If you're loved by someone, you're never rejected, decide what to be and GO BE IT
-The Avett brothers
Recommend Reading Introduction to Unproven
DEFINITELY READ Prologue
Chapter One
Four years later
Grayson exited the mixed martial arts building, wiping the sweat off his brow and smiling for the first time in days. He’d trounced all five of his opponents soundly on the mats, his body an efficient machine of speed, agility, and strength. It was a rush, the only one capable of taking his mind off his aching nuts for longer than a minute, other than the paid consorts he visited every five days.
He groaned and quickly banished them from his mind. He wouldn’t see them again for two more days and thoughts of what they did on those visits were seriously detrimental to his carefully maintained control, not to mention a very literal pain in the balls.
“Yo Teller, you were the shit in their dude!”
He smiled wryly at Mark Harland, aka The Dude, and pounded his outstretched fist.
“You should seriously consider ultimate fighting dude, no joke. The girls go crazy for that shit, and with your pretty mug they’d be all over you.”
“They’re already all over me,” Grayson flashed a cocky grin and inwardly rolled his eyes as ‘The Dude’ cracked up, babbling agreement. All over him, yeah, unfortunately since he was just completing his junior year, “all over him” usually meant a whole lot of cock teasing and no real action beyond a little oral play, which was worse than nothing at all as it required extra trips to the professional girls. Which was something his father frowned upon. The art of control was extremely high on the list of what James Teller considered important.
“So dude, you goin’ to the party tomorrow?”
Grayson smirked, “Hell yeah, seriously need to tie one on.”
“You got your eye on anyone in particular? Heard Lisa was all up on your nuts the other night.”
Grayson made a face. “Nah, her voice drives me batshit.”
“Riiigght?” Mark laughed loudly. “What about Brooke, dude, the two of you doing the horizontal mambo is long overdue.”
Grayson snorted, “Cock-tease.”
“Okay, what about…”
Grayson held up a hand, “Most of the girls in our class are either prudes or skanks, neither of which appeals to me.”
“True that, can’t wait for college, dude, one more year!”
Mark held his fist out again and Grayson knocked it just before they reached his ‘baby’, a brand new silver Maserati 300 GT limited edition. It was the mother of all cars, decked out to the nines with every modern electronic convenience and booking out at a hundred and eighty grand it was worth every penny.
He jumped in and started it, listening to the engine purr for a second before glancing up at Mark who was leaning on the door, preventing it from shutting.
He cocked a dark brow, his intense blue eyes narrowing slightly, “Need a ride?”
“Hell yes! Dude!” Mark grinned as he jogged around to the passenger side and slid in the seat. “Damn this ride is sexy!”
Grayson threw it in gear and peeled out of the parking lot, reaching sixty in three-seconds, hitting the brakes and barely feeling the jolt at the stop sign. Mark whistled low and Grayson glanced over at him favoring him with a half-smile that was all ego. He started to hit the gas and had to brake again as a group of girls darted out in front of him.
“Hey, aren’t they in our class?” Mark asked.
Grayson’s brows furrowed as he studied them. “Yeah, I think so.” Two of them turned in his direction and he recognized one of the faces. A girl he’d played tongue hockey with a few months ago….What was her name? Ally? No Andie.
“Oh yeah, they’re definitely in our class,” Mark declared. “Part of the geek patrol.” He rolled down his window to shout something, but Grayson took off before he could, relishing the way the loudmouth slammed back against the seat.
“Yo, dude, coulda’ warned me!”
“Sorry,” he lied.
He dropped ‘The Dude’ off at his house, then headed home.
**
“OMG, did you see who that was?” Amanda tossed her ash brown hair over her shoulder, her eyes on the car as it sped away.
“Yeah we saw, and stop saying OMG it’s freaking annoying,” Andie snapped, unconsciously pulling on her long dark braid.
Sonya giggled, her freckled cheeks squinching up. “Amanda can’t help it,” she stated. “She’s a product of the digital generation.”
Andie’s eyes rolled upward before her attention zoned in on the little blonde walking beside her. “Earth to Aryanne,” she teased, pushing the girl’s tiny shoulder.
Ary blushed, her green eyes crinkling as a small smile appeared on her almost childlike features.
Andie made a face. “I can’t believe you still have a thing for that arrogant ass,” she stated. “Why him, Ary? I mean okay he’s hot…physically, but his beauty is only skin deep.”
Ary sighed dramatically, “I know but I can’t help it. In my imagination he is sweet and funny and charming.”
