Tangled (6 page)

“Is that why you’ve been
starin
’ into space?” Riley asked, his accent thickening by
the drink.

“I just have a lot on my mind.” He
dispensed whiskey and soda into a plastic cup.

Riley’s eyes traveled to the den.
“Sometimes I think you’re not the full
shillin
’.”

Cameron didn’t need to ask what he
meant. The context was clear. Maybe he was an idiot. His gaze strayed to her.
He tried not to find anything provocative about her outfit.

It was a work in progress.

Sporting a pair cut off shorts, her
legs stretched for days. Her tank top had ridden up, showcasing a warm band of
skin below her navel. Unbound auburn hair flowed over her shoulders in a molten
cascade.

Sometimes he wondered if she really
knew how beautiful she was.

“Why’re
you
torturin
’ yourself?”

“What’re
you talking about?”

“That
lass has had her sights set on you since day one. And all you’ve done is push
her away.”

“She’s
just a friend,” he mumbled behind his cup.

Riley
sighed his exasperation. “Fine, Cam.
Keep
pussyfootin
’
and
pissin
’ away your chances.
Ya’re
not going to be satisfied until someone else snatches
her up.” Riley headed out to the patio.

Green, acid heat hissed and spit at
the guy that’d taken up residence next to Tess. Normally she wouldn’t have
given them the time of day, but inhibitions unlocked, she entertained his
attention.
Something
indefinable twisted within him as she leaned forward to whatever he whispered
in her ear. Her shoulders shook and she tossed her head back with stomach-deep
laughter.

Despite popular belief, Cameron was
well aware of her long-standing crush.

During the larval stage of their
relationship, he found the idea amusing, if not completely misguided. After
all, they hardly knew each other. But he soldiered on as the dutiful best
friend, turning a blind eye to her infatuation in hopes that she’d get over it
and move on.

And for a time, he thought she had.
She didn’t bat an eye when he dated other girls and even offered advice when
the waters inevitably roughened. As their relationship solidified into
something more enduring, he discovered cracks in her façade—a soft,
lingering look, a glimmer of pain, a dating track record startling bleak in
spite of her many offers.
 

He couldn’t understand how, after so
long, she could still be fixated on him. And then it dawned on him one day.

She was in love with him.

Unlike before, the prospect no
longer caused him discomfort. It made him light-headed and winded and a myriad
of other emotions that raveled in his chest like barbed, twisted pair wire. It
forced him to wonder if she was the reason why his relationships with other
girls always had a short shelf life.

He massaged his sinuses.

Or maybe he was overthinking it.

“Cameron,
right?” The lyrical peal of a feminine voice steered his gaze to the delicate
little thing wearing slip of fabric that hardly qualified as a dress.

“Yeah?”
he asked and tried to wrack his brain for why she seemed so familiar.

“We
met at a frat party last year. Your friend Lance introduced us. I think I gave
you my number,” she said, knowing full well she’d given it to him.

Her
face coupled with a memory. That was the night Tess had ‘accidentally’ dropped
his cell into the punch bowl after he’d gotten the girl’s number. His mouth
quirked, recalling the transparency of the tactic. “So you remember?” She
smiled, assuming he intended the response for her.

Cameron
scratched his head sheepishly. “I’m sorry. My phone may or may not have ended
up in a barrel of jungle juice.”

She
giggled and twirled a strand of her strawberry blonde hair. “So, can I take you
up on that offer?”

She
was pretty in a generic Barbie kind of way. All fluttering, mascara-thickened
lashes and flat iron singed hair.

But
he could do with a distraction.

_____________________

Tess
felt sick.

And
it had nothing to do with the alcohol chugging through her system.

She
watched as Cameron flirted with the petite blonde. The alcohol numbed most of
the frustration and hurt. But it was still there, banked amongst the embers.

She
didn’t understand how he could carry on with these bimbo types, but not give
them a chance. How could he not see what they had? Why was he so intent on
pushing her away?

God,
maybe he really felt nothing for her.

She
uncurled her legs and came to her
feet. A bout of vertigo almost sent her crashing back down.

“Whoa girl, you good?” Disembodied
hands steadied her.

“I’m fine.” Tess waited for her
equilibrium to reestablish before pushing through the throng.
The combination of multiple shots
pressing on her bladder and the uncomfortable heat of too many bodies packed
together plucked at her frayed nerves.

