Meg spun on her heels and slid her arm through the crook of my elbow. “Right through to the pool house, Teddi. All your friends are there!”
“I want Ruffian to meet them.” She looked from me to Meg and back again.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be down in a few minutes. I’ll walk him down for introductions.” She clenched a little tighter onto me.
I knew she was trying to get me alone; I wasn’t stupid. And I also knew that Teddi was hesitant to leave me. I tried not to let that thrill me, but it did.
I let myself be pulled in the direction Meg wanted to go. Once we were walking away, I risked a peek at Teddi. Her shoulders fell and she turned in the opposite direction. She couldn’t know that I had to get a look around this place. That the news that Meg’s parents liked to leave was the best news I’d heard in a long time. I needed Meg to talk. And if I had to seduce her into revealing everything that could help me, I’d do that.
“You look gorgeous tonight, Meg. Where are we going?”
Chapter 21
TEDDI
FRIGGIN’ MEG. MAN, she rubbed me the wrong way. And now she was trying to get Ruffian to rub her the right way. I expected him to see through her. I wanted him to see through her. But he didn’t. Of course. She was wearing one of those push-up strapless bras that made her boobs look like two piles of jellyfish.
Okay, that was unkind, but she was making me feel that way by dragging Ruffian away to impress him with her money and barely-there dress.
I walked down the path that was lit with tiki torches. I could hear the music and half the football team was outside around the firepit. I must have come in at the tail end of a bet, because as soon as I was almost there, Tasker pulled his shirt over his head and took off running toward the pool. He screamed at the top of his lungs and was engulfed by the mist and the water. I was thoroughly splashed as a result. I yipped.
Ryder, Van, Brutus, and Anders all gave him a middle finger as I walked up.
“Was that a truth or dare or what?” I pointed to the dripping wet Tasker pulling himself out of the pool. He answered instead of the guys.
“It was just a man being a man.” He ran his hand down his pronounced abs.
“That water’s not even cold. It’s like a bathtub. Meg’s pool is always heated. Your nipples aren’t even hard.” I looked at his chest like it disappointed me.
He covered his nipples with his palms. “You are just using me as a sex object now, Teddi. I’m insulted.” His top half was all eighteenth-century prude debutant and his bottom half was grinding like his penis had a mind of its own. And despite Tasker being a pain in the ass, I had to laugh. His smile was genuine as I cracked up. Then he took it too far, as he always did, and tried to lick his own nipple. The guys started mock-gagging and I took that as my cue to go find the girls.
“Wait, don’t leave. I need a hug!” I went from walking to running and pulled open the French door and closed it behind me while Tasker hit the glass like a cartoon bug. His wet outline was memorialized as he pretended to cry.
I felt an arm go around my shoulders and a hand palm my breast. I snapped my head to the culprit and saw Taylor’s wiggling eyebrows.
I yanked her hand away and instantly went to tickle her in her ribs. Being on cheer together all those years certainly taught us a lot about each other—tickle spots being one of them. Before I knew it, she had pulled me down on the couch and we arranged ourselves so we could sit up.
“Why is Tasker naked out there?” Taylor rested her head on my shoulder.
“I don’t know. I don’t think anyone knows. They weren’t playing a game, taking bets, nothing.” I reached for a pretzel that was on a coffee table in front of us. “And now I have all kinds of wetness.”
“He just wanted you to look at his body and picture it against yours.” Taylor pulled two beers out of the ice bucket in front of us. I could drink beer for a few minutes. Once it warmed up though, I always gave up.
We toasted as Tasker burst through the side door, wearing only his boxers. Sopping wet, it was way too much information. He was keeping up the act that had made me laugh before. His thrusting pelvis was pointed at me, no matter which way his upper body turned. It was low-key hilarious, and Taylor did a spit take, spewing beer all over the pretzels in the bowl.
Peaches slipped in so she was sitting next to me as well, laughing. Tasker kept covering his nipples with different fingers. I was keeping one eye on the incoming man business and I should have been watching my sneaky friends. Taylor grabbed one of my arms and Peaches grabbed the other. Both were taller than I was and wrapped their stupid long legs around mine, locking me in place. I instantly started trying to bite and lick them.
