Reckless Entanglement: The Hunter Brothers Book # 1

by Iona Rose

  No… I caution myself. You invited a friend to come to a party with you and he had nothing better to do so he agreed. That’s all. Don’t go getting any ideas.

  I think it might be a little bit too late for that though.

  Chapter Six

  Callie

  “Let’s go and get another drink,” Chloe, my best friend, shouts over the thumping music.

  I nod my agreement and let her lead me through the crowd. The party is in full swing. The living room and dining room are crammed full of people, some swaying to the music, some standing around the edges of the room chatting. The furniture has all been pushed back, leaving plenty of room for dancing. The room is hot and sweaty and it’s getting more and more humid by the minute as more bodies squeeze in.

  The stairs are littered with couples hooking up and I dread to think what’s going on in the bedrooms if what I see on the stairs is anything to go by. Chloe leads me into the kitchen. The music is quieter there and the temperature is cooler. We make our way to the fridge which is empty of everything except bottles and bottles of beer.

  Chloe grabs two and looks around for the bottle opener. She finds it and hands a bottle to me, keeping the other for herself. “Will you cheer up,” she laughs. “You’re acting like you’re here against your will or something. It’s a party Callie, not a damned funeral.”

  “I’m sorry,” I say, forcing a smile onto my face. “I’m just thinking about how ill I’m going to feel tomorrow at work.”

  It’s a lie. Well no, it’s not entirely a lie. I will be ill at work tomorrow and I’ll curse myself for tonight, but that’s not why I’m miserable. I’m miserable because Matt hasn’t shown up. It’s after nine and I figured if he was coming he’d have been here by now. Or at least, he would have text me to let me know he was planning on coming soon.

  “Tomorrow’s another day.” Chloe grins. “Now drink and see if that will put a smile on your face.”

  I take a long drink from the bottle, telling myself to forget about Matt and just enjoy the party. It’s not fair to Chloe for me to be so damned miserable and I don’t want to ruin the party for her. “Shots,” I say, moving to a table filled with shots of vodka Jello.

  I grab a blue one and an orange one and hand Chloe the orange one. She winces, but she takes it. We peel the lids off the shots and tip our heads back. I feel the too big lump of Jello slide over my tongue and I try to chew it and straighten my head up at the same time. I end up choking out a cough as the Jello shot remains in my throat. My cough easily dislodges it, and I start to chew again. I feel like a damned hamster. My cheeks are that full.

  Chloe, who has somehow gotten through her Jello as easily as if it were liquid, laughs at me.

  Her laughter sets me off and although I try to bite it back, I can’t. I make a snorting sound and Jello bits run from my mouth as the laughter bursts out of me. I shake my head, looking away from Chloe whose laughter is only making mine more pronounced. As I turn my head to the side, I come face to face with Matt.

  Fuck.

  “Classy lady.” He smiles at me.

  I try to frantically wipe the Jello off my chin but I still have a wad of it stuck in my mouth which I chomp down on twice and force myself to swallow hoping for the best.

  Chloe looks from me to Matt and back to me again.

  I can read her expression. He’s cute. Go for it.

  “You made it,” I say to Matt when I finally get the Jello down.

  “Yeah. Just in time for your show by the looks of it.” He laughs.

  “Ah, you should see my encore.” I grin.

  Chloe is still watching us, clearly annoyed that I haven’t told her about Matt. “I’m Chloe, Callie’s best friend when it suits her,” she says, sticking her hand out.

  “Matt,” Matt says, shaking her hand. “And why only when it suits her?”

  “Well, she didn’t tell me she had a date tonight,” Chloe says.

  I feel my cheeks flushing. I open my mouth to correct her, but I’m too slow, and she keeps talking, making me more mortified with every word.

  Matt watches her with amusement, revelling in my discomfort.

  “At least now that you’re here, she’s smiling. And it explains why she’s been so miserable all night. Hangover my ass.”

  “So Matt, did you find the place ok?” I interject quickly. My voice is too loud and my question is too lame, but I had to say something. I had to stop Chloe’s verbal diarrhea.

