Chapter 6

The piercing wail of the guitar riffs and the systematic thrash of percussion belted from the stereo system. Its pulsations jolted liquefied walls into spiked peaks.

Tactile and omniscient, treble clefs and half notes throbbed in the rubbery tubing of his veins. Echoed in hollows of his bones. Bled into sponged cartilage. Satiny wavelengths ribboned in windblown scuds past his head, which had unlatched itself and levitated several inches above his neck.

Meshed under the frantic, beating wings of sound, particles of conversation gravitated like a dust motes, annoyingly evident but harmless.

One was louder than the rest. He glared at her. The bitch hadn’t shut up since they started. Words chased her wandering mouth in bold fonts. Tethered by glistening, fibrous tendons, her eyes hovered outside her skull like balloons. He was glad the music trampled over her garrulous drivel. Why couldn’t she shut the fuck up and mellow out like a normal person?

He turned to his friend. “Where did you get this shit?”

“I told you, I got you,” Deck yelled, his mouth overly wide and eyes too spaced apart. “It’s good shit, right?”

How long had they been tripping? It felt like days since they dropped. Gripping the sofa's armrest, he waited until the floor's tectonic plates aligned into a walkway before swaying to a stand. “I gotta piss.”

It took a few seconds for the words to penetrate before Deck pointed down the hall. “Second door on the…left, right. No left!”

“Turn this shit off and play some real music.”

“Ministry is god, mother fucker!”

“My balls it is.”

Deck flipped him off and re-engaged with the girl at his side. Teetering into the hallway, he clasped the edge of the wall for balance. It heated beneath his fingertips, swirling in cotton candy blues and reds. He panicked as it began absorbing his hand. Wrenching back, Adonis staggered into a door, which cushioned him from serious injury and gently steadied him on his feet.

Fuck, he needed to come down off this shit.

After four attempts, he found the bathroom. He waded in a pool of sharp, fluorescent light. Spinning wobbly knobs, he drank from the faucet until the sawdust lining his gullet oozed down, a mass wasting of clotted saliva.

Adonis gawked at the mirror. His face was a kaleidoscope of shifting fractals and eclipsing geometric shapes.

At least his head had reattached to his shoulders.

He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, grappling for clarity of mind. He toed the incline of a slippery slope. One wrong step and he was done.

A crushing sense of helplessness overwhelmed him before it disappeared, imbibed by his psychedelic transmutation.

Adonis started when the door closed with a quiet click. The chatty girl. With her features in their fixed, upright position, he supposed she was attractive.

She spoke but her words were muffled, as if underwater. Dropping to her knees, she unzipped his fly. He wasn't really in the mood, but a blowjob was a blowjob.

Head lolled back, sensation swept him as her mouth engulfed him. Her nails teased his inner thighs as she greedily sucked. Aware of his gaze, she glanced up, eyelashes fluttering coyly as precum leaked from her pink glossed lips. The act was meant to entice but it only pissed him off.

Adonis seized her hair and thrust into her sweet, little mouth. Experienced hands massaged his swelling sack and pumped what she couldn't take. Tension snaked around the base of his spine.

He lunged harder into her moist heat, ignoring the slight choking noise she emitted. A trooper, Chatty bobbed faster to keep pace and falsified a moan.

And for a second, auburn curls transplanted dark hair. Smoldering hazel-green eyes overlaid eager brown.

With a grunt, he exploded into her mouth, coming in long, hard spurts. Adonis blanched as the orgasm receded. What the fuck?

The girl rocked back on her heels with a self-satisfied smile as she wiped his jizz on her sleeve.

What’d she want? A treat? For him to return the favor?

Not fucking likely.

Adonis tucked himself back into his pants and walked out of the bathroom without as much as a thank you. He chucked deuces at Deck, who saluted him with his beer, before grabbing his keys and pushing past the screen door.

Impatience dogged his steps.

Of all the times for her face to surface, why in the middle of a blowjob?

Adonis blamed the acid. Her face wasn’t the strangest shit he’d seen tonight. But somehow it disturbed him the most.

Her refusal spun an irritating track on the turntables of his mind. He’d been turned down. By Tess of all people.

Adonis had known better than to treat her like some wilting flower and so had done away with all pretenses. The end result hadn’t been half bad on his end. All their animosity and hatred must have communed and combusted. They’d fucked like rabid animals all night. His body was a mural of scratches and teeth imprints. Hers was the same. He'd made sure of it.

Despite the blowjob only minutes ago, he felt himself swell, remembering her responsiveness, her insatiability, her sleek tightness. Adonis refused to believe she didn’t feel the same. He couldn’t be the only party this affected. For her to tell him otherwise was absurd. She was lying. She had to be. It was only a matter of proving her wrong.

He slowed, spotting Cameron’s car outside the house.

