The School Bully

Sweet and Suck

Being Leon Gage's girlfriend was like being on a roller coaster ride.

He was unpredictable like a stormy weather. There was no knowing when he'd turn scary hot Leon Gage or not so scary but still hot Leon Gage.

Sometimes, he could be sweet.

I didn't know he had it in him since sweet and Leon Gage didn't exactly go together. But still, it was the kind of sweet which could make my heart thunder wildly against my chest and leave me breathless, partially because of fear, but mostly because sweet Leon Gage was a sight to see.

Sometimes, he could really, really suck.

He was mean to me. He enjoyed making me cower in front of him. Honest to God, it was like he loved torturing and embarrassing the heck out of me. This was the side of Leon I dislike. And his glare, holy cow, his scary, scary glare. I didn't even want to think about a pissed off Leon Gage because it was not a sight anyone would want to see.

It was hard to stifle my emerging feelings for him when he was being sweet.

It was easy when he acted like a jerk.

But most of the time, it was a combination of both sweet and suck that made me want to either tear my hair out in aggravation or sigh in happiness.

When Monday came, I was certain after everything that went down last Saturday night that things would change between us. Maybe it was because I felt like I had broken through Leon. Or maybe it was because of the way he treated me so gently.

I told myself I could handle being with Leon. He was just all words, no act. Even though one look from him made me want to cry, I figured everything was going to be a-okay.

Probably.

Hopefully.

But boy, was I wrong.

I was ready to leave when I heard him knock on my door. I immediately ran to open it since he obviously disliked waiting for me. But the moment I did so, he immediately hooked his arm around my waist and pulled me tight to his body. His mouth crashed into my lips and he kissed the breath out of me. I stiffened in his arms, my eyes wide open in surprise, but it was so sweet, so gentle, my eyes slowly closed and I began to kiss him back.

The heat of his mouth against mine was exhilarating.

And, good God, it was amazing.

When he left me after our date, I fidgeted and worried about what kind of face I should give him when Monday arrived. But never in my greatest imagination did I ever expect he was going to ravish me in front of my house.

I should have stopped him. Heck, what would the neighbors think when they see me kissing somebody in broad daylight?

But I couldn't care less.

I just didn't want the kiss to end.

After what felt like ages, Leon tore his mouth from mine and I felt his forehead rest against mine. I slowly opened my eyes, breathless from the kiss that rocked my world. He opened his eyes.

"Hi," I whispered and his lips twitched.

It was then I noticed he too was breathing heavily. Our breaths mingled against our lips and neither of us had moved away so we were still both pressed deep and wrapped in each other's arms.

"Yeah," he whispered, his arms going tighter and his eyes going warm.

He gave me another quick kiss before he let me go. I almost teetered over, still dazed from the incredible kiss he gave me. His hand curled around mine and he tugged me towards his motorcycle.

"Let's go before I decide not to take you to school and take you back inside your house," I heard him mutter.

"You want me to skip class?" I asked, surprise laced in my tone.

He glanced back. His eyes moved over my face and their movement did funny things to my belly. "I want you under me with your legs wrapped around my hips, which is going to happen unless you get your ass on my bike now."

Never in my life have I ever moved so fast.

**********

Tuesday I changed my mind.

I could not handle Leon Gage after all. No freaking way. He was scary and being with him would probably give me a heart attack one of these days. Or make me want to keel over and die from mortification.

Because when my class was heading to the gym for PE and I saw him beside the gym talking to two guys who looked as dangerous as he was, I stupidly, stupidly slowed down to get a look while the rest of my classmates scampered to the doors.

I shouldn't have done it but I was curious. I did not know if he ever went to his classes nor have I ever asked him. So seeing Leon Gage besides the morning before class, lunchtime and after school felt bizarre.

I observed the guys with him. One of them had dark hair cropped close to his scalp and he wore silver rings on his fingers. He was dressed like him, leather jacket, shirt, denim jeans and boots and he had on mirrored aviators. The other was maybe an inch or two shorter than the two of them, had dark blond hair and wore a blue hooded jacket, black shorts and sneakers. He would have looked like a normal high school student except for the piercing on his lower lip and ears.

