Risk (Gentry Boys #2)(2)
Saylor loved those guys, if for no other reason than they were extensions of Cord, but whenever I saw them they reeked of conceit, alcohol and the empty-minded hunt for sex. Once, when I’d been standing in the hallway behind the kitchen, Creed came out of nowhere and brushed against my backside far too closely. There was no excuse; the hallway wasn’t that tight a fit. At the feel of his hard body my fists had balled up involuntarily as desire roared through me.
I swear Creed knew every foul thought in my head as he leaned in close to my ear and murmured, “Beg your pardon, pretty lady.”
I couldn’t even nod in response. It was too much to do anything but stand there and wait for the fire to go out. Even though it had been far too long since I’d gotten sweaty with anyone, I wasn’t about to slide backwards by indulging in one of the Gentry boys. Creed had chuckled lightly before moving on to someone more willing. Those boys had enough attention. They didn’t need any from me.
Suddenly I realized Saylor had said something.
“What?”
She reached over and pulled at my arm. “You’re coming with us whether you like it or not. I know underneath that sassy southern girl front you’re dying for a little fun.”
I snorted. “Plenty of that throughout the years.”
Saylor pretended to check her watch. “Time has come to have some more.”
Cord wrapped a possessive arm around Say’s shoulders. “Come on Truly. Makes her all sad when you say no time and again.”
Saylor stuck her lower lip out and adopted a bad drawl. “And y’all don’t want me to be sad, do ya now, Tallulah Rae Lee?”
The sound of my full name sobered me for a second. I struggled to keep the smile on my face so no one would guess how my heart hurt.
Saylor noticed something was up though and she looked at me curiously. We’d been friends just long enough to be somewhat aware of each other’s moods. She tilted her head and gave me a gentle smile.
“It’ll be fun, Truly. Real low key. Just a few drinks and then we’ll walk you back here to your car, okay?”
I almost said no. I should have just waved the happy couple away, retreating to another solitary night with a container of cherry vanilla ice cream and the company of my cat.
“Give me five minutes,” I told her instead. I backed away to grab my purse from the lockers before heading to the rest room.
After all, I hadn’t spoken the whole truth when I told Say I’d had no other wardrobe options this morning. There might have been a few musty t-shirts hiding in the back of my dresser. Instead I had pulled out the cobalt blue dress I’d dubbed from a vintage Butterick pattern a few years back. It had been a while since I’d worn that dress or anything else advertising sex so freely.
As I stood in the grubby ladies room I removed the rust-colored cardigan I’d pulled on so that Ed wouldn’t give me any shit. Most dresses were a tough fit on account of my ample breasts. However, when sewing this one from scratch I’d easily tailored the bust line to be comfortable.
I critically appraised my face in the mirror. It wasn’t the first time it had occurred to me that I ought to look older than twenty one. The years had been hectic and not in a good a way. Instead, I’d known the sort of wildness that dragged down the soul as it wore the freshness off the skin. It had the power to leave nothing more than a collapsed shell behind. That’s what it had done to my mother. The last time I checked she hadn’t coped well with losing her looks.
After a few tugs, the elastic band holding my hair in place came loose. My hair was naturally thick and so dark it was nearly black. An inheritance, I supposed, from the father I never knew. My mother and nearly everyone in her family tree were light and golden.
I parted it in the middle and smoothed the waves, hiding the segment above my right ear. I had impulsively shaved that area some months back. It was a rash move on one of my bad days when it had occurred to me how much trouble had come from catching the eyes of men every day since I turned thirteen. I’d chickened out though. Once the hair began piling up in the sink I had stopped and stared in horror. It seemed I had some vanity left after all.
The sound of the bathroom door creaking open startled me but it was only Saylor. She had a worried look on her face. She stepped all the way in and let the door close behind her.
“Everything all right, Truly?”
I fluffed my hair and dug around in my purse. “Of course, sunshine. Why do you ask?”
Saylor bit her lip and stared at me in the mirror. She was very pretty in a way that was natural, fresh. Of course she’d hinted often enough about what kind of dirty games she got up to with the boy standing on the other side of that door, but Saylor was still a nice girl. She was smart and she was thoughtful. It was easy to see why Cord Gentry had fallen hard for her.
Say fidgeted and seemed to be stressing about something. “I’m not good at girl talk,” she finally grumbled, crossing her arms. “Brayden was always the one I ran to and he’s not very girly so I think I just never learned how.”
Brayden was her cousin and best friend. He lived over in the Palm Desert Apartments, the same place Saylor now lived with Cord and his brothers. He seemed like a decent guy.
“I’m not real talented at girl talk either,” I said. That was a big lie and it cost me as I was engulfed by a swarm of memories. I’d grown up in a tight tribe of sisters and knew everything about clasping sweaty hands in the darkness and whispering the most secret dreams of the heart. There were other things mixed in there too, things I mostly managed to push away.