Tease

by Cambria Hebert

  He grasped my face in his palms. “People are going to say it’s too soon. That what’s between us is only lust.”

  “Sometimes people suck.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, they do.”

  “I don’t care what other people think. I only care what you think. And you know what’s in here.” I placed his hand over my chest. “You know what it feels like when our eyes meet across the room, or when you’re inside me and it’s not just our bodies that are connected.”

  “Fuck ‘em,” he said.

  “Fuck ‘em all.” I agreed.

  I pressed my cheek against his chest and we lay there quietly while he trailed his fingers along my spine.

  “Why did you apply for the job at the Mad Hatter?”

  “Because I lost some of my tuition assistance for school. My roommate graduated and moved out, and I was left wondering how I was going to keep up with rent and pay for school.”

  “Why’d you lose your tuition assistance? Did you get bad grades?”

  I laughed and poked him in the ribs. “No. I did not get bad grades. I don’t really know why. Government cuts? School cuts? Who knows? All I know is the money I need isn’t there.”

  “So you became a stripper.”

  I snorted. “The worst stripper ever.”

  “I could never keep my eyes off you.”

  “Whenever I got really nervous or sucked really bad, I would look at you,” I whispered, a small secret smile playing on my lips.

  “I’m glad you quit.”

  I lifted my head, surprised. “You are?”

  “The thought of anyone seeing you…” He cupped my bare butt cheek. “…seeing the places only I’ve seen, drives me insane.”

  “It does?”

  He smiled, the dimple appearing on his cheek. I kissed it. “I could barely see straight when you went back into that VIP room.”

  “Why didn’t you say something?” I asked, propping my chin on his chest and gazing at him.

  “It’s not my job to tell you what to do.”

  “Then what is your job?” I said, arching a brow.

  “To tell you that you’re beautiful. To kiss you. To love you.” He spoke softly, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

  My belly did a little flop with the combination of his words and his touch.“Mmmm. You’re an overachiever.”

  “So are you.” His lips curved up in a smile.

  I heard the front door open and close. My body stiffened and my breathing came in shallow pants. “It’s Roxie,” I murmured.

  We listened to the sounds in the living room. Someone bumped into something and I cringed.

  “I’m going to go make sure it’s them.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  He lifted me off him, depositing me on a pillow and tucking the blankets around me. “If I don’t, you’ll worry all night.”

  He got up and pulled on a pair of shorts and disappeared. I heard a few quiet voices and then the bathroom sink ran and the toilet flushed. Then he was talking again, his voice seeming farther away than before.

  Minutes later, he came back in the room with a bottle of water that he handed to me. I sat up and took a sip.

  “It’s just Roxie and Adam. Adam’s making up the couch.”

  “How’s Roxie?”

  “She seemed okay.”

  That was such a guy answer. He probably wouldn’t know how she was unless she was sobbing or laughing. I would just see for myself tomorrow. Adam was with her and I could tell he cared about her a lot, even if neither one of them was willing to admit it.

  I lifted the covers on the bed in invitation to Cam. He smiled and slid between them, taking me in his arms and shutting off the light.

  “Go to sleep, baby. Nothing is going to bother you tonight.”

  I was exhausted and he was so incredibly warm and comfortable that I drifted off just as I was thinking sleep would likely be elusive.

  And when I jolted awake in the deep of the night, my heart pounding and fear rearing its ugly head, I reached for Cam. He was there.

  I felt better.

  19

  The gentle caress of his lips stirred me awake and I opened one eye to peer at him through the very early, very dim light of a new day. His head was resting right beside mine, and he watched me with a small smile on his face.

  “What?” I said, my voice slightly slurred and thick from sleep.

  He chuckled. Even I couldn’t be grouchy when he sounded so pleased. “I’m supposed to give a surf lesson at the beach in a bit. Want to come watch?”

  I groaned. Asking me to get up this early was seriously inhumane. “I tired,” I whined.

  He kissed me on the nose. “I can call and cancel.”

  “No. Just go without me.”

  “I don’t know,” he murmured, brushing the hair off my cheek.

  “I’ll be fine. Adam’s here.”

  “Are you sure?” I growled. He chuckled again. “I’ll come back when I’m done.”

  “M’kay.”

  He kissed my cheek and tucked the blankets up around my chin. “I’ll bring you a coffee.”

  Even after he was gone, the sheets still carried his scent. I breathed it in and slipped right back into a blissful sleep.

  Unfortunately, my plan to sleep in and wallow in bed was short lived. Apparently Adam was a morning person like Cam (damn those early risers) and he started banging around in the kitchen, making me wonder what in the world he was doing.

