Sweet Ruin: A YA Boarding School Romance (Weybridge Academy Book 3)

I knocked lightly on Wes’s door, and it opened almost immediately. He looked relieved to see me standing there.

“Thank God,” he said. “Sawyer’s had girls banging on this door all afternoon.”

“Oh no, why?” I laughed as I followed him into the room.

“My family throws a charity gala every Thanksgiving and, apparently, he’s spread the word he’s looking for a date. Girls are coming here looking for him.”

“Why wouldn’t he just ask someone?”

“I think he wants multiple options to choose from.”

“That’s terrible.”

“That’s Sawyer,” Wes agreed. “Speaking of the gala. Would you like to be my date? It’s in New York. Maybe you could visit your dad at the same time.”

It sounded wonderful, but I found myself shaking my head. “I would love to, but I was thinking about planning a trip home for Thanksgiving to see my mom. I miss her so much, and I really want to spend the holiday with her.”

“Maybe she’d like to come too?” Wes suggested. “She’d be more than welcome.”

My cheeks warmed as I smiled at him. “That’s really kind of you to offer, but Mom always hosts a big Thanksgiving feast at the café. It’s a kind of a tradition.”

“Say no more.” He gave me an understanding smile. “I thought you might have family plans. But I wanted to make sure you knew you were invited.”

“Thanks.” Wes was sweet like that. I could tell he really wanted me to be there, but he didn’t hesitate to reassure me it was okay if I wasn’t. I wondered if Noah would have been just as understanding, but then I quickly ignored the unwelcome thought. I didn’t want to compare the two boys.

“The burgers are on their way,” Wes said. ‘I hope it’s okay, but I went ahead and ordered your usual cheeseburger. No pickles and extra fries, right?”

“That sounds perfect.” I had no idea Wes knew what I normally ordered, let alone that he’d remember it.

“I’ll never understand how you can like burgers without pickles, but I guess you had to have one fault.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m sure that isn’t my only fault.”

“It’s the only one I’ve been able to find,” he said with a grin. “Now, do you want to get started on our homework or wait until we’ve eaten?”

He was stretching his arms as he spoke, and his face contorted in discomfort before he lifted a hand to rub his shoulder. He must have still been feeling sore after his early-morning rowing practice.

“We should probably start on our homework,” I said. “I have so many math problems to complete before class tomorrow. It’s almost like the teacher knew I had a study date with my boyfriend tonight and he wanted me to actually study. It was incredibly inconsiderate of him.”

“So rude.” Wes chuckled. “Okay, let’s get that out of the way then.”

I pulled out my books and sat on the bed next to Wes. I found it hard to focus on the equations though because Wes kept gripping and rubbing his shoulders. I could see he was uncomfortable, and I hated knowing he was in pain.

“How are your shoulders feeling?” I asked. “No better?”

“They are still ridiculously tight.” He winced again as he rolled his shoulders back and forth. “I could really do with a massage, but we don’t have a physio coming until Wednesday.”

“I could try to give them a massage, if you like…” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. Did I even know how to give a massage?

“Really?” Wes’s eyebrows lifted with surprise. “That would be amazing.”

“I mean, the key word here is try,” I said. “I have no idea how to give a proper massage. I might injure you further.”

He laughed. “I doubt that. I’m sure it will help.”

“Still, maybe I should get you to sign some kind of liability waiver first?”

“Don’t worry, I trust you.”

“I know you do, but I don’t want to be blamed for tragically ruining the career of a future Olympic rower in a freak massage accident.”

He chuckled again. “Surely you can’t be that bad.”

“Okay, well as long as you know the risks.”

“I do.” Wes nodded solemnly, like he was about to go into battle. “So, where do you want me?”

“Uh, maybe sitting on the edge of the bed?”

“Done.” He moved over to the edge of his bed, and I knelt on the mattress behind him.

I hesitated as I went to place my hands on his shoulders. I really didn’t know a thing about massages. I’d never even had one myself. I wasn’t sure what I’d been thinking by offering to give one to Wes. I supposed I’d just wanted to help him so he was no longer in pain. And I really hoped this did help. I’d feel terrible if it made his discomfort even worse.

