Chapter 5. With a reflexive jerk, Tess groggily awoke from slumber with a foreboding feeling that something was off

With a reflexive jerk, Tess groggily awoke from slumber with a foreboding feeling that something was off. She cracked an eye and winced at the slight pain that accompanied the motion, an indicator that she’d had a little too much to drink the previous night.

Nothing new there.

Immersed in complete darkness, the room was silent and, if anything, encouraged her to return to sleep. Sighing, Tess flexed a hand, her fingertips testing the sheet draped across her body. The ultra smooth material was completely unlike the cheap, Wal-Mart sheets she’d invested in freshman year.

The sheets didn’t bother her as much as the musky scent of sex and cologne lingering on them; achingly familiar scents that struck Tess with the force of a careening Mack truck. Her eyes flew open as the events of the last night streamed into consciousness: the penetration of a slow, burning heat that invaded every inch of her body, her writhing beneath him in rapturous agony…each moment captured in the still frame of her memories, suspended forever in detailed animation.

A paralyzing sense of horror overtook her.

Tess lifted her head and the confirmation that greeted her delivered yet another crushing blow. The vague outline of his body was covered from the waist down. His chest rose and fell rhythmically.

What had she done?

Tess fought to keep from bolting upright and running out like the damned fool she was. Taking care not to disturb the sheets, she slithered off the bed. Tess steadied her rubbery limbs and combed the floor for her clothes.

Thankfully she'd had the foresight to bring them upstairs after their first go round in the kitchen. Her stomach churned, remembering their frantic stumble up the stairs after violating the kitchen table.

Her vision fogged. What the hell had she been thinking?

Tess struggled to maintain a lid on her composure while descending the staircase, testing each step carefully for give-away squeaks. Once clear, she flew past the second floor, too ashamed to even see if Cam had returned at some point during the night, not that she would have noticed.

She had been too busy fucking his best friend.

Nausea coalescing, she barely made it outside in time. Tess heaved over the railing and retched into the hedges below. Once she finished redecorating the shrubbery with eau de vie, she pushed away and made for her dorm. Blessedly, it was too early for people to witness her walk of shame and speculate at the slight limp in her step.

Her skin crawled, as if filmed with a layer of filth. She’d debased herself in the worse way possible. And for what?

A fleeting victory?

Restoration of her damaged vanity?

To prove a point?

She felt sullied and used despite her body’s satiation. She hated the feeling. Her steps slowed as something else occurred to her.

What if he told Cameron?

Pressure built behind her eyeballs, stinging with tears. The one good thing she’d come across and she had to go fuck it up.

All this time, Tess had been trying to convince herself that she wasn’t her mother’s daughter by attending prestigious schools and girding herself with wealthy people.

Apparently she was not without a proclivity for escapism as well.

Tess made it as far as her dorm before realizing she’d left her purse. No purse meant no checkpoint. And no checkpoint meant she would be standing outside until someone came out or went in.

I am Jack’s utter lack of surprise.

____________________

Yawning, Riley rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He squinted at the clock and scowled. If there was anything he hated more than getting up at eight in the morning, it had to be getting up at eight in the morning on a Saturday. As the only free day in his hectic schedule, he treasured them. Between juggling a part time job as a day laborer for a local construction company, attending swim practices and meets, and staying up to speed with his engineering courses, he rarely had time for himself.

A loud, grumbling noise threaded Riley to the present, reminding him of the purpose. “I hear ya,” he consoled his stomach and made a beeline for the kitchen.

He set up a pot of coffee and opened the refrigerator. Chilled light glinted over something shiny on the floor. He stooped down and grimaced when he came back up with an empty condom wrapper and several buttons.

"You couldn't make it to the room, lass?" Chuckling, Riley flipped the lid to the rubbish bin and paused when he saw the remnants of a meal. No, not remnants, but an entire dinner course. So they decided to ax dinner plans. Had it been anyone else’s thrown-away meal he wouldn’t have blinked twice. But Tess was a stickler for not wasting food.

A cool draft whisked into the kitchen as the sliding glass door opened. Riley's brows rose as his roommate stumbled in. "Rough night?" he asked, taking in his disheveled appearance.

“I’ve had worse.” Cameron heaved the pane shut and sank into a chair. “What are you doing up so early?”

“I could ask the same of you.” Riley raided the fridge and piled the ingredients of a promising breakfast on the counter. "How was yesterday?"

“I crashed at Lance’s for a Call of Duty marathon.”

Riley gaze zeroed in on Cameron’s polo, all of the buttons still intact. “So you didn’t drop by at all after meeting with your lab partner?”

