What the hell?
Ky chuckles, while I try to hide my confusion. “Brad, this is Rachel and that’s Jill. My two besties from home. Ky arranged a surprise visit for me.”
“How awesome. Isn’t he just the perfect boyfriend,” he drawls sarcastically. He takes a long hard slug from his beer as I squirm uncomfortably in my seat. Before anyone can take him to task over his blatant derision, he turns his full attention to Rachel. “What about you, beautiful?” I flinch at his use of that word. “Do you have a boyfriend I should worry about?”
“She’s single,” Jill pipes up, trying to be helpful.
“Sweet.” Brad leans into Rach’s face, until there’s barely a millimeter between them. Rachel gulps, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so lost for words. “Fancy hooking up later?”
“Brad!” What on earth has gotten into him? While I can guess where this new animosity is stemming from, I don’t know what happened between leaving school and now to make him act so abnormally.
“Bro, you’re kinda being an asshole,” Ky tells him.
“Maybe I like being an asshole,” he retorts. “Maybe I’ve always been an asshole and I’ve been hiding behind my nice guy image. Maybe I’m tired of that shit. Or maybe I just want to hook up with a girl who’s available for a change?”
I can’t believe he just went there. Is he drunk or high or something?
“Aw, poor little rich boy,” Rach teases, finally finding her voice. “All sore ’cause he didn’t win the girl.” She stabs her finger in his bare chest. “Grow up, and get a life. And put a damned shirt on. It’s the middle of winter, dickhead.”
Brad throws back his head, laughing hysterically. Ky and I exchange more worried glances. How much has he had to drink?
Rachel scowls, narrowing her eyes at him. Then she turns to me. “He is not at all what I expected. I thought you said he was cool?”
Brad stops laughing. “What were you expecting exactly?” He sizes her up.
“Faye has had nothing but nice things to say about you, so I wasn’t expecting the half-drunk half-naked look or the arrogant personality or the massive chip on your shoulder. Need I continue?”
He laughs but it lacks humor. Leaning in with a transparent sneer on his face, he says, “You don’t know shit, honey. You think you have the measure of me after two minutes? You don’t know me. You know nothing, so do us all a favor and fuck off.”
I gasp, completely appalled.
Ky shucks out of my embrace, ready to tear strips off Brad, but I hold him back. I stand up, taking a minute to get a handle on my anger. Grabbing Brad’s arm, I pull him aside. “What the hell has gotten into you? How dare you speak to my friend like that!” I face Rach. “He isn’t usually like this, I promise.”
“Quit apologizing for me. I’m not sorry I spoke my mind.” He turns the full extent of his anger on me now. “Red is hardly in any position to throw stones unless that prissy, stuck-up, better-than-you attitude is actually who she is, and then I’m even less sorry. At least I’m speaking my mind, not hiding behind my anger.”
Rach’s nostrils flare, and I shoot Jill a worried look. Rach is like the most vicious tiger when challenged, and she ain’t afraid to use claws. “You self-righteous pompous prick!” Rachel’s face is puce with rage. “Who da fuck do yo—”
“Ohmigawd,” Jill shrieks, deliberately butting in. “I almost forgot about this!” She pulls a slim white envelope out of her bag. “Luke gave this to me to give to you.” I take the envelope, with my name scrawled in messy black pen on the front, with a slight frown. “Actually, he turned up at Dublin airport and tried to come with.”
I rub the back of my neck. “Really? Why would he do that?” I’ve heard nothing from my ex since I left Irish shores, and I haven’t given him a second thought either.
“Why’d ya think? He’s still got the hots for you.” She smirks, pleased to have diverted World War III in the making. Not that it’s completely smoothed things over. I haven’t missed how Brad and Rach are facing off, scowling at one another with blatant hostility.
A warm arm encircles my waist. “Should I be worried?” Ky peers at me with a slight frown. “Who is this guy, and why haven’t I heard of him before?”
“What guy?” James asks as he enters the room.
“No one,” I say, the same time Ky says, “Luke. Some jerk who’s still in love with Faye.”