Debating
between the need to pee, puke, and escape from the claustrophobic folds of the
house, she headed to the bathroom. Tess swore when she found the line wrapped
around the corner.

Fresh
air it was.

Taking
care to avoid eye contact, she gave Cameron and his ladylove a wide berth on
her way out. She felt a hundred times better the instant she stepped outside.
Cool, unspoiled air whispered against her
flushed skin.
Tess leaned over the deck’s gnarled
balustrade.
Placated, even the riotous contents of her stomach settled.

Tess
scoped out the laughing, dancing mob below. All on the prowl, her friends had scattered
to the four winds. She supposed she could make do with a single-serving friend.

Her
eyes landed on a familiar ebony-haired individual standing at the base of the
deck stairs. Of course he’d chosen tonight of all nights to emerge from his den
of iniquity.

Nausea returned twofold
at the
girl twined around him like ivy—horny, dry-humping ivy. Adonis certainly
knew how to put on a show. Maybe she should start collecting a cover charge at
the door.

Revolted,
Tess turned to leave, but faltered when she saw Cameron and his new squeeze
standing near the sliding glass door.

Before
she could deliberate which scenario would be the lesser of two evils, the
decision was made for her. Adonis’s brunette unlocked their lips, sauntered up
the steps, and flashed him a come-hither smile before disappearing inside.

He took his time following.

Tess hunched over railing, praying
he’d overlook her presence.

As if that ever worked.

A dark, husky voice filled her ear a
moment later. “See something you like?”

“Don’t kid yourself,” she said,
drawing back several feet to secure ample spacing. “I see you’ve found the
newest addition to your harem. How many does that make now? Several hundred?”

His mouth curled into a feral smile.
“I wouldn’t know. I don’t keep track.”

She made a noise of disgust. “For
all your whore-hating, they spend an awful lot of time in your bed.”

Ignoring her attempts to separate
them, Adonis stalked toward her, his gait unhurried yet no less predatory.
Pulse
jack-hammering
behind her eardrums, her body
toggled into battle mode. But a fight seemed to be the last thing on his mind.
Limbs relaxed and mood mellow, he halted his swagger just a few inches short of
her.

They’d never been so close without
trading rapid-fire insults like armor piercing rounds. His collarbone aligned
with her nose, forcing her gaze up. His eyes were like smelted ore heating over
an open pit of fire. She sucked in a breath and immediately regretted the act.
Black smoke, searing heat, and ash stung her lungs and left her senses fumbling
in their haze. It was like standing near an active volcano.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d
say it sounds as if you’re looking to put in an application,” he said, the low timbre
of his voice coated in decadent amusement.

Tess recouped, her eyes darting to
the door. Cameron paid her no mind, still immersed in his conversation with the
perky blonde. “You’re obviously hearing things.”

His eyes dropped to where her
off-the-shoulder shirt slanted across her chest and then lower before lazily
climbing back to her face. “What a shame. It would’ve been interesting to see
what all the fuss was about.”
His
finger trailed the length of her arm, raising gooseflesh in its wake.

“It’s one fuss you'll never know,”
she said, struggling to retain a hold on her faculties.

Instead of parrying, he leveled her
with a scalding, enigmatic look. And then he left.

Tess
rubbed her arm, confused by his contradictory behavior. What was his angle? He
wanted something; of that much she was certain. But she was too tipsy and tired
to care. Determined to banish the confrontation from memory, Tess clambered
down the deck stairs and sought asylum with faceless strangers.

Chapter 4

Tess tapped her pen against her
spiral bound notebook, trying to keep awake. Outside the classroom, rainwater
sheeted against the windows.
  

October had finally arrived, and
with it brought a merry band of squalls and icy, drenching downpours.
A fitting manifestation of her mood.

After the marathon that was
September, exhaustion saddled her bones. Tess never had a problem juggling
schoolwork, work-work, and a social life. She wanted to blame it on her course
load, which now included three labs as opposed to none she’d taken last year.
She could also blame it on the extra shifts her supervisor loaded on her plate
due to understaffing at the restaurant where she waitressed part-time.

But neither scratched the surface of
the truth.

The contemptible truth rested with a
guy, of all things.

Tess didn’t know if it was an
unexpected surge of testosterone, but the tramline of girls hurtling in and out
of Cam’s life dizzied her.