Another guy soon joined them and I swallowed when I saw his abnormally well-developed physique . His tight white shirt stretched over his massive chest and he had thick bulging muscles in his shoulders, upper arms and thighs. His brown hair was short and spiky and he wore ripped jeans and thick black boots. He towered over the three of them, which was saying something since none of them was exactly petite.

The dark blond noticed me staring at them and must have said something to Leon because he turned. Our eyes locked and panic instantly seized my chest.

Uh-oh. Not good.

I began to speed walk to the gym, my heart lodged in my throat.

What if they were discussing something private, like who their next victim would be or if they were going to eat hamsters tonight for dinner?

But before I could enter the doors, an arm wrapped around my waist, twisting my body and pushing my back against the wall beside them. I gasped as I felt Leon's body pressing against mine. My eyes focused on him and a chill glided down my spine at the sight of the expression on his face.

He was pissed.

"Did you just pretend you didn't see me?" he growled in his deep, scary voice with narrowed-eyed, angry disbelief.

Lie!

I swallowed back a whimper. "I didn't!"

I watched with alarm as his face changed from pissed to very, very pissed.

"Bullshit."

Lie again!

I winced. "Really. I didn't see you."

He stared long at me. I tried not to pass out and hyperventilate.

"I'm going to be late," I informed him nervously.

"I'll let you go." I lowered my eyes and sighed in immediate relief. "But I'll punish you first."

Before I realized what he was going to do, his hand cupped the back of my neck and his mouth hit mine. I gasped in surprise and felt his tongue spike inside my parted lips, tasting and taking.

Then he ended it and I nearly whined in protest. But when I heard the hoots and laughter from behind him, I immediately blanched from realization.

He just kissed me in school and in front of his friends!

"This is what's going to happen, Sophia," he whispered to me and I blinked at him in profound confusion. "Every time you lie to me, I'll kiss you. Anytime. Anywhere. So, you better think twice before lying to me."

My chest was rising and falling swiftly and I'd lost the ability to think.

Was he serious?

"We straight, Sophia?"

No. No, we were not. We definitely we're not straight.

I managed a nod and he gave me another breathtaking, toe-curling kiss before he disappeared. His friends were also gone. I paused to take calm my breathing before I turned to enter the gym.

I stopped short and my body froze as the blood rushed to my head.

His kiss was so good, I forgot the audience we had aside from his friends.

My classmates were peering at me from inside the windows of the gym. My classmates saw Leon ravish me outside the gym. My classmates all wore knowing smirks on their faces and Hannah even gave me a thumbs-up.

I wanted to die.

**********

Wednesday arrived and with it another realization.

Leon was a freaking storm cloud. When he wasn't teasing me or scaring me, he was always brooding and serious. And whenever he was in that kind of mood, it worried me more than when he was scaring me to tremors.

I also learned Leon was touchy-feely, which I found sweet and liked about him. He always held my hand whenever we were together. Instead of sitting opposite me during lunch, he always sat next to me. He seemed to like touching and playing with my hair. Every opportunity when we were alone, and thank God for that, he was forever kissing me and holding me tight in his arms.

During lunchtime that day, Leon was in one of his gloomy moods and I could tell he was distracted. He kept checking his phone and he had a frustrated expression on his face. He silently ate the food I made for him, chicken and bacon pasta with French bread, and every once in a while, he would put his hand over mine and squeeze it.

I kept quiet, worry gnawing my gut. By this time, he would have told me the food I made for him was great and I would thank him.

Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Hannah and Terry walk to the cafeteria. Hannah was grinning at me like crazy while Terry wore an expression of exasperation. I straightened and gave Hannah a good glare. She winked before she followed Terry inside.

"What?"

I jumped and my eyes went to Leon. He was staring at the cafeteria, his gaze narrowing.

