Bad Intentions

by Allie Valentine

  "Oh it was real, all right. He even mumbled something about having wanted to do that for a while. Seriously, it was the whole toe-curling, fireworks type of situation. It was for real. At least it felt that way, but I didn’t really know anything. It was my first kiss."

  Bailey sighed. "Cage Ward was your first kiss? Way to set the bar at impossible."

  Talia nodded. "Yeah, tell me about it. Only problem with that was, the next day, he pretty much pretended he didn't know me. And not like he could really get away with that. He was at my house every other day. He always said hi and stuff, but totally acted as if it never happened. I mean after a few weeks, I could've sworn I dreamed up the whole thing."

  “Oh, honey, given the way that he was just looking at you, you didn't dream anything. He definitely kissed you. And you kissed him on the dance floor the other day. He remembers."

  Talia smiled to herself. "Maybe. It’s hard to tell. Remember, I don't look the same, and as far as he’s concerned, he was kissing a different girl at the club. I’m hot now. Not Trevor’s annoying kid sister."

  Bailey shook her head. "You know better than that. Taking off your glasses doesn't make you hot. You've always been hot. You just didn't know it until now. Look, you’re in a new school. You should definitely have some fun in college. And you know what? I think Cage Ward is just the guy for a little fun."

  Talia shook her head. "I can’t do that. Just make out with a guy for shits and giggles. I dunno, I kind of want a boyfriend experience."

  "There’s plenty of time for that. Right now, you’re a freshman. Have fun. And Cage Ward wants you to go to a party."

  Talia thought it through. Bailey had a point. She was in a new school and looking for a new attitude. What's the worst that could happen? Besides, guys did it all the time. She could have fun; sow some wild oats. And Cage Ward might be just the guy to do that with. But maybe she’d let him stew a little first.

  Four

  Talia’s newfound bravado lasted for less than twenty-four hours. She managed to figure out her class schedule and was only late for one class on her first day. She’d been expecting Cage to pop up and make a nuisance of himself but …nothing. By the time she went to bed that night, she’d started to think maybe the universe was trying to tell her something.

  Maybe her plan to let loose and have a little fun was a terrible idea. What had she been thinking? She’d never been the let loose type. The one time she’d tried that at the club, look what had happened. She’d ended up kissing her brother’s best friend and making a fool of herself.

  So when she woke up on the morning of her second day, she made a decision. No more hot dreams about Cage. If she was going to let loose and have fun, she needed to do that with a guy who didn’t know her only sibling. Someone who didn’t have vivid memories of how awkward and shy she’d always been. This was her chance to actually make a fresh start and she could only do that with someone who didn’t know the prior Talia. She was ready to be a new and improved version of herself.

  It was time for Talia 2.0.

  “You look fierce today.” Bailey gave her an approving look when she stepped out of the bathroom wearing her new skintight jeans and the cute form-fitting tank top with the logo of a local metal band. Talia felt like a bit of a poser since she wasn’t even a metal fan. Trevor was, but the shirt gave her an edgy badass vibe, which she’d paired with dramatic eye shadow. Now that she wore contacts it was so much more fun to experiment with makeup.

  “I’m trying something different now that I’ve ditched the glasses.”

  Bailey grinned. “Yes you are. I have a feeling the guys on this campus won’t know what hit them.”

  Talia slung her backpack over one shoulder and made sure she had her room key. When she got outside, she turned her face up to the sun. It was going to be a good day. When she opened her eyes, Cage stood right in front of her wearing an expression that could only be described as hungry.

  Her breath caught in her throat. “Cage? What are you doing here?”

  “You didn’t think I’d forgotten about you, did you?”

  Talia started walking, not waiting to see if he’d follow. Her thoughts raced a mile a minute. Just when she’d made the decision to avoid him, of course he showed up looking hella fine in ragged jeans and a T-shirt that emphasized every one of his rugby-acquired muscles.

  “Nope. Didn’t think of you at all.”