“Nah. Why? Did I miss something good?”

Riley’s shoulders flattened as he toyed with the idea dumping the trash over his friend’s head. But he wouldn’t do that to Tess. As much as he hated Cameron giving her the run-a-round, it wasn’t any of his business. And he knew Tess didn’t want to guilt the guy into a relationship.

“Forget it,” Riley said tightly and set about making his breakfast. He cracked the egg’s shell against the counter and slung its contents into a bowl.

His uncharacteristic coldness began to piss Cameron off. “What’s your deal?”

“My deal? I don’t have bleedin’ deal. It’s you who needs to sort y’self out.”

Cameron pinched his sinuses. “It’s too early for this shit, Riles.”

“Forget about it.” He hacked off a chunk of butter. It sizzled and popped as it skated across the hot skillet. “Y’want in on this?”

Baffled by his mercuriality, Cameron waved him off. “No thanks.”

The house creaked as footfalls slumped down the staircase. Adonis entered the kitchen seconds later, clad only in drawstring sweatpants. “Hey,” he said, his voice thick with residual sleep, and headed straight for the coffee maker.

Cameron eyed the cut on his lip and angry, red scratches welted across his chest. “Was she trying to carve her name into your skin?”

Adonis glanced down and smirked. “Possibly.”

They stared at him, expecting elaboration that never came. “So, you going to keep us waiting in suspense or what?”

“I don’t fuck and tell.” He retrieved a ceramic mug from the cabinet.

“Since when?” Hitching an elbow on the table, Cameron tipped his chair back on its hind legs. “I thought you enjoyed giving us the low down.”

Adonis poured coffee into his cup. “Since now.” He took a swig. “Also, I'd think twice before sitting at that table.”

Riley roared as Cameron almost toppled over in his haste to shove away from the table. He narrowed his eyes at the dark-haired man. “You could've warned me.”

“I could have.”

Riley dumped his eggs on a plate. “So who is this mystery doxie?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

Cameron cocked an improbable brow. “Has she done the impossible and earned a special place in that nonexistent heart of yours?”

Adonis didn’t answer right away and savored the smoothness of the expensive prime roast. “Hardly. Once I finish with her maybe I'll give her to you as a present.”

“Because I’m so looking forward to consoling your hand-me-downs with my dick. It’s not my fault your shit leaves girls scarred for life.”

He spread his hands. “It’s a gift.”

“Speaking of which, how about gifting us with a sanitized table?” Riley questioned with in a cynical smile.

Adonis scoffed. “Like you haven’t defiled your share of college-owned property.”

Coughing, Riley turned back to prepping his breakfast.

Cameron frowned. “Hey, did Tess stop by yesterday? My phone died on me and Lance didn’t have a Droid charger.”

Riley grated his molars as he struggled between protecting his best girl and giving his boy the real deal. “I think she may have popped in for a bit.” He scowled at Adonis’s answering snicker.

“Oh.” His brow furrowed with a thought before he shook his head. “Ok. Later.”

Riley waited until the upstairs floorboards creaked overhead before pinning Adonis with an unreadable look. “Do you know what time Tess left last night? Usually she tells me good-bye before leavin’ out.”

Adonis met his gaze unflinchingly, aware of his angle. “Maybe she was too emotionally distraught. Guilt can do that to a person.”

Riley's vision became awash in red. “At least that implies she has a conscience. Too bad the same can’t be said for others. How could you fuck her knowin’ they’re in love?”

“Love?” he mocked the notion. “He’s not in love with her. And she’s an idiot if she thinks she has a chance.”

“Cam’s not an elitist fuck,” Riley said coldly. “And he happens to care a great deal for her. You’re blind if you haven’t noticed that by now.” His smile was void of mirth. “Some bud you turned out to be.”

“I did him a favor by sleeping with that whore,” Adonis snapped. “Now he can see her for what she truly is.”

“Is that so? Who are you tryin’ to convince? Maybe you’re just jealous that he has someone who genuinely cares for him, whereas all you have is a string of forgettable fucks.”

The air pressure in the kitchen dropped measurably. Hellfire leapt into Adonis’s eyes. Riley steeled himself for a fight. A born and raised brawler, he wouldn’t have a problem putting the pampered rich boy in his place.

Riley relaxed his stance as Cameron reentered. “Are you sure you didn't see Tess?” he asked, worried. “Jade said she was supposed to crash here last night. And she left this.” He strung up her purse.

Riley watched as an emotion flickered across Adonis’s face. “Really now?” He let a beat pass before swiveling to their dark-haired roommate. “Adonis, I believe you were the last to see her. Care to enlighten us?”