“Bitches. Let me up.” I wiggled hard. Tasker was taking the long way, but he was coming for me. “If his dick gets anywhere near my face, I will kill you both. Twice.”
When Tasker’s penis parade was just a heartbeat away, Ruffian came into the room. I locked eyes with him and then must have looked considerably spooked. He took three giant steps and just lifted me up out of my cheerleader prison. Taylor and Peaches both let go, and the counterbalance made me wrap my legs around Ruffian’s waist. I had a prime view of Tasker’s wild, wet hump against Ruffian’s rump.
Ruffian didn’t react, but he cupped the back of my head and searched my face. “You okay?”
His intensity in the ridiculous situation took my breath away. We were face-to-face, mouth-to-mouth—almost. My heart was somehow pumping through my entire body. His hold on me was effortless.
I nodded once.
“Do I need to kill these people?” His lips were moving near mine. It was like the party got eaten around us. Fell off the earth. It was just me in his arms. If there was the opposite of pain, I had found the source of it here, this close to him.
“No. They’re just my asshole friends.” Were his lips closer? Were mine closer? Was I leaning toward him, or was he moving to me? Infinitesimal changes, but the nearness of him seemed to tell my blood which way to flow. And most of it was based in sensitive parts right now.
“Okay.” Tasker was still air humping Ruffian’s butt. “I’m going to have to rip his dick off, though.”
He let me slide down his body, and parts of me were introduced to parts of him in a super intimate way. Tasker’s hump sent Ruffian bumping into me and I took a sharp inhale. With it, Ruffian’s hands grasped my waist tightly.
Oh shit. As soon as I got to my feet, Taylor and Peaches put their arms around me, pulling me away from him.
Taylor grabbed my face and made me look at her. “We would never, never have let Tasker’s Stanky McWanky touch you.”
Peaches pulled my hips backward so we were spooning, but standing up. “Honestly. No trust. And now you have this hunk of man candy re-enacting a romance movie poster with you? What the hell is up?”
Ruffian had turned his back and I couldn’t see what was going on. I did notice that the seat of his jeans was wet from the humping.
“Listen, tree trunk. I was just playing. Teddi and I go way back. No harm, no foul. You know?” I sawTasker’s hands in the air. I pushed away from my girls and grabbed Ruffian’s arm. It ended in a fist and his bicep was tight. He was priming to punch.
“It’s okay. Hey. It’s okay. Let’s get a drink, maybe?” I pulled myself in front, smooshing between Tasker and Ruffian, hitting my shin on the coffee table for my effort.
Meg walked through the door and came up and grabbed Ruffian’s other arm. “You take care of the Tasker’... problem, Teddi. I’ll take care of Ruffian.”
Ruffian and I made eye contact. Oh, he’d felt what I felt when I was in his arms. He licked his lips, looked at mine, and then turned to Meg. “Yeah. Let’s do that.”
It felt like a betrayal when she giggled and he followed her to the kitchen in the pool house. Tasker was wide-eyed and put a few steps between us.
“Didn’t know he was your personal bodyguard, Ted. Geez. Give a man a heads-up.” He covered his ni
pples again.
“If I see one, I’ll do just that.” I faced Peaches and she grabbed my hand and pulled. I could feel Taylor behind me.
“What the fuck was that? Oh my God, that just gave me the biggest blue balls. You need to talk to us.” And before I knew it, Peaches had kicked out the two kissing couples from the bedroom and shut the door, leaving just us.
Taylor fake waved in front of her face. “What was that?”
Peaches pointed at the closed door. “How big is that dick? Because those feet are huge.”
I went to the bed and sat on it, needing to catch my breath.
Taylor sat on one side and Peaches pulled the desk chair closer.
“I don’t know. That was the first time that anything felt like that.” I pointed at the door.
“With him?” Peaches asked.
“No. Ever in her life.” Taylor grabbed my hand and we all squeezed together.
