Also by Melissa Marino
So Twisted
So Screwed
A Bad Behavior novel
Melissa Marino
New York Boston
Table of Contents
Cover
Also by Melissa Marino
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
An Excerpt from “So Twisted”
Acknowledgments
About the Author
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 by Melissa Marino
Excerpt from So Twisted copyright © 2016 by Melissa Marino
Cover image © Yuri Arcurs Productions
Cover design by Elizabeth Turner
Cover copyright © 2017 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First published as an ebook and as a print on demand: March 2017
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ISBNs: 978-1-4555-6954-0 (ebook), 978-1-4555-6963-2 (trade paperback, print on demand)
E3-20170201-NF-DA
To the Twilight fandom, the place and the people that gave me friendship, laughter, hope and paved the way to making my dreams come true.
Chapter One
EVELYN—
It was a proven fact that if you had to be somewhere and looking presentable, Mother Nature would laugh at you while dumping torrential rain upon you…with no umbrella in sight.
Mother Nature was a feisty bitch.
I glanced out my car window, watching the streams of rain try to outrun each other against the glass, as I formulated a plan. My best friend’s house, the one she shared with her boyfriend and his daughter, was over a block away. Parking was tight along the Lincoln Park street in front of Callie and Aaron’s home, which wasn’t surprising considering they were hosting a post-funeral luncheon for Aaron’s grandmother who had recently passed away.
“Shit,” I whispered to myself.
The rain wasn’t letting up, and sitting in my car was only wasting time I didn’t have. Stopping by to give my condolences was only a gesture to Aaron, who had become a great friend to me. But gesture or not, I was going to look like a drowned rat, a drowned blond rat with red lipstick and smeared mascara, but a rat nonetheless.
There was no point in prolonging it. I flung my car door open, and as soon as my black patent leather Mary Jane pumps hit the pavement, I was off. Dodging puddles and passing cars, I hurried my way down the street the best I could in heels while attempting to cover my head with my large handbag. When my eyes landed on the path to Aaron and Callie’s brownstone, I quickened my steps to get to safety.
I paused in front of the glass storm door of their home, hoping to get a glimpse of the type of damage the rain had caused me. All I could make out was a tangled nest of once perfectly styled hair. While I wasn’t vain enough to think that anyone would be concerned with how I looked, I still wanted to appear presentable in front of a group.
I reached into my bag to retrieve a comb or something from my wedding planner emergency kit that I always had on me, but the front door opening stopped me.
“Evelyn?” Aaron said. “You’re soaked. Get in here.”
He held the door for me as I stepped in, droplets of water falling from my hair, trench coat, and everywhere else.
I shook out my hair and attempted to run my fingers through it, but it was no use. “How bad is it?” I asked Aaron.
He gave me a calming smile. “You’re never not anything but beautiful, Evelyn.”
I patted his chest as I unbuttoned my coat, thankful for the fact I had a water-resistant one. “Always with the smooth talk,” I said. “I can see why my best friend fell for you.”
He took my coat and hung it up in the closet behind him. “So sweet of you to stop by,” he said.
“Of course,” I said, rubbing my fingers under my eyes to try and rid them of raccoon-ness.
“You need me to go find Callie?” he asked. “So you can, you know, fix or, you know, borrow a hairdryer or maybe—”
I smiled at his attempt at tact before interrupting him. “Yes, please. I need to be presentable before I can go…present myself.”
“I’ll be right back,” he said.
I watched as he rushed down the marble-floored hallway and disappeared into the sea of the bereaved conversing. Wasting no time to begin cleanup efforts, I began to dig through my bag to retrieve a compact to survey the damage. Once found, I flipped it open and looked at my reflection.
It was worse than I thought it would be.
“Hurry up, Callie,” I muttered. “Hideous isn’t appropriate in this setting.”
“I certainly hope you aren’t referring to yourself as hideous. All I see is beautiful,” said a low voice behind me.
I didn’t turn around immediately with my compact mirror giving me the ability to see behind me; I knew exactly who it was.
Aaron’s younger and insanely hot brother Abel.
He also was, according to Callie and her multitude of warnings, a playboy that went through women faster than the swipe right on Tinder he probably found them on.
I turned around to get a full view of the award-winning eye candy. Abel was dressed in a slim blue suit tailored to perfection. His dark pompadour and closely trimmed beard made his blue eyes stand out in contrast. He had always been extremely handsome, but seeing him dressed as he was kicked his allure up another notch. The entire package was quite startling.
