Roman nudges me with his shoulder and I meet his gaze. The mask is still in place. His expression unreadable. A tendril of dark brown hair has fallen forward and I reach out, brushing it back.
His hand shoots up to grab my wrist and I gasp, but rather than tightening his hold on me, his thumb rubs small circles along my pulse as he lowers my hand between us. He doesn’t release me. He continues to rub lazy circles across my skin and goosebumps break out on my arms. He tugs at the teal bracelet on my wrist drawing my attention.
His eyes meet mine again and this time, I see him. I see the want and the need there. The desire.
I swallow hard and a bout of nerves has my stomach tightening.
“That the ex?” he asks. His voice is smooth and he’s still rubbing those darn circles along my skin. I can’t think with him touching me.
“Yeah.” My voice is more breathless than I’d intended, but all of a sudden, it’s like I can’t get enough air inside my lungs. Walk away, Allie. You don’t need to fall for another asshole.
“He cheated?”
I nod.
“And your mom’s dead?”
Another nod.
He seems to ponder my words. “So, who are you living with now? Your pops?”
I nod. “Yeah. Bio-dad.”
He tilts his head in question and he shifts so our bodies are closer to one another. One arm curls around my shoulder, the other still on my wrist, but I can feel the heat from his body so close to mine now.
“I, uh… don’t really want to talk about it.” I stutter my words. Being so close to Roman has me on edge. I’d done so well avoiding him this past week that I’d almost tricked myself into believing he’s forgotten about me. Clearly, that was a stupid thought because here he is, in the flesh. A gut feeling has me believing he’s planned this meeting. Why else would he have followed me to the back of Aaron’s cabin? What other reason did he have for being here?
“Allie?” His voice is flat yet somehow filled with so much suppressed emotion.
I swallow hard and tug my hand free from his hold.
Silence hangs between us again and I push up from my seat. “I’m going to get another drink,” I say, needing a reason to escape his presence. There’s something about Roman that has me convinced he’s dangerous, yet I’m drawn to him all the same.
He doesn’t say anything and he doesn’t try to follow me. He brushes a hand through his thick, dark hair, his nostrils flaring, but no sound escapes him. I pause by the door, giving myself one last second to drink him in before I escape inside, cursing myself for being stupid. Roman is trouble, and I’m not going to make the same bad decisions again.
Allie
“Allie!” Aaron shouts as soon as I step into the living room. He must have come inside after I left the bonfire. “Come play with me.” He’s standing in front of the dining table. Red cups set up to form triangles on either end.
I smile but it's forced. “I was wondering when the beer pong games would begin,” I say and head toward him.
The cabin is packed and I have to weave my way through the sea of bodies to get to Aaron. No one bothers to get out of my way but when I finally reach him, he tugs me closer, an arm wrapping around my shoulder as he lifts a beer high in the air. “I’ve got my partner. Who’s brave enough to be our challengers?” Cheers go up and I can smell the beer radiating off him as though it’s seeping through his pores.
How many has he had?
I pull away from his hold and shake my head. “I’m not really in the mood to play tonight. But I’ll watch.”
His bottom lip juts out. “Aw, come on, Allie.”
I shake my head. “N— “
The leggy blonde from earlier steps up beside Aaron. “Hey, Henderson. I’ll be your partner,” she purrs.
He looks at her and I track his gaze as he takes in her barely covered body. His lips press into a tight line but his eyes don’t leave her. I can tell he’s tempted so I decide to give him a nudge in the right direction.
“Cool. Thanks,” I tell her. “I appreciate you taking my place.”
She sneers at me. “I’m not doing you any favors. Why are you even here?”
I suck in a breath, taken aback by the open hostility. I open my mouth and then close it. Unsure how to respond. A few other girls beside her start laughing and I stumble back a step.
“Good one, Sarah,” a girl remarks.
The blonde, Sarah, beams at her friends and then turns back to me with an obvious look of contempt. “Really, though. No one wants you here. Why don’t you slink back to whatever stuffy prep school you were expelled from? I’m sure Daddy Warbucks can help you out.”