"Nothing," I replied.

"Wasn't that Hannah? The one you said was nice?"

"Y-yeah," I spluttered.

He slid his gaze back to me. "She was smiling at you."

"I saw."

"You told her about our date."

I fidgeted with the sleeve of my sweater as I thought about my answer. I did tell Hannah about our date Monday morning during break. She had cornered me in the ladies' room and nagged and whined so much about how I reneged on my promise to tell her about my date with Leon like I told her I would. I only sent a quick text saying I was alive then ignored the incoming messages and calls from her.

I finally told her when she threatened to barricade us both inside. When I told her the part about the hostess and waitress trying to flirt with Leon, she looked outraged. When I told her the part about Leon making me say out loud that he was hot, she laughed so hard I thought she was going to choke on her spit. I also told her about how I was going to make Leon lunch from then on which made her smile and I also told her how he took me to that lovely view on top of the hill.

But I didn't tell her how weirdly jealous I was about the flirting, how comfortable I was with him when I forgot to be scared, and how pleased I was to feel him next to me.

But most of all, I didn't tell her about his smile because I wanted to keep it all to myself.

When she started to shriek as humanely possible when I began telling her about our kiss, I hustled out of the ladies' room as fast as I could and ignored her for the rest of the day, which was hard since she was, well, Hannah.

My cheeks burned from the recollection. Leon started to look impatient and there was no way I was lying to him in this location.

I pulled in breath then blurted out, "She was nagging me to tell her!" When his eyes flared with annoyance and his mouth got tight, I immediately backtracked. "Not nagging, more like pleading. Really. And she's my friend so I have to tell her something. But I didn't tell her everything. I swear!"

He looked past me and I saw his jaw clench. I bit my lip and leaned forward.

"I shouldn't have told her anything. I'm sorry," I whispered with a tremble.

"Shut it, Sophia," he muttered and propped his elbow on the table, chin on his fist before leaning close to my face. "Did you tell her how you attacked my lips?"

I hiccupped in surprise. "I did not attack your lips."

"Sure you didn't."

"You kissed me first!" I reminded him.

Leon's silvery-gray eyes glinted and I instantly knew he was on a teasing mood. "You were begging me with your eyes to kiss you."

I gasped. "I did not!"

"You were so hot for me you almost let me f**k you on the bench."

I felt a blush creep up to my face at his crude words. Thank God, there were still no other occupants at the outside cafeteria tables or I would have died from embarrassment. Leon was not exactly whispering to me.

"Your lips were delicious, by the way."

Oh, my God. Please, please shut him up.

His eyes danced with amusement as he stared down at me. He leaned into my ear and I swear my heart almost jumped out from my chest.

"I kind of want to kiss you right now."

I leaned back and blinked at him. Was he serious? I began to panic. Did he forget the tons of people inside the cafeteria sneaking glances at us? I thought he wasn't going to kiss me in school unless I lied!

While I sat there, frozen, Leon straightened up, his eyes not straying from mine. I stared at him cautiously, wondering what his next game was going to be. I was glad he wasn't brooding anymore but being teased at was not fun either.

My eyes slid towards my food and an idea popped into my mind. Before he could do anything, I launched myself at my food, cramming every bit into my mouth. If my mouth was full, then he probably wouldn't think about kissing me, right? Manners, be damned.

As I was trying to push a piece of bread in my mouth, his hand shot out to remove it from my hand.

"s**t, Sophia. Are you trying to choke yourself?" I heard him murmur, his voice sounding amused.

Oh, great idea. Why haven't I thought of that?

"If you think that would stop me from making out with you right here, you've got another thing coming."

I managed to swallow my food and whimpered, "Oh, God, no."

"You were right."

I looked at him hesitantly, resisting the urge to hide my lips with my hands.

"What?" I asked.

He gestured at the lunch box I brought, now empty. "You make a killer pasta."

A smile made its way into my lips and I muttered an abashed, "Thanks."

"Now, about that kiss..."

