and oddly playful even though I had just laughed at him. I ignored the quick start of surprise.

The pizza arrived, pulling the attention away from me. We ate in silence for the most part as any conversation seemed somewhat forced. Halfway through the meal, Blake nudged my foot. I looked at him and with a clenched jaw, kicked him back. He smiled, indicating I clearly hadn’t hurt him. In another few minutes, he did it again, knocking against me with his foot. I ignored him, but he did it again, so this time I kicked him hard, really hard. He let out a surprised yelp, but I looked innocently down at my food.

Debbie looked at him, concerned. “What’s wrong, Blake?”

I bit my lip to keep from laughing as he answered, “Hit my foot by accident.”

I gave him a victorious smirk, knowing it was childish but feeling giddy anyway. As we left the restaurant, Blake grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him, our faces an inch apart. I had been unprepared for his touch, so my body flushed at his sudden tight grip. With a controlling, dominant look in his eyes and an almost seductive smile, he said, “Careful, kid. Next time I’ll kick you back.”

He let go of me and walked to the car, but I stood there like an idiot, my skin hot where his hand had touched me. Shaking my head, I told myself to snap out of it as I walked to the car. The ride home was even tenser than the trip out, and I was so much more aware of the short distance between our bodies. After feeling such a small fraction of his domineering allure, I strained to stare out the window and not at him. That small space seemed a puny protection against the tumult stirring within me.

I escaped to my room as soon as we got home, wanting to be alone, and sat at my desk, which held a clutter of papers and my computer. I pulled my calendar from the wall and traced the glossy surface with my finger as I slowly counted the days until school started.
Six days,
I thought, encouraging myself. Y
ou only have to deal with him for six more days.

I was exhausted and dressed quickly for bed, but as I lay down, my mind found sudden energy. Thoughts ran through my head on a loop, and while I tried to think of other things, everything circled back around to Blake. His eyes had been so intense and electric when he’d grabbed me, his touch tenderly rough. I yearned to be that close to him again. An unspoken promise floated between our tense bodies, unmoving and unknowing. I had to continually dismiss these images and thoughts from my head, partially admitting that my deep dislike for Blake was a thin veil for my illogical temptation. I let out a deep sigh and thought,
It’s going to be a really long six days.

***

The next morning, I dragged myself downstairs for breakfast, exhausted. I had barely slept the night before, and I was miserable. I sat down at the table where Dad was flipping through the newspaper while Debbie cooked breakfast. I usually cooked for him, so watching her cook was weird.

Debbie turned to me with a bright smile. “How do you like your eggs?”

The thought of food made me nauseous. “I’m good with some juice, thanks.”

Dad looked at me over his paper. “Not hungry? That’s not like you.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I responded sarcastically, and he laughed and sipped his coffee.

I drank my juice and looked at my phone, opening a text from my best friend, Maggie.
Can I come over? Totally need to chat,
the text read. I sent her a quick reply and asked, “Dad, can Maggie come over?”

My father didn’t look up from his paper. “Sure, honey.”

I got up from the table and put my empty glass in the sink. I kissed Dad’s forehead before bounding upstairs, saying a quick goodbye to him before he headed off to work. I hung out in my room, flipping through a book until Maggie showed up. I heard the doorbell ring and ran excitedly downstairs to open the door.

Maggie, her red, curly hair framing her sweet, freckled face, walked in, chattering about something that happened at the coffee shop where she worked. We laughed as we climbed the stairs, and I saw Blake leave his room as we went into mine.

“Morning, ladies,” he said in a gruff voice. His eyes looked tired, and he was still dressed in his pajamas even though it was noon.

As I closed the bedroom door behind us, Maggie looked at me and said, “So you
have
to tell me what it’s like living with Blake Anderson.”

I shrugged, unsure how to describe it. “I don’t know, Maggie. It’s only been a day…kind of hard to tell.”

“He’s so good-looking, but he is a total ass.” Maggie plopped down on my bed.

“I have to say, it’s been weird in general having other people in the house. It’s been only my dad and me for five years.” I sighed as I sat next to Maggie on the bed, grateful to have someone to talk to about them living here.

