Chapter 4

Tess tapped her pen against her spiral bound notebook, trying to keep awake. Outside the classroom, rainwater sheeted against the windows.

October had finally arrived, and with it brought a merry band of squalls and icy, drenching downpours. A fitting manifestation of her mood.

After the marathon that was September, exhaustion saddled her bones. Tess never had a problem juggling schoolwork, work-work, and a social life. She wanted to blame it on her course load, which now included three labs as opposed to none she’d taken last year. She could also blame it on the extra shifts her supervisor loaded on her plate due to understaffing at the restaurant where she waitressed part-time.

But neither scratched the surface of the truth.

The contemptible truth rested with a guy, of all things.

Tess didn’t know if it was an unexpected surge of testosterone, but the tramline of girls hurtling in and out of Cam’s life dizzied her.

Always a good sport, Tess acted the part to which she’d been relegated and returned their smiles and engaged them in pseudo enthusiasticconversation.

Never one to take blows lying down, Tess countered with a few tricks of her own, and employed her rudimentary flirting skills on other guys in his proximity.

The plan backfired. Cameron not only encouraged her to date other guys, he even introduced her to some of his friends.

She palmed the tension from her eye sockets. She hated that these feelings were the driving force behind her fatigue: a fatigue that infiltrated deeper than an overextended body. She was emotionally drained. She was tired of putting up a front of nonchalance when all she wanted to do was throw in the towel.

After class, she plodded back to the dorm, ready for a nap on her only day off. Of course upon hearing this sacrilege on the grand opening of some pub downtown, Jade pestered her until she caved.

“Don’t look so excited to be here, Tess,” Lance snickered, plucking a fry from the community basket and chucking it into his mouth.

“I’m not,” she said sullenly. And why would she? She worked six out of seven days a week. “I have three labs.”

“This is exactly why I wake up extra early to pick the next semester’s classes,” he said, presuming, as always, her schedule was the reason behind her lassitude. “The longer you wait, the faster they fill up.”

“Tess just sucks at picking electives.” Jade patted her wrist. “Didn’t I tell you Art 101 was the way to go?”

“It’s not her fault she wanted to learn something more than how to doodle,” Riley swooped in for the save with a consoling grin.

“It’s not doodling, asshole,” she sniffed. “It’s artistic exploration.”

“Speaking of which, I’d appreciate if you’d contain your exploration and stop tacking them over my posters,” Tess said gravely. “I think your work may be a tad too avant-garde. Best stick with international politics.”

Jade laughed and kicked her under the table. “Bitch.”

Tess dunked her fry into her mound of ketchup. “You guys ready to order?”

Riley tipped back his frosted bottle of Guinness. “Cam should be swinging round in a few. Let’s give him a minute.”

“Yeah, it did take us forever this place,” Lance said.

Tess concurred. They’d driven past four times before Jade spotted the pub’s underlit sign wedged in the narrow alleyway. The owners had taken low-key to whole new level.

Although it wouldn’t be winning any awards for originality, she admitted it had heart. Intimately imbedded lights reflected mutely off hardwood floors and planked walls, bedecked with the usual pro-Irish trappings. Surprisingly, a few townies intermingled amongst illegally and legally of age college students, a rarity considering both demographics avoided the other like the plague.

But who could resist the allure of happy hour specials at a new drinking venue?

A bell jangled from the entryway.

Speak of the devil.

Something kicked hard in her chest as Cameron stomped into the pub, ruffling droplets of water from his hair. Rain marks shadowed his blue pullover and the gunmetal denim that gripped his thighs. It wasn’t fair that he could look so effortlessly attractive. And in the middle of a downpour.

The bastard.

Grinning, Tess waved him over. Even from a distance, the crystalline hue of his eyes speared her. Anticipation snagged in a web of darker emotion as Adonis walked in behind him.

“Oh, look T. It’s your other best friend,” Jade observed wryly.

“He’s not that bad,” Lance said, and threw his hands up when Tess bulldozed him with a glare. “Or not.”

Tension mangled her mood as the duo approached their booth. It was so strange, seeing them together, all buddy-buddy. She’d grown too used to Cameron towing his strung-out, blathering imbecile of a friend away from a scene. Even as far as appearances went, their polarities resonated: Cameron with his golden boy good looks and Adonis with his dark, brooding mystique.

No wonder they made such a formidable tag team. Well, when Adonis didn’t haul ass off the wagon. She’d never seen them using their power in unification but she’d heard enough of their combined prowess. It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine the havoc they were capable of wreaking amongst womankind.

She scowled at their lumbering, disjointed tread. And apparently they decided to get wrecked before coming out.

Cameron plunked beside her, the vinyl bench sagging beneath his weight. “Tess,” he dragged out her name and pulled her close.

She leaned into him, but shrunk back when the stench hit her. “Ugh, you smell like a distillery.”

“Mm-hm.” His face pressed into her shoulder. “I missed you.”

Her lips twitched. “I saw you yesterday.”

“I know.” Drowsy blue eyes entrapped her. “That was like a hundred hours ago.”

And then he spoke. “Careful Cam, your vagina is showing.”