Thank God for the bell.

**********

Leon wasn't sure if he was playing a role anymore.

And this pissed him off.

He was beginning to f**k up when it came to her. He did not have time to f**k up. But she was messing with his head, working her way under his skin. And every day, she got in deeper and deeper until she was digging her way in.

And he was letting her.

Fuck, f**k, f**k.

He tried hard not to get sucked in. And, f**k, he tried so damn hard. But with every kiss, every smile she gave him, every touch and embrace lit something in him. It was like a fire spreading inside, warming the void he thought he had complete control of. But it was also the kind fire which burned and razed through his chest because he knew, he f*****g knew, she wasn't meant for him.

He was pissed when he picked her up Thursday morning, pissed with himself for letting it get this far, and pissed with his crew for being so f*****g slow. Every day that they didn't complete the plan was another day spent with Sophia and it was another day of trying to control himself from making stupid mistakes, mistakes he could not afford.

Sophia must have sensed the f****d-up mood he was in because she was subdued when she opened the door. She was always quiet. But something was always working in her eyes, something he didn't quite get but whatever it was, it was about him.

"Good morning," she said in her soft, musical voice.

He didn't respond but he didn't need to, his kiss said it all. She was beautiful this morning. Then again, she was always beautiful to him.

He pulled away and spun on his feet to get to his bike. He shook his head. He needed to get his head in the game. He needed this done, needed to get out of her life. She needed to get the f**k out of his shitty life.

He was thinking so hard he almost missed the soft hand touching his. He inhaled sharply and glanced down at her. Sophia was lacing her hand through his as she tried to keep up with his pace.

The heat began to spread in his chest like liquid fire.

Never had she ever initiated physical contact with him. Never. The f****d-up mood he was in dissipated in an instant and he felt himself relax, like he was whenever she was with him.

Then he knew.

Sophia wasn't digging her way in anymore, she was already in.

He was f****d.

When she saw him staring at her, she offered him a small smile.

Yes, f****d.

The day went by and the knowledge seared into his mind and into his chest. It sucked he was just playing a role. It sucked because he kept wondering what it would be like to really be with her, not because he had to fulfill the plan but because he wanted her as his girl.

Leon trudged to the direction of her classroom with this weighing in his mind. He paused and frowned when he saw the empty room. Then he remembered the teachers were supposed to have a meeting today. s**t.

He pulled out his phone from his pocket and read the message on the screen with relief. Rohan had been watching her and gave him her location, adding he needed to hurry the f**k up because he wanted to go home to play his game. Leon sighed and strode to the direction of the cafeteria while he sent a confirmation text back to Rohan.

When he spotted her, he stopped short and took his time to study her. She was sitting on their table, a book in her hand, and she looked engrossed with whatever she was reading. Silently, he padded over to her and glanced at the cover.

His brows knitted together in confusion at what he saw. The front and back of the book was wrapped in white paper, like she deliberately placed it to hide the cover of whatever she was reading. He continued forward and stopped when he was behind her. His gaze narrowed, he began reading the page she was on.

He eases back with exquisite slowness. And he closes his eyes and groans, and thrusts into me again. I cry out a second time, and he stills.

"More?" he whispers, his voice raw.

"Yes," I breathe. He does it once more, and stills again.

I groan, my body accepting him... Oh, I want this.

"Again?" he breathes.

"Yes." It's a plea.

She had got to be f*****g shitting him.

"What the f**k are you reading?" he asked in incredulity.

Sophia jumped, startled, and her book went flying to the other side of the table. Her head twisted to look at him. Her face was pale, her lips parted. Then he watched with amusement as her face slowly turned bright red.

"H-hello," she stuttered. "How d-did you know where I-I was?"

Leon moved to pick up the book but Sophia was faster. She snatched the book and shoved it inside her bag. He almost laughed. Sophia's face was f*****g priceless and he knew this was going to be f*****g fun.

"Sophia," he growled and her face grew even redder if that was possible.

