Jesus. He would like it.
“Thanks.” She beams up at him.
“You should wear it and nothing else sometime.” He swats her ass, making her squeal.
I clear my throat because yeah, I don’t want to watch this nauseating spectacle go on any longer. “You two crazy kids,” I mutter.
Shep chuckles as he walks over to settle onto the stool next to mine. “Where we going tonight?”
“Do we have to leave?” I’m whining but I can’t help it.
“Listen bro, I’m with you. But Jade wants us gone. She’s afraid we’ll make the girls uncomfortable.”
“Wait, what? How the hell could we make them uncomfortable?”
“Because it’s a sex toy party. No men allowed.”
“Shepard Prescott you weren’t supposed to tell him that, remember? God, you can’t ever keep your mouth shut, can you?”
He grins at Jade who’s scowling at him in return. “Baby, you prefer it when my mouth is open.”
“Ugh, stop turning this into a sex thing.”
“It is a sex thing,” Shep argues.
I’m stuck on one thing in particular. “What do you mean, a sex toy party?” My mind is blown. Women do this sort of thing? Jeez, I remember Mom kicking us out of the house a few times because of various social gatherings with her friends over the years but I really hope to hell they weren’t about sex toys.
“It’s called a Desire Party,” Jade explains, sounding reluctant. Like we have a gun held to her head and we’re forcing her to spill the details. “They sell sex toys, lube, lingerie, the works.”
I’m gaping at her and Shep laughs. “You’re cool with her having this party?” I ask him incredulously.
“Dude, I’m going to benefit from her having this party, so why the hell not? The more she sells, the more credit she gets for free shit. It’s like a Tupperware party but X-rated.” He rubs his hands together. “I can’t wait. I’m looking forward to trying out the anal beads the most.”
“Shep, Jesus! Shut up!” Jade yells but then starts to laugh when Shep bends over and clutches his gut, overcome at his own ridiculous joke.
“Try them out on you or her?” I ask, not really wanting to know the answer.
“Don’t you dare answer him.” Jade grabs a knife out of the nearby block and brandishes it at Shep. “I’m serious.”
Thank God for Jade.
“No comment,” Shep says as he sits up fully, wearing a giant smile. I keep one wary eye on Jade as she slips the knife back into its slot in the wooden block. “See, we can’t stick around. We’ll just cause trouble and say inappropriate things.”
Yeah. I don’t think I want to see a bunch of chicks manhandling a monster-sized dildo as they pass it around. That sounds kind of…creepy. And uncomfortable for all of us.
I frown. Would Alex want to buy a monster-sized dildo? She hasn’t even seen the monster I have in my jeans but she’s felt it because I can’t control myself when I’m around her. And when she’s wrapped all around me, her lips fused with mine? Forget it.
“Fine. We’ll go out,” I finally say. I can’t be in the same house with Alexandria. I’ll do something stupid.
Like jump her.
Jade visibly sags with relief. “Thank you, Tristan.”
“Damn it, you weren’t supposed to cave so quick. Make her squirm a little bit more,” Shep chides.
“We’ll just come back early,” I tell him with a smile.
Jade scowls but Shep slaps me square on the back. “Sounds like a solid plan.”
Yeah. It does.
I’m drunk. And I never realized this before, but when I’m drunk, apparently I get loose-lipped. As in, I say things I probably shouldn’t.
“I like her,” I tell Shep as we’re heading back to our house. “I like her a fucking lot. And I don’t get why but damn it, the way she looks at me is like…fuck.”
Shep barely glances my way. He’s paying attention to the road, which is a good thing because the weather is shit. He had one beer at the beginning of the night and then kept the Cokes coming for the rest of the evening. He’s my sober driver. Because I’m drunk.
Drunk as hell.
“Who exactly are you talking about?” Shep asks as he taps the brakes and the car slows. The rain is just as bad as was predicted, heavy and relentless. I really wish I would’ve stayed home.
Though if I’d done that, I wouldn’t have gotten so drunk and I am feeling good right about now. So no regrets. Fuck that.
