A Perfect Ten

  Of course it was. It said, “I support single moms,” and showcased the silhouette of a curvy, naked woman swinging from a stripper pole.

  “Do I look like I care?”

  He glanced up at my dry tone and lifted an eyebrow. “Let me guess. You’re not going to offer to wipe me dry like you did that dipshit, are you?”

  I shoved him again for being a total jerk and for buying such an offensive shirt. “Why did you do that?”

  He snorted and glanced after Trey. “Because the dude looked like a douche.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Well, I obviously don’t have a problem with douches. I’m talking to you, aren’t I?”

  He frowned. “Harsh, Caroline. I was just looking out for you.”

  “No.” I set my hands on my hips and sent him the laser-beam depth of my glare. “You were cock-blocking me.”

  Lifting his hands in completely unrepentant negligence, he said, “Fine, whatever you want to call it. He’s not going to bother you again. You’re welcome.”

  “I wasn’t thanking you.” I made a face after him as he turned away and sauntered off. “You ass.”

  “Love you, too,” he called back, blowing me a kiss over his shoulder. Then he took another swig of my damn beer.

  I ground my teeth, frustrated with myself for letting him get to me so much that I had such a childish response and had to add to it by sticking my tongue out at him. But he could just make me so...mad.

  As he strolled to the bar where Noel was watching us and sat on a stool, I glared after him. He and my brother spoke, and Noel glanced my way. Pointing at his own eyes, he then turned his fingers to tell me he was always watching me.

  I sent him my own sign language and flipped him off. And the entire time, Oren sat facing the bar with his back to me as he finished off my drink.

  Jerks. The both of them.

  I guess that showed me for trying to get some action while they were around. But I’d come here to see Asher play; the action had been a spur of the moment thing.

  I had a bad habit of running with spur of the moment ideas. And a year ago, I’d paid big time for it. It should’ve taught me my lesson. But like every other Gamble I knew, I had a hard head about learning lessons.

  Needing to cool off and gather my self-control, I spun away and stalked toward the bathrooms. I waited until I was safely inside the ladies’ room before I breathed again. Pressing my back to the door, I closed my eyes, glad for a moment free from Oren.

  Sucking in a nice, refreshing...eww! Who the hell was spraying such rank perfume?

  I opened my eyes and immediately frowned at the three ladies gathered in front of the mirrors. They just happened to be three of the very four whores—I mean, fine, upstanding young women—who’d been huddled around Oren mere minutes ago.

  Awesome.

  Maybe we could all get together sometime and just have us a slumber party.

  “I still can’t believe he picked you, you lucky bitch,” the girl teasing her hair complained as she puckered her mouth and studied her lipstick job.

  “I know,” the one leaning in to examine the blackheads on her nose added before she tried to pop one. “I was totally feeling this vibe between us too. I was so sure he’d pick me tonight.”

  “You just...suck,” muttered the third one who was, yes, still applying that awful perfume. “I’ve never had him before. It should’ve been my turn.”

  Behind one stall door, a toilet flushed, and the fourth whore appeared as she opened the door. “Face it, ladies. I simply rule. Ten’s always preferred me.”

  At the mention of Oren—or rather his stupid nickname everyone called him—I froze and focused on her a little harder. So, she was the chosen one for this evening, huh?

  I hated her.

  I really, really hated her.

  “I heard he only does it in the dark,” perfume girl said, her eyes wide with wonder.

  My mouth fell open. Say what? I should not be listening to this crap. So, I edged in a little closer, hungry for more.

  “Mmm hmm,” the winner, I guess we were calling her, said. “He’s almost weird about it. But it’s so kinky you can’t really care, because, oh my God, he makes up for the lack of sight by using all his other senses.”

  I almost whimpered as I imagine it. Oren learning me by touch, by taste, by scent. I shivered, growing a little warm under my clothes until the winner ruined the moment by speaking again.

  “If you know what I mean.” She smirked and wiggled her eyebrows.

