One Night (Friends #0.5) (7 page)

Tonight, I don’t want to dismiss her.

So instead, I take her up to my room.

The second I kick the door open she’s struggling against my hold, trying to get away from me.

“You are so not bringing me to your room.”

I clamp my arms tighter around her wiggling body and nudge the door closed behind me. “Calm down.”

“Seriously, Tuttle. I refuse to become another one of your conquests.” She’s at least stopped moving, but she’s also glaring at me with narrowed eyes, her mouth drawn into a tight line.

“Who said you were going to be one of my conquests?” I raise a brow and that one sentence effectively shuts her up.

Kind of an asshole thing to say, but I need her to be calm, not trying to leap out of my arms.

She says nothing as I approach the bed and carefully set her down so she’s sitting on the edge of the mattress. I take a step back, studying her. She looks around the room, her mouth slowly falling open, like she can’t believe what she’s seeing.

The room is huge. Every room in this stupid house is massive. My parents don’t understand subtlety or restraint. The more money they make, the bigger everything has to be.

Which I get. And can even appreciate. But not right now. Amanda doesn’t appear impressed. More like appalled. Maybe even disgusted.

“I could probably fit my entire house in this room,” she finally says, her voice soft.

“I doubt that,” I say with a scoff.

She lifts her head, her gaze meeting mine. “No, I’m serious. Do you get lost in this house or what?”

I chuckle. “When we first moved in here, yeah. I did get lost.”

The wary expression is gone, replaced by amusement. “You’re just saying that.”

“It’s true. I was nine.”

“I remember you when we were nine.”

I was a punk ass bully when we were nine. Straight through to middle school I acted like an idiot. I finally straightened out in between seventh and eighth grade. Grew nine inches over the summer, discovered girls and learned quick they don’t like it when you’re mean to them.

Well, meanness, they didn’t like. But indifference? That seemed to intrigue them even more.

“I remember you too,” I tell her.

She laughs, the sound going straight to my gut, making it twist. “I was such a dork.”

“Yeah, you were.”

The laughter dies but I still see the amusement glittering in her eyes. “You weren’t supposed to agree!”

“Why not? It’s the truth. And I was a jerk.”

“You were a jerk,” she says vehemently.

I shrug. “I know.”

We stare at each other, not saying anything. There’s no need to fill the space with words. I feel like our eyes, our bodies, our everything are quietly communicating.

“You aren’t a jerk anymore,” she admits quietly.

“You’re wrong.” I hesitate when I see the shock in her gaze. “I’m still a jerk.”

The silence now feels like it’s strangling me. I’m about to turn away, leave her alone in my room so I can go outside and get some fresh air when she finally speaks.

“You might be a jerk to other girls, but you never really are to me.”

*****

Ah, Tuttle and Amanda! I have reason to love them extra hard right now but I can’t share why yet so…stay tuned! Also, did you know you can read chapter one from JUST FRIENDS over on iBooks? You can! Here’s a link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/justfriends/id1137297173?ls=1&mt=11

I finally make my escape from the hot tub, the boys, Cannon, the entire party, by finding a small bathroom. Slamming the door, I lean against it, closing my eyes. Taking a deep breath, I exhale slowly, hating how shaky I sound. I mentally tell myself to get it together, yet everything that just happened flashes through my mind, making me tremble even harder.

But really, it was no big deal, right? I shouldn’t let the moment bother me. So what if I was in a hot tub with a bunch of big, burly football players. So what if they were all leering at me, their gazes locked on my chest, their tongues practically hanging out of their mouths.

Thank goodness for Cannon Whittaker rushing to my defense. He slipped his arm around my shoulders, his big hand gripping me firmly but not scary tight. Glaring at all of the guys, his expression was freaking scary as he gave them the stare down.

“Leave her alone,” he said, his voice so deep, so incredibly menacing, they all practically leapt out of the hot tub to make their escape as soon as possible. I’ve never seen such big guys move so fast, not even when they’re playing on the football field.

As I sat there trembling, relishing the full weight of Cannon’s arm resting on my shoulders, I told myself it was no big deal. I sort of asked for their rude behavior, right? I’m the one with the skank reputation at school. A reputation I mostly earned, because I wanted their attention. I wanted to be known as a girl guys liked. I didn’t care how I went about it. At least someone was paying attention to me.