Always a good sport, Tess acted the part
to which she’d been relegated and returned their smiles and engaged them in
pseudo enthusiastic
conversation.

Never one to take blows lying down,
Tess countered with a few tricks of her own, and employed her rudimentary
flirting skills on other guys in his proximity.

The plan backfired.
Cameron not only encouraged her to date
other guys, he even introduced her to some of his friends.

She palmed the tension from her eye
sockets. She hated that these feelings were the driving force behind her
fatigue: a fatigue that infiltrated deeper than an overextended body. She was
emotionally drained. She was tired of putting up a front of nonchalance when
all she wanted to do was throw in the towel.

After class, she plodded back to the
dorm, ready for a nap on her only day off. Of course upon hearing this
sacrilege on the grand opening of some pub downtown, Jade pestered her until
she caved.

“Don’t
look so excited to be here, Tess,” Lance snickered, plucking a fry from the
community basket and chucking it into his mouth.

“I’m
not,” she said sullenly. And why would she? She worked six out of seven days a
week. “I have three labs.”

“This
is exactly why I wake up extra early to pick the next semester’s classes,” he
said, presuming, as always, her schedule was the reason behind her lassitude.
“The longer you wait, the faster they fill up.”

“Tess
just sucks at picking electives.” Jade patted her wrist. “Didn’t I tell you Art
101 was the way to go?”

“It’s
not her fault she wanted to learn something more than how to doodle,” Riley
swooped in for the save with a consoling grin.

“It’s
not doodling, asshole,” she sniffed. “It’s artistic exploration.”

“Speaking
of which, I’d appreciate if you’d contain your exploration and stop tacking
them over my posters,” Tess said gravely. “I think your work may be a tad too
avant-garde. Best stick with international politics.”

Jade
laughed and kicked her under the table. “Bitch.”

Tess
dunked her fry into her mound of ketchup. “You guys ready to order?”

Riley
tipped back his frosted bottle of Guinness. “Cam should be swinging round in a
few. Let’s give him a minute.”

“Yeah,
it did take us forever this place,” Lance said.

Tess
concurred. They’d driven past four times before Jade spotted the pub’s
underlit
sign wedged in the narrow alleyway. The owners had
taken low-key to whole new level.

Although
it wouldn’t be winning any awards for originality, she admitted it had heart.
Intimately imbedded lights reflected mutely off hardwood floors and planked
walls, bedecked with the usual pro-Irish trappings. Surprisingly, a few townies
intermingled amongst illegally and legally of age college students, a rarity
considering both demographics avoided the other like the plague.

But
who could resist the allure of happy hour specials at a new drinking venue?

A
bell jangled from the entryway.

Speak
of the devil.

Something
kicked hard in her chest as Cameron stomped into the pub, ruffling droplets of
water from his hair. Rain marks shadowed his blue pullover and the gunmetal
denim that gripped his thighs. It wasn’t fair that he could look so effortlessly
attractive.
And in the middle of a downpour.

The
bastard.

Grinning,
Tess waved him over. Even from a distance, the crystalline hue of his eyes
speared her. Anticipation snagged in a web of darker emotion as Adonis walked
in behind him.

“Oh,
look T. It’s your other best friend,” Jade observed wryly.

“He’s
not that bad,” Lance said, and threw his hands up when Tess bulldozed him with
a glare. “Or not.”

Tension
mangled her mood as the duo approached their booth. It was so strange, seeing
them together, all buddy-buddy. She’d grown too used to Cameron towing his
strung-out, blathering imbecile of a friend away from a scene. Even as far as
appearances went, their polarities resonated: Cameron with his golden boy good
looks and Adonis with his dark, brooding mystique.

No
wonder they made such a formidable tag team. Well, when Adonis didn’t haul ass
off the wagon. She’d never seen them using their power in unification but she’d
heard enough of their combined prowess. It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine the
havoc they were capable of wreaking amongst womankind.

She
scowled at their lumbering, disjointed tread. And apparently they decided to
get wrecked before coming out.

Cameron
plunked beside her, the vinyl bench sagging beneath his weight. “Tess,” he
dragged out her name and pulled her close.

She
leaned into him, but shrunk back when the stench hit her. “Ugh, you smell like
a distillery.”

“Mm-hm.”
His face pressed into her shoulder. “I missed you.”

Her
lips twitched. “I saw you yesterday.”