  With a groan, I rolled out of bed (I literally rolled out of bed and fell on my ass) and saw Cam’s T-shirt lying on the floor. I picked it up and tugged it over my head, enjoying the way it smelled and felt against my skin. Then I grabbed a pair of yoga pants and put those on too.

  I didn’t bother combing my hair or brushing my teeth. Call it Adam’s punishment for waking me up. I stumbled out of the bedroom and into the living, wiping the sleep from my eyes. Roxie’s bedroom door opened and she came out looking as disgruntled as I, with a silk robe flapping behind her as she walked.

  “What in God’s name are you doing?” she grumped. “And what is that smell?”

  “Your coffee maker is a piece of crap!” Adam yelled from the kitchen.

  In guy speak, that meant he broke it, but he was blaming the poor appliance.

  Roxie and I shared a glance and then went to survey the damage. I didn’t know coffee makers could produce smoke. But ours was doing just that. It was also in the sink with water pouring over it from the faucet… which led me to believe that it had been on fire…

  “I’ve actually never met anyone who couldn’t use a coffee maker,” I said, staring at the smoking, waterlogged appliance.

  “Shit,” Adam swore softly and ran a hand over the top of his head. “I’ll buy you ladies another one.”

  Roxie giggled.

  Adam looked at her sharply. “Are you laughing at me?”

  She laughed harder. It made me laugh too.

  Adam grinned. “Where the hell is Cam? And what’s with all the chick food in the refrigerator?”

  I sighed. “I bought guy food. Beer, bacon, eggs…”

  “Yes, but those require actual cooking,” Roxie said, stifling another giggle. “And it’s clear that Adam knows nothing about cooking.”

  He wasn’t amused.

  “What do you usually eat, Adam?”

  “I usually just hit a drive-thru,” he muttered, and we both burst out laughing again. He scowled.

  “Since I ruined the coffee maker, coffee’s on me this morning. Even though you two hyenas don’t deserve it, I’ll even spring for donuts.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Roxie said, heading for her room where I assumed she was going to change out of her PJs.

  “Well, that’s a first,” I said, watching her go.

  “What?”

  “I’ve yet to see her willingly leave the apartment this early in the morning.”

  Adam’s chest puffed out. “I have a way with the ladie
s.”

  I snorted, hiding the fact that I secretly agreed with him.

  “What do you want in your coffee?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “You don’t have to get me one. Cam’s bringing one over for me after his surf lesson. But I won’t argue with a donut.”

  He studied me a minute. “Want me to wait ‘til Cam gets back before I go?”

  I sighed. Everyone’s concern was sweet, but I was an adult. I didn’t need a babysitter. “No. I’m fine. Last night was scary, but I’m certainly not going to fall apart.”

  Roxie reappeared wearing a pair of cutoffs and a fitted tee. She had sunglasses already over her eyes. I laughed. “You better get the coffee. Looks like waking up this early isn’t doing a body good.”

  Adam grabbed his keys off the counter and placed a hand on the small of Roxie’s back as he led her to the door. “Lock this behind us,” he called.

  “Okay.”

  When the door closed, I let out a sigh. I loved my friends, but a few minutes alone seemed kind of appealing right now. I hadn’t lied when I told Adam (or Cam) that I was okay. I was. But that didn’t mean I didn’t have some feelings to sort out in my mind for my own well-being.

  I pushed away from the counter and spun, planning to go lock the door, but something on the counter caught my eye. It was the jar of rice that Cam had given me.

  With everything going on, I had completely forgotten about my cell phone. Curious, I fished it out of the jar, snapped the battery into the back, and then hit the power button.

  A few seconds went by and the screen flashed, coming to life. I smiled. It actually worked. Who’da thunk it?

  I turned the phone over in my hands, making sure there weren’t any scratches or damages, and then it made a series of small beeps. I flipped it back over to see that I had several voicemails.

  All of them from my mother.

  Crap. I had completely forgotten to call her back. She was probably worried to death. I glanced at the clock and noted that it was still a little early to call her so I went into my message box and played back the first voice message—the one that she left right before I dumped my phone in the melted ice.

  I pressed the speaker button and my mother’s voice filled the kitchen. “Hi, honey, it’s your mother. Seems we’ve been playing phone tag a lot lately. I hope everything is okay. I just wanted to let you know that John—the boy you went to high school with?”

  Yes, I remembered John well. He was the guy that told everyone I cheated with him, thus shooting down the whole tease rumor.

  You’re nothing but a little tease… The words from last night echoed in my head and I gasped.

  My mother kept talking, although the room was beginning to tilt. “John came by the house the other day. He hadn’t realized you went away to college, and he thought he could speak with you. When I told him you weren’t here, he asked me to pass along a message. He said he ran into Brody at a bar and he let your secret slip.”