My stomach dipped as I placed my hands on his shoulders. His body was warm to touch, and from this close, I could clearly smell the scent of his shampoo. It was a fresh and inviting smell with hints of peppermint. I hadn’t noticed when I’d first arrived, but soft music was drifting from a speaker on the other side of the room. The artist singing had a soothing voice, and the gentle thrumming of their guitar was perfectly relaxing.

Despite the calming atmosphere, I felt tense, and I was struggling to ignore the nerves thrumming through me. I closed my eyes, hoping that might help me scrounge up some unknown massage talent hidden deep within me. Unfortunately, I had no luck. I was certain I was doing it wrong. Wes’s shoulders were so firm and muscular it was hard to know if I was having any impact at all. It didn’t help that his shirt kept bunching in my grasp.

I let out a sigh and opened my eyes again, lowering my hands from him. “Your shirt is kind of getting in the way.” I had to think of some excuse for my pathetic massage skills, and that seemed as good as any.

Wes turned to look at me. “Are you trying to undress me, Isobel?”

As if I wasn’t already embarrassed enough, my cheeks betrayed me and flashed bright red. “I just think I’d do a better job without it.”

He shrugged and released a soft laugh. “Well, it felt pretty good to me, but I’m not going to complain if you want to try and make it even better.”

I shook my head, convinced he was just being polite.

Before I could say anything else, he pulled his shirt up and over his head, and I swallowed hard as I looked at him. His chest was tanned, and his muscles were large and smooth. I knew Wes was strong and athletic, but seeing him now, I imagined he could lift me up over his head using only one arm. My mouth went completely dry, and I had no idea how I was going to bring myself to touch him again. He didn’t look real. First, I’d offered to give him a massage, and now I’d made him take off his shirt—who was I, and what had I done with the real Isobel?

Wes glanced at me again as I hesitated. “Is this okay?”

“Yes.” I cleared my throat. “Of course. Sorry, I was just trying to figure out what exactly they’ve been feeding you at this school.”

“Well, my coach would tell you I sneak too much dessert, and Sawyer would tell you I eat like I’m no fun.” He gave an awkward laugh, and I wondered if he was just as nervous about being topless around me as I was. It probably didn’t help I was kneeling on the bed staring at him like I’d never seen a boy without a shirt on before.

The idea that it wasn’t just me who was a little tense in this situation made it easier to lower my hands to Wes’s shoulders once more. It was Wes I was massaging, after all. I could be totally relaxed around him. I could trust him.

Still, it was hard to convince the butterflies fluttering inside me to settle. I still had no idea what I was doing. The closest I’d ever come to a massage was kneading a ball of dough in my mom’s kitchen. It was a useless comparison though as there was absolutely nothing doughy about Wes’s back. And when he let out a small groan, my stomach dropped again in response. The sound was low and gravelly and far more intimate than I’d been ready for.

“It’s not too bad, is it?” I asked.

“Pretty sure it’s the opposite of bad,” Wes said. “It’s…”

I jumped as a loud knock sounded at the door. My hands instinctively lifted off Wes’s shoulders and hovered there for a second before dropping to my sides. He didn’t immediately move to answer the door though.

“Should we see who’s there?” I asked.

“I’m sure they’ll take the hint and leave.” Wes didn’t sound too hopeful, and he was quickly proved wrong when the knock sounded again. After a few seconds of silence, there was yet another knock. Wes sighed and pushed himself off the bed and walked over to the door. As he pulled it open, a girl came into view. Her eyes widened as she was confronted by Wes’s bare chest. The poor girl looked like she was about to have a heart attack. Me too, girl. Me too.

“Can I help you?” Wes asked.

“Oh, uh, yeah.” The girl blushed, but just as she was about to continue, her eyes drifted past Wes to where I was perched on his bed. She glanced between me and the half-naked boy standing in front of her, and I could practically hear the cogs whirring in her head. Whatever she had come to the twins’ room to say seemed to completely slip her mind when she saw me in the room with a shirtless Wes, and she stood there with her mouth hanging slightly open.

