Bet in the Dark (5 page)

Instead, Lennox completely humiliated me and then belittled me and by the time Colton found me I was pathetically desperate for a knight in shining armor. Not that he stood up to Lennox, nobody stood up to Lennox, or Grayson or even Beckett, but he did listen to me, g
ave me a sympathetic ear and then he asked me out on a date.

At the time I thought he was really sweet. Fas
t forward three years, I’m realizing his whole “listening-ear” thing was just a way to get in as many girls’ pants as he could. Ick. I was such an idiot for wasting so much of my life on him.

Especially when
he
was the one that dragged me right back into the epicenter of my family drama.

             
I opened my mouth to respond, to tell him that it was in fact because of him and that he could take all his concern and compassion and shove it right back up his…. butt, when-

             
“Ellie.”

             
I shivered. My name on that deep, rumbling voice, I mean how could I not?

             
“Hey,” I cleared my throat nervously, “Fin Hunter.”

             
My eyes slid from Colton’s shocked expression to the amused expression on Fin Hunter’s face. His scruff was one day longer, his chocolate brown eyes crinkled and amused and his books held so casually in his arms it was like he was born to be a college student.

             
“You look nice today, Ellie,” his grin grew. “less-“

             
“Don’t say it,” I bit out, not even wanting to hear or think or remember the word “missionary” ever again.

             
He laughed outright at that and then took a step forward. His hand slipped under my back pack strap, sandwiching it tight and hot to my collar bone. He tugged on it playfully, bringing me a stumbling step toward him. And then he looked down at me as if no one else were watching us, as if no one else were anywhere near us.

             
I gulped.

             
“Are we still on for later?” he asked in a seductively raspy voice.

             
I swallowed again, working my throat to complete the action so I wouldn’t choke on spit. I knew what he was asking me and there was nothing, absolutely nothing sexy about owing this man money. But the way he presented it in front of Britte and Colton and anyone else who happened to be anywhere near us, made what we were going to do later sound oh, so dirty.

             
When I didn’t, or couldn’t respond, he prompted me. “You’re not ditching me are you?” He pulled me closer, his hand still trapped between my shoulder strap and body. Somehow my cardigan was pushed aside, living the back of his hand pressed against my bare skin. “I’m really looking forward to tonight.”

             
His eyes flashed with something heated and intense. Maybe a warning?
Oh because he wanted to make sure I really wasn’t ditching him.
Dang it, he pulled me right along with everyone else into his act of seduction. I shook my head, working to clear the lust from my brain. It was just that his eyes were so deep and dark, and he smelled so good and….

             
“I wouldn’t ditch you,” I promised, forcing myself out of wherever that spiraling train of craziness was going. I smiled reassuringly, but I meant it. I might not be able to give him his money back, but I would help him find it. Whatever that meant. But because Colton was here, and because he had set me up perfectly, I finished with, “I’m looking forward to tonight too.”

             
“Good,” he grinned triumphantly. His other hand slipped under the other strap and he pulled me one step closer so that the front of our bodies were touching. My chest against his chest, my stomach against his flat, hard, perfect stomach. His expression turned absolutely devilish and then he dropped his head and kissed my neck. It was loud and sloppy and mostly playful and I squealed and then gasped. And then he was gone.

             
His hands released me and he just walked off.

             
My entire face was the color of a red tomato and my hands were shaking from something like total humiliation mixed with ridiculously misplaced lust. The place on my neck where his lips had just been was still warm but cold too from the residual slobber, which should have been disgusting but still managed to be hot. Mostly because it was Fin Hunter’s slobber. And my body kind of buzzed with an energy I was completely unfamiliar with.

             
“So this is not about me then?” Colton snapped, bringing me harshly back to reality.

             
“Uh,” I coughed, cleared my throat and then coughed again. “This is definitely not about you, Colton.”

             
His eyes swept over me in a calculating glare but finally he moved passed us on his way to class. Britte’s mouth was hanging open again and her eyes were practically outside her head.

             
“How exactly is he expecting you to pay him back?” she demanded.

             
“Oh,” I thought that over, thought over what just happened, but still I couldn’t make sense of any of it. “Oh, no. Oh not like that.” I shook my head vehemently while my light brown hair slashed at my face. “No really, not like that.”

             
“Uh-huh,” Britte did not sound convinced at all.

             
Come to think of it, I didn’t really think I was all that convinced either.

             
Shoot! This
was
about prostitution!

Chapter Three

             
I can’t believe you’re already dating someone else. I can’t believe you moved on. Did I mean nothing to you???

Yeesh
, three question marks. Colton was serious.

I jammed my finger over the power button of my phone
and cocked my arm to chuck it against

th
e wall. But then talked myself out of it. At this point, I couldn’t afford a new cell phone. And I couldn’t afford any more emotions for freaking Colton.

             
Seriously?

             
He was mad that
I
moved on?

             
Him. The man-whore with no standards.

             
This was not worth getting angry over. This was not worth a reply.

             
Especially since I didn’t really want to be honest about the dating part. Or the moving on part.

             
Since I wasn’t really doing either.