I roll my eyes. “Hardly. He’s the other side of the world, and you have nothing to worry about, trust me. He’s so not in your league.”
“That’s the guy I met back at your house?” James asks. “Your ex?”
“Yep.” I nibble on my lip hoping he’ll let it go. As distraction techniques go, I’m not sure Jill has the skill down pat yet.
“Don’t worry.” He slaps Ky on the back. “The guy is harmless, and he seemed decent enough.” I can’t help my natural gobsmacked reaction, and James laughs. “I know, I know. I was a bit of an ass when we met.” He chuckles at the memory. “But, in my defense, he was in bed with my niece and he had his hand somewhere he shouldn’t have.”
I slam my palm into my forehead as I groan. Jill and Rach both shriek “What?!” and Ky growls. Brad leans back against the table with a smug grin on his face.
“Seriously, can we drop this? It’s giving me a headache.”
“I don’t like the thought of any other guy with his hands on you,” Ky whispers in my ear.
“It was before I knew you even existed,” I whisper back.
“Doesn’t stop the visual.”
“At least it’s only in your imagination.” The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them.
Ky winces, pulling me in tighter to his chest. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He rubs his hands up and down my arms, but it’s too late now. Recollections of him and Addison swarm my mind, extinguishing my good mood in a nanosecond.
James clears his throat loudly, gesturing at my friends, and I wriggle out of Ky’s grasp and set about introducing him to Jill and Rach.
“I think I’ve died and gone to heaven,” Rach admits in an awestruck tone of voice as she swoons and cries over practically every item in my walk-in-wardrobe.
“Borrow whatever you want. Knock yourself out.” I pull out a pair of black skinny jeans.
Rach whips the jeans out of my hands, throwing them on the ground. “Not a chance, sister. We are going all out tonight. Let’s show these Yanks what they’ve been missing.”
I drag Jill over to my side. “A little help here?”
“I’m with Rach,” she says, holding a short black and red baby doll dress against her body. “It’s my first American party, and we are dressing to impress!” She screams in delight, a shrill ear-piercing sound that almost deafens me. Planting my hands over my ears, I relent.
Rach nudges me in the ribs, glowering. “Ow! What was that for?” I ask, rubbing the sore spot under my boob.
“Most of these clothes still have tags on.” She looks at me like I’m an alien being in a human body. “I would die for this wardrobe. Die, I tell you.”
“Well that would be stupid. Then you wouldn’t be alive to wear any of them.”
“What do you think?” Jill asks, giving us a twirl in the dress.
“It’s stunning, but a little too big around the waist,” I answer truthfully.
“Here,” Rach says, thrusting a silky black cumber band at Jill. “Let me see if this works.” She crisscrosses it around Jill’s waist before tying it into a bow in front. It works perfectly.
“Amazing. You should be working in fashion, Rach. I’ll introduce you to Alex tomorrow and you can ask her all about career options if you like.”
Rachel grips my arms. “I would love that! I’m so excited to meet her.”
I’m actually a little pissed that she didn’t come out of her home office to say hi to
my friends, but there must be something up as I’ve noticed her work colleagues coming and going all evening, so I try not to take the snub personally.
An hour later and we are finally ready to rock and roll. Rach chose a vibrant purple skater-style dress that stops just above her knee. Stylish black sandals with a wedge heel complete the look.
I take one last look at myself in the mirror, marveling at the professional hair and makeup job the girls did on me while I fuss with the hem on my ridiculously short dress. “Stop that!” Rach slaps my hand away. “That dress was made for you. You look totally fuckable. He won’t be able to keep his hands off you.”
The black silk mini dress hugs my curves in all the right places, and although it looks like it’s welded on, it feels soft and comfortable against my skin. There is a wide ruffle detail over one shoulder and that’s the only embellishment. I’m wearing black and red open-toed stilettos that elongate my legs, making them look like they go on forever. Although I’m feeling exposed, there’s no denying it’s a classy dress. I’ve just never been all that comfortable highlighting my body in such a transparent way.