But then Cannon turned to look at me, his gaze soft and full of concern, all the anger gone from his face. “Sorry about those assholes. They didn’t mean anything by it.” Yeah. They so did, but I didn’t bother arguing with him. “Are you all right?”

The tenderness in his voice, in his gaze, how sincere he sounded…it all got to be too much.

So I’d panicked and bailed. Slipped from underneath his heavy arm, climbed out of the hot tub, snagged a towel from a nearby chair and ran away from him. He called my name as I ran away but I ignored him. What could I say?

Absolutely nothing.

I hid in the corner of the backyard and hurriedly slipped my clothes on, waiting for the moment I could get past Cannon and go back inside the house.

And that’s how I ended up in the tiny bathroom, a trembling, confused mess. Turning, I faced the mirror, blinking at my reflection. My mascara was smeared beneath my eyes and my clothes stuck to my damp body. I looked awful.

Awful.

Grabbing a tissue from the box on the counter, I wiped the smudged makeup from my face, then washed my hands. Ran my damp fingers through my hair, pushing it back from my face. Someone knocked on the door but I ignored them, turning the water on full blast so I couldn’t hear the music, the knocking, the yelling.

I was having a full-blown panic attack in a tiny bathroom at Tuttle’s house on a Friday night. My life couldn’t get much worse.

The pounding on the door got louder and I gripped the edge of the marble counter, yelling through clenched teeth, “Give me a minute!” I could tell it was a guy on the other side of the door. He was just some douche wanting to get his girl in here or do drugs. I needed to get out of here. Go home and pull the covers over my head. Try my best to forget this night was even happening.

But then I remembered why it was happening. Who I was there for. Livvy. My best friend, my girl was leaving me tomorrow and she’d be gone for the rest of the summer. I don’t know what I’ll do without her. I can hang around with Dustin but it’s not the same. There’s an easiness I have with Livvy I don’t experience with anyone else.

Standing up straight, I push away from the counter and go to the door, turning the lock and throwing open the door to find…

Cannon standing there, his eyes a little wild as he blinked down at me. “Why’d you run off?”

I’m so startled he’s in front of me I just stare at him for a moment before I reply, “Why do you care?” I clamp my lips shut after the words leave me, feeling embarrassed. Ashamed. He’s being nice and I’m crapping all over him.

“I just wanted to make sure you were all right,” he murmurs just before he starts to turn away from me.

“Wait.” I grab hold of his arm, my fingers barely reaching around his thick forearm. “I’m sorry.”

He glances down at my hand on his arm before lifting his gaze to mine once more. His eyes are…beautiful. A mixture of blues that I find myself becoming a little lost in. “Those guys freak you out?” His voice is gentle, like he’s afraid I might startle easy.

I nod, not saying a word, yet still holding on to him.

“Did I freak you out?” He looks worried that he might’ve and I almost want to laugh at the absurdity.

Instead, I shake my head, still silent.

“Good.” The relief in his voice, on his face is obvious. “I’m sorry they were such jerks.”

“It’s not your fault.” It’s mine.

I want to say those last two words, but I don’t. Admitting faults is not easy for anyone, especially me.

He glances to his right, then his left, before he’s shoving his way into the bathroom, quickly shutting the door behind him. I back up until I hit the counter and I watch him warily as he turns the lock into place, keeping his back to me.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

Cannon starts toward me and I realize quick I can’t escape. The bathroom is tiny and he’s directly in front of me in seconds, his big hands going to my waist and lifting. I gasp when he sets me on the edge of the counter, my knees spreading when he steps in between them.

“You confuse me,” he admits, his voice low, his gaze searching my face.

I dip my head, not wanting him to spot my secrets. “I shouldn’t. It’s pretty obvious what I am.”

“And what are you?”

A joke. A slut. Dumb. Useless. All of those things. None of those things. “I’m not going to do anything with you tonight,” I say as I lift my head, my gaze meeting his once more.

He cocks a brow. “I didn’t think you would.”

“Then why are we locked up in this tiny bathroom together?”