  Cage’s satisfied smile told her that he didn’t believe a word she said. “Right. I would have been here yesterday to walk you to class, but I had a little car trouble in the morning.”

  Talia shrugged like it didn’t matter to her at all and kept her eyes facing forward. As they walked, girls kept turning to stare at Cage. A couple of guys, too. She could almost hear their thoughts.

  What is that hot guy doing with her?

  Then she forcibly turned off the negative thinking. She wasn’t that nerdy girl anymore. She was hot, damn it. And she could totally get a guy like Cage if she wanted to.

  Not that she wanted to.

  When Cage finally fell silent, Talia glanced over at him. “So you still haven’t told me why you were standing outside my dorm like a stalker.”

  His eyes widened slightly. “Stalker? Hey, I already told you I’m just doing a favor for Trevor.”

  Ugh. Talia was so sick of being the charity case.

  “Consider the obligation met. You can go back to whatever you’re usually doing at this time of day. Sleeping off a hangover, screwing two chicks named Candi with an i, or something like that.”

  His smug grin made her want to smack him a little. But it also made her a little jealous because he didn’t seem all that shocked at the idea of having two chicks in his room early in the morning. Not that she cared.

  “You seem awfully interested in what I’m usually up to. I thought you didn’t care?”

  “I don’t,” Talia insisted.

  Cage stopped and snagged her arm. The pressure forced her to stop or fall over. “I want you to. Care, I mean.”

  Talia gaped at him when the meaning of his words registered. “What? Why would you care what I think?”

  He fixed her with a dark, intense look. “You know why. That night at the club, that was crazy. Intense. I’ve never felt anything like that.”

  It was difficult to look away from him. His eyes latched onto hers and Talia couldn’t look away. Her breath sped up as she remembered that night. She’d never felt like that either. Only with Cage had she felt free to let loose and be whatever she wanted to be.

  “Don’t you want to feel that again? What’s stopping you from taking a chance?”

  Suddenly feeling cornered, Talia glared at him. It was easy for guys like Cage to take chances. No one laughed at them for being different. Any time they wanted something they just took it and everyone around them allowed it. But Talia wasn’t used to being able to just take what she wanted. The last time she’d done that was when Cage had kissed her and then promptly forgotten all about her.

  Being brave hadn’t done her much good back then. And now he wanted to know why she wouldn’t take a chance on him?

  “Taking a chance on you didn’t work out so well the last time I tried it. So thanks, but no thanks.”

  Yanking her arm away from him, she turned and left him behind.

  Cage watched in stunned silence as Talia marched away from him. It took him a beat to process her words because his brain had been distracted by her plump lips the entire time she was talking.

  She’s getting away, dumbass!

  He shook his head to clear the fog of lust around him before running after her. Damn, the girl was sexy as hell when she was mad. Her dark eyes went sultry when she was angry, and he’d had the sudden vivid image of how she’d look standing over him naked. Talia was one of those girls he would bet was a total surprise in bed. All sweet and unassuming most of the time, but then you take the glasses off and…Cage shut down that line of thinking. Unless he wanted to walk around with a
boner all day, all thoughts of Talia naked needed to stop.

  “Wait up! Would you just hold on a second?” He jogged around a couple holding hands who glared at him when he almost crashed into them.

  For such a tiny thing, Talia could move fast when she wanted to. But she wasn’t getting away from him. Not after dropping that cryptic hint about taking a chance on him before. What the hell did that even mean?

  “You just don’t give up, do you?” Talia glanced at him from the corner of her eye when he finally caught up with her.

  “Nope. I pride myself on my determination.” He grinned at her.

  “It wasn’t a compliment.”

  “I know. But you can’t just drop something like that on me and then leave. What did you mean by ‘last time’? When did you take a chance on me before?”

  Talia stopped walking. People flowed around them, sending nasty looks their way. Cage glared at a guy who walked past and the guy hurried away.

