One Night (Friends #0.5) (2 page)

Hell, I need to let go.

“Baby cakes!” Thin arms wrap around my neck as a slender body presses against mine from behind. I recognize her scent, her voice, the way her nails scratch my neck, just sharp enough to make me worry she might draw blood.

“Em.” I turn to face her and she readjusts her hold so she’s gripping my shoulders, smiling up at me seductively. “What are you doing?”

“What’s it look like? Let’s dance, D.” She starts to move right there in the middle of the room to the beat of the music, her hips thrusting, her boobs bouncing beneath the stretchy fabric of her top. I don’t think she’s wearing a bra.

And I can’t help but stare.

Em smiles and tosses back her head, laughing as her hips somehow bump against mine. She knows exactly what she’s doing and she loves it. Honestly? So do I.

I shouldn’t, but I do.

“Don’t be so stiff,” she chastises, her lips curled in a dirty smirk. “Though I probably would prefer you stiff…”

“Em.” My voice is a warning but she ignores it. She’s been playing this flirtatious game with me for months. Practically our entire junior year, not that she ever acts this way when Liv’s around. I don’t know what her deal is, but I’ve never mentioned it to Livvy either, because I don’t want them to fight. It’s mostly harmless anyway. Em likes to flirt. It’s just her way.

But those two girls can be so jealous of each other. I know they are, though they’d never admit it out loud. They’re supposedly best friends, but sometimes I wonder if they’re more like best enemies…

“Oh, stop being such a downer. She’s not around. Not like she wants you anyway.” She shifts closer as the song changes to a slower beat and we start to sway to the music. “You’re not a bad dancer, D.”

I hate dancing. I’m not any good at it. “Is that what we’re doing right now? Dancing?”

“We could do more if you want,” she whispers, leaning in so close. “I’m always willing, unlike someone else we know.”

Is it wrong that I’m tempted? I’m not even drunk yet, but I wonder what would happen if I took Em up on her offer. If we could keep it our little secret and mess around behind Livvy’s back. I bet Em would let me do just about anything I wanted to her.

Anything. And everything.

“We can’t,” I tell her. It’s my usual protest. She’s heard me say those two words more than a few times.

“Says who?” Her smile is pure seduction. The way she sinks her teeth into her lower lip, her dark hair falling into her eyes. She blinks up at me, working it. Working me hard.

And I’m half falling for it, I swear to God.

“Says me.” My voice is firm. I won’t back down. I can’t sneak around behind Livvy’s back with her best friend. It doesn’t matter that Livvy won’t give me what I want-a relationship. I can’t be disloyal to her like that. I’d feel like I was cheating on her if I messed around with Em.

Stupid, I know. But I can’t help the way I feel.

A sigh escapes her and she tucks her hair behind her ear before she reaches for my face, her fingers drifting across my lips for the briefest moment. A ghost of a touch that makes me go completely still. “We’re going to be alone all summer-just the two of us. She’s leaving us tomorrow and not coming back until school practically starts.” Em hesitates, pouting for a moment. “We’re going to get awfully lonely.”

“You think?” Em is hot-most of the time a hot mess, but there’s something attractive about her messiness. She’s not what I would call stable. She likes to party. Get drunk, get high, it doesn’t really matter. She’s a major flirt and I’ve heard rumors that during the last few months of school, she became somewhat of a BJ queen.

The rumors I heard claimed she was pretty damn good at it, too.

“I know. And I know something else, too.”

“What?” I touch her hip, my fingers sliding just beneath the hem of her shirt. I shouldn’t do this, but her skin is soft. Warm. And she’s letting me touch her, not pulling away, not making a big deal out of it like Livvy would. It’s like she doesn’t even want me to touch her in public.

I could probably feel Em up right here in the middle of the living room and she’d let me.

“You need to know that I’ll always be here for you, Dustin. We could spend the summer together, just you and I, doing whatever you want, and she’ll never have to know.” She rises up on tiptoe and kisses my jaw, her lingering lips soft against my skin. “Just remember that,” she whispers close to my ear.

And then Em’s gone.

“Hey!”

I whirl around to find Livvy standing in front of me, a frown on her pretty face, hands resting on her hips, looking sexy as hell. “What’s up?” I ask, running a shaky hand through my hair. My entire body feels like it’s been electrocuted after what Em said to me. How she touched me.

