Voyeur Extraordinaire (20 page)

Someone wrapped an arm around my shoulder, startling me, but I managed not to jump visibly. Rachel’s face appeared in my peripheral vision.

“They met at my party. There were so many people, no wonder they can't remember their encounter anymore. And Adrian left after only thirty minutes anyway,” she said, giving Adrian a reproachful look. She was exactly as I remembered her. Tanned skin, golden blond hair, green eyes and long legs. She was the most beautiful girl I knew. How could I not have seen the similarity with Adrian?

She didn't even blush the slightest bit despite her lie. My face would have been flaming red after such a blatant lie. She and Adrian were really one of a kind. Beautiful liars.

Why was she even helping me? The last time we talked, we screamed at each other and I told her that I hated her. I tilted my head slightly to get a better look at her and she gave me a curt smile. I wouldn't necessarily call it warm, but I guessed it was the best she cou
ld do in the current situation.

“I didn't know you were friends again,” said Mom with a piercing look. I squirmed slightly under the intensity of her gaze, but again Rachel came to my rescue. She put her previous smile to shame as she beamed at my mother. “It’s still quite fresh. We didn’t want to jinx it. We still have lot of stuff to work through.”

A lot of stuff to work through. I almost snorted. There was and had always been only one thing we had to work through: Ben. But even he was old news now. I didn’t look behind myself to see if he was with Rachel. Years ago he had never been far from her.

Mom wasn’t used to people who could lie so skillfully, so she bought everything and actually smiled as if this was the best news ever. I really wished I had Rachel's skills,
then maybe I wouldn't have fallen prey to Adrian's charm so easily. A good liar could see through another good liar’s lies, right?

I lifted my gaze and my eyes met Adrian's. He didn't look happy, his jaw tightened, but I averted my eyes too fast to analyze his expression better.

“I need to go to the bathroom,” I murmured, my gaze directed at nothing in particular, but avoiding the eyes of the people around me. This was too much baggage from the past for one evening.

“I show you where you can find it,” Rachel suggested instantly.

“I remember where it is,” I snapped, then regretted it. “But thank you.”

Rachel and I stared at each other, and the word ‘I’m sorry’ hovered on my tongue. Not for the past, at least not all of it, but for my behavior right now, but our parents and Adrian were watching us. I didn’t want this to get any mo
re awkward than it already was.

Rachel didn’t seem to take my
‘no’ for an answer. She always got what she wanted. That’s why she went to prom with Ben and I had to settle on Chris. “I’ll take you there anyway.” She gripped my forearm and steered me away from Adrian and our parents, and past Ben who had been standing a few steps behind her with a group of people we knew from high school. He gave me a hesitant smile. Three years ago that would have made my heart speed up and fill my head with stupid fantasies, but now it meant nothing. Adrian had ruined me for other men, at least for the near future.

Rachel led me into the entrance hall and toward the bathroom in the back of the house. Eventually I shook her grip off and we walked side by side silently.

I dreaded being alone with her, fearing what she would say. I had a feeling that she suspected about last night, or she wouldn't have come to our rescue like that. Maybe Adrian had even told her about it. I could only imagine what she thought of me now. A horrible thought struck me. What if he’d remembered me even if I didn’t recognize him because he’d turned from chubby boy wonder to fucking hot womanizer? What if last night had been some fucked up way to take revenge on me for what happened between Rachel and me?

We stopped in front of the door and I was quivering with repressed anger. What if Rachel had even told him to do it? I curled my fingers around the door handle, my knuckles turning white from the pressure. I searched her eyes, but like Adrian she was good at keeping her emotions hidden. “You know about last night, right?” My voice was low.

Rachel pressed her lips together. “Adrian mentioned something, but he wasn’t very forthcoming with details. But I’m good at figuring things out.”

I gave a terse nod. “Just tell me one thing, was this some fucked up way to make me pay for what happened before graduation, because if it was—” I swallowed hard. “If it was, then congrats, you nailed it.” I blinked quickly. I would not cry in front of her.