  “Are you serious right now?” Talia looked furious. Her fingers tightened around the strap of her book bag until her knuckles turned white.

  “Yes. I am completely serious. We’ve always been friends, haven’t we? I thought we were anyway. Now you’re saying that I’ve let you down before and that’s a big deal to me. I would never want to do that.”

  His words were meant to smooth things over, but Talia’s face fell. She ran a hand over her face in exasperation before looking at him again. Her distress hit him right in the center of the chest. He wasn’t used to caring what anyone thought of him. Cage knew he got away with a lot of shit. As long as he did his thing on the rugby pitch and kept his nose mainly clean, his coach let him do whatever. His teammates just wanted to win and he got them there. It had been the same way in high school. But the idea that he might have inadvertently hurt Talia and not even known about it all this time?

  Not okay.

  He took her hand. It shocked her, he could tell, because her hand jumped in his.

  Talia raised wary eyes to his. “What are you doing?”

  “Saying I’m sorry. I don’t even know what I did, but if I was an ass, then I’m so sorry.”

  She sighed. “Why do you have to be nice about it? That makes it even more embarrassing that you don’t remember.”

  Cage squeezed her hand. “Tell me.”

  After a few seconds she pulled her hand away. He didn’t really want to let her go, but he did it because he sensed she needed distance to tell this story.

  “Do you remember that year when Jeff Granger’s parents went out of town and he threw that epic Halloween party?”

  Cage nodded. Probably everyone in their high school remembered that party. It had been wild. Jeff had an older brother in college, so he’d gotten them beer and he’d gotten completely smashed.

  “Yeah. That was crazy. I’ve never been that drunk since. I think I threw up stuff I hadn’t even eaten yet.”

  She winced. “Well, I was there. I saw you and Jenna fighting. After she left the party, you were still there and you were practically walking into walls. I couldn’t let you try to drive like that.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t. I’m ashamed that I might have been stupid enough to try it.” He hated that she’d had to see him like that. But at least he hadn’t gotten in a car and possibly hurt someone else. “So you drove me home? Wow, I was out of it that I don’t even remember that.”

  Talia snorted. “That’s not the only thing you don’t remember.”

  Cage froze. He was starting to get a really bad feeling about this story. When he was drunk, he’d been told that he was really flirty and playful. Like your father. Not that different from his usual personality, but that wasn’t a good thing when he’d been painfully attracted to his best friend’s little sister and trying to hide it back then. Had he said something inappropriate? Damn, of course he had. He could barely keep his eyes off Talia’s tits back in the day. No doubt he’d told her exactly that if he was drunk.

  “Did I say something out of line? If I did, I am so sorry. I talk a lot when I’m drunk apparently.”

  She smiled at that. “Yes you do. But I liked it. We talked about so many things. It was actually really nice. Until…you kissed me.”

  Cage blinked. “I kissed you?”

  “Yeah. Which was fine. I was…it was fine. But then the next time I saw you, you acted like I didn’t even exist.”

  Cage put his hands to his head. So many things made sense in this new context. He’d noticed that Talia seemed different after that party, but he’d had no idea why. It had hurt at first, but then he’d decided it was for the best. It was hard enough to stay away from her when she was being nice to him.

  “I didn’t remember. God, I thought I dreamed that.”

  She gave him a strange look. “You stopped talking to me after that.”

  Suddenly he realized what it must have seemed like to her. Like he was a total user who was all over girls and then treated them like trash afterward.

  “I was trying to stay away from you. You were Trevor’s little sister and I knew he would kick my ass if he found out that I was having X-rated dreams about you.”

  Talia blushed. “Really?”

  “Definitely. Look, let me take you out tonight. I want to apologize properly.”

  Instantly he could see the wall go back up. Talia straightened her shoulders and glanced behind her at the building that he guessed held her next class.

  “No need. It’s all in the past and I don’t need a pity date, thanks.”

  “It’s not a pity date, Talia.”

