Page 4 of Wicked Surrender

With his eyes still closed and his lips curled up in a smile from the lame kiss, he looked stuck in a trance. Like he was so simple and juvenile that a peck on the lips like that was something racy.

Ugh. How much longer can I put up with this?

For the millionth time, I wished that just once, I could actually feel something when he kissed me.

My parents weren’t likely to ever approve of another guy for me to date, so it seemed like it was Ethan or nothing. But for God’s sake, I was twenty-one, not a teenager. I was a woman who wanted to experience real desire, not act like we were prudish kids with a crush.

“See ya,” I told him before he could try to plant his dry, motionless lips on mine again.

He blinked his eyes open and straightened. “Yeah. See you later, Laura. Have a good night.”

I smiled only until I turned and gave him my back. Inside the house, I dismissed the sounds of my parents and grandparents chatting and laughing with Mai and Mark in the kitchen.

Blowing out a long exhale, I sagged against the closed door and relished the stress seeping from me.

No more acting like I cared about Ethan.

No more enduring my family doting on Mai and forgetting about me.

Iwouldhave a good night now—by myself, reading or studying in the quiet privacy of my room.

As I headed upstairs, lamenting how I’d had to give up my whole evening for all of them, I reminded myself that it wouldn’t always have to be like this. Once I got into med school, I could move out. I could maybe find a guy on my own and feel something more than polite, chaste kisses.

Uh, no. Not happening.I shook my head as I opened the door to my bedroom and entered it.There will be plenty of time for romance and all that later on.

I was young, and I had a lot to do and accomplish before I would devote time and attention to committing with a man.

I slumped onto my bed and sighed again, at ease with my solitude.

No one was here to judge or compare me.

No one was here to impress or placate.

But for the first time, I wondered how much different my life could be if I had someone in my corner, someone supporting me, committing to making sure I knew my worth as something more than second-best.

2

JASON

Icouldn’t wait for this night to be over.

The party was only getting started. Downstairs at the frat house where I was the president to oversee and instigate all the madness and mayhem, they were booming music and pouring drinks. We’d had to get careful with the harder drugs after one of the sorority houses had someone start a violent fight. But the party kicking off tonight wasn’t even a good one. It wasn’t one of the famed events that we were known for as notorious partiers and rebels on campus.

Tonight was a low-key kind of thing. The regulars would be down there, looking for a good time.

Usually, I’d be all for it. The less I focused on my studies and my future, the more relaxed I was.

Not tonight, though.

A raging headache kept me from wanting to go near the music. Muscle aches from my last workout left me more tired than I ordinarily would be.

Maybe I was coming down with something. Dehydrated from too much booze.

Or I could just be sick of it all for once, needing a quiet night to actually fucking sleep for more than a few hours.

“I’m just saying…” the short blonde said in a pleading tone that set my teeth on edge. I loved it when they begged. I would never turn down a willing fuck buddy who’d beg for my dick. But tonight, I wasn’t feeling it. Her cajoling sounded too much like whining or demanding. And she was just a freshman, not some experienced pussy who’d be able to persuade me easier.

“You look stressed,” she said with a coy smile as she ran her fingertip down the front of my shirt.

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