Chapter 22
RUFFIAN
WELL, NOW THAT was fucking something. I was trying to focus on Meg, who was certainly focusing on me. But my head was back in the living room for the weirdest encounter of my life. In one second I was all full of adrenaline seeing Teddi being held down.
I got between her and the attacker. Things went like that in my life, in my world. Sometimes things that looked harmless could take an unpredictable turn. And usually we’d look for the person that needed the most help first. My brain was hardwired to her. Protect her. I didn’t even ascertain if there were any other people in need. And now, listening to Meg talk about how much yoga she does, I realize this was just a party. And they were all just being stupid. Acting their age. I felt stupid. But not wrong. Having her in my arms and knowing the guy would have to go through me to get to her was a primal feeling.
She.
Her.
Shit. I was gone. So gone for her. My heart felt the freefall to my stomach. My brain was happy to follow. This was not the time for this. She was not the one for this. Complication. Meg had her hand on my chest. My heart actively tried to find its way back to my chest so it could run away again. From Meg. To Teddi.
I covered my mouth while I tried to listen to Meg. My mouth wanted to be on Teddi’s. Feel a sigh on my lips. I looked over my shoulder at the door that had been closed between us. I could walk through it dick first right now. That’s how I felt about her. Stupid and manly.
“And then if you want we can go to our cottage by the lake, you know. We could skate and stuff. You’ll love it. Give me your phone.” She held out her hand and I put my phone in hers. She used my thumb to unlock it.
It was like moving underwater, understanding that I was realizing everything for the first time. And then I felt the crush of not being able to tell Mom how I felt. Yeah, whatever. All these guys around me would make fun of me, but she and I had been friends.
I was stoic while I watched Meg take a picture of herself and then type in a few more things.
“I’ll airdrop the rest.”
I heard the bedroom door open. Felt her galaxy colliding with mine. I had to look for her. I spotted her and assessed her. Was she okay? She was okay. Wet. She was a little wet. But she was okay. She would be cold on the walk home, though. That wouldn’t work.
“Do you have a hair dryer here?”
Meg’s eyes narrowed as if me changing the subject was unwelcome. “I’m sure there’s one in the bathroom. Every room is stocked. Do you need a beer? You need a beer. I’ll be right back.”
I watched Meg thread through the crowd. My skin told me Teddi was looking at me.
When I spun, I saw what I already knew.
Her. How was every other face in the room out of focus but hers?
I motioned for Teddi to come to me. She tilted her head. Instead, I walked over to her.
Meg spoke my name and I felt bad for her. I wanted to tell her that the right guy would be getting her a beer and not the other way around. But I couldn’t help Meg now. I was busy being someone else’s person.
When I got to her, I touched her sweater’s hem. “You’re wet.”
“Yeah, well, Tasker is a jerk.” She touched near her sweater. Close to my hand, but not on it. My hand had my heartbeat now. My heart was a vagabond. She’d unchained it and now it would follow her around.
“Let’s fix it.” And then I took her hand. Was it the softest thing? It was. Softer than her sweater. Maybe not as soft as her lips.
I looked at them. She felt it, whatever this was between us now. That things had changed.
“Okay.” Like that was something that could happen. Me taking care of her. I walked her back to the bedroom and into the bathroom.
“Can you sit on the counter?”
I started opening cabinet doors. One after another until I found the hair dryer. I plugged it in and messed with the settings until it was warm and strong on my wrist. Then I motioned to her sweater. Teddi pulled it out, spreading it. I aimed the air at it, keeping my hand just underneath to make sure the temperature was good.
“You know how to use a hair dryer?” She touched my hand that was under her sweater a little.
“I do. Is it hard for you?” I was making a joke. And then I heard my words and closed one eye.
She started to blush and giggle and I wanted to swallow the hair dryer, but she pulled herself together and gave me an answer. “I did cheer. We have known how to do it all since we were seven.”
I moved the air direction. “Anything else wet?”
Oh my God, kill me.
She laughed a little before touching the waistband of her jeans. “A little.”
