Control You (2 page)

“Were you texting someone?”

“Just Blaire.” I smiled.

“Thought you were fixing your makeup.” It wasn’t a question. It was more of a statement—one that made me feel as though I’d been caught in a lie and he didn’t approve.

“I was, but Blaire sent me a message asking if I knew whether we were out of something at the apartment.” The words tumbled from my mouth as my hands waved in crazy gestures. Why was I lying? There was no reason other than because I felt guilty for bad-mouthing this party while hiding in the bathroom.

“Right,” he muttered, not seeming to believe me.

He turned and walked down the hall toward the party again, leaving me standing in the threshold to the bathroom, wondering what his problem was. Had he been worried I was getting sick or something? Had he already had too much to drink? I watched as he sauntered toward his friends, his low-hung jeans shifting with every step and his crisp, collared T-shirt fitting his lean frame perfectly. He didn’t seem to be staggering from too much alcohol.

While I stood there, contemplating what could have made him so abrasive all of a sudden, he paused at the entrance to the main room and glanced back at me. “Are you coming, Paige?”

I nodded and started toward him. When I finally got to where he stood, he interlaced his fingers with mine and brought my hand up to his lips. The tension in his features had gone, and it had become replaced by the softness I’d been searching for moments ago. “Can I get you some more wine?”

My eyes dropped to the nearly empty glass I held in my hand. “No, I’m fine. Thanks.”

“Okay.” His eyebrows bunched together, making me want to smooth out the lines forming between them. Did he forget that I hated white wine? “Have you decided if you’re staying the night?”

“As much as I want to, I think I’m just going to have you take me home in a little while. I’ve got that brunch thing with my parents in the morning.”

“I forgot about that.” He frowned. We walked to the kitchen and he set his empty Heineken bottle on the counter. “Do I have time for another before I take you home? I promise it’s only my third and I’m perfectly fine to drive you.”

My eyes flicked to the clock on the stove. It was only ten thirty, but I’d been ready to leave two hours ago. “Sure, take your time.”

I glanced to the others sitting around in the main room, talking and laughing. There was low music playing in the background, a band I’d never heard before. It was all too mellow for me. When I went to a party, it was to let loose, to shed all the anxieties from my current life situations, and be free. I wanted to drink what I liked, laugh uncontrollably, and dance until my heart raced so hard I could feel it pulsating in my fingertips. I’d hung out with Craig and a few of his friends before, but nothing like this, no one like these people. This was too much like a wine mixer my parents would attend.

“I saw you talking with Genevieve earlier,” Craig said, popping the top on his beer.

Genevieve—that had been her name! I knew it was something ritzy and sophisticated sounding. My eyes scanned the kitchen and main room, searching for her. She sat beside her boyfriend, Drew, laughing and sipping her wine.

“Yeah, she’s nice-ish.”

“Nice-ish?” He smirked. His brown eyes flickered with amusement. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I shrugged, hoping it would take off some of the edge to what I was about to say. “She comes off as being sort of snobby. One of those people who seem to always set you up to catch you in a lie.”

Craig’s eyes bored into me. “And what type of lie did she catch you in?”

“She didn’t, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t looking to.” I set my wineglass on the counter and dropped my eyes to the finger foods, catching a whiff of the disgusting green olives pierced with fancy toothpicks. I shuddered. “But why did you tell her I was an accounting major?”

“Because it sounds better than saying you’re undecided, and having them think you’re a moron or a slacker.” His words were harsh, but his tone was not. This was one of the few things I didn’t care for about him. He could say things, mean things, without seeming bothered by doing so. “And Genevieve isn’t snobby, she’s driven and goal-oriented—two aspects I think you should focus more on.”

Heat prickled through my stomach and I narrowed my eyes at him. “First off, lying about my major because you don’t approve of the actual one is not okay. Second, I am a driven and goal-oriented person. You just don’t know me well enough yet to see it.”

My heart pounded in my ears. His words had stung. Normally, I wouldn’t say something so direct and outspoken to someone’s face, but the two glasses of wine I’d consumed had given me the courage to do so and I was glad.

