Tangled (12 page)

Jade gaped at her as if she’d sprouted a
second head. “Sometimes I wonder why we’re friends.”

“
Cuz
you love me.” Tess cheesed at her and took a chomp out
of the sandwich.

“We need to go shopping for outfits
today. This boutique on Sixth Street had some really cute outfits on display.”

Tess groaned. She only shopped out of
absolute necessity. And Halloween did not meet that prerequisite. “Can't it
wait? I want to go back to the room and take a nap.”

“You can sleep when you're dead.” Jade
let go of the subject and ate a few bites contemplatively. But Tess knew her
friend well enough to anticipate the next line of questions. “So are you ever
going to cough up the
deets
on this mystery man of
yours?”

“Nope,” she said, popping the ‘p’.

“
Teess
!”

“
Jaaade
!” she
mimicked.

“I thought we were
besties
.”
Jade stuck her with the sad-faced, puppy dog look.

“We are. I just don’t feel like rehashing
what happened. Besides, I told you, it was no biggie.”

“Um, it had to be. In the entire time
I’ve known you, you haven’t as much as looked at another guy besides Cameron.
And now you’re telling me you hooked up with some
rando
in the heat of the moment?”

Appetite waning, Tess poked at her
sandwich in lieu of a suitable response.

Jade sighed, but relented. “Fine. Keep
your secrets. But if you need to get anything off your chest, I’m here.”

Tess appreciated the offer, but no
confessional would save her. She had already purchased her
one
way
ticket to hell.
 

__________________

Tuesday
kicked off with a bleating refrain from her alarm clock at six in the morning.
After falling out of bed and into sweats, she dragged herself to her morning
classes.

Thankfully
her afternoon class was cancelled, meaning she could pull more hours at the
restaurant.

Joy.

Tess
rooted through the bottom of her closet for
cleanish
work clothes, threw her hair into bun, and made her way downtown. The sky was a
bleak, unbroken sheet of gray and did nothing to inspire sorely needed
motivation. Only the threat of a downpour hurried her steps.

By
the time she arrived, suits on their lunch hour swamped the restaurant. At
least their progeny were still in school or daycare. Even so, Tess didn’t get a
break until her shift ended. What else was to be expected when two of her
co-workers decided to call in with matching bogus stories about a stomach bug?
With only two servers manning the floor, even her supervisor had to dive into
the fray.

By
the time her shift ended, Tess felt like the walking dead. Feet throbbing and a
wicked headache thrumming between her temples, she dragged herself back to
campus. Tess hesitated where the gravel path bisected at the top of the hill.
The easternmost artery cut to the heart of the quad and the other branched
toward the surrounding neighborhood.
Cameron's neighborhood.

Aside
from a few text messages, they hadn't spoken face-to-face in days.

There
was no use putting this off any longer.

Tess
took the outbound walkway.

She
heard the racket from their house a block away. Half of Riley’s swim team and a
few of Lance’s frat brothers jeered and swore at the television mounted on the
den’s wall.

Tess
scanned the room and frowned when she didn’t find Cameron. Lance was the only
one who noticed her. He pointed upstairs with a wink.

Tess
blew him a kiss and flew up the staircase. Her eyes automatically gravitated to
the last stack of steps. For once the attic level—
his
floor—was silent. She hadn’t seen him downstairs either.

In
fact, she hadn’t heard from him since their…affair. She didn’t know if that was
a good thing or an ominous sign.

Cameron’s
door was cracked. Tess rapped her knuckles against the warped doorframe before
sticking her head inside. Propped against the headboard, Cameron sat adrift in
a sea of handwritten notes and typed outlines. “Hey.”

He
was quick to conceal his surprise. “Hey yourself. What's going on?”

“I
need a reason to drop by now? “ Tess teased and dropped her bag on his desk.
She loitered, unsure if she should sit or stand.

Cameron
shuffled a few papers around to make space for her on the bed.

Happy
to oblige, she climbed over him and leaned against the wall, leaving her legs
to dangle across his. “You just got off work?”

“Yeah.
We were at max capacity all day. I didn’t even get to each lunch.” Grimacing,
Tess toed off her sneakers and kneaded her tenderized soles.

Cameron
sat up. “Give me your feet.”

“What?
No, I’m fine.”

He
wasn’t willing to take no for answer and continued patting her legs until she surrendered.
Heaving a sigh of longsuffering, she swung herself around so they faced one
another. “Don’t breath too hard,” she said, self-conscious about the feet
that’d been confined in sweaty Reeboks all day.

He
rolled his eyes. “I’ll live.” Her misgivings took flight as strong, adroit
fingers worked the tension from her foot. “Why didn’t you call me to pick you
up?”

Pleasure
arced up her leg. “Because you’re not my chauffeur.”
Or my boyfriend.

“It’s
a three minute drive. Promise me you’ll call next time.”

