“Girl, you’ve got it bad.” Becky laughs.
I whip around to look at her. But even I can’t deny it. “I’m treading water,” I admit. Guys like Cole Reynolds are why smart girls turn stupid. It’s embarrassing on so many levels but understandable.
I mean, I fucking hate the guy, and I still want him to take me to his room. That alone tells me how unbelievably stupid I am.
She takes a step toward me, closing the small space, and whispers, “These waters are infested with sharks. And you are bleeding.” She looks over my shoulder at Cole, then back at me. “But there are worse ways to die.”
I take another big gulp of her drink and thoughts of how he held me against the door upstairs make my thighs tighten. And that first night in the cemetery … or when we were in his car and he was telling me about Eli’s older sister. My heart starts to beat faster when the words he said to me upstairs come back to me. And let’s not forget the way you allowed me to touch you last night. Tell me, were you disappointed when I didn’t throw you on the bed and fuck you right then?
My heart starts to pound faster at the thought of him doing just that.
I finally nod at Becky as she stares at me expectantly, unable to deny that. I’m bleeding all right. I take another gulp. “What do I do?” I ask her.
She gives me a big smile and takes the drink from my hand. “Take advantage of it while you can.” Then she tosses it back.
CHAPTER NINE
COLE
“I understand why you’re doing it, but are you sure you want to do it?” Shane asks me.
I nod. “Not a doubt in my mind.”
“Okay.” He turns, giving me his back, and walks out of the kitchen.
I move to the kitchen island to make my third drink when Kellan comes up to me. They’re all going to come to me one by one. Well, except for Deke. He knows my mind is made up. And none of the others are gonna be able to change it. They should know that by now. “I think we should call it quits,” he growls.
I arch a brow. “Why is that?”
He sighs heavily. “She’s a liability. What if one of us gets in trouble because of her?”
I shake my head. “Won’t happen. We’ll let her take the fall before we go down with her.”
“How can you guarantee that? She could roll over on us.”
I slap his shoulder. “Don’t worry, okay? I’ve got your back.”
He stares at me as if he doesn’t believe me, but I give him the drink I just made, and he downs it in a few gulps. His nerves showing.
I’m making myself a new drink since I just gave mine away when my side is bumped and two arms wrap around my waist. “What the …?” I look down to see Austin standing beside me with her eyes closed and a big smile on her face.
My first thought is to shove her off me. The second is to lean down and kiss her hair.
I do neither.
Instead, I stand staring down at her like she has two heads. “Austin?” I finally say. “What are you doing?”
She looks up at me, and her big green eyes look glazed over. She’s tipsy. Great! I’ve only made her two drinks, and neither one were strong. For this very reason. I didn’t wanna put up with a drunk girl. She had a bottle of Fireball in her hand when she entered the game room. Shit!
“I know you want to kiss me. Go ahead,” she says softly.
I laugh nervously. She can’t read me that easily. “You had your chance upstairs. You passed.” Good choice.
She leans up on her tiptoes, her mouth next to my ear, and whispers. “I dare you.”
My body stiffens. She doesn’t understand what those words mean to me. How they give me a pass to do whatever the fuck I want. As if I needed that.
I turn in her arms, so I’m facing her, and slide my right hand into her hair. Her eyes close, and those perfect red lips release a moan. The soft sound goes straight to my cock. “You don’t know what you’re doing,” I say against her lips.
Her eyes open and look up into mine, and her hands slip up the back of my shirt. I feel eyes on us in the packed kitchen, but I ignore them. She has all my attention. And this is what I wanted, right? For everyone to know that she belongs to me. A message so no other guy even attempts to take her from me.
Her nails drag down my back, and I imagine her doing that while I fuck her up in my room. Just her and me. “I know exactly what I’m doing,” she purrs. “Now. I dare you to kiss me.”