The Four Beta Brothers
Chapter 31

JUNIPER

I wrapped my arms around Asher's neck and lifted onto my toes, kissing him deeply. His body instantly reacted to mine, pulling me closer. His hands started on my back and slowly lowered until he grabbed my b**t. He squeezed, making me yelp, and he quickly slid his tongue into my mouth. The music thrummed through my body, and the alcohol heated my blood, making it easy to fall into this kiss with Asher.

He lifted me onto the counter and pressed himself into me. I could feel he was already hard as he pushed against me, and I wrapped my legs around his waist, easily getting lost in his touch. We had made out plenty of times, but we always stopped before any clothes came off. He said he wanted to be respectful, and I said I didn't want to rush into anything.

I didn't care about that anymore. I was falling for Asher, and I knew I wanted to be with him. I didn't want to hold back anymore, and I didn't care about the party raging on around us.

"Do you want to go to your room?" I whispered between kisses.

His fingers dug into my skin as if my words were everything he ever wanted to hear. He kissed me again, but then he pulled back. "Are you sure you want to do this now?"

He wanted this as much as me. His body betrayed him, showing exactly what he wanted.

My fingers slid to his collared shirt, and I plucked at the top button as I bit my lip. He was wearing his typical sweater vest, so I wouldn't be able to undress him completely by simply undoing buttons, but I wanted him to know I was completely serious. "I'm sure," I said, running my fingers over his bare skin. "I've been thinking about this a lot recently."

He shivered under my touch, and his thumbs rubbed circles dangerously close to my inner thighs. "Me too." He captured my mouth again, and my mind went completely blank. For a moment, I didn't care if we continued this in front of everyone here. My body ached for Asher's touch, and I wasn't sure if I could hold back any longer.

"Asher, people are playing catch with one of our vases," Nathan said.

Asher flew away from me faster than I had ever seen him move before. "Why didn't you tell them to stop?" Asher was unusually snappy, and I was sure it was because we were just caught making out in the kitchen.

"You're the one who decided to throw a rager," Nathan said, shrugging. His eyes were glued to me as he spoke. "I'm not really interested in telling my classmates what to do. Looks bad, you know."

Asher's shoulders sank as he let out a long sigh. Then he straightened his back, putting on his best older brother look. "Fine. I'll take care of it." He turned to me quickly and kissed me on the cheek. In a whisper, he said, "I'll be back as soon as possible, so we can continue off where we started."

Asher left, leaving me feeling flustered. I looked at Nathan, and my cheeks burned with embarrassment. In the moment, I hadn't cared about who saw Asher and me making out, but it felt wrong that Nathan saw that. I was starting to think of him like a younger brother.

"So you two are pretty serious, huh," Nathan asked, leaning against the counter on the opposite side of me. His arm was still in a sling from the accident during the game. The bones were healed, but the doctor wanted to keep him in the sling a little long to make sure the bones were strong and healthy.

"Yeah," I said, finding it hard to make eye contact. I picked up my drink and took another sip of it to distract myself.

"Did I ever stand a chance with you?" Nathan asked.

Guilt flushed through my system, and I forced myself to look at Nathan. I had grown to care about Nathan deeply since our first meeting, but it was different with him than with his brothers. The connection was still there, but I just wanted to protect Nathan. "I don't think so," I admitted, even though I knew it'd hurt him. I knew the truth was better than leading him on, though.

"Why?" His eyes were wide, and I could feel his desperation.

I wanted to be able to give him a clear answer, and there were several reasons I could think of. He was too young. Asher captured my heart too quickly. He wasn't my type. But none of those answers felt right.

"I don't know. With you, it's different. I care about you but-"

Nathan held up his good hand. "You don't have to give me pity. I get it. Asher's the better one, but I hope you realize you're making a mistake. I know Asher is caring and dedicated, but he has his flaws. He's going to hurt you." "Nathan-"

"Please don't. I don't want your sympathy." Nathan walked out of the kitchen looking like a kicked puppy.

I hopped off the counter and tried to follow him. I didn't want him to walk away like that. Even though I couldn't return his feelings the way he wanted me to, I wanted him to at least know that I cared.

Nathan melded into the crowd of people, making it difficult to follow him. I couldn't see over the heads of people drinking and dancing, and soon the youngest Burrell brother disappeared from my sight completely.

I kept pushing through the crowd, hoping I would find Nathan or maybe Asher, but there were too many people around. I found a small pocket of relief and stopped trying to navigate this dorm. I leaned against the wall and scanned the crowd for someone I knew.