I didn’t wait for Craig to reply. Instead, I made my way through the kitchen and headed straight for the front door. My car wasn’t here, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t leave. I could walk to the end of the driveway, and then call Blaire or someone to pick me up.

Genevieve noticed my exit—either because she had been watching Craig and me in the kitchen, or else she recognized a pissed-off female from a mile away. She stood as I reached the door.

“Is everything okay?” she asked with fake concern. I could tell by the glimmer in her eyes that all she wanted was the juicy details about why I was leaving. I began to wonder if her asking what my major was had been part of a ploy to start an argument between Craig and me tonight.

“Perfectly fine, thank you.” I flashed her an equally fake smile as the one plastered across her face, and jerked the front door open.

After stepping out onto the concrete porch held up by large white pillars, I inhaled deeply and then reached in my back pocket for my phone. While I debated who I should call to come get me—Blaire or Lauren—the front door opened behind me. I knew who’d stepped out before he said a word. Craig.

“What the hell was that about?” he asked. His words weren’t nearly as clipped as I’d thought they would be. In fact, when I turned to face him, I noticed his features had gone soft.

“I don’t want to be here right now and I don’t appreciate you demeaning me like that.”

“Demeaning you? How do you figure?” He shoved his hands in his front pockets. The beer I’d seen him open moments before must have been left inside, and a boyish look flitted across his face.

I crossed my arms over my chest, but didn’t meet his stare. “By telling everyone I’m majoring in accounting when I’m actually undecided, for starters.”

“I only said that because I figured you’d be embarrassed to say you were undecided. I know how much you enjoy spending money, so I figured something with money involved in it would actually seem funny to you. I honestly thought this would be something we could laugh about later tonight.”

My stomach knotted. Had I overreacted? Sometimes I was known to be melodramatic about things. “For real?”

Craig took a step closer to me. His hands reached out and gripped my hips. “Yes, and I didn’t mean to upset you by saying those other things. I just think you should apply yourself more. You have so much going for you, so many advantages others don’t, but you waste them. You spent last year fooling around with school and not knowing what you wanted to do, and now you’re doing the same this year. It’s time to make some decisions is all I’m saying.”

“I get what you’re saying, but—” I didn’t get to finish, because Craig interrupted me.

“I’m not trying to tell you what to do here, Paige. I’m sorry if it’s coming out that way, okay?” He kissed my forehead. “Do you want to come back inside?”

The thought of stepping foot back into that house with all those people staring at me and wondering why I’d stormed off was not appealing. “Actually, I think I’m ready for you to take me home.”

“Yeah, okay.” His chest rose and fell with a heavy sigh. “Let me step inside and tell the others I’m taking you home, and I’ll be back in a minute.” He released me and disappeared through the red front door to mingle with his guests and smooth things over.

I waited on the porch instead of walking to his car, wondering what excuse Craig was choosing to tell them for why he was taking me home. Would it be some other boldfaced lie like the accounting degree had been? My face flamed at the thought, and then even more when I reflected on how I’d acted in front of his friends seconds before. But damn him, he should know me better than to think I’d find something like that funny.

Music blaring from somewhere caught my attention. I spun around and spotted a sporty silver car barreling up the driveway. I couldn’t see the driver through the tinted windows, but I did see smoke bellowing out the cracked driver’s side one. The car lurched to a stop, blocking Craig’s Explorer in. I smiled, ready to see his reaction to that.

The song playing from the car flowed to my ears—
Break Me Down
by Seether. I loved this song. Generally, I wasn’t much for rock music, but this one I liked. The engine cut off and the driver’s side door opened. My eyes zeroed in on the guy getting out—dark hair, sideburns, and a five o’clock shadow. Whoever he was, he wasn’t going to fit in with the crowd inside dressed in a plain white T-shirt and a dark pair of jeans. The guy took a drag off his cigarette and then flicked it to the ground, stomping it out with his black biker boots before he started walking my way.

CAMERON

Why there was a girl standing on dickwad’s porch instead of inside, at the party he obviously had going on, was beyond me. All I could assume was that she’d figured out before the others that Craig’s parties sucked. I walked straight toward her, fighting not to take in every inch of her with my eyes as I did so. If I’d had my shades on still, then I would have, but this girl looked too innocent in the face. She wasn’t the type you devoured with your eyes in plain sight of her; she was the type you did it when she wasn’t looking, so the thoughts you had about her sweet, innocently sexy appearance didn’t make you feel so damn dirty.

