Marrying my high school bully

Lorraine

“Come join me.” Dexter offered as I headed for our bedroom with a plate of cookies in my hands.

His offer was gentle yet demanding at the same time. Only someone like Dexter could pull off such a tone with ease.

I’d have loved to ignore him and move straight to our room, but what good will it do for the both of us? He was trying to call some temporary truce and it wasn’t like I didn’t enjoy being with him even if I wasn’t supposed to.

I sank onto the chair he sat with a grunt. “If you say so.” My eyes darted to the bottle of whiskey on the table and the empty two glasses beside it. “Why do you have a bottle?” I questioned, hoping that my voice didn’t bear so much concern.

He poured some of the content into two glasses and passed one to me. “Let’s say I’m a bit frustrated.” He grumbled.

“What could make the almighty Dexter frustrated?” I asked sarcastically, slightly interested in what he had to say.

He doused another glass and relaxed on the back rest. “A woman.” He said simply while I flashed a quizzical look at him, with a tinge of jealousy stirring at the pit of my stomach.

“What woman could possibly make you frustrated, knowing how calm and controlled you are all the time?” I probed further.

He scoffed. “She’s the one who made me think that true love existed then stabbed me at the back when I wasn’t there. Now she’s acting like we have no problem. Isn’t that hypocritical?”

My heart sank his wary emotions rubbed on me. If he was being this way then what would I say about myself? He made love to me in the gentlest and most loving way ever, yet, he allowed me to go through so much pain.

He surely deserved whatever fate had dished out to him.

A deep silence fell, spurring the growth of the tension between us. I shifted uncomfortably, searching for the right words to break bars of nervousness.

I cleared my throat and gulped the remaining whiskey in my glass. “When did you return?” I asked tersely, trying not to divulge into the past.

“Immediately after completing my second degree in Business management. My father was sick so I had to be around and take over the family business. It wasn’t easy but I like where we are today.”

I could see the glow of pride radiating on his face as he talked about how much he had accomplished. I’d known him to be resilient and determined and truly it paid off.

He moved closer to me and kept his gaze trained on me. “What about you? What have you been doing with your life?”

That single question caused an eruption of the pain I’d been suppressing for years.

My life?

It had been in shambles ever since he left and it shattered to dust when I ran away from my stepfather’s house. Meeting Eden and Iris gave me new glints of hope, but they squashed it as soon as they got the chance.

“Great, it has been.” I answered shortly with less enthusiasm.

His brows furrowed, showing that he didn’t believe me but there was no way I’d elaborate on that topic. My life was none of his business and I couldn’t imagine that I’d be his wife for two years.

“Why are you walking on eggshells around me?”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“And why are you pretending that everything is fine between us?” I flared.

He jerked backwards, surprised by my outburst but I couldn’t control the edginess I felt because of his silent truce. No matter what he does, I’d still resent him. “Is anything wrong? Did I say that there’s a problem?”

My lips curved in a sad smile as I got up to my feet. “I’d like to rest now. Tomorrow is going to be a stressful day for me.” I informed him.

I hoped that he would listen, but he didn’t as he twirled me around and swiftly tossed me on the chair. He was so careful that my back met the chair with ease, then he towered over me, nearly straddling my body.

My body became rigid as several emotions decided to take a roller-coaster ride within me that moment. Our bodies were touching and his eyes kept caressing me in such a way that I doubted the essence of the clothes I had on.

Seeing that I couldn’t escape his brief captivity, I lowered my lashes and moistened my dry lips. “You keep avoiding me, Lorraine. Are you guilty of any crime?”

“Why do you keep kissing her?” I blurted to keep him from asking more nerve-wrecking questions.

A smirk appeared on his lips as he lifted his body slightly. “Are you jealous? I saw how angry you were when she kissed me.”

I scoffed and tilted my face to the side. “She kissed you, but you enjoyed it. Why didn’t you stop the kiss immediately?” I almost covered my face as my cheeks were heated with embarrassment.

How did I let my guard down? If he noticed my reaction to the kiss then the others might be aware as well.

Keeping my emotions in check wasn’t my best skill, but it was something I hoped to learn if I was to live with Dexter successfully.

“Of course I did stop her and warned her sternly never to try it again. If kissing her would bring out such reactions from you all the time then I’ll keep kissing her.” He joked, bursting into laughter.

The hard lines that etched on his face earlier disappeared as he laughed, the beautiful sight threw me into a nostalgic state, causing me to remember how hard he used to laugh after pranking me.

We had a love-hate friendship until we realised that we had feelings for each other and decided to act on it.

Unfortunately, my feelings were unrequited because he just wanted to get in my pants. He wasn’t laughing any longer as his breathing had become uneven while staring at me softly.

“I have to go now. I can’t stay here anymore.” I pushed him aside.

He called my name, “Why did you do it?” He grumbled while I froze on my steps.