_________________

Tess huddled deeper under the covers and feigned sleep as she heard her roommate get up. More than two hours had passed since Jade had opened the door with bleary-eyed annoyance. One look at Tess’s tear-stained face and she’d immediately ushered her inside. Instead of bombarding her with a hundred million questions, Jade told her they’d discuss it after she got some rest.

As if she needed sleep. What she needed was a case of amnesia.

“You want to talk now or later?” Jade’s voice drifted from the furthest side of the room.

Tess burrowed deeper beneath the sheets. “Preferably never.” There was a silent pause. Her bed dipped with added weight.

“Come on. You’ll feel better afterwards.”

“I did something stupid.”

“I’m assuming it involved not doing Cam?”

Fear of judgment and recrimination made her hold off on the truth. Though she loved Jade dearly, Tess didn’t trust her with the uncut edition. She lowered the sheets. “I kind of slept with someone else.”

Jade’s eyes bulged. “I’m sorry, I must have heard you wrong. Did you just say you had sex with someone other than Cameron? Your one and only?”

It sounded even worse when she said it like that. “It was a spur of the moment thing. With a guy from my sociology class,” she lied unconvincingly.

“Bullshit,” Jade said, her expression still caught between downright shock and utter disbelief.

“It wasn’t a big deal, especially since I saw Cameron with someone else after I waited three hours for him to come home.” Tess didn’t bother weeding the bitterness from her voice. “I ended up throwing out the entire dinner.”

Her features softened. “Oh, sweetie. I’m sorry.”

Tess groaned and dragged the covers over her head. “I feel such a whore.”

“The hell you are.” Jade snatched away the duvet. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Not when Cam’s plowing his dick into every chick within a ten mile radius.”

“Thank you for that stunning visual.”

The tinkling of wind chimes cut Jade’s next response short. “Now what.” She recovered her phone from the nightstand and grimaced at the picture splayed on the screen. “It’s Cam.”

Tess shot up. “Don’t answer it.”

“I can’t not answer it or else he’ll know something’s up. I may have texted him to tuck you in and give you a good night kiss for me last night,” she said with a wince.

Blood leeched from her face. “Jade!”

“What? I thought everything was going according to the plan. And when he responded this morning having no idea what I was talking about, I freaked. I thought you died!”

“No, no, just hanging out in another guy’s bed,” she muttered.

“Hush.” Jade accepted the call. “Hey Cam, what’s up? Don’t worry, she's here.” Tess mimed vicious throat slashing motions. “I mean was here. She left. For class.”

Tess slapped her forehead.

“It’s Saturday? Haha, seriously? The days are starting to blend together.” Jade floundered helplessly. “I don’t know when she’ll be back in a few. Oh, did she? You’re going to bring her purse over? Um, ok, well see you in a few.” She hung up. “He’s dropping by in ten minutes.”

“Fuck.” Tess flung off the covers, ignored the soreness between her legs, and flew into their walk-in closet.

“Is running away really the best idea? You’re going to have to face him sometime.” Jade flopped on her bed as Tess flitted from the closet to the dresser.

Winding her hair into a bun, Tess shimmied into a pair of sweat pants, sports bra, and a tank. “This isn’t running away. This is self-preservation.” Tess slid on a pair of low-cut socks and stuffed her feet into her tennis shoes. She unscrewed the cap to a bottle of aspirin and dry-swallowed two capsules. “I’m not in the right state of mind at the moment.”

“Are you ever in the right state of mind when it comes to him?”

Tess glared at her as she pocketed her ID and IPod. “Can I borrow your checkpoint? I’ll be at the gym. Don’t tell him I’m there.”

“My lips are sealed.” Jade swiped hers from the nightstand and tossed it at her. “Wait, what am I supposed to tell Cam?”

“I don’t know. Be creative. And more creative than that last lie.” Tess slipped out before the other girl could reply. Usually she had no problem grabbing life by the balls and taking shit as it came. Now one thing went wrong and she hauled ass. Luckily, a good exercise regime always provided the perfect remedy for clearing a cloudy mind.

Besides diehard workout freaks, the gym was relatively empty. Intending to use this rare opportunity of having the entire indoor track to herself, she stretched and bumped out several laps. Two miles later, she still had excess energy to burn. Figuring a cardio machine would knock out the rest, she walked to the aerobics center.

She froze in the entryway. Her luck couldn’t be this bad. It was inconceivable. She stifled the automatic response to abandon ship. Tess had never yielded to him. Why should now be any different? So what if they had screwed each other’s brains out no less than three times?