She continued to stare at me with those doe-like eyes without moving the closer I got to her. This was rare. Most girls either turned into airheads and pressed their tits out for me to view better, or became timid and shy as they moved out of my way and dropped their eyes to the ground. It wasn’t that I preferred one reaction to the other, or that I even liked either of them, it was just what I’d come to expect from the opposite sex.

“Can I get past you?” I asked, realizing too late it was a dickhead thing to say. I should have said excuse me, or some shit.

She sidestepped me and her creamy cheeks flushed. “Oh yeah. Sorry. I’m just waiting on my boyfriend. I’m Paige. Craig is my boyfriend. I’m waiting out here for him to take me home.” Her hands waved around in exaggerated motions.

So, she was Craig’s girl. How the fuck had he snagged her? I chuckled. She was cute when she was flustered, and she blushed. Blushing girls were my favorite. The desire to see just how deep a shade of red I could make her cheeks become slipped through me.

“Hi, my name is Cameron. My dick isn’t as big as everyone says it is; it’s just that money holds the power to make shit grow in people’s minds.” I kept my face hard set and serious. Shock pooled in her brown eyes, and I knew she was questioning my sanity right about now. I grinned at her. “Oh, and I’m addicted to porn.”

Paige’s mouth dropped, and she had this who-the-fuck-is-this-guy-and-why-is-he-saying-this-shit-to-my-face look going on. I loved it.

“What?” she asked. She batted her eyelashes and looked at me in a dumbfounded way, as though maybe she hadn’t heard me correctly.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought from your little intro this was circle time and the whole class was supposed to share.” I winked and waited for her to slap me, or storm off to retrieve her lover boy and complain about my behavior.

Instead, a loud laugh bellowed from her. It was surprising and contagious, completely not the reaction I’d been expecting. My lips twisted into a smirk and I chuckled right along with her.

The front door opened and Craig stepped outside.

“Jesus, what are you doing here?” he asked me. Hard-set hatred reflected in his eyes. His eyebrows pulled together as he glanced at Paige, taking note of the laugh she was trying hard to contain. His lips dipped into a frown before he brought his gaze back to me. “Is it that time already?”

“Sure is.” I shifted my gaze from him to Paige.

“How long are you staying this time?” Craig asked.

I hooked my thumbs through the belt loops on my jeans, and held Craig’s stare. “Until I feel like leaving.”

“Nice.” He scoffed, and then grabbed hold of Paige’s hand. He started toward his Explorer, the one I’d purposely blocked in. “Move your car and don’t run my guests off. I’m taking her home and then I’ll be back.”

“You didn’t say the magic word,” I teased. I spun around to face him and shook my finger as though I were scolding a small child.

“Enough with the theatrics, Cameron. Let my fucking Explorer out,” Craig insisted. I noticed Paige tense beside him, and I wondered if this was the first time she’d ever witnessed him angry. If so, it was time she learned Craigy-boy had a temper. “Now!”

I started toward my car, deliberately walking as slowly as I possibly could. Craig was an ass, but there was no better satisfaction than pushing his buttons. I damn sure knew how to do it well. “All right, don’t get your panties all in a wad.”

Paige walked between my car and the back of Craig’s Explorer. I watched her, liking this view as much as I’d enjoyed the front. I wasn’t a horn ball, not entirely. I just knew how to enjoy a beautiful woman when I spotted one. Craig climbed into his Explorer as I reached my car door. I slid in behind the wheel and started the engine. The end of
Break Me Down
by Seether blasted through the speakers. I smirked as I changed the song to something more fitting. The beginning lyrics to Three Days Grace’s
Just Like You
blasted from my car as I rolled the windows down so Craig could hear. The bass line vibrated my chest, and I lit another cigarette, purposely trying to piss Craig off even more as I took my time. He popped his vehicle into reverse and rolled back. I laughed, knowing he would never tap my car. He’d have a panic attack at the thought of dinging his black beauty. I shifted into reverse and backed up, guiding my car into the grass so he could pass.