My head lifted because he was that tall. The few times we’d met before I’d taken notice of his stature, but standing next to him served as a reminder.
“Abel,” I said. “So sorry about your grandma.”
“Thanks for coming,” he said. The corner of his mouth lifted into a tiny grin while his eyes found mine. Dimples. They
were just visible from beneath his beard, extending onto the smoothed skin of his cheeks.
“You’re welcome,” I said with a shrug. “Aaron and Callie are two of my favorite people.”
His eyes scanned up and down my body with deliberate intent. “What do I have to do to become your third favorite person?” he asked. “You know, every time we run into each other, you decline any invitation I’ve offered to get to know each other better.”
Abel and I had ended up at the same functions on several occasions. At every one, he asked me out.
And I said no every time.
“Come on,” he said, touching my arm. “I think you and me together would be what Grandma Dorothy would’ve wanted.”
He was a handsome, handsome guy. I’d give him that. No doubt a line of panty droppers wherever he went. Hell. I would’ve maybe been one of them if I didn’t think it would cause drama. My best friend’s boyfriend’s brother? Not ideal. Plus, knowing his history of getting around? Also not ideal. However, there was still something about him that caught my interest at every interaction.
“Plus,” he continued. “Even with you looking like you fell into a very deep puddle, you’re still the prettiest thing I’ve seen today.”
“I don’t know if that’s a compliment or—”
He smiled again, his dimples running deeper, as he stepped in closer. “It’s absolutely nothing but a compliment, Evelyn.”
He was trying to pick me up again. If I wasn’t so attracted him, I would’ve almost been offended.
“Ev,” Callie said, coming up next to me. She took me in a hug as Aaron came up next to her. They were one of those couples others hated. Strikingly good-looking, her with her long auburn hair and perfect skin, and him tall and built just like his younger brother, with a smile that warmed up everything around him.
“You poor thing,” Callie said, attempting to smooth my hair down as she pulled away from our hug. “My perfectly put-together Blondie isn’t so perfect at the moment.”
“She looks pretty perfect to me,” Abel said.
“Abel,” Callie sighed. “The list of phone numbers you have of willing ladies is the size of the first draft of the Bible. I’ve told you several times before. Quit creeping on my best friend.”
And then there was Callie, who wasn’t going to give Abel any wingwoman support while simultaneously reminding me not to fall under his spell.
That was going to be difficult. While being entranced by a cute boy was certainly out of character for me, there was something about Abel that stuck with me.
“Are you trying to cockblock me?” Abel snapped.
Yup. The handsome boy with the witty comebacks was the sticking point.
Callie yanked on my arm, and tugged me away. “Really, Abel?” she said over her shoulder. “Let’s get you all put back together, Blondie.”
As we walked away, Abel shouted, “Can I come watch?”
Handsome and ballsy as shit.
She guided me down the hallway with quick steps and hurried me up the stairs to the second floor. Once in the privacy of her bedroom, she closed the door behind us.
“All right,” she said, heading into the bathroom with me following. “What do you need? Hair dryer?”
Once I got a solid look at myself in her side-by-side mirrors and realized what terrible shape I was in, there was only one thing I needed.
“A blowtorch?” I asked.
Callie waved her hand at me. “Oh, stop. It’s not that bad,” she said. She pulled a drawer open and pulled out a hair dryer. “Here.”
She handed the dryer to me, which I took with eagerness. I could sit and complain, or I could do something about it.
I always did something about it.
“You have a wide tooth comb?” I asked.
She stepped back, leaning against the bathroom doorway. “Yeah. In that same drawer. You know, you didn’t have to make an appearance.”
I glanced at her in the mirror. “I know. I wanted to,” I said, digging through her drawer until I found the comb. “How is it all going?”
“Not bad,” she said with a shrug. “I mean, the best a funeral can be, right?”
I began taking sections of my hair, working the comb through the tangles. “How did you get roped into having the luncheon here?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t ask. All I’ll say is I blame Abel.”
“Do I want to know?”
“He knew someone who owned a restaurant near the funeral home, and he said we should have lunch there. And like they do, Aaron’s parents indulged Abel in his decision-making.”
I plugged in the hair dryer and clicked it onto high and hot. Blowing my hair around, I considered what Callie said. There was never a shortage of her opinions on Abel. I knew she had love for him, and he was a huge help when Callie and Aaron had some troubles in the past, but there was always an undercurrent when she spoke of him. She thought he was immature and ran around with his zipper open. From what I could tell, she wasn’t off base.