Tess strode purposefully toward Adonis, who pumped gray, cast iron barbells.

No, pumping wouldn’t quite describe the way he effortlessly catapulted the bar into the air. It descended, metal rattling as he caught the weights a hair’s breadth from his chest before hauling it up again. His pace was unbroken, relentless.

Just like last night.

An ache blossomed in the pit of her stomach.

Against her better judgment, her gaze dropped. Perspiration dampened the flexing sinew of his biceps. Drenched, his white wife beater molded so tightly to his torso she could make out each individual ridge of his abdominal muscles.

The clank of barbells settling in the rack rattled Tess from stupor. “Can’t get enough of me? If you’re looking for a replay, there’s no need for stalking. All you have to do is ask.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I always work out Saturday mornings,” she bristled. Well, Saturday mornings when she wasn’t too hungover. “And trust me, the only replay you’ll be getting is in your dreams.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” He sprang to his feet and reached for her. Her skin tightened. But his hand slid past her for the towel hanging from the bracket of weights. And by his knowing smirk, her reaction hadn’t been missed.

“Fuck you.”

“We already did that. Several times.” Adonis toweled dried his damp hair. “I find it hard to believe that you didn’t follow me here for round two.”

“Round two? Please. Round one barely passed as adequate.”

His eyes flashed. “Adequate?” Without warning, he snagged her elbow and all but manhandled Tess into one of the few, secluded areas of the fitness center’s rotund assembly. “That’s funny coming from the girl who passed out from multiple orgasms,” he murmured.

Tess adhered to the wall, her heart racing. “I hadn’t had sex in three years. What did you expect?”

His mouth sloped into a half-smile. “So that’s what you’re fishing for; you want acknowledgement of your so-called celibacy. Fine, but if you think it changes anything, you’re mistaken.”

With consummate efficiency, his thigh nudged her legs apart and hiked Tess up so that she straddled him. He claimed her mouth before she could react. There was no finesse or easing into the kiss, only the insistent catch and release of lips, teeth, and tongue.

And it was all she could do not to respond. Her fingers twitched, aching to curl in the shaggy length of his hair. The familiarity of his smell, his taste, his touch, drove a hard spike of need through her resistance. God help her, her treasonous body actually wanted him again.

Clinging to her tenuous hold on sanity, Tess did the only thing that could break the spell.

She head-butted him.

He staggered back in surprise, allowing Tess to unsaddle herself from his thigh. “What part of there will be no round two didn’t you understand?”

Adonis stared at her, outrage slowly taking the place of shock. “Did you just fucking head-butt me?”

“Get over it. And get over what happened between us. The only reason I slept with you was because of emotional duress and too much wine. If anything, you took advantage of me.” Emboldenedby his silence, she drilled an index finger into his sweat-soaked pec. “And I suggest you keep it to yourself because as far as I’m concerned, it never happened.”

Any confidence telling him off had garnered was quickly dispelled when he seized her hand. “How about you keep your suggestions to yourself, because I have a better solution.” He bent close, his breath warm and feather light. “I won’t tell Cameron on one condition.”

“Which would be? Stay away from him?” If she had a nickel for every time she heard that one.

“Not at all.” His thumb ghosted her forearm. “You two should remain friends. But just friends. If he wants anything more, you’re going to turn him down.”

“He’s not going to buy that,” she said weakly.

“Oh, he will. Especially when you mention that you’re seeing someone else.”

“Get the hell out of here.”

He grabbed the waistband of her shorts and yanked her into him. Heat torched her at the feel of his semi-hardness. “I wonder what our friend would say after I told him what a scheming, whoring little bitch you are and how you jumped at the first chance to fuck me. In fact…” his hand slid up her thigh, “we’ve been fucking on and off for a few years.”

Emotion roped around her neck. “He won’t believe you.”

“Won’t he? Who’s story do you think he’ll buy? The guy he’s been friends with since birth or some lonely urchin he picked up off the street? My money’s on the former.”

Why did he seem bound and determined to rip her self-respect to shreds at every turn? “So, you want me to tell the guy I love that I’m in a relationship with someone who doesn’t exist. Should I put in an application to a convent?”

“I’m not a complete monster.” He brushed a taunting finger along her collarbone. “Maybe there’ll be something in it for you.”

“I’m not sure what keeps your sluts coming back, but it definitely has nothing to do with your bedside manner,” she said acidly and shrugged him off.

Growling, Adonis nabbed her arm before she could walk off. “Don’t disappoint me, wildcat. Who knows what could slip out by accident.” He returned to his workout as if he hadn’t just issued her an ultimatum of a most insidious nature.