Before she got the chance to snap back, Cameron covered her hand beneath the table. Chagrin petered as his thumb soothed the ridge of her knuckles, exerting his mastery over disabling her defenses. “Have you guys eaten yet?” she asked, distracted.

His mouth bowed devilishly. “No. Not yet. But I’m going to. Very soon.”

The innuendo drew her short of breath. Tess swallowed, thrilled and terrified of soberly managing a drunk, flirty Cam. “Here.” She slipped out of his hold and stuck the laminated menu in front of him.

But Cameron’s eyes remained with her. “I already know what I want.”

Like a rubber band plucked, tension thrummed across her skin, causing her nerves to sing. “Cam…” His name trembled from her lips, raw and needy.

“Are you guys ready to order?”

Tess wanted to hiss like a cat woken too soon from its nap at their hapless, bright-eyed server.

“You guys go ahead,” Cameron addressed everyone. “I need a second.” He released her hand and picked up the menu.

Reining in disappointment, Tess immersed herself back into the conversation as if nothing had happened. Only one pair of eyes saw through her faux cheer. Jaw locked, she met Adonis’s gaze, expecting scorn and derision, but his expression was inscrutable.

A blurry reel of memory suddenly looped back. Heat stole into her features as she recalled their last encounter almost a month ago.

Tess expected him to make some crack about the fluke and spew his usual vitriolic slander. But he didn't as much as glance her way for the rest of dinner. Other than a few salty comments, he’d been on his best behavior and her crew continued to buy into the idea that he wasn’t a bad guy.

She didn’t know whether to feel wary or warier.

After they paid for their meals, the guys headed for the billiard tables, leaving Tess and Jade to their own devices.

“See now, this was fun, right?”

“Sure.” Tess watched as a wild pack of girls migrated toward the guys under the auspices of wanting to learn how to play. Fifty bucks said they were playing stupid.

“What’s happening with you and Cameron?”

Tess forced her gaze away. “Same old, same old.”

“Haven’t you told him how you feel?”

“Of course I have. And look where’s gotten me.” Tess used her straw to stab at the lemon floating in her water. “It’s like he doesn’t even see me as a woman. I’m just one of the guys,” she said dully.

“Have you tried seducing him?”

Tess shifted uneasily. “Define seduction.”

“Skimpy clothes. Lap dances. Sucking the red off a cherry lollipop.”

“I don’t want to be a skank about it.”

“Look, sweetie. Obviously the nice girl, can-we-move-to-the-next-level-but-only-when-you’re-ready routine has not worked. What you need is guns blazing, no-holds barred seduction. You need to stop approaching this so meekly and take control of the situation. You need to set the atmosphere.” Fire blazed in her eyes. “Scented candles. Lingerie. Wine. Dinner. Handcuffs.”

“Handcuffs? Really?”

Her smile was carnivorous. “You don’t want him to run, do you?”

“I worry about you sometimes.”

“Why do you think Lance has stuck around for so long?"

"Because you keep him chained to your bed?" she replied dryly.

"That's not the point. The point is that if Cam insists on being a pussy about this, you need to find a way to show him what he’s been missing out.”

“And how do you propose I do that?”

Jade whipped out her phone. “What does your schedule look like tomorrow?” she asked, her fingers flying across the screen.

“My last class is at noon and I work from three to eight.”

“Good. I'm booking us an appointment at 12:30. It won't take longer than a few hours.”

“For what?”

Not so hidden amusement gleamed in her eyes. “You'll see.”

Tess knew better than to trust her mischievous roommate. So it was with dread that she dragged her feet into a taxi the next day. Knowing her friend's flare for dramatics, Tess half expected them to roll up to an S&M club.

Color her surprised when the taxi swerved into the roundabout of a squat, adobe style building. She read the sign displayed above the awning. “A spa?”

Jade paid the driver. “You'll thank me later.”

More like strangle, Tess later rued as she scanned the astronomical prices posted on the glass display. She waited until the receptionist was out of earshot before hissing, “You do realize that my budget does not cover these kinds of expenditures.”

“Don't worry. It'll be my treat. Consider a belated birthday gift.”

“My birthday is in four months.”

“Ok, an early birthday present courtesy of dear old dad.” Jade grinned deviously as she brandished a credit card.

“Didn't he tell you that was for emergencies only?”

She had the gall to look affronted. “This is an emergency. We're trying to get you laid in the name of love.”

The chipper receptionist returned before Tess could further argue her case. “Right this way, ladies.”

Having never been to a spa, Tess was pleasantly surprised by the treatment. Everything was subdued, from the Far East fusion of music to the deliberately soft intonations used by her caretakers.

Hot rocks and firm hands purged years' worth of knots from her stressed flesh. It felt strange to allow people to pamper her. Unaccustomed to the role of attendee, she tried hard not to feel like a total poser.

By the end of their three-hour session, Tess felt like a new woman. Hair trimmed and blown to bone straightness, plucked and waxed within an inch of her life, and imbuedwith a limberness that granted levity, she ignored Jade's smug, I-told-you-so expression.

“You did not tell me a Brazilian was included in the package,” she grumbled.

“Tell Cam he can thank me tomorrow. Now text him and see what he's doing later.”

Tess typed the message. A minute later her phone vibrated with a response.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-16