His hands still haven’t left my waist, and they start to move, down over my hips, along the outside of my thighs, and then back up again. He’s touching me in all the good places, and yes, it feels really good, but his touch also feels…

Comforting.

“Because I think you need to get away from all this.” He goes silent and I know what he’s talking about. The party. The people. The music and the food and the booze and the hot tub and all of it.

“And you’re my hero, running in to assist me at a moment’s notice?” I rest my hands on his chest and he sucks in a breath. I know this because I can feel the movement beneath my hands. A surge of power rushes through me, that I can make him react like that.

I like it. A lot.

“I just wanted to help a girl out.” He removes one hand from my side and circles his fingers around my wrist, clutching it loosely. “You confuse the hell out of me.”

His words are a surprise and I’m not really sure how I should answer. “Feeling’s mutual,” I finally whisper.

Without any hesitation whatsoever he dips his head and kisses me. It’s my turn to suck in a breath, shocked at that first touch of his lips. They’re warm and soft and taste faintly of beer and I curl my fingers into his T-shirt, not wanting him to escape.

“I said I wasn’t going to do anything with you tonight,” I remind him when he breaks the kiss, his mouth still hovering above mine.

“Not even let me kiss you again?” Oh, the sound of his deep, rumbly voice does something to me. Makes my belly flip and my blood run hot.

“We shouldn’t,” I say against his lips.

He kisses me again, kissing me silent, boneless, brainless. It’s the simplest of kisses. No tongue. No moans, no groans, no wandering hands and hot words of urgency. Instead it’s just…a kiss. That evolves into a series of sweet, lingering kisses that has me leaning into him. Has me parting my lips, wishing he would take it deeper.

But he doesn’t. Eventually he pulls away and I open my eyes to find him watching me. His cheeks are ruddy, his eyes a little dazed and his lips-perfect, pink, delectable lips-are damp. “You need more of that in your life,” he says.

I frown. “More of what?”

His mouth is on mine yet again, in a too brief, too delicious kiss. “More of that,” he whispers.

Just before he turns and unlocks the door, making his escape without even a backward glance.

****

Ummmm…I’m posting this early. Yay! What did you think of Emily’s chapter? This girl…is a mess. I sort of love being in her messy head! So hey, preorder links are live for JUST FRIENDS. Click here to check them out: http://monicamurphyauthor.com/books/justfriends/

I need to get the hell out of here. Regret runs through me, punishing me hard, pushing me through Tuttle’s house and toward the front door. I ignore everyone-which is hard because I know everyone-but I don’t care what they want to say to me tonight.

All I can think about is Emily.

The sound of her voice rings in my head. I can’t shake that wary look on her face as she watched me. She didn’t trust me when I first barged into the bathroom, and I can’t blame her. Doesn’t matter that I tried my best to run to her rescue earlier in the hot tub and save her from the assholes on my team. I could easily be lumped in with the rest of those assholes. I’m as bad as the rest of them.

So why does Emily make me want to be different?

It’s like the moment we just shared is stuck on rewind in my brain. How her body felt beneath my hands. How responsive she was when I kissed her. How much I wanted to take that kiss further, but something held me back. I could sense she was hanging on by a thread. One wrong move would shatter her and I needed to treat her like she was made of glass.

“Cannon!”

The sound of her voice makes me stop and I turn to watch as she makes her way to where I stand. She stops just in front of me and grabs my hand, interlacing our fingers together. It takes her a moment to speak and I realize she’s trying to catch her breath first.

Meaning she just chased after me.

Wild.

“Why did you leave?” she finally asks.

“Why did you come after me?”

She squeezes my hand, her gaze never leaving mine. “Why did you kiss me?”

Because I can’t resist you? I can’t answer that question truthfully. Instead, I shrug. “I don’t know.”

Emily gives me a look, one that says bullshit. “Be real with me right now,” she murmurs.

I don’t know how I can hear her soft voice, what with all the noise surrounding us, but I do. As if all of my senses are so completely focused on her, I see and hear nothing else.

So it’s my turn to squeeze her hand as I bend forward and dip my head close to hers, her damp hair brushing against my face. She smells good, like strawberries. “There’s something about you that I can’t resist,” I whisper in her ear.