Rachel took a step back, looking as if I’d hit her. “What the fuck, Nora? We’ve been best friends for most of our lives and you think I would make Adrian sleep with you and then dump you to take revenge on you for something that wasn’t even your fault.”

“I—I don’t know anything anymore.” Then I paused. “You aren’t angry anymore for what I said?”

“No. I understand that you were mad. You’d been in love with Ben for years and then I started dating him. You were hurt and angry. I won’t apologize for my feelings for Ben, because he is the best thing that has happened to me, but I apologize for how I handled things, for how I kept my relationship with him from you for months.”

“Okay,” I said slowly. “And I’m sorry for calling you a slut and a traitor and whatever else I called you when I was angry.”

She smiled. “Okay. So you believe me that I had nothing to do with whatever Adrian did?”

I nodded. “You could never be that cruel.” I let out a bitter laugh.

“You make it sound really bad.”

“Let’s just say I hate Adrian more than I’ve ever hated anyone.” The problem was that hate wasn’t the only thing I was feeling for him even after last night.

Rachel frowned. “Adrian is an asshole, I’ll give you that. And I won't argue with anyone who calls him a bastard, or manwhore, or heart-breaker. That's what he is, or was, or whatever...”

I could hear the imminent ‘but’ in her tone. She let out an impatient sigh and shook her head as if annoyed with herself. Then she looked around as if to make sure that no one was listening. “Look, what I want to tell you is that sometimes people hide behind a mask, or try to be someone else, because they want to protect themselves from getting hurt. It doesn't justify Adrian's actions, but maybe it helps you to understand him a little bit. In high school, girls gave him a hard time because he was fat. It changed him. But he never lies to anyone because he hates lies. Every woman who lands in his bed knows it’s nothing permanent. It’s not his fault that some don’t want to accept it afterwards.”

Anger boiled up in me. Was she trying to tell me that Adrian wasn't an asshole, just acting like one to protect himself? That it was my fault for expecting to be treated decently. I forced my voice to be calm as I said. “Don’t tell me, what your brother did and didn’t do. I was there. And I really don’t know how he protected himself by taking my virginity against a wall and then telling me that he ‘doesn’t do virgins.’ Sorry, but that’s too messed up for me to comprehend.”

Rachel’s eyes widened. Before she could say anything, I opened the bathroom door and slipped in, then closing the door in front of her shocked face. I wasn’t in the mood to discuss Adrian anymore, especially not with Rachel. I stared at the closed door for a moment before I took a deep breath. I didn't really need to go to the bathroom. I'd just wanted to escape the situation.
But what now?

I turned around and stared at the window wistfully. This bathroom was on the ground floor, so I could climb out of it and hide in the huge garden until this mess of a party was over. But that would have been childish. I shifted from one foot to the other and checked my reflection. I was almost calm by now, but thinking of returning into the living room where Adrian was waiting m
ade my pulse quicken instantly.

Voices in front of the door caught my attention and I tiptoed toward it, trying to eavesdrop to the conversation. I really hoped it wasn’t Rachel talking with Adrian about what I’d said.

“I've seen Nora Clark walk in this direction, do you know if she's in the bathroom?”

My heart stopped for a moment when I heard Chris-
fucking
-Cummings voice. I hadn’t even noticed him at the party, which wasn’t all that surprising considering I was occupied with Adrian. What was Chris doing in front of the door anyway?

The answer was simple: waiting for me. I should have never gone to Prom with him, or let him kiss me and grope my breasts. If Rachel had still been my best friend back then, she would have talked me out of it, and out of the two following dates after prom. It was pretty clear tha
t I had the worst taste in men.

I ran a hand through my hair and tugged a bit harder than intended. What was I going to do about Chris? I really didn’t want to suffer through hours of him trying to flirt with me.

“What do you want from her?”