‘Hello…?” Wes prompted the girl, and she seemed to snap out of her temporary trance with a shake of her head.

“Uh, I heard you were looking for a date to your family’s Thanksgiving gala—”

Wes cut her off. “If you can’t tell my brother and me apart, you’re probably not the girl Sawyer’s looking for,” he said.

“Oh.” Her eyebrows lifted. “You’re Wes.” Her eyes dragged longingly over his chest once more, and again she seemed to briefly forget why she had come to the room in the first place.

“Yep, I’m Wes. Sawyer’s at soccer practice, so maybe try him there.” Wes’s response was a clear signal for the girl to leave. She nodded, but as he closed the door on her, her gaze flicked to meet mine once more. Just before it slammed shut, I could have sworn a wry smile was pulling at her lips.

“Sorry about that,” Wes said, turning to face me.

I shook my head. “I’m sorry for you. Have they all been like that?”

“Pretty much,” he said. “Though at least the others knew which twin they were talking to.”

“And are you sending them all down to the soccer pitch?”

“Yeah.” He smirked. “It’s probably going to be mayhem there, isn’t it?”

“Probably,” I agreed. I could picture the crowd of girls standing on the sidelines waiting for Sawyer. It would probably be his dream come true.

“Maybe we should have met up in your room tonight,” Wes said as he came to join me on the bed once more. “It’s hard to relax with the constant interruptions. If it’s not Sawyer barging in, it’s one of his fangirls.”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Although, I’m a little nervous about having a boy in our dorm these days. Our dorm mom warned us we’d have to clean the boys’ bathrooms for a week if any of you guys were caught in our rooms after curfew.”

“Really?” Wes looked genuinely shocked by the idea.

“Yeah. I know it’s not close to curfew now, but I really don’t want to clean the boys’ bathrooms.”

Wes laughed. “I wouldn’t want to do that either. But, just so you know, if that does ever happen, I’d do all the cleaning for you. No way am I letting you near the bathrooms in this place. They’re disgusting.”

“I wouldn’t make you do that.”

“It’s okay. I might have other motives.” He grinned. “Getting caught in your room after curfew wouldn’t be the worst thing.”

He leaned across to me and pressed his lips gently against mine. It was a soft kiss, but it was hard not to feel slightly lightheaded, and I rested my hands on his bare chest to help me keep my balance.

He pulled me closer, and our kiss became stronger as I slid my arms around him. I was suddenly very aware he was topless and we were on his bed. It felt like we were about to fall back against the pillows, and the idea made my heart flip.

A knock shook the door once again. Wes and I both turned on it and shouted at the same time. “He’s not in here!”

We listened in silence for a response and eventually heard whoever was out in the hall move away from the door. When we looked back at each other, we couldn’t help but laugh.

“Maybe this is a sign that we should just go to the library and do our homework,” I said.

Wes started to frown and then shook his head. “No, I’m not letting Sawyer ruin our night.”

He moved over to his desk and stared scribbling on a piece of paper before grabbing a roll of Scotch tape.

“What are you doing?” I asked as he pulled the door open and taped the paper across the front of it. I laughed when he stood back to reveal what he’d written. “Sawyer’s not here. You can find him on the soccer pitch,” I read out loud.

“Do you think it will work?” Wes asked.

“It’s pretty clear, so I hope so.” I smiled.

“I hope so too.” Wes closed the door and made his way back to the bed. “Where were we?”

He sat back down on the bed beside me and reached up a hand to lightly cup my face. My lips quivered in anticipation, and my head felt dizzy. He started to lean toward me, but the bedroom door rattled again as another visitor banged on it from outside.

“Read the sign,” Wes called out over his shoulder, his eyes still locked on to mine.

“Uh, Wes, it’s me.” A guy’s voice came from the hallway. “I’ve got those burgers you asked me to pick up…”

“Ah.” Wes’s shoulders fell slightly as he realized he needed to answer the door. This time, he grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head. My heart sank as it felt like the moment between us had definitely now passed.

When Wes reached the door he didn’t open it wide enough for me to see who was on the other side, but I could clearly hear them talking.

“Thanks for getting these, man,” Wes said.