“Hey. Not cool.” Aaron finally comes to my defense.
The girl rolls her eyes. “Come on, Aaron. You know she doesn’t belong here.” She wraps her arms around his neck and mashes her breasts against his chest. “Send her away already so you and I can have some fun,” she whines. The sound grates on my ears. Does she think guys like that?
Aaron’s gaze flicks between us with uncertainty.
Seriously? He invited me.
Anger ignites in my chest.
Seeing my expression, he pulls her arms away from his neck and takes a step back. “Sorry, Sarah. Allie’s my friend. I’m not cool with you talking to her like that.”
Her eyes widen and her mouth hangs open for a second before she snaps it closed. “Excuse me?”
He shrugs and runs a hand over the back of his neck. “Look. I know— “
“Screw you! Your loss, Henderson. Don’t expect to get a second chance.” She brushes past me to leave the room, shoulder checking me along the way. I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from lashing out at her and turn grateful eyes toward Aaron.
“Thanks. You didn’t have to do that,” I mutter.
He shrugs. “Yeah. I did. I invited you. And Sarah can be a real bitch when she wants to be. She doesn’t usually seek me out at parties like this. She’s younger but she’s with the ‘elite’ crowd.” He makes air quotes for the word elite and sighs. “We don’t run in the same circles. But she’s my neighbor. We sort of grew up together and sometimes she can be a decent human being.” He pauses as though choosing his words carefully. “She’s used to being the center of attention. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if she only came on to me right now because you showed up.”
Oh.
“I’m sorry. That’s a crappy thing to do. Are you into her?” I ask, not wanting to cock block him because, yes, he did invite me and I’m grateful he came to my defense, but if he wants to carpe diem and all that, I won’t stop him. I know how guys can be sometimes. If he were Felix, he’d have gone with her, had his fun, and then apologized to me later.
But Aaron only shakes his head. “No. Not really. I know the kind of girl she is and that’s not what I’m after. I think between the beer and her boobs, I got a little confused.”
I can’t help but grin. Aaron has a sheepish expression on his face as he says, “So, any chance I can change your mind and convince you to be my partner after all?”
I start to shake my head but then I spot Emilio, Dom, and Roman as they crowd into the space. Emilio’s smile is wicked as he looks at me and says, “Come on, vanilla. Let’s play. We can make things interesting.”
Great. Vanilla again. I scowl, but I’m curious now. “What sort of interesting?”
“If we win,” He points to the three of them. “You wear a bikini the rest of the weekend. Day and night. No exceptions.”
I snort. Typical. “And if I win?”
He shrugs. “What do you want?”
I consider this. I don’t know if they’re any good and I don’t know if Aaron is either but I do know that I am. As long as Aaron isn’t god-awful, there’s a decent chance we can win. I’ve always been one of the guys and beer pong is a party go-to. Julio and I use to make off at parties like thieves. We’d make things interesting with cash on the table, but this is my first party with this crowd, and I don’
t know what the expectations are here. They don’t really seem like the gambling type.
I’m still riding a decent buzz so I decide to focus on that and turn tonight around despite my ex’s call and Roman’s strange behavior.
“If I win, you three wear bikinis all weekend. Day and night. No exceptions, either.”
The crowd cheers on the idea and Emilio’s grin widens while Dom and Roman’s matching scowls deepen. I don’t even bother trying to hold back my laugh.
“Alright. Alright. I can get behind that.”
“No,” Dom says. “You fuckers have at it. My black ass is not wearing a bikini.”
Emilio chuckles. “But Dom, you’d look fine as fuck in one and you know it.”
His scowl deepens even more and I clutch my stomach, laughing, as I picture Dominique in a bikini. “Alright. You get a pass,” I say when I can catch my breath again. “But only because teams need to be equal. Two on two.”
I turn to Aaron and he gives me a reassuring smile. He’s in, even though I’m pretty sure if we lose, the guys only care if I’m the one in a bikini. Good thing I bought one today.