I choked on a bit of my own spit when Adrian's reply rang out.
Oh, please, this could NOT be true.
I wanted to snort. This was so typical for my life. My bad luck knew no boundaries. Adrian and Chris were standing in front of the door, apparently both waiting for me. This couldn't get worse. Unless they started talking about their dates with me.

I hyperventilated briefly but got it under control within seconds. I wasn't sure who the lesser evil was. Adrian or Chris. It was a tough choice right now. Chris had been chasing me for years; even after I’d moved to New York, he’d kept texting and calling me until I changed my phone number. The kiss and ‘groping’ we'd shared after Prom had scarred me for life. The way he'd thrust his tongue into my throat and the way he’d touched my breasts as if they were
a dough he was kneading didn’t really make me want to give him another chance. I shuddered.

And then there was Adrian. His kisses had been wonderful and his touch had set fire to my skin. My heart ached when I thought of his words. He'd done what he'd always done. I shouldn't have been surprised. Sex was all he wanted.

Not that Chris wouldn’t have gone all the way with me three years ago if I’d let him. Truth be told, he would have taken me right there on the passenger seat of his truck if I hadn't stopped him.

Men...

If I really thought it through, I would probably prefer Adrian to Chris, because he at least didn't want me anymore now that he'd gotten what he'd wanted. Chris on the other hand...

I shook my head and made a quick decision. Childish or not, I was going to climb through that damn window. I could not bear a conversation with Adrian or Chris right now. I pushed the window up very slowly, careful not to make any noise. I didn't hear Chris or Adrian anymore but I wouldn't let that lure me out of the bathroom. They were probably waiting silently for me to make an appearance. No way!

I stared down at myself. It would be difficult to climb with the dress, but there wasn't anything I could do about it now. I knelt on the windowsill and pulled the skirt of my dress up. Now I was really glad that I wasn’t wearing high heels. I poked my head out of the window and realized it wasn't as close to the ground as I'd hoped. The slope was the reason for my little predicament.

Someone knocked at the door. “Nora, it's me, Chris.”

My eyes widened. They were still waiting. I needed to get away. Now. How to do this best?

I sat down on the edge, but decided that it was better if I didn't see what lay below. I turned around awkwardly and knelt on the windowsill. Then I slowly slid my legs past the edge until they were dangling over the ground as I clung to the windowsill. My skirt had ridden up quite a bit, revealing more of my thighs than I'd deem appropriate. Now I
just needed to let go, but I didn't know if I could manage to land on my feet. I'd probably end up on my butt, or worse on my face. Good thing that my dress was green. That way grass stains wouldn’t stand out too much.

“You look like you need help.”

Holy shit. I almost let go of the windowsill.
Adrian.

W
hat had I done to deserve so much bad luck? I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against the stone facade, my arms growing tired from holding my weight. Taking a deep breath, I stared straight at the wall. Maybe if I pretended he wasn’t there, Adrian would leave. From the corner of my eye, I saw black trouser legs come into my view and a moment later hands reached out for my waist, but they halted before they touched me.

“May I?”

I stopped a very bad insult from leaving my lips and sucked in a deep breath to calm myself. I would act like an adult, though hanging from a window wasn't making this quest any easier. Maybe I could reach Adrian with my legs and kick him, then he'd perhaps leave me alone.

He still hadn't grabbed my waist, waiting for my permission. I wanted to snort, and slap him.

“It's not as if you haven't touched me there before,” I said snarkily, feeling the color rise into my cheeks, and was glad that he couldn't see it.

Huh, where had the
snarkiness come from? I congratulated myself silently for my witty comment.

My smugness vaporized when his warm hands took hold of my waist, his touch making my body tingle. How could a simple touch through clothes still make me yearn for him? Memories of last night came back. I thought of everything I'd hoped this date would turn out to be, and all the things that it hadn't been. I let go of the windowsill and Adrian caught me easily. He was strong, but he had proven that yesterday already when he’d banged me against the wall without breaking a sweat. Adrian set me down to the ground gently.