“No problem. Like I told you, I was headed to Toddy’s anyway. I’ll see you at practice in the morning.”

“See you then.”

Wes closed the door and shrugged as he turned to show me the brown paper Toddy’s bag. “I guess that wasn’t the worst interruption. You hungry?”

“Sure.” I smiled, but it was hard not to be a little disappointed. With the taste of Wes still lingering on my lips after the kiss we hadn’t been able to finish, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to enjoy my Toddy’s burger quite as much as usual.

We sat on the bed with our burgers, and while I usually liked to savor Toddy’s food, tonight I was eating very quickly. The thought of getting to kiss Wes again was probably speeding me up, and I only hoped I wasn’t making so much mess he’d be put off the idea of kissing me completely. In the end, it didn’t matter, because by the time we were finished, Sawyer had returned from soccer practice. It seemed as though our kisses were done for the night.

“What’s this on the door?” Sawyer laughed as he entered the room. “Is this why there was a cheer squad of hotties squealing my name at practice tonight?”

“There were too many girls calling on you here,” Wes replied. “It got so annoying I figured I’d send them to find you.”

“Good thinking.” Sawyer grinned. “I’ve got a tough decision to make before the gala. Any advice, brother?”

“Yep,” Wes replied. “Don’t ask me.”

Sawyer chuckled as he collapsed onto his bed and made himself comfortable.

“I guess you’ve already helped enough,” he continued. “I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it, but dodging girls after training was harder than the session itself. I’m exhausted. What have you two been up to?”

Wes and I glanced at each other, not sure what to say. We’d been up to a few things I doubted Sawyer wanted to hear about.

“Uh, studying,” I answered.

“Yeah, we were thinking about heading to the library,” Wes added. He seemed annoyed with his brother for interrupting us yet again and, apparently, he had finally given up trying to ensure we had a bit of privacy.

I nodded. “Yeah, the library sounds great.”

Wes and I gathered our things and were out the door before Sawyer could go into any more detail about the selection process for his gala date.

Neither of us spoke as we walked through the dorm, out into the courtyard and made our way to the library. The evening had been a bit of a roller coaster. I’d really enjoyed hanging out with Wes. I always did. But we didn’t seem to be able to get more than a few minutes alone in this place. He seemed disappointed our study date hadn’t been very successful. So was I.

Just as we reached the entrance to the library, I stopped, reached out to take Wes’s hand and turned him to face me.

“What?” he asked

“I just wanted to say thanks for tonight. I know we didn’t get to spend all that much time alone, but I liked getting to hang out just the two of us.”

“I’m sorry we keep getting interrupted,” Wes said. “I didn’t get to kiss you nearly as much as I would have liked tonight.”

‘There’s still time,” I said before I reached up and brushed my lips against his. He smiled as we kissed, and although it wasn’t quite as hot as the one we’d shared in his room, it still sent butterflies swirling in my stomach.

“Hmm.” Wes rumbled. “Maybe I should just go back and kick Sawyer out of our room.”

I laughed lightly and took his hand before leading him into the library. For a Monday night, it was pretty busy. It seemed like half the school was here trying to catch up on work. We were now well into the school year, so assignments and homework had been starting to build up. Still, Wes and I managed to find a spare study table. It was a quiet spot, but as I pulled my books out of my bag, the sound of whispering caused me to turn.

A group of girls sitting a few tables away were giggling about something. As I looked at them, I realized they were all watching me. One of the girls caught my eye, and I recognized her as the one who’d come to the twins’ room looking for Sawyer. The one who had seen Wes without his shirt on while I sat on his bed behind him. When she saw me watching her, she and all the girls quickly turned away, but I could still hear them whispering and giggling quietly.

I hadn’t been at Weybridge Academy long, but it had been enough time for me to learn how quickly gossip spread in this place. Clearly, this girl thought she’d stumbled upon some pretty juicy gossip after finding me on Wes’s bed. I tried my best to ignore her. Wes and I hadn’t been doing anything I should be embarrassed about. I knew that wouldn’t matter though. Once Weybridge Academy decided something was worth gossiping about, there was nothing you could do to stop it.