Something niggled at him, but Adonis brushed it away. He found Cameron on the couch, immersed in Call of Duty. “Jesus, what’s with you people and this fucking game?”

Cameron smirked. “Mad because you suck at it?”

“There’s a difference between sucking and not caring.”

“Whatever makes you feel better, man.”

Adonis grabbed the second controller from the coffee table. “Put it on multiplayer.”

They played in companionable silence for a few minutes. Just as he was beginning to understand the hype, Cameron casually dropped, “Tess is seeing someone.”

His fingers became dead weights. A stray bullet spiraled through his character’s skull, spraying his section of the split screen with blood and goopy brain matter. “How about that,” Adonis murmured. So she’d come through after all. “You don’t sound too happy about it.”

“I am happy for her.” The muscle in his jaw flexed. “I just don't want to see her hurt.”

“She's a big girl. She can handle it.” In more ways than one.

“Yeah.” A scowl shaded his voice.

“Then stop moping. It’s not like you were into her.” Unease contracted in his gut at his friend’s reticence. “Right?”

Cameron laughed, but it came out tinny, thin. “You're right. We're just friends. She can see whoever she wants.”

Stuffing his guilt, Adonis tossed the controller on top of the table. “Then stop mooning over that slut. It’s Saturday night and we need to get fucked up.”

“Don't call her that,” Cameron said, his blue eyes steely. “She’s not like the type that fall into your bed.”

I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Cammie.

________________

To make up for her laziness over the weekend, Tess holed up in the library to study for her organic chem midterm and crank out her sociology paper. Despite her intentions, she couldn’t focus. Too many things crowded her mind.

Cameron hadn’t called or texted her since dropping off her purse Saturday morning. She considered it a blessing in disguise. It bought her time to figure out a way to break the news. Sadly she was no closer to an answer than she was 48 hours ago.

What would she say?

I got tired of you taking so long to make a move?

I was drunk and it didn’t matter?

I still love you?

She didn't feel as guilty as she did sick. Sick with dread. Sick with frustration.

Sick that her body hadn't gotten the hint that there would be no second act. The curtain had drawn on that lapse in judgment.

Snippets of that night haunted her waking hours and plagued her dreams. The scalding glide of his lips. The weight of his body. His ragged breaths mingling with hers. The unguarded rapture that gripped his features as he climaxed.

Heat engulfed her face as the image planted itself in the forefront of her mind.

Tess never considered herself a sexual being. Her scant hookups before him paled in comparison. The feeling spun her off course, casting her into the choppy seas of incertitude. It scared her. The power he wielded over her body. The fact that he’d weaseled his way into her head.

And she despised him for it. How much more would he take from her?

Her cell buzzed next to her spiral bound notebook, its perky vibrations quaking the whole of the library.

Ignoring the glares from her studious neighbors, she unlocked her phone. It was Jade. Food?

Her stomach gurgled accordingly. She did deserve a break after three hours, even though she’d only dedicated a meager twenty minutes to actual study. Student ctr in 10?

Kk.

Tess crammed her textbooks and printouts into her bag and took off. Within ten minutes she and Jade staked their claim at one of the few vacant tables on the veranda.

“God, what happened to freshman holing up in their rooms for meals?” Tess griped, dousing her onion rings with ketchup.

“Don’t act like we weren’t there last year.” Jade strained dressing over her salad.

Tess stared at the sad excuse of a meal like it would crawl off of the plate and launch an assault. “I don’t understand how you can eat that with a straight face.”

“What’re you talking about? Salads are delicious. How can you eat that?”

Tess glanced down at her Philly cheese steak, its gooey cheese and beefy juices staining the wax paper. “This? This is called food.”

Jade gaped at the monstrosity, scandalization waging bitter war with envy. “Not all of us have time to work out.”

Because it wasn’t like Tess worked part-time and juggled a full course load. She diplomatically settled for, “Metabolism.”

“Lucky bitch.” She switched gears. “Dude. Halloween. We need to start planning.”

“What’s there to plan? We all bring a bottle and wear devil horns.”

Jade gaped at her as if she’d sprouted a second head. “Sometimes I wonder why we’re friends.”

“Cuz you love me.” Tess cheesed at her and took a chomp out of the sandwich.

“We need to go shopping for outfits today. This boutique on Sixth Street had some really cute outfits on display.”

Tess groaned. She only shopped out of absolute necessity. And Halloween did not meet that prerequisite. “Can't it wait? I want to go back to the room and take a nap.”

“You can sleep when you're dead.” Jade let go of the subject and ate a few bites contemplatively. But Tess knew her friend well enough to anticipate the next line of questions. “So are you ever going to cough up the deets on this mystery man of yours?”

“Nope,” she said, popping the ‘p’.

“Teess!”