“You should wear dresses more often, Faye. They really suit you. I would kill for your long legs,” Jill says, knowing I need an injection of confidence. My heart inflates. I doubt I’ll ever meet more supportive friends.
“You two are the best. You know that, right?” My eyes well up.
Jill wraps her arms around me. “We know, and you mean that to us too. We have really missed you. Missed this.”
Rachel leans in and we indulge in a group hug. My phone pings with another message from Ky. “We need to go before Ky goes all Neanderthal Man and storms in here to claim me.”
“Wait a sec,” Rach says, shuffling nervously on her feet. “I have something I need to tell you. I wanted to wait until you were both here to say it.”
“Ohmigawd, you’re pregnant?” Jill roars, and I clamp a hand over her mouth.
“What? No!” Rach shakes her head in consternation. “I don’t even have a boyfriend.”
“You always have a different boy draped over you at parties, and you have a habit of disappearing with them,” Jill replies, with a knowing smirk.
“So what?” Rach retorts, her skin turning puce. “It doesn’t mean I sleep with all of them. Give me some credit.”
I wade in before they start bickering. “You’re not pregnant. Got it. So what’s your news?”
“My family won the Euromillions.”
Okay. So wasn’t expecting that.
“Was it that win that was all over the news recently?” Jill asks. “Like eighty million?” Her eyes blaze with excitement.
“Eighty-three million seven hundred thousand and five to be exact,” Rach confirms.
“Ho. Lee. Shit. That’s an epic amount of money.”
“I know. You’d want to see Mum and Dad since the win. I don’t think they’ve slept, and there’s champagne on tap at our house, but they are keeping it contained until they decide what to do. We were all sworn to secrecy, but I got them to agree I could tell you this weekend.” She snatches her purse. “So now you know and drinks are on me!”
Chapter Seventeen
Faye
We walk toward the lobby like three wannabe Kim K’s in the making—flinging our hair over our shoulders, wiggling our hips, and pouting provocatively as the noise of our heels taps off the polished floors announcing our arrival. The boys instantly mute, standing there with their mouths hanging open. Mission accomplished. Ha. I grin at my friends. Tonight is going to be so fun.
Kal whistles under his breath. “You look absolutely stunning, ladies. You are all anyone is going to be talking about at this party.”
“We hope so,” Rach says, sending him a saucy wink as she loops her arms in his. “Lead the way.”
Ky stalks toward me with a possessive glint in his eye. The usual electrical current sizzles between us as he advances. He’s wearing my favorite dark denim jeans and a fitted black shirt that is rolled up at the sleeves, showcasing his strong, muscular arms. His hair is styled to perfection, and his designer stubble is intact. He is sex on legs, and the urge to jump his bones is strong. It’s as if some switch has been flicked inside me. Like the instant we had sex, I’ve turned into some sex-crazed maniac, because all I can think about when I see him is peeling the clothes off his back and riding him like a horse.
I fan my face with my hands, but it does nothing to quench the flames overtaking my body.
Reeling me slowly into his chest, he roams his hands over my back and my ass, his fingers lingering on my bare thigh. I run my fingers back and forth across his prickly jawline. “You should be locked up,” he whispers, grazing his nose along my neck. “You are far too tempting to be let out in public.”
“Does that mean you like it?”
A primal growl gurgles up from the base of his throat. “Like it? I love it. You look sexy, and you’re all mine.” Burying his head in my bare shoulder, he presses a lingering kiss to that sensitive place on my collarbone as his sneaky hand creeps up under the back of my dress. The ache between my legs intensifies, and I shiver all over. “And don’t think I missed the dirty look on your face, either. I want to know all the naughty things you’re thinking,” he whispers in my ear, sending another round of tingles zinging through my body. If he wasn’t holding me so tightly, I don’t think I’d be able to keep myself upright.
“Fuck and be done with it,” Kent suggests, brushing past us. “You’re like two wild animals who’ve just been let out of a cage.”