  Yes, honey, we all knew what you meant. But...hell. Listening to them talk about Oren’s sexual preferences was...probably really forbidden, but even as it chipped off pieces of my heart to think of him doing those things with them, it still made my stomach tighten and my entire body tingle embarrassingly.

  Stupid body.

  “And it’s always from behind. I’ve never talked to anyone who hasn’t gotten it from him doggie style.”

  I clamped my legs together, because hello, they were talking about my Oren...in different positions. Yes, it was disheartening to hear he had such a following that they all knew his...proclivities. I couldn’t believe I was half a second from being in love with such a freaking man-whore. But damn, I still wanted him to take me from behind like that.

  “I’m supposed to meet him at his place at midnight tonight,” the chosen one announced as she began to check herself in the mirror right along with the other three, fluffing her boobs up into her cleavage. “It’s always so mysterious and thrilling when I go there.”

  “He leaves his apartment unlocked,” pimple pincher explained to perfume girl, “and you’re supposed to just walk right in and down a dark hall to his dark bedroom. You never know if someone’s going to jump out and grab you.”

  The chosen one fanned herself. “And then he does jump out and grab you.”

  All four of them giggled and then sighed. I rolled my eyes, deciding I’d had enough.

  “I’m sorry.” I waved my hand to get their attention. “But are you guys talking about...Oren Tenning?”

  Four faces turned my way. I’m sure they found me lacking in my comfy blue jeans and V-neck T-shirt. I never dolled myself up. In fact, I purposely dressed down to avoid attention from the opposite sex. I hadn’t really fixed myself up since the school dance last year where Sander had invited me to be his date, way back when he’d still been kind and sweet. But it turned out he hadn’t ever planned on taking me to that stupid dance. I’d spent all the money I’d scrimped together and saved over the years to buy the dress, and after two hours of beautifying myself for him, he’d taken me straight to the infamous make-out spot to get lucky in the backseat of his Dodge Challenger. Not since then had I used clothes, makeup, or perfume to impress anyone.

  “We sure are, honey. Do you know him?” Perfume girl sniffed and tipped up her face in a haughty kind of way, as if she couldn’t believe I was good enough to even associate with him.

  “Oh...” I gave her a brief, tight smile. “Barely.” I bet I knew him a hell of a lot better than she did.

  I doubt she had any idea that his favorite food was chocolate mints, or that he preferred a bottle of Sunny Delight over coffee every morning to drink with his breakfast. Or that he hated spiders and loved cats. I bet she had no clue that every extra dollar he made at the nightclub where he worked went into a savings account from which he someday wanted to build his own dream home...that he’d already designed himself. I bet she would never know what an extremely talented artist he was or what lengths he went to just to help his friends.

  The bitch probably knew nothing about him at all...except how he felt inside her, which, okay, was more than I knew. Damn it.

  “But one of my friends...,” I went on, lifting my eyebrows so they’d think my friend had all the carnal knowledge of him that I did not, “...is still taking treatments to get over...whatever he gave her.”

  All four women gasped. “No,” one said, her eyes wide.

  “Oh my God. I w
as with him only two weeks ago.”

  “Oh, sweetie,” I said with all the fake sympathy I could muster as I reached out as if to pat her arm. “You really need to go get yourself checked.” And she probably needed to anyway, so I didn’t feel bad about suggesting that at all.

  “Is it herpes?”

  “Syphilis?”

  “AIDs?”

  I almost rolled my eyes. How the hell did I know which disease to choose? “I don’t know, but it was nasty, whatever it was. She was all red, bumpy, and itchy and...” I leaned in closer, lowering my voice dramatically. “Yellow stuff was dripping...if you know what I mean.”

  My four little puppets pulled back in horror. “Eww,” they chorused, making me want to throw my head back and cackle.

  I nodded, getting into character a little bit too enthusiastically. But hey, if Oren was going to cock-block me, I was going to vagina-block him. “I know,” I cooed to his band of skanks. “The doctor told her she couldn’t safely have sex again for a whole year.”

  More horrified gasps followed. “A year?”

  Damn, was I good or what?