Did Livvy see?

Damn, I hope not.

She smiles, her entire face lighting up. “You wanna go hang out by the pool?”

“Sure.” She takes my hand, her fingers linking with mine, shocking me. “You want to swim?”

“I didn’t wear a swimsuit,” she tells me as she drags me through the living room and into the kitchen.

“You don’t need one,” I tease and she giggles, shaking her head.

“I’m not going skinny dipping at Tuttle’s house. That’s a setup for disaster.”

She’s right. But just about anything we might want to do tonight could end up a setup for a disaster.

Like it matters.

We’re all gonna do whatever the hell we want anyway.

*

Sigh, Dustin. And Em. And Livvy. What a tangled web they weave! Thank you for reading and if you happen to vote/comment/share with your friends, I’d love you forever! (Seriously, I already love you all so there). Chapter 3 is now UP!!!!

https://www.instagram.com/justfriendsseries/

http://www.instagram.com/monicamurphyauthor

https://www.pinterest.com/msmonicamurphy/justfriends/

http://www.twitter.com/msmonicamurphy

http://www.facebook.com/monicamurphyauthor

http://www.monicamurphyauthor.com

I scan the room from the top of the stairs, mentally counting all the heads I see. There has to be at least fifty people in the living room, maybe closer to seventy-five. Another summer rager at the Tuttle residence, it’s what I’m known for. Throwing epic parties filled with people who want to get close to me.

Yet I keep them all at a distance.

It makes them crazy. I make them crazy. And I don’t even mean to do it on purpose. It’s just the way I am.

“Tuttle!” The screeching voice makes me wince and I brace myself as the drunken brunette stumbles up the steps, her fingers clutching the bannister so tight she’s white knuckling it. “Your house is so awesome!”

“Thanks.” My voice is flat, my expression neutral. A ghost of a smile has them freaking out. If I know their name and say it out loud-and I do know this chick’s name, it’s Emily-they think that’s a declaration of true love and I can’t shake them for the rest of the night.

Forget that. Love sucks. Girls suck too.

“I mean, I’ve been here before but.” She stops directly in front of me, sounding breathless, blue eyes wide and almost unblinking. It’s kind of freaky, how she’s staring at me. “I’ve never been upstairs.”

I raise a brow, remaining silent.

“I’ve never seen your room either.” She smiles and reaches out, her fingers drifting across my forearm. I snatch my arm back like her touch scalded me, making her frown. “Aw, come on, Tuttle. We’ve known each other too long for you to act like this.”

“What was your name again?” I tilt my head, examining her, my gaze roaming from the top of her head to the tips of her bright blue painted toes. Emily’s hot, there’s no denying it. But she’s also a complete wreck. She used to be sweet-kind of a goody goody, which I avoided even when I was younger. She hangs out with that girl who’s currently driving Dustin insane. They’re close friends, though it seems they’ve gone in different directions lately, at least from what I can tell.

Not that I really pay attention.

But hey, when a girl starts getting a reputation around school that she’ll drop to her knees without much encouragement, word gets around fast, and that’s exactly what happened with this Emily girl. I’ve heard her lips have been wrapped around plenty of dicks the last few months and honestly? I have no plans on letting her lips get anywhere near my dick.

“Oh, give me a break. You know my name,” she murmurs, sending me a coy look. She touches me again, her fingers landing on my chest this time, and I let her. She takes this as a positive sign. A smile curls her lips and she grips the fabric of my shirt a little tighter, forcing me to back up a step. I rise above her, but she just follows, grim determination seeming to drive her on. “Where’s your room, Tuttle?”

This chick isn’t gaining access to my room. No one does, not really. If I hook up with a girl during a party, it’s in one of the six bathrooms in this mausoleum of a house. Or in the giant screening room with the lights turned down low and the girl kneeling on the ground in front of me while a movie plays on the screen. The volume turned up so loud the ground vibrates and the girl groans while she’s got a mouthful. Where I can lose myself in the fantasy a little bit, forget my troubles, forget the bullshit and just concentrate on the sensation of her lips wrapped tight, her tongue working, her fingers, her moans…

I shake my head once. Yeah. Not happening tonight. I’m not in the mood.