But what stuck with me was why did he get under my skin every time our paths crossed?
When my hair resembled something decent, I unplugged and returned the dryer to its place. A cleanup of eye makeup and quick reapply and I was almost ready to reemerge.
“Have any hair spray?” I asked.
She raised her eyebrows. “Don’t you think you have enough product in that hair already? Plus, only you can get stuck in a thunderstorm and make yourself look stunning in under ten minutes, Blondie.”
I turned around and smiled. “Oh, sweetie. What a doll you are, but the hair spray isn’t for me. It’s for you. Let me help you touch up so you can go back to playing hostess.”
She ran her fingers through her hair, bringing out a long strand to look at. “What’s wrong with it? I thought it looked okay even though I got a little windblown earlier.”
“It doesn’t look windblown. It looks…well…it just looks bad,” I said.
“I love that we have the kind of friendship where there is no bullshit and can tell each other when she looks like shit.”
She opened a closet and took out a bottle of hair spray before handing it to me. I finger twisted some of her natural, auburn waves while giving her a spritz of spray. “Speaking of Abel,” I said.
Her head moved back from my primping hands as her eyes narrowed at me. “Were we speaking of Abel?”
“Before, yes, we were,” I said, reaching back out for her hair. “If you weren’t dating Aaron, don’t you think you’d find several things charming about Abel?”
She snorted. “I am dating Aaron, so I don’t look at his brother like that, but to answer your question, no. He isn’t my type. And furthermore, he shouldn’t be your type, either. Haven’t we been over this?”
I gave her one final fluff and spray before setting the can down, folding my arms across my chest. “Yes. We’ve been through it, which is why I’m wondering why you’re against Abel and me having a little fun?”
“You can have fun with lots of guys. He certainly has fun with a lot of women. Also, I think—” She paused, narrowing her eyes at me. “Unless you’re considering more than fun. Are you considering more than fun?”
“Just when I thought you knew me, you throw something like that at me,” I said.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Because it’s stupid. You know I don’t do more than fun with anyone. Plus, based on everything you ever told me about Abel, he’s usually one step away from uncivilized. I can deal with that, though, because those dimples, Cal,” I said.
Mmm. Yes. Those dimples.
“Let’s take Abel out of this for a minute, okay?” she said. “Are you ever going to settle down with one guy?”
Here we go.
“I’m twenty-four years old, Callie. I don’t need to settle on anything except my lunch order and how fast I can get to the top of my game in my career.”
“Everyone isn’t Patrick,” she said in a quiet
tone. “And that was a long time ago.”
I recoiled instinctively at the sound of his name.
Patrick.
Man…that boy took me for a run. Everything from love to hate and everything in between. I did settle. I settled on the other side of victory and I had no intentions of revisiting a time in which a man clouded my goals and my true self.
Callie waved her hand around. “Let’s not get into it, okay?” she said. “There’s been enough drama today. You know with burying Nana and Mr. Matthews choking on a hard candy at the gravesite.”
“Are you serious?” I asked.
“Oh yeah. As serious as the Heimlich maneuver Aaron had to give him.”
I laughed and didn’t even know if I should, but when Callie joined in, I knew it was all okay.
“All right,” she said. “Let’s get back down there and see if we can find those yummy croissant sandwiches.”
I liked her plan, but it didn’t work out that way. Callie was pulled away from me as soon as we reached downstairs, leaving me to fend for myself and fend I did. Meandering between random conversations with strangers, and a rather uncomfortable exchange with Mr. Matthews in which he told me in great detail how he saw a “vision” of his just passed-on mother when he was choking on the hard candy. I snuck away from him as soon as I could while considering making a run for it. I didn’t want to leave without saying good-bye to Aaron and Callie, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Making my way back down the hallway to the foyer, I reached the closet where Aaron had hung my coat. After I retrieved it, I slipped the damp sleeves on and wrapped it around me just as I heard my name called out.
“Evelyn!” Callie said.
Callie and Aaron had found me with Abel following close behind.
“Were you trying to sneak away without saying good-bye?” she asked.
“I didn’t want to but didn’t want to bug you, either,” I said.
Aaron and Callie came to stand next to me on one side, Abel on the other. I once again was made aware of his height, and as he leaned in closer, I caught the scent of his cologne. My head, and eyes turned upward to find him looking down at me as well.
So Screwed Page 1