“The operative word being imagination,” Andie cut in. “In the real world he’s a spoiled, self-centered, emotionless prick with a God complex. Remember in ninth grade when we counted how many times he smiled all year? A genuine smile that wasn’t wry or mocking in nature?”
“Three times,” Sonya chirped.
“No, two actually, we decided the third time was a trick of the light.”
Ary sighed again. “Yeah, but it did prove he was capable of a genuine smile.”
“Uggh, come on Amanda, help us out here!”
“Huh?” Amanda asked.
Ary glanced at her distracted friend then cocked her head at Andie, “As if she has any room to talk, she has a thing for that dumbass riding shotgun.”
Andie’s nose wrinkled. “You have a point. Still, I think ‘The Dude’ is preferable to ‘The Dick’.”
“You don’t know he’s that bad.”
“Um, hello, you were in school this year, you did see how he utterly destroyed poor Carrie Kellerman.”
“What? Poor Carrie Kellerman, are you freaking kidding me? You were the first person to call her a slut when everyone learned she cheated on him, and you can’t stand her anyway…”
Andie held up a hand, “Okay fine, but you have to admit he went way further than he needed to in payback. He was cruel Ary, seriously cruel. And yeah, I do say poor Carrie, I don’t have to like her to feel sorry for her.”
“I hate to say this Ary,” Sonya’s high-pitched voice carried an apologetic tone, “but I’m with Andie on this one. The guy is totally gorgeous, but there’s something about him that’s, I don’t know, cold. He kind of scares me.”
“Well I don’t agree,” Ary said weakly.
“You don’t know him Ary, you freely admit that you’ve made up a personality for him,” Andie pointed out.
“And you know him?”
Andie opened her mouth and shut it again. “Fine, let’s drop it. Let’s talk about how much fun we’re gonna have this summer instead.”
“Speaking of,” Sonya chimed in, “are we really going through with tomorrow?”
“Um, you better,” Amanda stated, snapping out of her thoughts, and brushing her angled bangs out of her light-blue eyes. “I am so not going to spend another summer as the only non-virgin.”
“Non-virgin?” Andie snorted. “Seriously Am, your grasp of language is impeccable.”
“Whatever Miss She Thinks She’s So Smart.”
“Ohhh, good one!”
“Enough,” Ary interjected giving them pointed looks, “and yes, our plan is still intact.”
“Except we decided we could stop at third-base, so sorry Mandy but you still might be the only non-virgin after tomorrow,” Andie added.
Amanda grimaced. “So unfair.”
Sonya giggled, “Did you seriously say unfair? Like you were forced to spread your legs against your will?”
Amanda huffed and sped up her pace and Andie smirked at her back as they walked into the school parking lot. She turned to the others. “Okay, so after school’s out tomorrow…,” she started.
“‘School’sssss out. For. Summa’!” Ary sang, “Can’t wait ‘till ‘School’ssss out Forevaaa’.”
“Oh yeah!” Sonya clapped her five.
“Totally with you guys on that,” Andie agreed, “but as I was saying, after school we’ll head into the city for our appointments at Jazzy’s salon, then back to my house to play dress up.”
“I cannot wait!” Sonya bounced on her toes as they reached Andie's car. “My new wardrobe is killer sexy!”
“Where’d Amanda go?” Ary asked, as she climbed into the back seat and shut the door.
“Her mom's picking her up,” Andie stated as she shifted in reverse. “It's a good thing too, she's getting on my last nerve lately.”
“She always gets on your last nerve,” Sonya pointed out with a laugh.
Fifteen minutes later they pulled up in front of the house Ary shared with her grandma, and Ary turned a pleading look on Andie as she reached for the door handle. “Are you going to give me a hard time if I try for Grayson? Because you know there’s no one else I even want to kiss, let alone other things.”
Andie shook her head, the disapproving frown back in place. “Whatever Ary, as long as you realize you’re asking for a heartbreaking one-night stand. I just don’t want to see you get hurt babe. Sex is a big step, which is why we amended our pact to include lesser things. We’re trying to establish ourselves as something other than the geek status we’ve, well let’s face it, earned over the last few years. But I’m not sure Slut is an excellent replacement, and you know with Grayson it’ll be all or nothing. You’ve heard the rumors, he doesn’t like fooling around unless he’s certain it’s going all the way.”
“I know, but I really can’t imagine doing any of those things unless it’s with him.”
Andie sighed. “Okay, well I gotta go do one last night of studying. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She gave a little beep and Ary blew her a kiss before heading indoors.
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