I recognized nearly every person in the room. Many of them I had gone to school with for years. They danced and laughed, and they didn't care whose dorm they were partying in. They only cared about the drinks and the music. It didn't matter if I was dating Asher or not. They would never care about me on a personal level.

I sighed, exhausted from the sheer amount of people around me. I took a sip of the drink that was still in my hand. Once Asher was done preventing people from breaking anything, he and I could slip away to a quiet corner, and I would let myself disappear into his touch, because he was the one who I wanted to be with right now.

A familiar scent hit my nose, even through the crowd of people around me, and my body instantly perked up. I looked into the crowd, expecting to see Asher, but what I saw instead made my stomach drop.

The crowd parted just enough for me to see Axel wrapped around another girl. They were attached at the face, and his hand wandered up and down her body. My stomach twisted, and I felt like I was going to be sick.

I'm with Asher, I tried to remind myself. It didn't matter what Axel did with anyone else, because we were just friends. I knew that, yet my entire body ached as I watched him make out with some random girl.

He told me our kiss didn't matter to him, but I didn't want to believe him.

He said we were just friends, and I wanted that to be true.

I liked Asher. I was falling for him, even.

But I couldn't deny the connection with Axel. I thought he had felt it too, but he made out with that girl like I didn't matter.

I didn't have the right to be jealous. I knew that, yet I felt like I couldn't breathe. I had to get out of here, but I couldn't move.

Axel caressed her face in a way I wanted to be touched. He pulled her closer, as if no one else was in the room, and when his hand slid under her shirt, I couldn't take another second of this.

The bottle slipped out of my hand, crashing to the floor. Glass pieces shattered around me, and I felt the attention turn to me, but I didn't care. I had to get out of this room. I pushed through the crowd to the door of the dorm. I needed fresh air. I couldn't breathe. I hated Axel touching another girl like that, and I hated even more that I was jealous.

I pushed into the hallway, and there were people drinking and dancing even out here. The party was too big for a single room, so it had spilled out into the rest of the building. I needed to find somewhere where there were no people. I needed space to breathe and think.

I practically ran through the hall, but then someone grabbed my arm. I turned to yell at the person to make them let go of me, but when I saw it was Josh grabbing me, my entire body froze.

Josh was my ex-boyfriend from over a year ago. After we broke up, he was with another girl the next day, confirming my suspicions that he had been cheating on me. The relationship had been fun at the beginning, but it quickly devolved when I realized Josh and I had different priorities. He was always trying to get me to skip class with him or ditch my homework for another party.

After Moira told me about the rumors of him cheating on me, I broke up with him, realizing I couldn't let someone like him keep distracting me from my priorities.

"Where are you going, Juniper? The party just got started," Josh said, holding my arm tightly.

"Let go of me," I said, trying to pull away from his grip. I wasn't in the mood to deal with him.

"Aww, come on. Don't be a party pooper. I was hoping I'd see you tonight." He pulled me closer to him, and his breath reeked of alcohol.

"How much have you had to drink?" I tried to pull out of his grip again, but he only dug his fingers into my skin.

"Relax a little, will yah?" He pulled my arm and pushed me against the wall. He trapped me between his body and the rest of the hall.

My instincts told me I needed to get away from him as soon as possible, but I didn't know what to do. He easily overpowered me.

"I'm meeting up with Asher. He's expecting me at any second," I lied.

He frowned, still showing no signs of leaving me alone. "I heard you were with that guy. Are you fg him to try to fix your reputation? Because you know, I'm the wolfball team's captain. If you agree to f*k me, I can help you fix your reputation." He leaned in, and his tainted breath made me nauseous.

I turned my head, trying to avoid breathing him in. "Leave me alone. I'm not interested." I pushed against his chest, but he was like a brick wall.

"Come on. Moira told me what you're really like. You'll sleep with anyone if you get something in return."

"She's a lying snake, and even if she wasn't, nothing could make me want to sleep with you again." I shoved against him again, trying to make him move.

He grabbed my hands and shoved me against the wall, making me wince. "Look, I just want to have a little fun with you."

"I said leave me alone," I snapped. It was clear he wasn't going to leave me alone, so I brought my knee up between his legs, hitting him as hard as I could.

He groaned in pain, letting go of me briefly. I tried to get away from him, but he grabbed me again before I got very far.

"You b***h!" His hand hit my face, and the slap stung, dazing me in the process.