Then I turn to Roman and lift a single brow. I’m almost positive he’ll bow out like Dominique did but he surprises me when he grabs a ping pong ball and says, “Rack them up.”
Roman
I’m going to murder my best friend for getting me into this. Allie and Henderson are kicking our asses. They’re two cups away from handing me my ass and a fucking bikini is not going to be enough to cover it.
Allie’s eyes are glassy. The booze is hitting her hard, but with a grin on her face she raises her hand, shoots, and lands the damn thing in my cup.
Fuck.
She jumps up and down, her tits bouncing with the motion, and Henderson high-fives her.
Emilio grabs the cup. Downs it in one swallow and then takes aim.
The fucker misses and I bite back a groan.
Shit.
“I’m going to kill you,” I tell him, low enough that only he should hear but I don’t miss Dominique’s dark chuckles behind us. He’s enjoying this shit. He’s probably hoping we lose, too.
“Nah, man. You won’t,” Emilio tells me. “Because I’m helping a brother out by putting you front and center for her. You might hate losing but you want that girl’s attention.”
“No. I don’t,” I mutter. “She’s no one to me.”
Emilio ignores my comment and now it’s Henderson’s shot. He takes aim for the last cup on our side and at the last second, his eyes flick up to mine and I stare him down. He falters and I let a murderous grin wash over my face. My vision tunnels and all I can see is him. His green eyes darken and I know his surroundings are fading away from him. The crowd around us cheers him on.
“Shoot.”
“Shoot.”
“Shoot.”
I narrow my eyes further. His jaw tightens and he shoots but the fucker isn’t looking at the cups. He’s still looking at me like he’s two seconds away from pissing himself.
He misses.
I grin and blink, breaking the stare off between us and he curses.
That’s right, fucker.
It’s my turn so I grab the ball and without any fanfare, I shoot it into one of their three remaining cups. Henderson swears again, downs the cup, and hands the ball to Allie.
She smirks at me, completely in her element, and lands the ball in our final cup. Emilio moans beside me but I know it’s all for show. He couldn't care less whether we win or lose. It's all a game for him. He lives for this kind of shit even if he tries to claim otherwise.
Slowly, making sure to keep my eyes locked on hers, I lift the cup and down the remaining beer.
“You lose,” she says and her satisfaction is clear.
“I did. Guess you better go grab me that bikini of yours,” I tell her.
“Mine?”
I nod and suck in my bottom lip with a nod. “Yeah, vanilla. I want yours.”
“You can have mine,” one of the chicks beside me says.
I lift a brow. “And you are?”
She looks surprised I don’t know who she is, but why would I?
“Silvia. Silvia Parish. I have second period with her.” She reminds me, angling her head toward Allie. Recognition clicks back to when I told her to watch out for my girl. Guess I do know her name after all.
I shrug. “Well, Silvia Parish,” I say, “Thanks. But no thanks. I want Allie’s. Only hers will do.”
Silvia pouts and Allie rolls her eyes. Her annoyance is sexy as hell. “Whatever. Andale pues.”
I don’t think she realizes she told me to hurry up in Spanish, but I like it. I like that it rolls off her tongue like it’s natural. It probably is. And I really fucking like that Henderson has no idea what the fuck she just said. It wasn’t anything sexy. There was no hidden meaning there. But he doesn’t know that.
I make sure to shoulder check him as I shove past to follow Allie.
“Watch it, Henderson,” I say so low only he can hear. “I wouldn’t get in my way.”
His jaw locks and I wait, making sure he gets my meaning.
It takes longer than I like, but eventually, he nods. Good.
I follow Allie through the crowd of people, shoving against bodies when they get too close. This is why we don’t open up our cabin. I don’t like people in my space.
She leads me back to a bedroom and as soon as I step inside the dimly lit room, I shut the door. I exhale in relief and Allie laughs. “Not one for crowds?” she asks.
“Not one for idiots,” I retort.
