Bad for You (Sea Breeze #7)(21)

There will always be only one face I see.

You’ve been warned and that’s all I can do.

Let’s forget the talking and the wasting of my time.

This is all about me, babe. I’m not worried about you.

Just another night, babe and you’re just another girl.

They all want to save me. They all want to own me.

But I’ve been owned before. That ship has sailed.

She took my soul a long time ago when she walked out that door.

So don’t think you’re gonna win me.

I’m not a prize and you won’t score.

Nothing left inside to gain. I’m empty there, and she’s to blame.

“You want to find a seat and get something to drink?” Linc asked close to my ear. I didn’t want to stop looking at Krit or miss a word that came out of his mouth. But I was here with Linc, and I couldn’t stand here completely soaking up Krit. That was rude.

“Um, yeah,” I replied.

Linc’s hand wrapped around mine, and he pulled me back through the crowd and toward a tall table over in the corner that didn’t have people around it. A group of people at the table beside it looked like they needed more than one table. Linc must have been thinking the same thing. “Excuse me, but is this table free or are y’all using it?” he asked a guy with long blond hair and a face that belonged on television, it was so perfect. He didn’t even glance in my direction when he answered. “It’s all yours, dude. We’re good with just this table.”

“Thanks,” Linc replied.

“You’re Lilah Keenan’s brother, aren’t you?” asked the girl beside the beautiful blond guy. Her smile was friendly, and she was as perfect as the guy whose arm was possessively wrapped around her shoulders.

“Yeah, Amanda Hardy, right?” Linc replied.

The girl grinned. “Yep. Thought that was you. How’s Lilah?” the girl asked.

“She’s good. She leaves again for Tuscaloosa this week.”

Amanda Hardy turned her pretty eyes to me. She wasn’t even wearing makeup. All that beauty was natural. “We haven’t met, I don’t think. You didn’t go to Sea Breeze High, did you?”

I shook my head. “No. I’m not from here,” I replied, then realized I hadn’t told her my name. I felt like an idiot. She seemed so nice. Nothing like the girls back home who looked like her.

“Amanda, this is Blythe Denton. Blythe, this is Amanda Hardy. Blythe is working at the church for my dad,” Linc informed them for me.

“Blythe?” another female voice asked. I hadn’t looked at anyone else at the table because from the one glance I had taken, the group looked intimidating. Forcing myself to look away from the safe connection I had made with Amanda Hardy, I found what looked like a Victoria’s Secret model smiling at me. Where Amanda was very natural, this woman was all fixed up, but she was still gorgeous. The kind who stopped traffic.

“Yes,” I managed to reply, and returned her smile.

“I believe you live in the apartment beneath my brother,” the blonde said. I didn’t need her to say more. I saw it then. The blue of her eyes was identical to Krit’s, and her hair was the same white blond—except hers was long and full of curls.

“Are you . . . Krit’s sister?” I asked.

Her smile went from pleased to brilliant. “Yes, I am,” she replied.

“Krit?” Linc asked, reminding me that he was there beside me.

“Krit and Green are roommates,” I explained to him. I turned back to Krit’s sister. “Linc has only met Green.”

The blonde flicked her gaze to Linc then back at me. “I’m Trisha. It’s nice to meet you, Blythe.”

“This is about to get f**king interesting. I need another beer first.” A deep drawl from the guy at the back of the table caused Trisha to roll her eyes as she shot an annoyed glare in the guy’s direction. I took a quick glance and saw a well-built guy with dark eyes and thick lashes. He had dreadlocks pulled back in a ponytail that hung down the back of his neck. Intimidating wasn’t even a strong enough word for him. His face was striking, but the rest of him was terrifying.

“Shut up, Dewayne. Don’t start shit,” Trisha snapped.

“I was gonna leave, but I think we might need to stick around for a few minutes,” the beautiful blond guy said.

Amanda gave me an apologetic smile and then elbowed the guy still holding her close. He only chuckled and then bent his head to whisper in her ear. The pink blush on her cheeks had me turning away from them to look at Linc.

He took that as his cue. “Well, it was nice to see you, Amanda,” He looked at the blond guy. “And Preston. We need to get a drink and grab this table before it’s snatched up,” Linc said politely.

I smiled at Amanda and then at Trisha before giving them a small wave and following Linc to the table beside them. I didn’t want to talk about Krit just yet, and I had a feeling Linc was going to ask me about him. I had seen the look in his eyes when Trisha had recognized my name. Which gave me a secret thrill. Had he told his sister about me?

“Did you go to school with all of them?” I asked, curious to know more about Trisha and her friends. I hadn’t seen any of them at his parties.

“Yeah. But we didn’t run in the same crowds. Amanda and my sister were friends. Her older brother, Marcus, is a part of that group. I hadn’t heard that Amanda was dating Preston Drake.” He lowered his voice. “I’m surprised her brother allows that. Preston isn’t known to be a one-woman guy. And Marcus, being his best friend, knows that better than anyone.”