"The teacher let us out early and I didn't know if I should wait for you in the classroom," she began to ramble. "Everybody had already left."

"Sophia."

"S-so, I decided to wait for you outside. I'm sorry if you had to look for me but I didn't know where you were."

Leon leaned down, put his hands on both sides of her on the table, fixing her in place and giving her no escape. "Give me the f*****g book, Sophia."

Sophia looked like she wanted to weep but she knew better than to defy him. He watched, barely containing his smile, as she slowly withdrew her book from her bag and handed it to him. Leon took it. His eyes scanned the title and then, he groaned and dropped his head in disbelief.

Fucking Fifty Shades of Gray.

He remembered the time Rohan came to his house with a copy of this book, laughing his ass off because his step-dad caught one of his stepsisters, who was only 12 years old, reading it and he got so pissed. John began reading it out loud and Rohan and Skull almost choked in laughter.

Why the f**k was Sophia reading this piece of crap?

And f**k if his d**k didn't twitch at the idea of sweet Sophia reading this kind of stories.

Leon settled beside her and saw her stifle a flinch.

"You read porn?" he asked with a straight face even though he wanted to laugh.

"It's not porn," she denied vehemently. "It's a love story."

Leon pointed at the book. "There's some kinky fuckery in there, Sophia. You read this kind of crap all the time?"

Sophia lowered her eyes and bit her lip. Leon took that as a yes. He grinned. He leaned down and put his mouth close to her ear. She shivered and his grin grew wider.

"If you want, we could try to re-enact some of those scenes, Sophia."

He heard her gasp and his d**k twitched again at the sound.

"In fact, you could choose a book, a scene and I'll take care of everything else," he murmured, brushing her ear with his lips. "If you want rough, I'll give you rough. But, I can try gentle too."

Sophia pulled back promptly, her face flushed, her breathing quicker.

"I-I-I-I'm reading sci-fi next time!" she blurted out.

He couldn't help it. He burst out laughing.

**********

"What's funny?"

Leon looked up from the bottle in his hand and his eyes focused on John.

"What?" he asked.

John pointed at his face. "You were grinning. What's so funny?"

Leon's grip tightened on the bottle as he swung his head around to take his surroundings in. John and Rohan were sitting on the couch while Skull sat on the other chair opposite him. They were all looking at him with bemusement on their faces.

Shit.

He had been so preoccupied thinking about what happened earlier this afternoon he forgot where he was and who he was with. This was one of the reasons why he needed to cut Sophia out of his life. Even when she wasn't with him, she was still distracting him.

"Nothing," Leon answered John's question.

John's eyes narrowed at him. "Are you sure? Did you even hear a word Skull just said?"

Leon's mood instantly turned dark. "Yeah, I did. So all we have to do is wait again?"

Skull grunted, "Yeah."

John frowned and said, "I hate waiting." Then he turned to the dark blond beside him who was silently watching their exchange. "Do you think he's going to respond to the message, Rohan?"

Rohan put his elbows on his knees as he studied the pictures on the coffee table. "My guess? No."

"Then s**t will happen to him," Leon stated, relaxing further on the chaise. "Tell me when the guys get him."

Rohan nodded.

"The fucker's slippery as an ear," Skull commented.

Leon sighed. "You mean slippery as an eel."

"Same thing."

Leon let out another long-suffering sigh. John and Rohan were biting their lips, trying to contain their laughter.

"An ear and an eel is not the same f*****g thing, Skull," he told him impatiently.

Skull shrugged. "I meant the smiley."

"The smiley?" Rohan asked.

"Yeah. Smiley. You know, comparing crap and shit."

John and Rohan couldn't help it anymore, they burst out into loud guffaws. Leon had to crack a grin. f*****g Skull.

"It's not smiley, dumbass. It's a simile," John told him in between laughs.

Skull looked confused. "But that's what I said."

Rohan and John laughed even harder. Leon rolled his eyes skyward. Then he downed the dregs of his beer before he stood up and headed to the kitchen to get another. When he heard a crash, he exhaled slow and prayed for patience.