  “Well, I can’t meet him now,” the chosen one squawked, looking panicked. “What do I tell him if he’s still out there whenever we leave the bathroom? I can’t even look him in the eye without seeing...” She shuddered. “No. Just, no.”

  Pimple popper slid her arm around her friend in comfort. “It’s okay, Kelly. We’ll sneak you out of here. He’ll never see you.”

  “Ohmigod, thank you.” Kelly stepped toward me for a hug. “I don’t know how I could ever repay you for this.” She looked really grateful too. I probably should’ve felt my first twinge of remorse right about then. But nope. I didn’t.

  I hugged her back, glad Oren wouldn’t be feeling those really big boobs pressing against his chest later on. “I’m just glad I warned you before it was too late.”

  After getting a round of hugs from the other three girls—all with overly huge boobs that put my C-cups to shame when they embraced me—they hunched their shoulders together, formed a tight circle around Kelly, and hurried from the bathroom.

  I had to watch this, so I followed them out and propped myself against the back wall of the bar.

  Folding my arms over my chest, I snickered at how obvious they were about making Kelly duck down within their group and hide from him.

  But Oren was absolutely clueless to their pathetic attempts as he stood way on the other side of the room, talking to Quinn. He didn’t even notice their hasty exit. But he would eventually, and that made me smirk.

  Things were about to get interesting.

  I stuck around Forbidden a while longer and watched Oren from a safe distance. He glanced toward the hall opening to the bathrooms with a slight frown a few times, probably looking for Kelly and her sidekicks, but he didn’t seem all that perturbed that he never spotted her again. He just kept mingling through the crowd and talking with everyone who stopped him.

  “You’re being really obvious tonight,” Zoey said from beside me.

  I didn’t even glance at her. “Hmm?”

  “With your Ten-watching,” she cautioned. “You’re not even bothering to hide it. Did he tick you off that much when he chased that guy away from you?”

  “Oh, I’m over that,” I said, though I wasn’t. I still wanted to hurt him, not only for turning me down and then going to other women like Kelly, but for keeping me from the exact thing he would’ve done with her.

  I finally glanced at Zoey. “I just heard a couple girls talking about him in the bathroom earlier. My ears are still ringing from the things I learned.”

  Zoey shuddered. “I can only imagine. Actually...” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t even want to imagine. His idea of fun no doubt goes beyond what I could even fathom.”

  The idea of that seemed to disgust her, but it turned me on. That probably meant I was a freak. Well, yeah, I had to be a freak. I wanted Oren Tenning. That could not be normal. But still, why did I crave such dirty things? With him?

  I checked the time on my phone. Eleven thirty. If he truly meant to meet Kelly at midnight, he’d have to leave soon. But he was still here. Maybe this meant he wasn’t—

  “Yo, Ham. I’m heading out.” He appeared out of nowhere beside me to tap the top of our table and get his roommate’s attention.

  I yelped because I hadn’t even noticed him moving our way. With a low growl, I scowled at him for startling me...or maybe for leaving now, because that meant he was still planning on meeting Kelly. The ass.

  He met my gaze and paused. Reading something—though I’m not sure what—from my expression, he leaned close to talk into my ear.

  “What? You’re not still mad at me for chasing off that little boy, are you?”

  I sniffed and lifted my chin. “You’re just as bad as Noel. I mean, you’re never going let me date anyone without any kind of interference, are you?”

  He watched me a moment longer, his intent expression harboring all his thoughts. Then he leaned in again. “How about this? If you ever find anyone good enough for you, I will step back and let you at him without even a single fuck-off glare in his direction.” Then he leaned even closer. “Problem is, I don’t think anyone will ever be good enough for the likes of you.”

  When he reached out slowly and caught a tendril of my hair, the achiest look entered his eyes. He studied the lock he was methodically winding around his finger, and the way he watched it was just...I knew that look and recognized it intimately. Every time I saw him, I felt it rising from my own core, wanting, yet helpless to take.