God,
right now she would agree to lick the soap scum off their shower tiles.

“O…ok,”
she said hoarsely. His thumbs worked the fleshy area just above her heel. Tess
dropped her head back with a moan as knotted tissue disintegrated under his
expert ministrations. “Your fingers are phenomenal.”

He
didn’t answer.

Tess
froze as the words played back in her head. She needed to get a grip. With
great effort, Tess hiked herself up on elbows.

His
eyes had become opaque. Her lungs suddenly felt too small for her chest. If he
didn’t stop staring at her like that she wouldn’t be held accountable for her
actions. Damn the high road to hell. “Cam,” she gritted. “I’m good. Thanks.”

“Glad
to be of service,” Cameron murmured, liberating her feet.
 

She
tucked them under her body. “So, how goes studying?” she asked, desperate to
summon up a modicum of normality.

“A
fail,” he said, amused by her eagerness to put the moment behind them.

“Join
the club.” She jacked a thumb at the football game playing on his flat screen.
“It’d probably help if you turned this off.”

He
pouted. “But it’s the Giants."

“Yeah,
whose home stadium is in
Jersey.
They should be called
the New Jersey Giants.”

Cameron
snaked an arm her waist and began tickling her ribs. “Take it back,” he
growled.
    

Giggling,
Tess jerked and tried to scoot back. “No!” Loose-leaf paper thrashed in the air
as she wrestled him to reclaim her stolen appendage.

But
he was tenacious in his pursuit. His fingers prodded torturously, choking out
her giggles in breathless pants. Their less than epic tussle ended with him
hovering above her, his fingers resting along her hips.

His
nose jabbed hers playfully. “Don’t bring that blasphemy into my house again.”

“I'll
think about it.”

Effervescent
tingles fizzed through her as they stared at one another in truce. Cushioned
beneath dark blond lashes, the deep, mesmerizing blue of his eyes left her
breathless. Unable to help herself, Tess traced the familiar line of his jaw.

A
rattling breath shook his chest. His lips parted, but he closed them before the
words could take form. Cameron wordlessly tugged her back so they lay adjacent
against his mountain of pillows.

“I
should give you fair warning: Jade is planning on high-jacking your house for a
Halloween party.”

 
“Mm, why am I not surprised?” He toyed
with the ends of her hair.

“We
already bought our costumes and everything. Mine cost a hundred freaking
dollars,” she grumbled.

“What?”
he gasped with faux disbelief. “You actually decided to splurge on yourself for
once?”

“It’s
not like I had a choice.”

He
let her hair fall. “Are you going to invite him?”

“Who?”
His body tensed.

“Ike
Turner,” he said detachedly. “Your hookup from the other night.”

And
just like that her good mood vanished in pall of smoke. “Oh, him. No, he’s not
coming.” Hopefully he’d be too
far gone
on another one
of his coke-blown misadventures.

“You
should bring him,” he said casually. “So we can all meet him and decide if he's
good enough for you.”

“He's
not. Trust me,” Tess muttered.

“Then
why him?”

Tess
selected her words with care. “It was convenient.” Convenient in the fact that
she’d wanted to punish Cam and Adonis had just happened to be in the vicinity.
And it wasn’t like he was going to miss an opportunity to further tear her
down.

In
hindsight, it probably hadn’t been the best of ideas. No, scratch that. It had
been the worst idea in the history of ideas.

“Don't
sell yourself short. You're too good for that.”

Just
not good enough for you, she wanted to say.

A
pound on the door was the only warning they received before someone barged in.
Tess wrenched herself away from Cam. It wasn’t quick enough.

Speak
of the devil.

Wolfish,
amber eyes stalked her. "Isn’t this cozy,” Adonis drawled. “I see the
happy couple has kissed and made up."

“We
weren’t fighting,” Cameron said dryly. "What's up?"

Cheeks
sporting twin flames of anger and shame, she didn’t dare look at Adonis. But
there was no ignoring the gaze soldered to her, reveling in her discomfort, of
the carnal knowledge he possessed. Thankfully he only addressed Cameron. “You
want to go to a Tri Delta party?”

The
blond groaned. “It’s five in the afternoon.”

“And
daylight’s burning. Get your ass up and put on some clothes.”

There
was a cursory hesitation as blue eyes landed on her. “I’ll pass. I’ve got an
assload
of work to do.”

More
than happy to excuse herself, Tess crawled over his prone body. “Like you’re
going to get it all finished today.” She rolled to a stand. “If you want to go,
go. Don’t let me hold you up. I need to get back anyway.”

“Why
don’t you come with us?” Cameron appealed.

“Please,
you know those parties are closed to non-sisters.” Tess reached over the desk
to retrieve her bag.

A
large hand closed over her wrist. “Yes, why don’t you, Tess? I’ll even put in a
good word for you.” Straight white teeth glinted behind his vulturine smile.
"I’m good at finding ways inside."