She smiles and digs through a bag until she retrieves a black two-piece swimsuit. The bottoms are taller, like they’d go past her hips, and the top is a thick band that ties in the back. Hmmm. Interesting. “No slutty string bikini?”
She shakes her head. “Not really my style.” She holds her hands out, but before I accept it, I pull off my shirt and let the fabric fall to the floor before unbuckling my jeans.
She sucks in a breath. “What are you doing?”
I can’t help my grin at her freaked-out tone. When I look up and see her eyes locked on my abs, heat simmers in my chest and my dick twitches. Her gaze rolls over me with blatant interest and my smile widens. I shove my jeans down, leaving my black boxer briefs on and then step out of the jeans, discarding my socks and shoes along with them.
“Like what you see?” I ask, holding my hands out wide with a cocky smirk on my face. I know I look good. Her expression confirms in.
A delicate hand reaches out as if to touch my tattoos and I wait, eager to feel her hands on me though I can’t explain why. What is it about this girl that draws me to her?
Hands pressed together in prayer are inked on my right side, a strand of rosary beads between their fingers. My right arm sports a half sleeve filled with an intricate Aztec falcon totem. And on my left collarbone, climbing up my neck and down over the top of my bicep and pectoral, is an Aztec devil mask.
My gaze heats as I watch her eyes drink me in but instead of trailing her fingers over the designs, she hovers over the left side of my rib cage. She has her bottom lip trapped between her teeth and a hint of concern flickers across her face. Concern for me? I’m surprised when I spot the emotion.
I look down and realize her eyes are glued to a purplish yellow bruise that’s formed across my left side.
I remember the hit I took in the fourth quarter. I’d been running for a touchdown and the guy had come out of nowhere, tackling me in the end zone even though I’d already dropped the ball. Ref threw a flag but it didn’t matter. The game was over by then.
Her fingers brush over the damaged skin and she whispers, “Does it hurt?”
I bite back the groan I want to release at her featherlight touch. “Nah. It looks worse than it is.”
She steps back and her eyes widen, as though realizing that she’d just been intimately close. A pretty blush spreads across her cheeks. I step closer to her before she can retreat fur
ther, and I wrap my hand around her delicate wrist. “You gonna give me the suit?” I ask.
She’s maybe five-two to my six-one. A tiny little thing so she’s forced to tilt her head back to meet my gaze. All it would take is me dipping my head a few inches to catch her lips with my own, but I don’t. Her eyes glaze over as she stares back at me. She licks her lips and I trail the movement.
“Ww...What?”
I quirk a brow. “The suit,” I say again, tugging on the material that’s clutched in her hands.
“Oh. Oh!” She drops the fabric like it's hot to the touch and steps back, her face even redder than it had been before. Taking the swimsuit, I stretch the top over my chest, the fabric barely able to tie in the back over my broad chest. Then I hold up the bottoms and meet her gaze. “I’m not sure these will fit over my legs, but if you want me to try, I will. Or…” I trail off and wait.
She swallows hard, licking her lips again. “Or what?”
I toss her swim bottoms back to her. “Or I can go like this. My boxer briefs don’t cover much more than those would.” I point to the swim bottoms. “More leg but less abs.” I lift my shoulders in a shrug. “It’s your call.”
“Oh. Yeah. Sure. That’s fine.”
Allie
I don’t know why I care that Roman is wearing my swimsuit top. It’s just a stupid top. But he’s wearing it and it’s mine. My stomach flip-flops and I toy with the teal bracelet on my wrist. Following him out of Aaron’s room, I try to slow my racing heart. The crowd presses in on us, forcing us to take a few steps back until Roman shoves one of the football players out of his way with a two-handed shove. He’s wearing his jersey as are a bunch of other guys, making them easy to spot.
The guy whirls on Roman with a fist raised as if to swing, but suddenly halts before dropping his hand back to his side. “Hey, Rome. My man, uh…” He rubs the back of his neck. “Sorry, man. I didn’t realize it was you.”
Wicked Devil: An Enemies to Lovers, High School Bully Romance (Devils of Sun Valley High Book 1) Page 6