Frayed (Torn #2)(24)



“Hey, Lindsey! We’re going back to shower and change. We’ll meet up at the same bar, let’s say around nine-thirty, ten?” One of the FF’s said.

“You bet! See you guys later,” I heard Lindsey say. After a minute, she spoke again, to Taylor. “You look pink, Tay Tay. Too much hanky-panky under the sun? How drunk did those girls get you, hmm?”

Hanky-panky? Was Taylor messing around with them? All FOUR of them? Uh, another case of ménage-a-f*uktard. Men. When it comes to women, no matter the quality, quantity overrules simple, common sense.

The playboy of the day gave a riotous laugh, like it was the funniest thing he’d heard all day. “Fine, I’m wasted. No harm no foul.” He admitted, leaving out the important detail of whether he had indeed had his fair share of hanky-panky.

“I just bet. Well, good for you. Hey, you’re on a holiday. It’s the best time of the year to get your freak on.” Lindsey and Taylor both laughed at that.

What was Lindsey doing cheering him on to whore it out tonight? Didn’t she insinuate that something was going on between Taylor and I? Of course it wasn’t true, but it kind of stung that if it happened to be true, she would suggest that to him.

“I’m getting hungry. Can we just order in tonight? I want to relax before we hit the party rock tonight.” Lindsey was gathering her things as she spoke. She grabbed her iPod, a paperback, cellphone and her see-through beach dress, all stacked up together.

“Sure,” I murmured. Taylor mirrored my answer.

“Awesome sauce! Don’t forget to wear something killer tonight, Trista Stevens. It’s on tonight, baby! We’ll find you a sinful guy to hump and bump on, clothing optional, of course!”

I love my friend. She likes to mess with my head too much, though. “Now, that’s my kind of plan.” Let operation Forget The Bastard be put into motion.

My inner cheerleader died when I heard Taylor snort at my response. “You have something to say, pretty boy? Spit it out, I want to hear it.” I raised my brow at him, my voice scathing. My hateful glare didn’t faze him. In fact, he rewarded me with one of his own.

Lindsey glanced at me, I saw her frowning in my peripheral vision. I’m sure my reaction to Taylor was already noted in that brilliant head of hers. I wasn’t going to explain anything, or back down from the glare war we were having.

Taylor simply got on my nerves. Since that night in Aspasia, we both had the whole I-thinkI-might/I-think-I-won’t down to a T. Add in my emotional drama and my intense awareness of him, and it was a volcano, packed with crazy, ready to erupt. We were a disaster waiting to happen.

Like a ticking time bomb, our time was numbered until showdown. It would be a hateful mouth-off, one I was prepared for. He did tell me to start fighting, did he not? Well, here I was, fighting.

Come what may.

“O… kay. I’m going to order some food.” Lindsey started to walk away, but paused and looked back at both of us. “You know,” she said pointing her hot pink-tipped finger at us, waving it back and forth, “whatever’s going on… freaking get to it! You guys need to f*uk each other, already. The tension is just too damn much.” Lindsey shook her head prettily and went back inside the villa.

If my eyes had the power to sear people, Taylor would’ve been charred to perfection by now. The only tension I had at the moment was keeping myself from strangling this stupid man. I would also love to successfully swipe off that stupid smirk that just became pasted on his face while I was at it. “What?” I snapped at the infuriating man. His sudden amusement grated me to death. It was like listening to nails scratching on a chalkboard.

“Want to pay heed to her insightful advice?” Taylor delivered with such infuriating confidence.

f*uker! Hell no!

My blood boiled like hot magma. I simply glared at him before cutting his sexual prowess to a halt. “Over my dead body, Taylor. Keep dreaming, though, pretty boy. I just hope your imagination can handle the heat.”

Something flickered in his eyes, something dark and unattainable. I was unprepared when he strode towards where I stood, all cocky and confident. The moss-green depths of his eyes pinned me down. The amount of heat that channeled from those beautiful orbs burned me up, all the way to my toes causing my body to react acutely. I could feel it as my nipples tightened, my muscles clenched intimately, and a flush spread across my body at the potent intensity of it. Those eyes alone pierced me, drawing me in. The feelings had begun to overwhelm me, suspending my brain from thinking. All I could see was him, bewitching me with his spell. It was a whimsical fervor that bounded and disarmed me.

“I can definitely take the heat. I don’t dream about heat, Trista. I make heat. And once you get a taste of that, you will be the one begging me to take you.” The deep timbre of his voice vibrated all over my heightened body. I wanted to scold my treacherous body for reacting to him, but it was futile. It was uncomfortable, and yet, pleasurable.

If just his eyes could have this effect, I wondered what his touch would do to me. It would most likely light me up like a goddamned Christmas tree. I’ve never had this kind of sexual chemistry before, not even with Harry. That honest admission aroused something else inside of me, but I dispelled it as soon as I could.

Taylor was Bass’s friend. I didn’t want to hook-up with someone who I would eventually see back home. No, my life was complicated as it was, I didn’t need to tangle myself in another hot mess.

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