  “Yeah, pretty easy actually.” Matt nods. “I just followed the sound of the music and the shrieking.”

  “I’m going to go catch up with Lou,” Chloe says. “I’ll be around.” She walks away, giving me a thumbs up as she leaves the kitchen.

  “She’s subtle isn’t she?” Matt jokes.

  “Oh, you have no idea,” I laugh. “This is Chloe on her best behavior.” I realize, too late, that I never did correct her about Matt being my date. The way he’s attracting the attention of the girls who wander in and out of the kitchen, I think maybe that’s a good thing.

  “Are you ready to show me these moves of yours then?” Matt smiles. “Or did I come here under false pretenses?

  “Well I would, but there’s no tequila here,” I joke.

  “Funnily enough, I thought you might say that.” Matt winks. He reaches into the inside pocket of his black leather jacket and pulls out a small bottle of tequila. “And now there is.”

  “Jackpot!” I grin. “After one of those, just you try and stop me from showing you my moves.”

  He smiles at me and opens the bottle. He takes a swig and winces as he swallows. He holds the bottle out to me.

  I take it and my fingers brush his. I ignore the sparks that fly as our fingers touch. It’s just the beer I tell myself, although I know for a fact that’s not entirely true. I bring the bottle to my lips, very much aware that just seconds ago, Matt’s lips where on the exact spot mine are now touching. I take a drink from the bottle, shuddering as the liquid burns my mouth. I swallow and quickly chase it down with a long drink of beer. It hits my stomach and begins to warm my insides.

  I feel brave suddenly, whether it’s the tequila, the party atmosphere, or the sparks I felt when Matt’s fingers touched mine I don’t know, but I grab Matt’s hand and start to lead him out of the kitchen and into the living room area. I drag him to the makeshift dance floor, and just as we arrive, one of my favorite songs comes on. I shriek and Matt laughs.

  We start to dance and I feel myself relax. My relaxed state doesn’t last very long as Tiffany, a girl from the year above me at college comes sidling over. She not so casually slips herself between me and Matt and begins to shake her hips, pretending not to have noticed she’s pushed me out.

  I feel an irrational surge of anger flood through me, and it takes a lot for me to not reach out and shove her back to wherever the fuck she came from. One more shot of tequila and I might just have done that. The anger in me at being shoved aside tells me one thing; I can tell myself all I like that Matt and I are just friends, but I want more.

  Even as we became friends, I knew he was attractive, but it’s only now that it hits me how much I desire him. I’m still trying to work out what to do about Tiffany without looking like a crazy, jealous bitch, when Matt solves the problem for me. He neatly side steps around Tiffany and I shift my position so that we’re back dancing together.

  “Are all of your friends that rude?” Matt shouts over the music.

  I know Tiffany can hear him, and I know she will be able to hear my answer, “Only when they see a hot piece of ass.”

  Matt throws his head back and laughs as Tiffany stalks away from us.

  As we dance, I look around and I can’t help but notice the appreciative stares Matt is getting. No one else is quite as brazen as Tiffany, but there are a lot of girls here who would kill to be where I am right now.

  Again, I feel that irrational anger inside of myself, only now, I recognize it for what it is. I’m jealous. I’m afraid tha
t one of these girls is going to take Matt away from me. I mean we’re just friends. He would have every right to hook up with someone if he wanted to. I guess I’ll just have to make sure that someone is me.

  I start to sway my hips a little more, and I run my hands over my dress as I dance, pressing it tightly against my body. I can feel Matt’s eyes on me, his gaze following my hands as I move them. I pretend not to notice, pretend I barely know he’s there, that I’m lost in the music.

  I feel a hand slip into mine, and before I know it, Matt spins me away from him. He keeps a tight grip on my hand, extending his arm, and then he pulls me back in. I crash against his chest, our bodies mash together, and he doesn’t let me go. He wraps his arms around my waist.