I tested the sweater and it was warm, but drier. She moved it out of the way so I could aim the hair dryer at her jeans. I couldn’t miss the sliver of skin that I was allowed to see like this. I should’ve averted my eyes, or better yet, let her do this for herself, but instead I stood fast until she was dry.
“There. Now you won’t be cold when we walk home.” I turned off the hair dryer and started winding the cord.
“That’s what you were worried about?” She took the dryer from me and rewound the cord in a much neater way.
“Just wanted to make sure.” My throat closed up. We were alone in this bathroom and she was here, looking at me.
“That’s really thoughtful of you.” She reached up and pushed my hair out of my face. “Thank you.”
And then we weren’t alone. A couple hit the mattress behind us and started moaning. Teddi bit her bottom lip and then covered her face.
“Is that the guy I almost killed?”
“Yes. That’s Tasker and Willa. I super, super don’t want to see anything else that’s going to happen here.” She pushed off the counter and basically into me. I steadied her and myself and we were close again. This was bad. So bad. I couldn’t think when she was this close.
Another moan made me move. I let Teddi walk in front of me and then I shut the bedroom door behind me.
“Let’s get you over to meet everyone.” She motioned to the other room that had a pool table set up. No one was playing, and a few people were sitting on the table.
The group in the corner welcomed Teddi with waves and whistles. Teddi walked to the center of the group and started naming people. She told me what they did—like sport or whatever. Their names went in one ear and seeped out the other.
I was not interested in learning them. Not tonight.
A guy stood next to Teddi and then lifted her onto his lap. She laughed and wiggled but didn’t act like she was unwilling to be there. I scanned the room. There was a lot of alcohol being consumed and it seemed like everyone was touching someone else. They were a close group. A handsy group. I hated it.
I tried to listen to the rest of the names while Teddi was seated on a guy’s lap. All I could do was focus on his hand resting casually on her hip. Like he owned it. Like his hand belonged there.
“Easy, killer. You’re gonna burn holes in the furniture with those laser eyes.” The tall blonde next to me put her a
rm around my shoulders.
“Taylor, right?” I could at least remember her name.
“Yes, nice work. So what do I call you now that we are friends? “Ruffian? Ruff? Ian?” She clicked her tongue.
I got a good feeling from Taylor. She seemed to have a lot of love for Teddi, despite the fact she was holding her down when I first saw them tonight.
“You can call me whatever you want, Legs.” I gave her a smile.
“Legs? Oh, that’s how we’re going to play it. Okay. Give me a second. You can call me Legs and I will call you…” She put her thumb between her teeth while she thought. “Buff…ian.”
“Wow. That’s something else. I really hope that doesn’t stick.” I reached for a pretzel from one of the different bowls that were around the room.
Meg was near my elbow and she repeated it, “Buffian. Sounds great. I’m in.” She gigged even though no one else did.
“Hey, Meg, great party.” There was no joy in Taylor’s voice and I was getting the impression she didn’t like Meg either.
“You’re welcome. Anything to keep your social life hopping.” Meg pulled on my arm. “Can you walk me back to the house? I have to change my outfit.”
I glanced back at Teddi and she was laughing so hard, Anders was holding her back so she wouldn’t fall over. I didn’t want to look at that anymore.
“I could get some air.” I turned to Taylor. “Catch you later.” She took her arm off my shoulders.
“Okay. We are just going to play some Asshole. You don’t want to miss it.” Taylor moved closer to one of the football boys.
Meg batted her eyes at me. When Teddi still didn’t look in my direction, I turned and went with Meg out the door. She started talking about her next vacation as soon as we were outside, talking about Antigua and how it had the best beaches out of all the resorts she’d stayed at.
While I maintained a polite listening face, I was checking out the back of the house, looking for weak spots. This house was behind a gate with an intercom. Either they took security very seriously or took it for granted. There were high shrubs in front of some of the windows on the ground floor. I was liking them as a point of entry, but I also saw the monitored security system had stickers and a few advertising signs around, but mostly out of view.
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