Tyler's eyes turned a darker shade and it seemed to me like he was ready to hurt Mark. "I said take your hand off her." He repeated slowly and calmly. Something about the calm way he was speaking sent chills down my body.

"Is she your property?" Mark asked him.

Neither of them was looking at me as if I didn't even exist.

"I'm warning you one last time." Tyler hissed. "Back off!"

If Mark was smart he would do just that. I wouldn't test Tyler when he was angry. The last time that someone had pissed him off had landed in the hospital. Also, Ty was huge; width, height and weight. Mark didn't stand a chance.

"Take a piss on her, will you? Might as well mark your territory," He spat at Ty with intended venom. Mark looked at me, "Is he your boyfriend?"

I said "No."

The same time that Tyler said, "Yes."

Tyler grabbed my arm and began tugging me towards him. I tried to wiggle free but his grip turned firm. "Let go of me, Tyler."

"The girl tells you to let go," Mark said.

Tyler looked straight at me, ignoring the guy now. "Come with me."

There was tension brewing between the two, other kids had started to take notice and I was becoming the center of attraction, something that I hated. Slowly, I stepped out of Mark's arm only because I feared what Tyler would do otherwise. Mark looked between Ty and me and he mumbled "suit yourself,"

Mark walked away from the two of us, obviously fighting an urge to pound Tyler's head against the wall but deciding against it. Tyler's arm slid around my waist as he pulled me towards the corner of the room, away from all the curious eyes.

"What is your problem, Ty? You're not my father or my brother!"

"Thank Fuck for that." He retorted, blazing with anger.

"Excuse me?"

"Why are you even here?" He questioned me, his smoldering blue eyes boring into mine.

"Same reason you are. I'm having fun."

"Pardon?"

"I saw you kissing that girl! You're gonna tell me you weren't having fun? Or was that some homework that I didn't know about?" I argued back.

"Seo-Yeon asked me for a favor. She wanted me to kiss her so her boyfriend would get jealous and want her back. That's it."

"Aww, how generous of you, Ty," I said sarcastically patting his bicep. "Doing charity for gorgeous girls when you can, if all the boys in this world were like you, then this world would have been a better place." I wasn't finished talking. "Well, I was feeling a little charitable tonight too. Thought I'd humor some boys. Throw them a bone."

My attention was momentarily diverted by the moans erupting from the left side corner. A threesome was going on, that's what it was. One slim brunette was making out with the guy, his hands on her breasts and a girl was on the floor with her mouth covering the guy's...

Tyler blocked my view, he threw a furious look towards the three and stormed towards them. He pulled them apart from the couch, and to the guy, he snarled, "You wanna get your dick sucked, take your sluts upstairs and lock the goddamn door!" He didn't even spare a glance towards the naked girls.

He quickly walked over to me and resumed our conversation, "You're blowing this out of proportion. My lips were just parked on her face, I wasn't even kissing her, besides you did the same with Noah-fucking-McCloy and you expected me to understand that you did it so you could get me jealous. Now you're just being hypocritical."

"That was before you kissed me. There's a difference!"

"This place is not safe for you. They are doing meth, vape and all that smoke is very very bad for your health. Secondly..." he snatched the cup from my hand, some of the drink slouched. "Who the fuck gave you this drink? It could be roofied! And guess what happens then? You would get gang-raped and possibly end up dead!"

"So you're saying I should just sit home and do nothing because if I go to a party, I'm in danger of dying because of either my health issues or because I'm a girl?" I asked. "If it were up to you, I'm sure you'd tell me not to step foot out of the house!"

He chuckled, completely and totally pissed off now. "Oh, if it were up to me..." he whispered the next words, "I wouldn't allow you to step foot outside of my bedroom."

I stared at him flabbergasted, blinking. He was half-drunk, and I was walking headfirst into dangerous territory. "Oh, where is all this possessiveness coming from?"

The corners of his mouth turned up, "It's always been there, you just didn't notice it before."

I snatched the drink back from out of his hands and drank from it, "I don't need your permission to come to a party, and if I want to kiss a guy tonight, I'll do it. I'll do whatever I want! You're just being a male chauvinist pig."

He grasped my chin in between his fingers in a firm grip, I tried to push him away but he didn't budge. I wasn't even wearing heels today so I didn't have any advantage over the towering AMAZON and that left me with no alternative than just staring back at him. "You listen here, Victoria and you listen good. I don't care what you think of me, but staying at this party, you're not. I won't fucking allow you to parade around this party and..." he let out an irritated growl, I think the veins in his neck must have popped, "What the fuck are you wearing and how the hell did your mom allow you to step out of the house dressed like that?" Even though he said that his gaze traveled towards my top, and he leaned in to whisper. "I can practically see your tits. Is that why you came to the party, Vicky? To flaunt your body?"

"You're sick in the head, Tyler. That's what you are." I yelled and snatched my hand out of his grasp.

"Oh, yes, I'm sick. I thought you already knew that part." He retorted, grinning.

"Leave me alone!"

That was the last thing that Tyler was going to do. I was hurt and all I'd wanted was to get away from the ugly atmosphere at home and forget about it for a few hours, but Tyler wasn't going to allow that. He was twisting this into something else. As a friend, I expected him to understand certain things on his own, I wanted him to figure it out and not nitpick my wardrobe and act like an alpha.

I didn't belong to him. Plain and simple.

Tyler wasn't finished with me yet, his fingers tightened around my arm as he dragged me upstairs and didn't stop until we reached the second landing. He opened one door at the corner of the hallway. It was a bedroom, a really nice room with a king-sized bed and modern décor. There were no beer bottles littered on the floor, nothing nasty which meant no one had discovered this room yet.