  A shudder wracked me. Once upon a time, I’d told Zoey that if I knew for certain Oren really, truly liked me—liked me the way I liked him—I wouldn’t let Noel keep us apart. And I’d meant it.

  I still meant it.

  “Even you?” I asked him.

  His eyes flashed at the question. “Especially me.” Dropping my hair, he stepped back and straightened before he cast a quick glance toward the bar, as if testing whether my brother could see us or not. When he seemed to realize Noel hadn’t spotted him touching me, he turned away and strolled off.

  I stared after him, my lips parting. And that’s when I knew, or at least I convinced myself I knew. My theory wasn’t a theory at all; Oren honestly did want me, and he really was an ass to me sometimes because he was trying to keep me away so he wouldn’t fall into temptation and go against Noel’s wishes.

  Well, screw that. My brother wouldn’t have befriended Oren if he thought he was such a bad guy. And Oren had done so many good things for him—which was another reason I’d grown obsessed with him. I swear, the only reason Noel didn’t want me to date his friend was because he didn’t trust me not to mess my life up royally, as I had the last time I’d gotten involved with someone.

  But Oren was nothing like Sander. And I wanted him. I wanted him so bad. Even suspecting that he wanted me back made my heart ache.

  It made Blaze’s words echo through my head.

  “Live a little, Caroline. Find yourself a man. A hot one-night stand.”

  A one-night stand, huh? On the heels of her echoing comment, I heard Kelly’s, “He only does it in the dark…I’m supposed to meet him at his place at midnight.”

  “He always leaves his apartment door unlocked, and you’re supposed to just walk right in and down a dark hall to his dark bedroom.”

  As everything I’d heard tonight crowded into my head, an idea formed. It was crazy. Insane. The worst idea I’d ever had. But I couldn’t push it from my mind.

  I shouldn’t even consider it.

  Then I did, anyway.

  Seriously, though...if I arrived at Oren’s place tonight at twelve o’clock and entered his dark bedroom, and he really honestly always did it with the lights off, he’d never know it was me. He’d think I was Kelly. Right?

  My heart pounded. Yeah, that was a crazy idea. Too crazy. I was going to stop thinking it now.

  Then again, what would the har
m really be? He’d get his sex. I’d get what I’d been craving from him for months. Blaze would be happy my vagina wasn’t going to dry out and shrivel up, not that I was sure why she was even worried about my vagina. But honestly, everyone would go away happy. Wouldn’t they? Not even Noel could freak out over what happened because he would never be the wiser. Oren could still have me, and he wouldn’t have to worry about keeping it from my brother.

  The sweetest part of the whole idea was that I could have exactly what I wanted, and the immature chauvinist pig who pissed me off as much as he turned me on would go away absolutely clueless. I didn’t want him to know how fixated on him I was. This could be the perfect solution, which really tempted me into wondering—

  Oh, hell. The entire notion was crazy. I would never in a million years actually go through with such a thing.

  Half an hour later, thousands of voices in my head shrieked. “For the love of God, Caroline. What’re you doing?”

  “Shh,” I hissed at the annoying shits. “I’m doing this.”

  I slipped inside the front door to Quinn, Oren, and Zoey’s apartment and then closed it behind me with trembling fingers. To be discreet, I’d parked my sister-in-law’s car that I’d borrowed tonight a block down the street. And if anyone caught me inside, I already had an excuse handy. I was here to see Zoey. To talk important girl stuff. Yeah. That sounded good. And I really would talk to her if I was caught...about the fact that I’d lost my ever-loving mind!

  Pausing at the beginning of the hall, I took a moment to bolster my nerve. Oren’s bedroom was the first door on the right. Only ten feet away. Drawing in a deep breath, I started to step forward when an idea hit me. Scrambling, I reached under my skirt I’d raced home to change into for my panties, and I peeled them down my legs.

  I know, I know. They were the nicest underwear I owned. Why was I taking them off before he could even see the goods? Well, probably because, if we stayed in the dark like we were supposed to, he’d never see them anyway. And tonight, I just wanted to be bold and promiscuous. If I was really going to do this, I was going to do it right.