We break apart, and I scowl at my younger cousin. “Do you have to be so crude all the time?” I take hold of Ky’s hand as we walk en masse out the front door. Kent shrugs, smirking. He likes saying things for the “shock” factor, but I’m not sure how much of it is real and how much is for show.
Jill and Rach shriek in excitement when they spot the waiting limo. I turn to Ky, and he smiles. Throwing my arms around his neck, I fuse my mouth with his, sliding my tongue inside and pouring everything into the kiss. “You just wait ’til later,” he purrs into my ear, before pulling me inside the car.
“You must want in her pants real bad,” Brad says, popping the cork on the champagne.
“Shut the fuck up,” Ky snaps. “There doesn’t always have to be an ulterior motive. This is Jill and Rachel’s first time here, and I wanted to make it special for them.”
“I want him when you’re done with him,” Rach pipes up, sending me a teasing grin.
“You’ll be waiting a while,” I reply, accepting a glass of champagne from Ky. “Like eternity.”
Ky leans in, grinning again as he plants a hot kiss on my mouth. I grab his waist and pull him to me, not bothered about the audience or the champagne which I’m most likely spilling all over the floor. My core pulses with need, and I don’t know how I’m expected to wait until later tonight to have my wicked way with him. I want him inside me now. I whimper at the thought.
“Can’t you two keep your hands to yourselves for even five seconds?” Brad hisses, and we break apart with a sigh. We haven’t set out to intentionally make things difficult for Brad, but this is the first time Ky and I can be ourselves in public, and it’s hard to ignore our natural instincts. I just want to weld myself to his side and never let go.
“They’re hot for one another,” Kal says, instantly coming to our defense. “And this is the first time they can publicly be together. Give them a break.”
“Bro. Chill,” Kent says, slapping Brad on the knee. “Trent’s parties are legendary. There’ll be tons of pussy. You can fuck that girl right out of your hair.” He snatches a bottle of beer from the cooler, smirking.
I slap a palm to my forehead. Did he have to tag that on the end? My shoulders are corded into knots now.
“Words fail me,” Rach says, knocking back her champagne in one go. Jill and I e
xchange the usual look. I make a mental note to ask Kal to keep an eye on her tonight. Rach has a tendency to overdo it on the alcohol front, and once she’s lost her inhibitions, she gets all kinds of messy. We’ve tried talking to her on several occasions, but she always brushes our concerns aside.
“Sounds like a plan, dude.” Brad taps his beer bottle against Kent’s like they’re partners in crime.
“Brad is getting on my last nerve,” Ky whispers, sliding his arm around my back.
“He’s your friend and he’s hurting. Cut him some slack,” I whisper back.
“I’m trying to, but it’s not easy. If anyone even looks sideways at you, I want to rip their intestines from their body.”
“Ew, Ky.” I slap his arm. “That’s gross, and totally uncalled for.”
He shrugs. “Just being honest. I’m a jealous motherfucker. Don’t say I haven’t warned you.”
“You have nothing to be jealous of.” I kiss the tip of his nose. “No one else exists for me but you. The instant I laid eyes on you I knew it.”
“God, I fucking love you.” He slams his mouth to mine all too briefly, but I know that’s for Brad’s benefit, and I’m not going to fault him for caring about protecting his friend’s feelings. “You have a big heart, Faye.” He caresses my cheek, his eyes simmering with pride. “It’s one of the things I love most about you.”
I swoon at his words, grinning at him as I bask in a happy bubble that is all Ky-induced.
The party is in full swing by the time we arrive. The limo deposits us out front and we walk around to the back of the house. Trent’s parent’s property sits on a vast plot that appears to rival the Kennedys for sheer size and impressiveness. The house is huge. It’s three stories high with a mix of red brick and cream stone façade, wide, extensive windows, and copious balconies. Steps lead from the rear of the house down to the biggest pool I’ve ever seen, set in front of a well-manicured lawn. Two large hot tubs off the side of the pool are full to the brim with half-naked boys and girls. Jill clutches my free hand, literally frothing with excitement.
Keeping Kyler (The Kennedy Boys Book 3) Page 14