“Alexandria.” I bump the back of my head against the seat and close my eyes, but I’m still spinning. This is a bad sign. “Alexandria the terrible, no good, rotten girl who plays hard to get.”
“She’s a challenge yet you keep chasing after her? That’s unlike you,” Shep says.
“Don’t read anything into this. I know how you are.” Like a doddering old woman thanks to Jade, always trying to set up his friends with another friend or some other thing. I refuse to let him play matchmaker.
“I’m not reading into anything. You’re the one who’s spilling his guts,” Shep points out.
I clamp my lips closed. I should shut up. Whatever I’m telling Shep, Jade will hear too, and what if she eventually spills it to Alexandria? I don’t know if I want her to know this stuff.
“I’m assuming you told her about the bet that you lost,” Shep prods. “Considering you like her and all.”
“Please,” I mutter, slumping in my seat. “It’s the alcohol talking. You shouldn’t take me seriously. And no, I didn’t tell her about the bet that I haven’t lost yet, thank you very much. What’s to tell?”
“Whatever. You’re just digging yourself a deeper grave I hope you know.” Shep chuckles and shakes his head. “I’m thinking this might be the only time you’re completely sincere. You like this girl, don’t you?”
“Hell no,” I say quickly. Maybe a little too quickly. “Fucking. That’s all. That’s all it can be. One and done. I’m sticking to the rules. Just like we promised.”
“Whatever. Keep living in denial.” He slows the car and makes a right turn. We’re close to home and close to the end of this conversation, thank Christ. “It’s not so bad you know.”
“What?” I ask warily.
“Falling in love with a woman. Wanting to be with her and no one else. Actually, that part is pretty damn easy. I can’t imagine being with anyone else. I don’t want to. Not when I have Jade.”
“You’re sick in the head.” I scoot further down into the chair, wishing I could tune him out and fall asleep.
“Naw, man. I’m serious. Sticking with one girl isn’t bad at all. The more time I spend with her, the more I realize just how much I love her.”
His sappy talk makes me feel sick to my stomach. “Next thing you know you’ll be planning your wedding and discussing flower options and all that shit.”
“We’ve discussed it all, bro. Pretty sure she’s waiting for an engagement ring for Christmas but I don’t think that’s on my radar. Yet. I’d rather wait until we graduate before I get that serious,” he explains.
I gape at him. He really is serious. He wants to put a ring on it and make Jade his permanent piece. I can’t even imagine…
“Someday it will happen to you,” Shep says confidently. “And I can’t wait to tell you I told you so.”
“You will never get a chance to say those words to me,” I insist, undoing my seatbelt the moment Shep turns his car onto our driveway. There are still a few cars parked out front but I don’t recognize them. I’m reaching for the door handle before he even has the car in park. “I’ll see you inside.”
“Dude, wait a minute, she might still have girls in there—”
I slam the door before he can finish his sentence. Fuck it. If Jade’s crazy sex party is still happening, I’ll sneak in through the garage and through the back hall. That way I won’t have to face any of them.
The moment I enter the kitchen I can hear the sound of girls giggling coming
from the living room. One of them squeals and I swear it’s Kelli. She’s got a loud mouth so that’s no surprise. I glance around the messy kitchen. Two empty wine bottles and a few glasses sit in the sink. The island has serving plates scattered all over it, most of them empty but one still has a few appetizers on it. Grabbing some weird looking pastry thing off the plate, I stuff it into my mouth and go to the fridge to grab a bottle of water.
Hmm. The weird pastry thing is pretty damn good. I grab another one, about to shove it into my mouth when Shep enters the kitchen, his eyes about bugging out of his head.
“Holy hell, did you just eat one of Jade’s fancy appetizer things?” He sounds like I just risked my damn life for a mushroom puff or whatever the fuck it is.
I roll my eyes and bite into the pastry with extra enthusiasm just for Shep, then shove the other half in. “It’s delicious,” I say, my mouth full.
Shaking his head, Shep picks one up and takes a bite. “Huh, it is good,” he mumbles, sounding shocked.
Oh, if Jade heard his lack of faith just now. She’d give him endless shit.
