Denying the Bad Boy:Tattooed and Pierced, 2(3)

"Nice ride." He wasn't just thinking about the car. He had an image of  her riding him in reverse, his hands on her ass and the cheeks spread  wide. Fuck, he was so turned on. After he said something about her ride  he immediately noticed a scowl on her face, but she did mutter a thank  you. Okay, well clearly her mode of transportation was a sore spot.

"Thanks for walking me to my car." She smiled again, a genuine one, and  Alex realized he really liked it. It wasn't fake or forced. She wasn't  fake. There were too many girls that hung around the parties he went to  that were fake as shit and only trying to get in his pants because he  was the quarterback. He snorted at his thoughts, because it sounded dumb  as hell for a girl to get in a guy's pants. Wasn't it usually the other  way around?

"No problem." Shoving his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, he  asked himself what it was about this girl that got under his skin. Yeah,  he had gotten turned on by other girls in the past, but this attraction  he had to Mary was bordering on intense and fucking crazy. He liked the  convenience of a one-night stand, and he sure as hell didn't think  about the chicks after they fucked. But looking at Mary, he knew she  wasn't like any of the girls he normally went after, which also meant  she wasn't easy. It wasn't like she had some kind of damn tattoo on her  forehead stating she was the "hard to get" kind of girl, but she did  have this aura around her that screamed she was way too good for him.                       
       
           



       

Alex could admit that at this point in his life he enjoyed only a few  things in life. When he wasn't spending time with his parents and little  sister Kiera, he was playing football, partying, or fucking. Of course  there were always those occasional fights that got thrown in there, but  that mixed things up a bit, and got rid of a lot of his aggression and  energy he had deep inside of him.

He stood there like a douche-bag as she climbed in her car and drove  away. He could only imagine what she thought about him, because he was  probably thinking the exact same thing: what a fucking weird idiot.

When he was back in the house with the door shut behind him he saw Racer still leaning against the banister.

"What?" Alex all but growled, annoyed with himself and now Racer and his smug-ass smirk.

Racer shook his head and pushed away from the stairs.

"Nothing. I just want to say that if you think you're going to get an  easy piece of ass from Mary, you should just give up right now."

"Fuck you, Racer." Alex shook his head, knowing his roommate was right, but not wanting to hear it regardless.

"I ain't trying to be a cockblock, but Mary is a good girl, and she really doesn't need the likes of you or me."

Although he considered Racer a good friend, Alex didn't miss the subtle  warning in his words. He cared about the girl, that was clear, and he  also knew the reputation Alex had. He couldn't get pissed at him for  being interested in her.

"I can admit when a girl is too good for me, and she is too good for  me." With that said Alex walked past Racer and headed down the hall to  his room where he proceeded to pass out.





Chapter Two



Alex was right. There were a lot of drunks out, but Mary didn't really  expect anything less. This was OSU territory, and it was a Saturday and  only midnight. She had to really stay alert or there would be no  question that she'd end up hitting an intoxicated pedestrian. Who would  have thought she would have literally bumped into Alex Sheppard? They  ran in totally different circles, were polar opposites in every way, yet  she had stood so close to him they breathed the same air, and she could  feel his body heat seeping right into her.

Oh, she had known who he was as soon as she looked into his hazel eyes,  saw that they were more green than brown, and forced herself to not act  like a hormonal teenager. Okay, so she may only be twenty-one, but being  that close to him, smelling that spicy, expensive cologne he wore, and  thinking about all the times she saw him but he had clearly not seen  her, made her realize she needed to control herself. He was gorgeous and  had a hard, muscular body that made her feel wholly feminine, but he  was so not her type. For one thing he slept with far too many girls,  probably didn't know half their names, and she considered him a bad boy  in the worst kind of way. Just thinking about the time she had seen him  coming in from football practice in nothing but a pair of loose fitting  shorts had her body heating all over again. He had been sweaty and  slightly red from running or tackling perhaps, but his body was hard and  defined, corded and tensed, and the tattoo that started on his left  bicep and covered his entire back in swirling dark patterns had  instantly made her wet.

Then some busty blonde had bounced up to him, her boobs barely  restrained in her workout clothes, giggling and muttering things far too  quiet for Mary to hear, and that had been the end of that. Alex had  wrapped his arm around her waist, and the two of them had disappeared in  the locker room. Of course he hadn't even noticed Mary standing there  watching him like a freak, and that was okay because she didn't need a  guy like Alex Sheppard in her life. He was too dangerous and experienced  for her, and besides, there was no doubt he would break her heart,  whether it was intentional or not. Mary could see herself falling for  him easily.

Tutoring on the side had given Mary an opportunity to earn her own money  and meet a plethora of interesting individuals. Despite her family  being wealthy, Mary wanted to do things by herself, to support herself.  She took out student loans to pay for her schooling, and bought her own  food and other supplies she needed to survive. When she wasn't tutoring  she worked a few hours on the weekends at a coffee shop right off campus  property. She was exhausted the majority of the time, but it was a hell  of a lot better than depending on her parents to fund her way.

Her family came from old money, or so her mother liked to call it, and  because of that there had always been a stuffy, aristocratic vibe to  them and the way they had lived. But then again Mary was adopted, had  been with the Trellis family since she was two years old, but had never  felt like she really fit in. Her parents, Stephen and Marsha Trellis,  had showed her affection when the situation called for it, but Mary  never felt the love a daughter felt when around her parents. Her mother  and father had always treated her like she was part of their family, but  there was no denying Mary was nothing like them. She had felt that way  ever since she could remember. Then there was her older sister, Margo,  who was the most self-centered person Mary had ever come across.                       
       
           



       

When they were younger Margo liked to snub Mary, making her feel more  like a thorn in her side than her sister. Maybe it was also the fact  Mary looked nothing like her family. Where she had dark hair and blue  eyes, all of the Trellises had blond hair and green eyes. If looking in  the mirror every day hadn't solidified the fact she was so out of place,  hearing Margo's twelve year old voice tell her she was clearly not a  "Golden Trellis" had made it abundantly clear that she would never fit  in. Of course, her mother had told her every night that she loved her,  and that she was part of their family whenever Mary brought it up. Maybe  it was just the years of her questioning her self-worth, Margo's  hurtful words, of the murmurs behind cupped hands whenever she went to a  social function that had her feeling that way? The years had gone by  though. Margo no longer said those things to her, but there would always  be a part of Mary that never felt like she belonged.

She took a left, and then a right until the small single story house she  shared with her roommate came into view. She pulled into the driveway  right beside Darcy's faded blue Corolla. Turning off the car and sitting  there for a moment. Mary let the sound of the engine cooling fill the  interior. The BMW had been a high school graduation gift from her  parents, and although she hadn't really wanted it, and knew them giving  it to her had been more due to the fact they wanted to look good, Mary  also knew she needed transportation. So, she had smiled and thanked  them, but hated every minute driving around in the thing. It made her  feel like a fake and fraud, and she wasn't quite sure why that was. So,  Mary made sure to send them payments for the car and insurance, and  ignored their complaints when they received her check. It made her feel  better knowing she could stand on her own two feet, because there would  be a time when her parents wouldn't be here, and if she was dependent on  them where would she be then? Margo took everything their parents gave  her, and Mary knew when the time came when her sister was alone, she  would drown.