“Jaaade!” she mimicked.

“I thought we were besties.” Jade stuck her with the sad-faced, puppy dog look.

“We are. I just don’t feel like rehashing what happened. Besides, I told you, it was no biggie.”

“Um, it had to be. In the entire time I’ve known you, you haven’t as much as looked at another guy besides Cameron. And now you’re telling me you hooked up with some rando in the heat of the moment?”

Appetite waning, Tess poked at her sandwich in lieu of a suitable response.

Jade sighed, but relented. “Fine. Keep your secrets. But if you need to get anything off your chest, I’m here.”

Tess appreciated the offer, but no confessional would save her. She had already purchased her one way ticket to hell.

__________________

Tuesday kicked off with a bleating refrain from her alarm clock at six in the morning. After falling out of bed and into sweats, she dragged herself to her morning classes.

Thankfully her afternoon class was cancelled, meaning she could pull more hours at the restaurant.

Joy.

Tess rooted through the bottom of her closet for cleanish work clothes, threw her hair into bun, and made her way downtown. The sky was a bleak, unbroken sheet of gray and did nothing to inspire sorely needed motivation. Only the threat of a downpour hurried her steps.

By the time she arrived, suits on their lunch hour swamped the restaurant. At least their progeny were still in school or daycare. Even so, Tess didn’t get a break until her shift ended. What else was to be expected when two of her co-workers decided to call in with matching bogus stories about a stomach bug? With only two servers manning the floor, even her supervisor had to dive into the fray.

By the time her shift ended, Tess felt like the walking dead. Feet throbbing and a wicked headache thrumming between her temples, she dragged herself back to campus. Tess hesitated where the gravel path bisected at the top of the hill. The easternmost artery cut to the heart of the quad and the other branched toward the surrounding neighborhood. Cameron's neighborhood.

Aside from a few text messages, they hadn't spoken face-to-face in days.

There was no use putting this off any longer.

Tess took the outbound walkway.

She heard the racket from their house a block away. Half of Riley’s swim team and a few of Lance’s frat brothers jeered and swore at the television mounted on the den’s wall.

Tess scanned the room and frowned when she didn’t find Cameron. Lance was the only one who noticed her. He pointed upstairs with a wink.

Tess blew him a kiss and flew up the staircase. Her eyes automatically gravitated to the last stack of steps. For once the attic level— his floor—was silent. She hadn’t seen him downstairs either.

In fact, she hadn’t heard from him since their…affair. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or an ominous sign.

Cameron’s door was cracked. Tess rapped her knuckles against the warped doorframe before sticking her head inside. Propped against the headboard, Cameron sat adrift in a sea of handwritten notes and typed outlines. “Hey.”

He was quick to conceal his surprise. “Hey yourself. What's going on?”

“I need a reason to drop by now? “ Tess teased and dropped her bag on his desk. She loitered, unsure if she should sit or stand.

Cameron shuffled a few papers around to make space for her on the bed.

Happy to oblige, she climbed over him and leaned against the wall, leaving her legs to dangle across his. “You just got off work?”

“Yeah. We were at max capacity all day. I didn’t even get to each lunch.” Grimacing, Tess toed off her sneakers and kneaded her tenderized soles.

Cameron sat up. “Give me your feet.”

“What? No, I’m fine.”

He wasn’t willing to take no for answer and continued patting her legs until she surrendered. Heaving a sigh of longsuffering, she swung herself around so they faced one another. “Don’t breath too hard,” she said, self-conscious about the feet that’d been confined in sweaty Reeboks all day.

He rolled his eyes. “I’ll live.” Her misgivings took flight as strong, adroit fingers worked the tension from her foot. “Why didn’t you call me to pick you up?”

Pleasure arced up her leg. “Because you’re not my chauffeur.” Or my boyfriend.

“It’s a three minute drive. Promise me you’ll call next time.”

God, right now she would agree to lick the soap scum off their shower tiles.

“O…ok,” she said hoarsely. His thumbs worked the fleshy area just above her heel. Tess dropped her head back with a moan as knotted tissue disintegrated under his expert ministrations. “Your fingers are phenomenal.”

He didn’t answer.

Tess froze as the words played back in her head. She needed to get a grip. With great effort, Tess hiked herself up on elbows.

His eyes had become opaque. Her lungs suddenly felt too small for her chest. If he didn’t stop staring at her like that she wouldn’t be held accountable for her actions. Damn the high road to hell. “Cam,” she gritted. “I’m good. Thanks.”

“Glad to be of service,” Cameron murmured, liberating her feet.

She tucked them under her body. “So, how goes studying?” she asked, desperate to summon up a modicum of normality.

“A fail,” he said, amused by her eagerness to put the moment behind them.

