Paradise Lost (Private 9)

For a long moment, nobody moved. Even Daniel stopped walking around, his color beginning to return to normal. Paige exchanged a look with her brother, who glanced over at West. Then Paige stepped right up to Noelle, nose to nose, eye to eye.

"Take a mental picture of this moment, Noelle," she said tersely. "Because you'll live to regret it."

Noelle simply stared back, not giving her the satisfaction of a reply. Then the Ryan twins, as if moved by some silent communication, turned and walked over to their Jet Skis together. Sienna and Gage followed, as did Graham, shooting an apologetic look over his shoulder. Sawyer sighed and went after his brother. Then, finally, West backed away as well.

"Where do you think you're going?" Noelle asked.

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West held up his hands. "Daniel's my best friend. Sorry."

Noelle glowered after him, clearly pissed at being thrown aside for a guy. I guess I was right--she and West weren't that serious. I glanced over at Dash, who was trying very hard not to smile.

Amberly now stood alone in the sand, her skinny little legs sticking out from under her too-large life vest. She looked at Paige, and then squinted at Noelle, the sun in her eyes. Noelle's expression was incredulous.

"Amberly, remember who invited you here," Noelle said, her voice full of venomous condescension. "Remember whose dorm you'll be living in when we get home."

Amberly cracked a grin and rolled her eyes. "Well, of course I'm not going anywhere!" she said, joining our side.

I guessed she wasn't as big of an airhead as I'd thought.

Gage, already on his Jet Ski in the water, called back over his shoulder. "Dash! Dude, you coming?"

Dash didn't make eye contact with anyone. "I'm good here," he replied.

"Pussy," Gage shouted before taking off with the others.

Dash looked out toward the ocean, his lips twitching. Kiran and Taylor grinned at each other. Noelle had a slight blush on her cheeks as she stared after the defectors. A blush that could easily have been explained away by the sun, if I hadn't known better. Looked like Noelle and Dash were one step closer to getting back together. Not that either one of them was about to acknowledge it.

"Son of a bitch," Noelle said under her breath, like she couldn't

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believe they'd taken her dare. Then she turned around to face the rest of us--me, Upton, Kiran, Taylor, Tiff, Amberly, and Dash--and clapped her hands together. "Who wants to take the rest of Daniel's precious Jet Skis and sell them down at the market?"

"Aye!" we all chorused, raising our hands.

"Are you okay?" I whispered to Upton as the group dispersed and headed toward the water.

"I'm fine. I can handle a left hook from Daniel Ryan any day," he said.

"Why did you provoke him?" I asked. "I thought everyone knew he has a violent streak."

"I know, but he was being a sodding prick. I had to say something," Upton said. Then, seeing my confused look, he laughed. "I suppose it's a guy thing."

"Whatever. I knew you people were all nuts," I said with a laugh.

Upton gave me a quick kiss and looped his arm around my shoulders. "Come on. You can ride with me. I won't let anything happen to you, I swear."

"I'm going to hold you to that," I said, trying to squelch my fear as we approached his Jet Ski. "And just as an FYI, from here on out, I'm keeping my feet planted on solid ground.

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CHAPTER 24 CALLING IN A FAVOR

That night, Kiran invited me, Noelle, Taylor, Tiffany, and Amberly to her house for a mysterious get-together. Her home was at the end of a winding road, surrounded by a dense forest of palm and evergreen trees. We pulled into the parking area out front, and Noelle parked between Kiran's and Tiffany's cars. The home was one floor, long and square, and appeared to be made up mostly of windows. Lights glowed inside the house, and I could see Kiran walking around what appeared to be a fashion show runway, lighting candles on low tables with a lighter wand. She was wearing a red jumpsuit with a plunging neckline, like something out of a Charlie's Angels movie, and she held a glass of wine in her free hand.

"A runway?" Noelle said, narrowing her eyes as she killed the engine. "What is she up to?"