A bolt of fear ran down my body at the thought of what he planned to do.

I watched him as he closed the door behind us and turned the lock. Twice. The sound of the music and the people downstairs was almost non-existent other than the slight vibrations of the beats.

He was still studying me, and my heart pounded against my chest. I'd been alone with Tyler before, but right now it seemed different. He seemed to think he had some kind of ownership over me, and it didn't make things better knowing he'd been drinking excessively before. He couldn't be in his right frame of mind.

He slowly began walking towards me, his stance was predatory. I took two steps back and my butt hit the dresser. He moved right into my face, bringing his face close to mine and I could smell the familiar scent of his perfume mixed with alcohol.

"I warned you, didn't I?" He asked. "I told you to stop following me and teasing me! You didn't come here to enjoy some stupid frat party!" He said accusingly, pointing a finger at me. "You came here looking for me!"

There he said it. I'd wanted to come to the party to forget the shit at home for a few hours, that was true. But secretly, I'd wished to see Tyler because not talking to him for weeks had been difficult. He was my best friend, and I'd needed a person to unload my worries onto. He'd tried to talk to me in the past few days, but I'd avoided him because let's face it; I had too much pride. I still couldn't accept how he'd handled T.J.

"What do you want from me, Victoria?" He asked in a husky voice.

He took off his t-shirt and tossed it on the floor without taking his eyes off me. I stared at his hardened pecs and the six-pack abs that he'd built with all those hours from training for hockey. He was delicious, let's not forget that. I swallowed as my vision glazed with unadulterated desire and it didn't stop until the heat pooled between my thighs.

He smiled knowingly, and with pure satisfaction.

Before I could attempt to answer that he flipped me over so I was facing the mirror and my back was to him. He pressed his body against mine and I felt his arousal on my butt through the thick material of his jeans. He thrust playfully against me once and then twice, and in a teasing voice, he asked, "Is this what you want, Vicky? Want me to bone you?"

"Stop it!" I whispered.

"Tell, me. C'mon. If a dick's what you need, I've got you covered." He chuckled.

I knew he was trying to get under my skin, trying to get a reaction out of me by acting crude, maybe he wanted me to lash out and hit him but I wasn't going to do any such thing because doing that would just give him what he wanted. He was trying hard to inflict fear in me, fear for him. Any other girl in my position would have fled the room, screaming her head off, cringing at Tyler's obvious rude behavior. Lockhart's didn't play games, they fucked with you and ruined you.

"Why aren't you talking? Open that smart mouth. I might not be experienced where sex is concerned but I sure as hell can make you come so if that's what you're here for, now's the time to talk. I promise you won't be disappointed."

Was that bait? Or was that a challenge?

I turned around and reached for the hem of my crop top, pulled it upward and threw it on the floor, after which I placed my palms on his chest. He stared at me silently, obviously not expecting me to do this. If he could take off his shirt and try to bait me, well, I could do that too.

"Holy shit!" He cursed as he stared at my breasts like he was watching a dream unfold. His blue eyes turned dark, his thick, long eye-lashes looking down, mesmerized. His jaw was clenched, he passed me one heated look and growled, "I warned you too many times."

His hands landed on my ass cheeks as he picked me up easily and pushed me on the dresser top so hard, my back hit the mirror and in an instant, his hot, wet mouth enclosed over my right breast and his palm landed possessively over my left one. His tongue moved expertly, circling over my bud until I cried out. My hands automatically found their way into his thick, dark locks as I held him in place.

Was I imagining this? Was Tyler really sucking the life out of my breast?

He suckled, teased and his teeth grazed over my hardened nipple. I moaned, "Hmmm...Ty..."

Tyler pulled from the right breast with a loud pop and moved onto the left one and gave it the same treatment. For a seventeen-year-old virgin, this boy was beyond amazing. Not that I'd ever had any other guy suck my tits but if I thought kissing was better, I'd obviously been as naïve as a golden retriever.

His heated eyes leveled with mine, "Your brother will probably have my head if he found out what I did to you, but fuck him."

Both his palms covered my breasts as he pressed and kneaded to his heart's content and I didn't stop him. I was shocked when he reached for the button of my denim, his fingers hovering over it as he peered at me. "Don't think you'll stop me if I fucked you right here."

I remained silent.

He began unbuttoning my jeans and I couldn't stop when the tears began gathering in my eyes.

Tyler stopped and cursed, "Jesus, Victoria. What the hell is wrong with you? You're acting fucking strange!"

And then the waterworks started, the pain was becoming unbearable and the flood gates opened and I began sobbing. He touched my chin and tipped my head upward, his eyes had softened, and he suddenly appeared sober as he said in a concerned voice, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, and I would never in a million years think of forcing myself on you. Goddamn, you're my best friend!"

I opened my arms and he wasted no time as he wrapped his arms around me. We were skin to skin, my nipples grazing his chest and yet there was nothing sexual in the gesture, I cried into his arms. "Tyler..."

His fingers dug into my hair softy, "what is it, baby?"

"My parents are going to separate...and I..." I couldn't complete the sentence.

"Vicky..." he drawled.

"He's having an affair. My dad," I sobbed and then hiccupped.

He ran his hand over my back in a soothing way. "It's not your fault."

"My family is going to break. We won't have Dad in our lives anymore. I'm so scared."

"You have nothing to be scared about." He pulled away to look at me, "Because you have me."