             
“You alright, Els?” Beckett called from a few feet away.

             
My head snapped up and I groaned audibly. Not that it stopped Becket from leaving his friends and jogging over to me. His light brown eyebrows were drawn in concern and he rubbed a hand over his shortly cropped golden brown hair, his signature “I’m going to protect you now” move.

             
“I’m fine, Becks,” I sighed and then lowered my arm. “How are you?” I smiled brightly at him, hoping to nudge him away from the direction of why I was about to throw my phone into the brick wall of the library.

             
“Is this about Hunter harassing you this morning?” Beckett took a wide stance and crossed his arms.

             
As siblings, I was closest to Becket in a way that meant we loved each other the most but showed it through fighting constantly. He was only two years older than me and he used to be the best at treating me like I wasn’t an infant or breakable. But ever since he went off to college and grew up a little bit, that changed. Granted I appreciated that he wasn’t as selfish as he used to be in high school, and that his perspective on the world had widened. But why did it have to widen my direction? Since his freshman year, he joined the ranks with Lennox and Grayson in their overbearing, dictatorial rule over my life.

             
“Nobody was harassing me this morning,” I explained dryly. I stopped myself from a good, solid eye roll and prepared my brain to go through this routine. “God, where do you hear this stuff?”

             
“Ear to the ground, Els, ear to the ground,” he broke out into a crooked grin then and I had to laugh.

             
“You are so crazy,” I giggled.

             
Defenses efficiently lowered, Becket went in for the attack, “So, is this about Fin? Do you like him? Because as your brother, I feel like it’s my familial duty to inform you that he is not good enough for you. He’s a whore, a borderline alcoholic and a-“

             
“Scoundrel?” I butted in. “A dirty, rotten scoundrel?” I asked innocently.

             
“You’re such a smart ass,” Becket laughed.

             
“For real, Becks, there is nothing going on between Fin Hunter and me,” I reassured him. “If there was a problem with anybody this morning, it was Colton.
Not
Fin Hunter.”

             
Beckett narrowed his eyes on me and thought over my words. “Colton still bothering you, E?”

             
“Oh my word, let it go!” I growled.

             
“Hey Beckett,” a leggy blonde called from up the sidewalk a ways. She was wearing a denim mini skirt, a low cut ultra-tight t-shirt and Uggs. I didn’t even know how to begin to start judging her. Honestly, there were too many options.

             
“Hey, you,” Beckett called back with his best I’m-a-lady’s-man-smile.

             
“Oh lord, you don’t even know her name,” I mumbled on a laugh.

             
“Shut it,” he growled at me.

             
The blonde was interrupted by a friend of hers, another blonde, in not a denim mini skirt, but in fact, denim shorty shorts and an equally tight Packers t-shirt. Also in Uggs. She gave Becket a wave, a huge smile and then giggled. Then she turned to the first blonde at which point there were more…. giggles.

             
“Fan club?” I teased.

             
“Hopefully,” Beckett sighed and then pointed a stern finger at me. “No getting pregnant.”

             
And with those words of wisdom, Beckett was off. At least I escaped the third degree about Fin Hunter. And hopefully Beckett was distracted enough that he would forget Colton too. I did not need that guilt trip piled on top of everything else.

             
And I would feel guilty if they beat Colton up.

             
Again.

             
As much as I wanted to embrace this whole liberated woman thing, a brutal beating was not something my conscience would let me overlook. Unfortunately.

             
I blew out a puff of air and looked around the sprawling campus. Beckett was now surrounded by a group of blondes and headed in the direction of the gym, probably so his little fan club could watch him work out. So stupid.

             
Beckett, like all of my brothers, and unlike me, came to the UW-LA on sports scholarship. Lennox, the pioneer of the family, made it here for tennis. Which so fit Lennox’s stuck up personality. Obviously not every tennis player was stuck up, probably not very many were. But Lennox was. And now he could get away with it at his country club, bragging about his college glory days during doubles matches and cocktails.

             
Grayson was next, never one to let Lennox one up him. He chose the wrestling path though, since he was by far, my biggest and scariest brother. Where Lennox fits the whole suit and tie, champagne and caviar persona, Grayson was more brute strength and possibly/potentially a super hero kind of guy. Although, don’t ever underestimate his intelligence. The guy made everything in life a competition with Lennox and he would be damned before he let Lennox win. Since Lennox was now on the fast track to CEO of his dream job at an international marketing consulting firm, Grayson’s soon to be MBA was strongly attached to plans including cure cancer, walk on the moon and last but not least world domination.

             
Finally Beckett, the wild child and resident black sheep of the family, still managed to follow the well-worn path of the Harris boys and get here via baseball scholarship. My parents were happy he made it to college at all, he was happy college contained so many co-eds and college was happy because he had already given them three, soon to be four, winning seasons.

             
My parents were only slightly disappointed when I didn’t follow in their footsteps. Originally I rebelled completely by choosing an entirely different university, which I think was their biggest concern. We were all in agreement my athletic career could safely die in high school. However, nobody was happy I chose to be so far from family. A whole two and a half hours away.