Sarah got up to retrieve the bottles of beer from the fridge and I concentrated on eating my burger, not looking up.

The doorbell rang and Jenny groaned. Marcus gave her a look of concern before he walked over to answer it. Marcus opened the front door to reveal Samantha standing there, her light brown hair whipping in the wind. She stepped in and shivered.

"It's freezing out there!" she exclaimed, running her hands through her hair and trying to straighten it out. Although she was wearing a heavy coat, it only hit mid-thigh and the rest of her legs were bare down to her black high heels. I wondered how she could stand showing all that skin in such frigid temperatures. I had never been one to suffer pain for vanity.

Samantha took off her coat, revealing a short blue miniskirt and a skintight black top. The top looked modest enough in the front, but when she turned to hand her coat to Marcus, I could see that the back plunged down, almost all the way to her skirt. I wasn't sure what type of bra she could be wearing that didn't show with such a revealing back. When Samantha turned back around, I rethought the existence of a bra as I could clearly see that the cold had affected her. I thought about my outfit in comparison to hers. We looked like a before and after, albeit a slightly slutty after.

I gave myself a mental shake and reprimanded myself for my thoughts. I wasn't in competition with anyone, or for anyone. Certainly not for Simon.

"Hi guys," she greeted with a smile, scanning the room. Her smile widened when she saw Simon. "Simon!" she gushed. "It's so good to see you again!"

She walked over, ignoring or not hearing everyone else's greeting in return and stood before Simon, standing with one hand on her hip in a practiced pose to draw the eyes to all her assets.

"Hi," Simon answered with a smile as he stood. "Samantha, right?"

Samantha's answering smile was blinding.

"You remembered," she cooed with a seductive smile. "I'm flattered."

"Have a seat," Simon offered, indicating the one he had just vacated. I ignored the feeling of displeasure at his action. I told myself it was because I didn't want to get stuck next to Samantha, no matter how sorry I felt for her. It was not because Simon so willingly gave up the seat next to me. And it also wasn't because I had felt special when he had given up his seat on the recliner for me yesterday. I felt like kicking myself.

"Oh. Okay," Samantha said with a slight frown as she watched Simon walk into the kitchen after offering his seat. All the other seats were taken and I wasn't sure where she had been expecting to sit. Not on his lap, that's for sure, I thought unkindly.

"Help yourself to some food," Grant said, indicating the plates of food on the coffee table. "Do you want a beer?"

"Do you have anything harder?" Samantha inquired. I heard Jenny make a sound that I could only describe as a harrumph but I tried to ignore it, pressing my lips together to hide a smile.

"Name your poison," Marcus said. "We have a pretty full bar."

"I'll just take a vodka tonic, if you have it," Samantha requested, crossing her long legs.

"Be right up," Marcus said, disappearing into the kitchen at the same time Simon walked back out. He was carrying two open bottles of beers and walked over, handing me one.

"Thanks," I said, grabbing the beer, not wanting to read too much into the fact that he had noticed that I was finished with my first one. I took a long swig, trying to clear my thoughts with the coldness of the beer. Sure, it wasn't smart trying to clear my head with alcohol, but at this point I was willing to try anything.

Simon folded his long body down until he was sitting by the coffee table, practically right in front of my feet. Or, I told myself, practically in front of Samantha's feet.

"So," I said, turning to Samantha. "How have you been?"

"Good," she replied shortly, turning to look at me, her dark eyes assessing me. "You?"

I shrugged. "Same old, same old." Samantha shifted her head to look down at Simon in the midst of my response, her expression changing to a smile. I figured that was the extent of my conversational obligation, considering I had just defended her moments ago. She didn't seem too eager to talk to me either, so I turned back to the rest of the group.

"When's your next soccer game?" I asked Marcus, trying to tune out whatever Samantha was saying to Simon. "It seems like ages since we've gone to one."

Marcus laughed. "You haven't gone to one in ages because we haven't played one in ages. It seems like all we do is practice. I think our coach is slacking in contacting other teams to set up games. I'm starting to just think of it as a way to get a good work out. And to hang out with the guys on the team."

"Why don't you play?" Sarah asked Grant. "With your body, I bet you'd be great at it." She gave him a bold wink and I tried not to choke on my sip of beer. Sometimes Sarah's boldness still had the power to shock me.

Grant just grinned, taking the compliment easily. "My one and only love is the Henchmen," he answered. "I don't want to waste any of my time running after a small ball with a bunch of sweaty guys."

"Ha," Marcus scoffed. "I've seen you try and kick a soccer ball." Marcus turned to us, raising his eyebrows. "He was running and missed the ball completely, kicking up a sod of dirt big enough to hurt when it hit me."

We all laughed except for Samantha and Simon, who were involved in their own conversation. Even though I had been making a Herculean effort not to listen, it was hard not to overhear considering they were right next to me. Samantha was asking Simon about his class schedule and about his show next week. Simon wasn't overly ent

husiastic in his replies but at the same time he wasn't being discouraging.

"Let's listen to something more upbeat," I said, wanting to drown out their conversation. The boys had music playing, but it was mellow and relaxing. Way too quiet for my liking at the moment.

Tags: S.H. Kolee Shadows Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net