What the f**k did they break again?

He went back and saw his coffee table knocked over on the floor. Skull was wearing a smug expression while Rohan was trying not to grin as he held a fuming John back. When John saw Leon back in the living room, he huffed and his head fell back against the couch.

Leon took his spot, then asked, "What happened?"

"Nothing," John muttered, playing with his rings. "Skull is just being a dick."

Skull barked a laugh. "I'm the d**k? Who tried to bust my ass for telling I saw Stella in some rich bastard's ride?"

John skewered him with a glare. "You're a f*****g liar."

"I didn't know you were into Stella that much," Leon stated, sucking in his beer.

"No. But she gives great head and I'd hate to lose her."

Rohan snorted. "Maybe you won't."

He shook his head. "If the bastard's richer than me, then she's done with me. f*****g b***h. So why were you grinning, earlier?" John asked Leon, switching topics. "I didn't think the news would make you happy. Did something happen to you and Sophia?"

Leon grinned, then chuckled low. "I caught her reading."

"And? You already know she reads. Too much, if you ask me."

Leon shook his head. "But you didn't tell me she reads dirty s**t. I caught her reading Fifty Shades of Gray this afternoon."

Rohan laughed in disbelief. "No f*****g way!"

"I told her I was willing do some kinky s**t with her and she told me she was going to read sci-fi from now on."

The guys roared with laughter. Skull managed to spill his beer on the floor and Leon growled at him. Skull gave him a shrug but Leon knew he was going to clean it up later or he'll f*****g kick his big ass.

"Did you f**k her already?" he heard Rohan ask and his jaw clenched.

"You're too young to be talking about f*****g, kid," John deadpanned.

"Shut up, manwhore. You're only a year older than me."

"And Rohan's already seen some action anyway," Skull grinned. "He likes them older, you know."

"So did you, Leon?" Rohan asked Leon, studiously ignoring the two.

"No," he replied abruptly.

Rohan smirked. "No kidding? After that show you both did outside the gym earlier this week, I was pretty sure you guys did it already."

"I don't think so," Skull chimed in. "He's been on a pissy mood lately. Seriously, you need to get laid."

Leon scowled. "Can we drop this?"

"Your balls might drop from disuse, man," Skull continued as if he hadn't spoken. "I know some girls who'd gladly f**k you. They'll be willing to do some BDHM with you. You want me to call them?"

"First of all, it's b**m," John said, pointing his drink at him. "And second of all, Leon's a one woman man, now. He's doing the relationship crap and being loyal to her."

Rohan's brows went up. "Wait. Are you saying this s**t is for real? I was just kidding when I asked if they'd already fucked."

"No, it's not." Leon eyed his friends and the way he did made them cringe. "It's just a job. I'm just playing her just like we'd planned."

"Sure you are," John quipped.

"You've got a problem with me, John, then f*****g say it."

John raised his hands in the air and pantomimed shutting his mouth. Rohan and Skull said nothing but studied him closely. Leon considered kicking them out of his house when his cell phone started wailing heavy metal. He gave them another scowl and got up. He went to the window where he left it and scanned the display.

Fucking hell.

The night was getting shittier and shittier.

"Who is it?" John called out.

Leon gave him a glance. "It's the old man."

John's face turned concern, then he asked, "He's due for a visit, right?"

Leon nodded before he turned his attention back to his phone. It was wailing again. He put it down, not bothering to answer the call because he did not want to get even more pissed. He looked out at the darkness, trying not to think about the reason behind the call. He stretched out his arms until his hands were flat on the windowsill and he shut his eyes tight.

Then his head crowded with thoughts of Sophia and her embarrassed face. And f**k, it felt so good to laugh again. It had been too long since he laughed and meant it. Too f*****g long.

He smiled.

Being with her always felt so f*****g good.

Then he sobered up as he realized he was going to lose her soon.

And the more he thought about it, the more he disliked the idea.