  She pasted a big smile on her face. One that anyone could tell was fake. “It’s cool. Really. I accept your apology. But I have to go to class now. See you around, Cage.”

  “Wait–“

  But it was too late. She spun on her heel and bounded up the stairs to her building. It only took a few seconds for the crowd to swallow her up.

  Five

  Holy shit. Cage couldn't believe he didn't remember kissing her.

  That's why she’d tasted so damn familiar the night they “met.” Or rather, the night they’d met again. He’d kissed her? Not that kissing her was out of the realm of possibility. He'd only considered doing it a million times.

  She was his best friend’s little sister. Trevor trusted him. After all, wasn’t that why Trevor had asked him to look in on her? To make sure she was safe. Safe meant not anywhere near Cage’s bed. Or naked in his thoughts.

  Damn it with the naked thoughts.

  He fucking needed to make it up to her somehow. She was clearly still pissed about whatever happened with them. No matter how long ago it had been. And because he was an asshole, that night was a complete black hole for him.

  Because you’re just like your father.

  Cage shook his head to clear that thought. She was pissed. And she had good reason to be. That was all he needed to know.

  Talia had always been the girl that was somehow out of reach. He’d liked her. But somewhere between those times he’d been waiting for Trev to come home and those times he’d given her a ride somewhere, he’d started to like talking to her. She was mature, smart, funny. And totally off limits. Before he knew it, he’d taken every opportunity he could to spend time with her.

  She’d always seemed too mature. Too quiet. Too buttoned up. The asshole inside him always wanted to mess her up a little bit. But, wisely, he’d put her squarely in the friend box. Trevor was one of his few true friends. One of the people who didn’t care who his father was. One of the ones who didn't give a shit what Cage could give him. And Trevor was very protective of his sister. So Cage had shoved those feelings aside. Besides, Jenna was a much better, safer bet. One that didn't involve betraying his good friend.

  Trevor knew him better than anyone. His friend knew the kind of hell he went through at home. Knew the truth about what kind of man his father was. He knew the reason Cage spent most of his time at his house, or on the rugby pitch. Basically pretty much anywhere but at ho
me. His mom was great. Her only failing was insisting on loving a man who was broken. A man who didn't know how to love back.

  If Cage wanted to get all psychoanalytic and shit, he would probably admit to himself that his fucked-up childhood was part of the reason he stayed with Jenna for so long. Even when it clearly wasn't working. Even though she was manipulative, and an outright bitch to him. He’d stayed with her. There was probably some fucked up part of his brain that thought he deserved that kind of chaos in his life. Also, she had tits made for wet dreams, so he’d put up with a lot of her bullshit.

  Cage drove through the La Jolla traffic back towards campus. Mel's Bakery in Orange County had come through for him. It was the only place that would take specific special orders. Back in Windy Willows, there'd been a bakery that made special doughnut cakes. The damn things were addictive and tasted like Krispy Kremes. He'd ordered a few for Talia as a make-up offering.

  When he arrived at her dorm, he parked his car and stared up at the building. Would this be enough? Would she even start talking to him again? Why does it matter so much to you? You should be enjoying your freedom.

  He should be enjoying his freedom. But right now all he wanted to do was spend some time with Talia. You’re a sap. A sap who’d had a thing for her forever.

  He never even made it into her dorm before he saw her heading out on her bike towards the main pavilion and followed her, finally parking his car in front of the engineering building. Cage shoved the box of doughnut cakes into his backpack and ran after her. "Talia. Wait."

  She slowed down, then hopped off her bike when she saw him. "Cage. I thought we already talked about this. Us, hanging out, it’s not gonna happen."

  "Look. I'm sorry. I fucked up. I know I did. Just, can you come with me? Just for a little bit. Or do you have class?"

  Talia licked her lips, and his gaze pinned to the tip of her tongue as he watched her slick her lips with moisture. Stop it. This will not help. "Come on. It'll be worth your while. I just want to apologize."