  Oh, this wasn’t good. In fact, I was beginning to put together a puzzle I hadn’t even realized I was assembling. As the pieces fit together, it revealed a very ugly picture.

  “He seemed alarmed by this. He said Brody was upset. Honey, I don’t understand—”

  BEEP.

  She had talked so long that the message cut her off. I was glad because I didn’t want to hear any more. I ended the message and laid my phone on the counter, staring down at it.

  The guy last night—the guy in the VIP room—wasn’t a stranger. That’s the reason he seemed familiar… because he was.

  The scent of cologne suddenly washed over me and I gasped. Not only had half the guys in our school worn it when it came out, but so did Brody. I clearly remembered that fragrance from every date we ever had.

  “I think you’re getting the message a little late,” said a voice from the kitchen entrance.

  “Brody!” I gasped, spinning around. I guess I hadn’t been imagining or just remembering the cologne. Brody was here, and he was wearing it now.

  “So you recognize me now? Last night you seemed to have no clue. Or are all men just faceless objects for you to toy with?” He wasn’t quite as tall as Cam, not reaching six feet, but he was broad through his upper body. He wore a pair of cargo shorts, a T-shirt, and a baseball cap. The hat may have shadowed his face, but it couldn’t completely disguise the black eye, busted lip, and bruise across his cheekbone.

  I now had no doubt it was him last night. Clearly, Cam’s fists did a lot of damage.

  “What are you doing here? How did you get in?”

  “You know why I’m here,” he said, his voice deadly calm. “You really should lock your doors.”

  “You need to leave.”

  He laughed and stepped farther into the kitchen.

  I guess I suspected why he was here, but that didn’t make it any easier to grasp. And even if my assumptions were right, I still had a hard time comprehending his behavior. In all the years I’d known Brody—dated him—I never thought he was capable of attacking me or coming into my home uninvited (with really bad intentions).

  Yes, I’d kept the secret of the rumor I started, but in my opinion, he deserved it. He did it to me first (Hey, I was in high school. That’s the kind of logic I was dealing with here). But even so… this was years ago. Who cared if John blurted out he really never had sex with me?

  “Do you have any idea the amount of humiliation you caused me senior year?”

  “I’m thinking it couldn’t be any worse than walking through the hall and people whispering the words ice and tease at my back.”

  “What I said was the truth.”

  I cocked my head to the side. “Says who? You? Just because I wouldn’t sleep with you back then gave you the right to spread rumors about me? You thought by labeling me a cock tease or some ice princess that you were going to make me finally give it up?”

  “I was with you for years,” he snapped. “Years of thinking it was going to happen and then just when I thought we were going to go all the way, you shut me down. And then you cheated on me. With the freaking quarterback. I was the laughing stock of the entire school. I became the guy who couldn’t get it up. I became the guy that no girl wanted… Hell, some people even thought I was gay.”

  “You brought that on yourself.”

  His fists clenched and his eyes flashed. I realized I’d probably gone too far. He took another step toward me. I couldn’t back away because my back was already pressed up against the counter.

  “When you left for college, I thought people would forget, that no one would care anymore. But no one forgot. I was stuck in that fucking town where people made Viagra jokes and I could barely get a date. And then John came home from college for the summer. I saw him at the bar. He had one too many beers and started running his mouth. Imagine how I felt when he told everyone that he never slept with you. That you made it all up just to ruin my reputation.”

  “Brody, that was years ago. We were just kids.”

  “Yeah, but that lie followed me everywhere I went.”

  “I’m sorry,” I murmured. I hadn’t realized how badly the lie had hurt his reputation. I certainly hadn’t meant to cause any long-lasting damage. Back then, I’d been a girl who just wanted the whispers to stop. I didn’t want to be known as some frigid bitch.

  I wasn’t frigid… but I had acted like a bitch.

  “We both lied and it got out of hand.”

  “Shut up!” he yelled. “You don’t get to say you’re sorry. There’s only one thing that can make up for what you did.”

  Ice formed low in my belly. It was so cold that it spread through my veins, freezing everything in its path. “Go. Now. Or I’m calling the police.” I reached around me and picked up my phone, getting ready to make good on my threat.

  He lunged forward and snatched the phone out of my hand and threw it across the room, where it slammed against the wall and cracked, sliding down to the floor into several broken pieces.

  �
��I’m not leaving until I get what I came here for.”

  “What’s that?” I stuttered, very afraid I already knew.

  His eyes raked over my body, making me feel sick and dirty all at once. “You’re going to give me what was rightfully mine. I’m going to screw you and I’m going to make sure everyone knows that I did.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a phone and held it up.