“Join the club.” She jacked a thumb at the football game playing on his flat screen. “It’d probably help if you turned this off.”

He pouted. “But it’s the Giants."

“Yeah, whose home stadium is in Jersey. They should be called the New Jersey Giants.”

Cameron snaked an arm her waist and began tickling her ribs. “Take it back,” he growled.

Giggling, Tess jerked and tried to scoot back. “No!” Loose-leaf paper thrashed in the air as she wrestled him to reclaim her stolen appendage.

But he was tenacious in his pursuit. His fingers prodded torturously, choking out her giggles in breathless pants. Their less than epic tussle ended with him hovering above her, his fingers resting along her hips.

His nose jabbed hers playfully. “Don’t bring that blasphemy into my house again.”

“I'll think about it.”

Effervescent tingles fizzed through her as they stared at one another in truce. Cushioned beneath dark blond lashes, the deep, mesmerizing blue of his eyes left her breathless. Unable to help herself, Tess traced the familiar line of his jaw.

A rattling breath shook his chest. His lips parted, but he closed them before the words could take form. Cameron wordlessly tugged her back so they lay adjacent against his mountain of pillows.

“I should give you fair warning: Jade is planning on high-jacking your house for a Halloween party.”

“Mm, why am I not surprised?” He toyed with the ends of her hair.

“We already bought our costumes and everything. Mine cost a hundred freaking dollars,” she grumbled.

“What?” he gasped with faux disbelief. “You actually decided to splurge on yourself for once?”

“It’s not like I had a choice.”

He let her hair fall. “Are you going to invite him?”

“Who?” His body tensed.

“Ike Turner,” he said detachedly. “Your hookup from the other night.”

And just like that her good mood vanished in pall of smoke. “Oh, him. No, he’s not coming.” Hopefully he’d be too far gone on another one of his coke-blown misadventures.

“You should bring him,” he said casually. “So we can all meet him and decide if he's good enough for you.”

“He's not. Trust me,” Tess muttered.

“Then why him?”

Tess selected her words with care. “It was convenient.” Convenient in the fact that she’d wanted to punish Cam and Adonis had just happened to be in the vicinity. And it wasn’t like he was going to miss an opportunity to further tear her down.

In hindsight, it probably hadn’t been the best of ideas. No, scratch that. It had been the worst idea in the history of ideas.

“Don't sell yourself short. You're too good for that.”

Just not good enough for you, she wanted to say.

A pound on the door was the only warning they received before someone barged in. Tess wrenched herself away from Cam. It wasn’t quick enough.

Speak of the devil.

Wolfish, amber eyes stalked her. "Isn’t this cozy,” Adonis drawled. “I see the happy couple has kissed and made up."

“We weren’t fighting,” Cameron said dryly. "What's up?"

Cheeks sporting twin flames of anger and shame, she didn’t dare look at Adonis. But there was no ignoring the gaze soldered to her, reveling in her discomfort, of the carnal knowledge he possessed. Thankfully he only addressed Cameron. “You want to go to a Tri Delta party?”

The blond groaned. “It’s five in the afternoon.”

“And daylight’s burning. Get your ass up and put on some clothes.”

There was a cursory hesitation as blue eyes landed on her. “I’ll pass. I’ve got an assload of work to do.”

More than happy to excuse herself, Tess crawled over his prone body. “Like you’re going to get it all finished today.” She rolled to a stand. “If you want to go, go. Don’t let me hold you up. I need to get back anyway.”

“Why don’t you come with us?” Cameron appealed.

“Please, you know those parties are closed to non-sisters.” Tess reached over the desk to retrieve her bag.

A large hand closed over her wrist. “Yes, why don’t you, Tess? I’ll even put in a good word for you.” Straight white teeth glinted behind his vulturine smile. "I’m good at finding ways inside."

She didn’t miss the double entendre. “Why don’t you sit on a dick and spin?” she clipped out childishly. How could Cameron not sense the tension beating its heavy wings between them?

“You and that mouth.” Poison belied honeyed baritone. “I wonder if it’d be better put to use elsewhere. Haven’t you wondered that, Cam?” he asked louder.

Fear piggybacked atop panic as her eyes broke toward the bed. But Cameron was consumed by the game, too used to the back and forth to pick up on the sexual undertones embedded within their usual hostility. “Leave her be, Adonis.”

She hiked an eyebrow, challenging him to say something. Jaw twitching, she saw him bench his next remark. So he wasn’t completely willing to sacrifice his friendship all for the sake of bringing her down.

Interesting.

“See you.”

“I’ll drive you back.” Cameron jammed his feet into his checkered Vans and swiped his keys from the nightstand. “C’mon. We can stop and get food first.” He placed a hand on the small of her back.

Tess couldn’t help but slide Adonis a look of utter smugness as they passed by him.

Round two to her.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-16