My last resort hookup spot is outside by the pool, which is usually busy, but there’s always a girl willing to give me a hand job in the hot tub. Sometimes I don’t even ask for it…it just happens. Get a little alcohol in a girl and she’s as bold as hell, trying her best to get her hands on my junk.

But I’ve never allowed a girl to touch my junk in my room.

That’s my sanctuary.

“Let’s go downstairs.” I grab hold of Emily’s arm, ready to guide her back down toward the kitchen. I’m not messing around with this one. I’m fairly certain she’s trouble, and I’m not interested in trouble. Not tonight.

Emily goes along with me willingly, though she’s pouting, her dark hair falling in her face. She shakes it back, her eyes flashing as they meet mine and I’m impressed with the amount of black eyeliner she’s piled on around those blue eyes of hers. She kind of looks like a raccoon.

I’m sure that’s not the look she’s going for.

We pass by her friend-Olivia-and she gapes at us, her shock apparent as we head for the kitchen.

“Where are you taking me? To one of the bathrooms?” Emily asks hopefully as she clutches my arm.

“Em!” The girl’s friend yells at us and Emily whips her head around, glancing over her shoulder. “Come here!” her friend demands.

The look Em shoots me is cool and calculating. “Just ignore her.”

“You’re not going to talk to your friend?”

“She’s just jealous I’m with you. She’s always wanted you.” Em waves a hand, dismissing her.

Yeah, right. I haven’t crossed her friend’s path since that play we did together in the sixth grade when we were a married couple. Olivia or whatever her name is, is not the kind of girl I go for. Not the kind of girl I have classes with either. Meaning we rarely see each other at school.

“She’s lusted over you for years,” Em continues, ignoring her friend as she continues to try to gain her attention.

“Kind of like you have?” I ask her.

She nudges me with a pointy elbow. “You’re such an arrogant ass!”

I say nothing. What’s the point in denying it?

“Please tell me you’re taking me to the bathroom.” Em gives my arm a quick shake, hanging on me. I’ve never seen a girl so eager to be taken to the bathroom before. It’s kind of disturbing. “I’ve been dying to hook up with you for months.”

“I thought that was your friend’s main goal,” I remind her.

Em waves a hand, wobbling on her feet. I grip her arm to steady her. She’s drunker than i thought. “Whatever. My goal. Her goal, it’s all the same. She likes you. I like you. Everyone likes you, Tuttle.”

I’ve heard this before. Yes, I can be an arrogant asshole, but it’s true. Girls want me. They’ve always wanted me and I think it’s because I don’t necessarily want them. I’m not interested. Not in the majority of these girls I go to school with. Oh, I mess around with a few of them when necessary or when I’m bored. But most of the time, I ignore them.

It drives them bat shit crazy. It’s like that makes them want me even more, when I want nothing to do with them.

Well. There is one who’s interested me. But we move in different worlds. We’d never work together. And I don’t think she likes me at all.

Which of course, intrigues me even more.

“I know what you do with girls in bathrooms at your parties,” Em is saying, giving me a sly smile. “In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m totally willing. Let’s do this. Come on.”

I shake my head. “You’re pushy.”

“I thought guys like it when a girl knows what she wants.”

Not like this. “Hey, Cannon.” I grab one of the linemen on the football team, stopping him from entering the kitchen. He gives me a look, one that says he’s surprised I’m speaking to him, not that I blame him. I may be the quarterback but we don’t really talk, unless it’s out on the field or in the locker room.

“What’s up, Tuttle?” he asks warily, his gaze shooting to Em before it returns to me.

Cannon is a big dude, tall with broad shoulders and a wide chest, a thick neck and a big head, his dark blond hair usually clipped pretty short. He’s threatening as hell out on the field, and he’s a great football player, but I don’t think he’s real smart.

And I can barely tolerate them when they’re not smart.

“You know Emily, right?” I let go of her arm, giving her a slight shove toward Cannon.

“Em,” she corrects, her voice lowering seductively. “I know exactly who you are, Cannon Whitaker.”

“Oh, yeah?” He puffs up his chest, though how that’s impossible, I’m not sure. The guy is already as intimidating as hell. “Well, I definitely know who you are.”

“I’m sure.” She laughs as she moves to stand by Cannon’s side, her arm going through his. “Your muscles are so big.”