  Nervous now, I tentatively wrap my arms around his shoulders. As we sway, I am conscious of Matt’s solid chest pressed against mine. His strong arms pin me in place, his body wrapped around me. I can smell his aftershave and beneath it, the scent of his skin, musky and exotic. I breathe in deeper, enjoying the scent. I can feel my pussy responding to how close we are. I am so wet I can feel my panties dampening, sticking to my skin.

  Matt’s face is pressed close to mine, his cheek touching my own and I can hear him humming softly to the music. His breath tickles my neck, sending goose bumps down my body and I find myself wishing we were alone.

  The song ends all too quickly and I go to move away from him. He lets me back up enough, we’re face to face, but he doesn’t release his grip on my waist. I can see the desire I feel for him reflected in his eyes. I swallow hard, my throat suddenly dry and my palms sweaty. I can hear my pulse pounding through my body and I feel my cheeks start to flush.

  “The tequila was definitely a good idea,” Matt says.

  I nod in agreement, not trusting myself to speak as I lose myself in his eyes. He reaches up with one hand and tucks a loose strand of hair behind one of my ears. He moves his hand away slowly, running his fingers over my cheek, a caress that sends shivers through me.

  He leans closer to me, closing the gap between us. My stomach whirls, my pussy clenches. This is it. We’re going to kiss. Before his lips can meet mine, a hand touches his arm and he glances down to see who it belongs to.

  “Don’t I know you from somewhere,” a girl asks him.

  A girl I don’t recognize. She’s smoking hot though and I feel a sinking sensation in my stomach. She must be someone he’s hooked up with before. And there’s no way in hell I can compare to her.

  Matt barely glances at her before he shakes his head. “No, sorry. You must have me mixed up with someone else.”

  “Oh. Sorry,” the girl says and she moves away from us, clearly not quite convinced as she keeps glancing back at Matt.

  I realize I can hear the music pounding out again, see the people dancing all around us, but when Matt was leaning in to kiss me, it all went away. It was just the two of us in our own little bubble. Now though, the moment has passed, the magic gone, and I’m just standing awkwardly in his arms. He seems to come out of the daze at the same moment as I do and we move our arms from around each other at the same time. He gives an awkward sounding cough.

  I have to rescue the situation. “It’s kind of hot in here,” I shout. “Do you need some air?”

  He nods and takes my hand in his to lead me through the crowd. I cringe inside as I think of how my sweaty hand must feel to him, but he makes no move to pull away and I relax. If he asks, I’ll tell him it’s condensation off my drink and hope he doesn’t realize I’d left it in the kitchen when we went to dance.

  We finally get through the crowd and head through the kitchen then out of the double doors onto the patio.

  The cool night breeze envelopes me, and I take a few deep breaths. I really was too hot in there, although I think most of that was due to being so close to Matt.

  A few people mill around the patio, but Matt doesn’t stop there. He leads me off the patio and away from the house, down to the garden where it’s quieter.

  “So who was that girl? A hook up?” I ask, keeping my tone light.

  Matt laughs and shakes his head. “Honestly, I have no idea who she was. I really think she had me confused with someone else.” He pauses and when he speaks again, his tone is teasing, “Someone might think you’re jealous, Callie.”

  I laugh, but I don’t deny it.

  “You don’t have to worry. She’s not my type,” he adds.

  Was I worrying? Yeah, I guess I was. I thought I was hiding it better than that though. “Well maybe, if you told me anything about yourself, I’d know.” I smirk. I seem to tell Matt every little detail of my life, but I know very little about him.

  “If I told you I’d have to kill you though, and that’s kind of messy and I like this shirt,” he says.

  I raise an eyebrow at him.

  “Fine,” he says. “I’m a Russian spy.”

  “No accent,” I tell him.

  He purses his lips. “I’m a vampire.”

  “Nope. I’ve seen you walk in the sun.”

  “I’m an exotic prince from a foreign land, coming to find a bride.”

  “You catch the train every day. You expect me to believe you’re royalty?”

  “I’m just Matt, a waiter, who would much rather hear everything about the beautiful girl by his side than bore her with the details of his life.”