_________________

Cameron was in the middle of a heated debate with Jade on the ethics of big businesses for their Econ course when Tess burst into the room. He trailed off mid-sentence. Fresh from her work out, color rode high on her cheeks. Sweet sheened the defined lines of her arms and calves and misted the voluptuous spill of cleavage, rising and falling above the top of her tank.

Cameron guiltily shifted his eyes back to her face. “Hey.”

She avoided his gaze. “What’s up?”

“I thought you might be needing this.” He lifted her purse.

“You’re a godsend.”

“Well chickadees, as cozy as this is, I must be on my way.” Jade rushed to her desk. “The library awaits me.” She stuffed the rest of her notebooks and texts into her Coach tote before slinging it over her shoulder.

“Call me later,” Tess said pointedly and pitched the checkpoint at her.

“Bet on it.” Jade threw her a pitying look. And then she was gone.

An uncomfortable silence muscled its way into the room. He’d known the instant he’d walked through the door and seen Jade’s plastic grin that she was evading him. She must have seen him with Erin last night.

Cameron cleared his throat. “You straightened your hair.”

Tess tucked an errant strand behind her ear. “Yeah. It was time for a change.”

“It looks good,” he murmured.

“Please, I’m a hot, sweaty mess,” she quipped, all too eager to slip back into their usual banter.

“I’ve seen you look worse.”

Her lips trembled with a smile. “Dick.”

Cameron lost his playful grin. “Jade told me about the surprise dinner.”

Jade, the bleeding heart. She never knew when to keep her trap shut. It was a good thing she didn’t tell her with whom she’d gotten down and dirty. “Don’t worry about it,” Tess played off with a shrug. “I ended up eating most of it. My fat ass thanks you by the way.”

“Your ass is fine.” The soft admission punched through her, leaving a gaping, fist-sized hole in her midsection.

Fighting for calm, she ejected an airy laugh. “We’re friends. You have to say that.” She tugged her hair free from the elastic band, grabbed her brush from her desk, and restlessly began to detangle.

“Where did you end up spending the night?”

“Oh, at a friend’s place,” she didn’t quite lie. “I was too lazy to walk across campus.”

His strong, calloused grip halted the frantic motions. He guided her hand to set aside the brush’s wooden handle and swiveled her around. Her belly quivered. His eyes were true blue, somnolent and achingly vivid. They made her want to climb inside and swaddle herself in their warmth. “How about I repay you?”

“How do you plan on doing that?”

“Let me take you on a date.”

Stumped, Tess stared at him. “What?”

“I mean…to make up for the missed dinner.” The tips of his ears reddened. “Look, I didn’t think you’d be stopping by so I got together with my lab partner, Erin. We didn’t get together, get together,” he rambled awkwardly. “After we finished our assignment, we went out for a few drinks and I crashed at Lance’s frat house.”

Nausea clubbed her with the force of a wrecking ball. In fine form, as always, she’d jumped to conclusions and consequently into the sack with Adonis. And all over a misunderstanding.

Irritated with herself and him for pulling her in so many directions, she shucked off her shirt. Nothing said friend more than casually undressing in front of one. “You can make it up to me by buying me sushi and another bottle of merlot.”

Cameron didn't answer. Fixated on her chest, his pupils had become glacial bergs, frozen amidst arctic blue. Her face burned with equal parts self-consciousness and indignation. “What?”

“Who did that?” Fury shook in his voice.

Tess glanced down to the bruises and blemishes that patched her hips and torso. That creep! He’d probably done it on purpose. Panicking, her brain leapt for a suitable excuse. “I…it was the guy I’m seeing.”

His expression became neutral. “Is that who you stayed with?”

Bottled aggravation tipped out unvarnished truth before she could disguise it. “What’s it to you?"

The surprise stupefying his face would’ve made her laugh if the urge to cry hadn’t prevailed. “I’m sorry,” she said and rubbed her eyes. "I didn’t sleep much last night.”

“No, it’s fine. I didn’t mean to pry. Just…” His fingers tumbled through his unkempt hair, at a loss. “If you ever need help, or anything, you know where I am.”

“It’s nothing like that,” Tess said, fatigued.

“Had to make sure.” He faked a wide, insincere grin. “I’m going to head out now. We’ll reschedule the date for some other time.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Eyes burning, she waited until the door shut behind him to sink onto the foot of her bed. What the hell was wrong with her? She needed to schedule an appointment at the health center, asap. Clearly Adonis must have infected her with a chronic case of psychosis.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-16