“I
know.” Drowsy blue eyes entrapped her. “That was like a hundred hours ago.”

And
then
he
spoke. “Careful Cam, your
vagina is showing.”

Before
she got the chance to snap back, Cameron covered her hand beneath the table.
Chagrin petered as his thumb soothed the ridge of her knuckles, exerting his
mastery over disabling her defenses. “Have you guys eaten yet?” she asked,
distracted.

His
mouth bowed devilishly. “No. Not yet. But I’m going to. Very soon.”

The
innuendo drew her short of breath. Tess swallowed, thrilled and terrified of
soberly managing a drunk, flirty Cam. “Here.” She slipped out of his hold and
stuck the laminated menu in front of him.

But
Cameron’s eyes remained with her. “I already know what I want.”

Like
a rubber band plucked, tension thrummed across her skin, causing her nerves to
sing. “Cam…” His name trembled from her lips, raw and needy.

“Are
you guys ready to order?”

Tess
wanted to hiss like a cat woken too soon from its nap at their hapless, bright-eyed
server.

“You
guys go ahead,” Cameron addressed everyone. “I need a second.” He released her
hand and picked up the menu.

Reining
in disappointment, Tess immersed herself back into the conversation as if
nothing had happened. Only one pair of eyes saw through her faux cheer. Jaw
locked, she met Adonis’s gaze, expecting scorn and derision, but his expression
was inscrutable.

A
blurry reel of memory suddenly looped back. Heat stole into her features as she
recalled their last encounter almost a month ago.

Tess
expected him to make some crack about the fluke and spew his usual vitriolic
slander. But he didn't as much as glance her way for the rest of dinner. Other
than a few salty comments, he’d been on his best behavior and her crew
continued to buy into the idea that he wasn’t a bad guy.

She
didn’t know whether to feel wary or warier.

After
they paid for their meals, the guys headed for the billiard tables, leaving
Tess and Jade to their own devices.

“See
now, this was fun, right?”

“Sure.”
Tess watched as a wild pack of girls migrated toward the guys under the
auspices of wanting to learn how to play. Fifty bucks said they were playing
stupid.

“What’s
happening with you and Cameron?”

Tess
forced her gaze away. “Same old, same old.”

“Haven’t
you told him how you feel?”

“Of
course I have. And look where’s gotten me.” Tess used her straw to stab at the
lemon floating in her water. “It’s like he doesn’t even see me as a woman. I’m
just one of the guys,” she said dully.

“Have
you tried seducing him?”

Tess
shifted uneasily. “Define seduction.”

“Skimpy
clothes. Lap dances. Sucking the red off a cherry lollipop.”

“I
don’t want to be a skank about it.”

“Look,
sweetie. Obviously the nice girl,
can-we-move-to-the-next-level-but-only-when-you’re-ready routine has not
worked. What you need is guns blazing, no-holds barred seduction. You need to
stop approaching this so meekly and take control of the situation. You need to
set the atmosphere.” Fire blazed in her eyes. “Scented candles. Lingerie. Wine.
Dinner. Handcuffs.”
 

“Handcuffs?
Really?”

Her
smile was carnivorous. “You don’t want him to run, do you?”

“I
worry about you sometimes.”

“Why
do you think Lance has stuck around for so long?"

"Because
you keep him chained to your bed?" she replied dryly.

"That's
not the point. The point is that if Cam insists on being a pussy about this,
you need to find a way to show him what he’s been missing out.”

“And
how do you propose I do that?”

Jade
whipped out her phone. “What does your schedule look like tomorrow?” she asked,
her fingers flying across the screen.

“My
last class is at noon and I work from three to eight.”

“Good.
I'm booking us an appointment at 12:30. It won't take longer than a few hours.”

“For
what?”

Not
so hidden amusement gleamed in her eyes. “You'll see.”

Tess
knew better than to trust her mischievous roommate. So it was with dread that
she dragged her feet into a taxi the next day. Knowing her friend's flare for
dramatics, Tess half expected them to roll up to an S&M club.

Color
her surprised when the taxi swerved into the roundabout of a squat, adobe style
building. She read the sign displayed above the awning. “A spa?”

Jade
paid the driver. “You'll thank me later.”

More
like strangle, Tess later rued as she scanned the astronomical prices posted on
the glass display. She waited until the receptionist was out of earshot before
hissing, “You do realize that my budget does not cover these kinds of
expenditures.”