“I know.” I swallow and take a drink from the bottled water, trying my best to ignore the laughter that’s still coming from the living room. I’m curious to check out what’s happening. “Sounds like they’re having fun in there,” I say casually.
Shep goes still. “Don’t go in there.”
Him saying I shouldn’t makes me want to go in there even more. “What’s the harm in seeing what’s going on?”
“Aren’t you the one who told me you didn’t want to see them passing vibrators around?” he points out.
I might’ve said that very thing back at the bar but that was hours ago. Now I wanna see it. I wanna see something.
I also want to know if Alexandria’s in there. I swear I can feel her presence but that’s ridiculous. I can’t want Alexandria. To want her is to want—more. More than I can give her, more than I can accept, more than I can deal with. Relationships are bullshit, all the girls I’ve ever been with are greedy bitches who demand the whole damn world and yeah…
It’s gotta be the booze affecting my mental state. I drank too much, my head is spinning, I’m starved for more mushroom pastry things and the need to see Alexandria is damn near overwhelming. Just to catch a glimpse of her, even for a few seconds. That’s all I need.
All I can want.
Pushing away from the kitchen counter, I head toward the living room, Shep falling into step behind me, right on my heels.
Fucker.
“Don’t go in there,” he warns me, his mouth practically at my ear. I swat him away but that doesn’t stop him. He just keeps talking. “Jade will murder us both if we ruin her party, you know. And you really don’t want to face her wrath.”
“I’m not scared of her. Besides, we’re not going to ruin shit,” I say. “Maybe we can be the entertainment.”
“I think they have enough entertainment,” he retorts as he grabs my arm, stopping me. “Come on, you should go to bed.”
“I don’t want to go to bed, Dad.” I jerk my arm out of his hold. I hate it when he tries to tell me what to do. “I’m not tired.”
Shep glares at me. “I forgot how belligerent you get when you drink.”
“Shut up. I’m fine,” I mutter as I stroll into the living room as if I didn’t have a care in the world. Shep doesn’t follow me and I’m glad. This is my moment to shine with a bunch of amped up women who’ve done nothing but obsess about sex all night. Talk about an opportunity.
“Good evening, ladies,” I say with my biggest grin, spreading my arms wide like I’m on display—just another sex toy for one of them to possibly enjoy.
Clearly, I’ve lost my damn mind.
I go completely still when Tristan walks into the room, looking so good I sort of lose my breath when I see him. Kelli’s sitting next to me on the couch and she jabs her elbow in my ribs, making me jump.
“What an asshole. He’s not even looking at you,” she whispers out of the side of her mouth.
I say nothing because there’s no point in denying it. Tristan doesn’t even look my way. And all I can do is watch him as his arms drop to his sides, his smile faltering the slightest bit. His eyes look wild. Bloodshot. And that smile on his face can only be described as sloppy.
He’s drunk. Or at least has a good buzz going.
“Tristan.” Jade sounds mad. She worried before the party started that the guys would show up and somehow ruin everything. “What are you doing here?”
“We just got home, baby.” He winks at her. “And now the party can officially start.”
“Where’s Shep?” She sends all of us a panicked look. The only ones remaining beside myself are Kelli, Lucy, and the girl who gave the demonstrations, Toni. And by the interested glow in her eyes, I can see she doesn’t mind Tristan stopping by at all.
“In the kitchen shitting his pants,” he says cheerily. “You scare the hell out of him I hope you know.”
“Fuck off, Tristan,” Shep yells from the kitchen.
Jade’s cheeks turn red and she rises to her feet. “Well, sorry to disappoint but the party’s over.”
“Hey Jade. Who’s your friend?” Toni asks as she gets up from the couch to stand beside her.
“Tristan,” he says, thrusting out his hand, one of those notorious charming smiles on his face. A smile I’d like to slap off if I could.
She takes his hand, shaking it slowly, not letting go. “I’m Toni,” she practically purrs. I swear she just batted her eyelashes at him. “Aren’t you delicious?”