  “Oh, you smooth talker.” I laugh, but I flush at his compliment. I know he’s purposely avoiding my question, finding ways not to talk about himself, but in that moment, when I look up at him and feel my pussy clench, I don’t care. I don’t want us to end up arguing. I just want to enjoy the moment, my hand in his, our bodies close together as we walk.

  We reach the end of the garden and Matt points out a wooden bench behind a fountain that stands off to one side of the garden. We walk to it and sit down. He moves closer to me as we sit, and I can feel his leg resting against mine. I want more than anything for him to just kiss me already.

  “Tell me the dream.” Matt smiles at me. “If you could go anywhere, do anything, what would it be?”

  Right now, it would be for him to kiss me, touch me, take me home and make me scream his name as I come, but that’s not a story I’m about to share. Instead, I revert back to the idea the teenage version of me thought up. An idea part of me would still like to pursue but probably never will. “I’d be in Japan, teaching English to children.” I smile.

  He smiles back at me. “Why Japan?”

  “At school, we did a big project about Japanese culture. I was instantly fascinated by it all.”

  “But aren’t you studying business rather than teaching?” he asks me.

  I feel a warmth inside of me. He remembered what I’m studying. I nod and shrug. “Yeah. Business is practical, but you were talking about dreams.” I notice as I’m talking that Matt is focused on my lips. I can see that look in his eyes again; the look that tells me the way I’m feeling isn’t one sided.

  He’s watching my lips like he wants to taste them, his tongue licking over his own lips.

  Before I can stop myself, I’m leaning in closer to him. My heart is pounding. I’m moving in for a kiss, and I’m suddenly terrified that Matt will laugh at me.

  He doesn’t though. Instead, he starts to lean in towards me as well.

  I am so wet, so ready for this. I need to kiss him like I’ve never kissed anyone before. I need to kiss him in a way that says take me home and fuck me all night long. Our lips are almost touching, and I close my eyes. Matt’s lips graze mine so gently I could convince myself I imagined the touch if it wasn’t for the way my lips tingle.

  Before he can deepen the kiss I long for, his phone rings. My eyes fly open as he jumps away from me as though I’ve burned him.

  “Dammit,” he shouts. He seems angry to have been disturbed, but he shrugs apologetically and moves away from me, pulling his phone out of his pocket and taking the call.

  I am so fucking frustrated. It’s like fate is stopping us from ki
ssing. Twice it’s almost happened, and twice we’ve been stopped.

  I’m a little annoyed at Matt too, if I’m being honest. He couldn’t very well have ignored the girl in the party without looking like a major dick, but he could have ignored the call. He could have waited until after we’d kissed and then called them back.

  He’s only gone for three or four minutes, and when I see him coming back, I’m determined to put aside my annoyance, laugh off the interruption, and pick back up where we started. One look at Matt’s expression tells me that’s not going to happen.

  “I’m sorry Callie, I have to go,” he says to me.

  I can hear the genuine regret in his voice and for a moment, my own disappointment takes a back seat, overpowered by concern for him. I stand up and touch his arm. “Is everything okay? Has something happened?” I ask.

  “Yeah everything’s okay. Just… something came up. I’m sorry, I really do have to go … see you tomorrow.” The hint of regret has gone from his voice, leaving it a little cold and expressionless, and he turns and walks away from me without any further explanation. He doesn’t even wait for an answer.

  “Yeah, bye then,” I say under my breath as I watch him walk back to the patio and into the house.

  He doesn’t look back once and I feel lost suddenly. In that moment, I know. I don’t just like Matt. I don’t just want a wild night with him. It’s more than that. I’ve developed feelings for him. Feelings that are all too close to love — feelings that he clearly doesn’t share.

  I sit back down on the bench, feeling the cold I didn’t notice before seeping into my bones. I bite my lip, forcing myself to hold back the tears that threaten to spill down my cheeks. I take a few deep breaths, then I stand up and hold my head up high.

  Fuck this.

  I’m not going to sit out here crying over some guy who clearly doesn’t want me. I’m going to go back into the party and have the night of my life. I’m going to show myself I don’t need Matt here to have a good time.