Maggie grabbed my hand and said, “Hey, you’re going to be super busy with school soon anyway. It’s a good thing your dad found Debbie.”

“You’re right.” Her observation made me feel better. Worry over my dad being lonely when I would leave had plagued my mind until Debbie waltzed into his life.

“So, are you excited to start school?” Maggie asked, clambering up from the bed to toy with random things on my desk.

“Definitely. What about you?” Maggie and I would be in the same program, which was a relief. We had gone to school together for so long that anything different seemed impossible. Sharing the daunting prospect of beginning college, of taking the step closer to adulthood, would be easier with my friend by my side.

“Totally. Mostly for the cute college boys,” Maggie said with a laugh. We chatted for another hour and then decided we wanted to swim, so I tossed her a bikini and quickly changed into mine. We headed downstairs and out into the backyard. We had a pool and a large patio which held a table and some chairs and a lot of potted plants of all shapes and colors. We threw our towels on the chair and sat near the edge of the pool, dipping our feet in the cool water.

The glass door opened behind us, and Blake walked outside. He looked at us with a grin. “Sweet pool you got here, kid,” he said, looking around the backyard.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess.”

Blake was dressed in basketball shorts and a t-shirt, and he stopped near where we sat at the edge of the pool. He slid his shirt off and tossed it to the side.

“What’re you doing?” I asked, pretending not to notice his lean, chiseled body.

He shrugged. “I’m going swimming, dummy.” He jumped, landing explosively in the water, and the backsplash soaked Maggie and me.

She laughed, slid into the water, and looked up at me with a wide grin. “C’mon in, Alyssa!” she cried, grabbing my arm as I pulled away with a giggle.

Blake swam over, his eyes on me, a hungry gleam in them. My smile slowly disappeared as he neared. Reaching up, he grabbed for my arm, and I yelled, “No!” But it was too late. His strong grip tightened around my wrist and he yanked hard, pulling me in. The water rushed up around me, cold and unforgiving. I shot up, gasping for air as I reached the surface. Maggie and Blake laughed as I pulled the wet, matted hair out of my face.

“You guys suck,” I mumbled, pouting as I stood in the water that was deeper than my waist. Annoyed, I splashed them. The playfulness turned into a full-on splash war, and we goofed around and laughed for almost twenty minutes. Finally, we got out of the pool, and Maggie and I dried ourselves off before going inside. I tossed my towel at Blake as we left because he was still dripping wet on the patio.

Maggie and I headed to the kitchen to make sandwiches. As I pulled ingredients from the fridge, Maggie said, “That was fun.”

I nodded. “Yeah, it was.” I heard the faint trace of surprise in my own words.

Maggie sat down at the table and began to make her sandwich. Without looking up, she said, “Maybe it won’t be so bad having them here.”

I smiled, thinking Maggie might be right. “Yeah, maybe.”

Blake

I headed upstairs to my new room, tense after the excursion in the pool. Alyssa looked incredible, her body irresistible in that bikini. I had no idea how difficult it was going to be living with her when she was such a forbidden temptation.

I laid down on the bed, willing myself not to think about her. Insanely, I felt drawn to her pale skin, soft brown hair, and baby-blue eyes. I wanted to know more about her, but trying was a crazy idea that would get me nowhere. She had set opinions of me, and we were much too different anyway. Alyssa was so much more real than the girls I had always dated. That was part of being a football star—keeping up appearances and protecting your reputation.

It didn’t help that my mother married her father, either. That made it ten times more wrong…and ten times more tempting. I shook my head and dressed, deciding to go out for a while before the party I had been invited to later. Some of the guys from high school were throwing an end of the year bash before we left for college.

The gym was a good place to clear my head. It had been a couple of days since I worked out, anyway, and my muscles craved the exercise. I headed downstairs and saw Alyssa and Maggie sitting at the table eating. I tried not to notice how cute she looked, smiling and chatting, relaxed with her friend like she never was with me. I left quickly without a word, desperate to get my mind off of her.