Kelli starts to giggle uncomfortably while anger simmers in my veins. Fine, we’ve all been sipping on wine and munching on delicious food the entire night, talking about the dirtiest things possible. When a handsome man walks into the room, of course someone is going to start flirting with him.
It’s been an evening of revelations. I heard stories about Shep that I can never scrub from my brain. Lucy blushed so hard whenever someone asked her a question we just knew that Gabe does all sorts of dirty things to her. She even admitted she freaking loves whatever it is that he does, making all of us extremely curious—and a little jealous. Kelli shared a few escapades, Toni is dirty as hell and doesn’t hold back, Jade’s other friends spent a ton of money on various sized vibrators, heated lube and edible underwear. And I sat there like the most boring person in the world, keeping what few stories I do have to myself.
I had a great time.
And now the guy I’m interested in, the guy I’m hot for, who kisses like a dream and acts like a nightmare is flirting with some woman who’s at least ten years older than him.
What the fuck ever.
“I can be as delicious as you want me to be,” he says, making Jade growl and Lucy groan.
“I’m out,” Lucy says as she hops to her feet, grabs her purse and goes to give Jade a hug. “Thanks for a great time. Nice meeting you Toni.” She approaches Tristan and lightly pats his cheek. “You should go sleep this off before you do something you’ll regret.”
“Ooh, burn,” Kelli mutters under her breath as Lucy leaves the room. “I don’t know if that was directed at him or at Toni.”
I can’t help but watch as they chat each other up. Toni steps closer. Tristan smiles. Toni touches his chest. Tristan doesn’t stop her. They both laugh and I know I can’t stay here much longer and witness this bullshit that’s unfolding.
“Let’s go,” I tell Kelli, tugging on her sleeve.
“Way to ruin the party, Tristan,” Kelli says as she gets up from the couch and then offers me a hand. I take it and she pulls me to my feet. “You walk in and we all bail,” she calls over her shoulder.
“I’m not bailing,” Toni says innocently.
I bet she’s not.
“You guys.” Jade steps in front of us as we make our way to the front door, wringing her hands and looking completely stressed out. “You don’t have to leave yet.”
“Ah, I work tomorrow so I s
hould probably get home,” I tell her.
“And since I’m Alex’s ride, I have to go too.” Kelli shrugs and smiles. “But we had a great time, Jade. Seriously. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look Shep in the eyes again.”
Jade laughs, the tension seeming to ease out of her. Somewhat. “I should’ve never told you guys any of those stories.”
Kelli laughs along with her. “Yeah, you really shouldn’t have but still. It was fun.”
I’m not even sure if Jade realizes that Kelli isn’t joking but hey, it’s all good. TMI was the name of the game tonight.
Avoiding Tristan as best as I can, we walk past where he and Toni are still chatting. He never once looks our way and my dumb, ridiculous heart feels like it’s going to crack.
Stupid. I knew what I was getting into, dealing with Tristan the asshole Prescott. After approximately ten days of not seeing each other, he forgets I even exist. This guy doesn’t deserve me. I need to focus on the good in my life. School is going well, I have a job, I have friends and a nice guy who’s interested in me.
The last thing I need is Tristan.
We enter the kitchen, where Lucy and Shep are saying goodbye to each other. Jade practically runs into the kitchen seconds later, startling all three of us. “You need to get Tristan out of there,” she tells Shep, waving her hand in the direction of the living room. “I think he’s going to jump Toni at any second.”
Shep makes a frustrated noise. “He’s drunk and irritable. I’ll go get him.” He stalks out of the kitchen, Jade following after him.
Kelli turns to look at me, rolling her eyes. “He’s a dick.”
“Who, Shep? I disagree. I mean, according to Jade he has a big di—”
“No, not Shep. Please. Tristan.” Kelli rests her hands on her hips, her eyes flashing with anger. “Why would he ignore you like that? And flirt with stupid Toni right in front of you? She’s kind of tacky.”
“I thought she was nice,” I start but Kelli cuts me off with a wagging finger in my face.
“Don’t you dare defend her! She was coming on to him like a cat in heat. I think all that dildo talk she does for her presentations leaves her constantly wanting,” Kelli says bitterly.