by Ana Huang
“Really?” Roman’s eyes darkened even more. “Funny, we agree on something for once.”
Then, he did something that totally shocked me. He started taking off his top.
My jaw dropped. Uh-oh. “Wh-what are you doing?” In my panic, I completely forgot about my seductress voice.
“Since you’ve changed into your…outfit for the night—“ Roman tossed his shirt carelessly on the floor, and I nearly drooled when his lean, muscled torso came into view. It was every bit as beautiful as the one other time I’d seen him shirtless, after I fell asleep in his room. “—I figured I should do the same.” He gave me a wolfish smile as he began unbuttoning his jeans. “Did I forget to mention I sleep in my boxers?”
The room suddenly turned into a sauna. “I believe so,” I croaked, silently cursing Carlo with all my might. This was all his—oh my. Roman stepped out of his jeans. The temperature rose another ten degrees, at least.
He eyed me hungrily, and a swarm of butterflies immediately invaded my stomach. I unconsciously licked my lips.
Bad move.
Before I even knew what happened, Roman was on the bed. More specifically, he was on top of me on the bed, his legs straddling my hips. The only thing that kept the entire length of our bodies from pressing against each other was the fact he had propped himself up with his hands.
My breathing became shallow, even as I dimly realized the tables had totally turned. I wasn’t teasing him, it was more like he was teasing me.
Although is it still considered teasing when he’s about to kiss me?
As I lay there frozen, unsure what to do, his mouth began its descent to cover mine. The majority of me was yelling abort! Abort! but there was another, shameful part of me that wanted the kiss to happen.
Then, in what had to be either my stupidest or smartest move of the night, I blurted out, “Thank you.”
Roman froze, his face so close to mine I could count all the individual gold flecks in his eyes. “Thank you?” His voice was strangled.
“Yeah.” I fought to retain my calm. “I wanted to see the effect this lingerie has on the opposite sex—practice and all—so thanks for helping me out.” I shrugged to the best of my ability, considering I was pinned down on the bed.
Confusion clouded his features. “Practice for what?”
I said the first thing I could think of. “For when I wear this for Carlo later.” The minute the words left my mouth, I wanted to hit my head against the wall. Wow, I just keep digging myself into deeper holes.
And just like that, the passionate, lustful Roman was gone, replaced by one I knew so well. Only, not really, because even though he roughly pushed himself off me, he wasn’t scowling at me like I expected him to. Instead, his face was a stony mask and completely unreadable.
“Glad I could help,” he finally said coolly.
I swallowed, sitting up straight and involuntarily grabbing a fistful of the comforter in my hand. This wasn’t what I expected. Angry Roman, I could handle. But this one, the cold, detached one? I had no clue how to handle him.
He walked over to the other side of the bed and grabbed a pillow off of it.
“What are you doing?” I asked, confused.
“I’m sleeping in the living room tonight.” Roman turned his back to her. “Maybe that way you could pretend Carlo’s sleeping next to you later.”
I watched, slightly stunned, as he disappeared into the living room.
If I didn’t know better, I would’ve sworn he was hurt.
I should probably feel triumphant right now, but the only thing I felt was lost.
* * *
“I want to call it off.”
“What are you talking about?” Carlo kept his voice low as we stepped out of the open-air Jeep. “According to what you told me, you did well last night. Better than I expected, really.” He looked like he was trying not to laugh.
I frowned at him. “Thanks,” I said sarcastically. “Honestly, Carlo, this whole getting revenge thing isn’t me. I can’t handle another night like last night.”
“You don’t need to,” he said. “We finished phase one. We need to move on phase two.”
I was curious despite myself. “Which is?”
“Jealousy, of course,” he answered flippantly.
I shook my head frantically. “No, we can’t. It’s—“
“Shh.” Carlo shushed me as we stopped into a clearing. I gasped at the sight before me, all thoughts of the plan flying away for the moment.
Wow. We had given Zack his gifts earlier, and luckily, he had loved the photo canvas I’d given him, with a collage of his favorite photos that he’d taken (I had to thank Adriana for helping me out with that one).
Now, it was time for the real celebration for the twins: a giant carnival-style party.
As I took in the spectacle in front of me, I couldn’t help but wonder how much time and money went into planning this party. I also couldn’t believe how many famous people the twins were friends with, and how many of those famous people flew all the way to Hawaii to celebrate two high schoolers’ birthday.
Fortunately, I didn’t see any other Valescans, but I did spot several Victoria’s Secret supermodels, professional athletes, movie stars, and singers, including a certain high-profile rap star mogul and his equally high-profile R&B songstress wife. Everyone was standing in the clearing with big smiles on their faces, while Parker and Carlo untied the blindfolds covering Adriana’s and Zack’s eyes.
The blindfolds fell away, and for once, I saw shock cross Adriana’s face as she stared at the giant carnival grounds in front of her. There was a Ferris wheel, merry-go-rounds, the whole shebang, and above all that was a giant sign that spelled out HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ZACK AND ADRI in blinking neon lights.
“Surprise!” all the guests shouted.
“What?” Adri exclaimed, clapping a hand over her mouth. “No way!”
As everyone went to say happy birthday to the twins, I lingered behind, grinning at the sight of their happiness. Carlo told me earlier that Adriana was had been a huge fan of carnivals as a child, but her parents never let her go because they thought carnivals were too “low class.”
“You guys are really good friends,” I murmured, too starstruck to even approach some of my favorite celebrities, who were milling around like regular people. I narrowed my eyes at Carlo. “But don’t think I’m changing my mind about the plan.”
He sighed. “Maya, when will you learn to trust me?”
“I do trust you, I just don’t like hurting people.”
“Hasn’t he hurt you enough?”
I fell into silence. It was true. Roman had hurt me a lot, but did I really want to stoop to his level?
“Come on,” Carlo said quickly. “We can talk about this later, ok? Let’s just go enjoy ourselves for the time being.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Ok,” I agreed happily.
For the next few hours, I forgot about all my worries as I ran around the carnival grounds like I was a child again. They even had popcorn and cotton candy and everything! After a while, it didn’t even seem all that strange to share the Ferris wheel with one of the stars from a hit vampire-themed TV series. Let me tell you, he is even hotter in person.
In fact, there were so many people I managed to avoid Roman the entire night. Actually, even if I didn’t try to avoid him, he probably would’ve avoided me the way he had all day. Every time I came within five feet of him, he just moved away. Which was fine by me.
Really.
Soon, though, the rides stopped and the carnival grounds turned into a giant dance floor. The DJ from Iceland had been playing music all night long, but now he segued into a series of slow songs, and everyone paired up to sway to the music.
Well, everyone except Zack and Venice, who were doing some sort of strange interpretive dance mixed with the flamenco mixed with...hip-hop? I'm not sure, but needless to say, everyone was giving them a wide berth.
I sat down on one of the ben
ches, watching the couples wistfully. The whole scene was so romantic, it actually made me wish I had a boyfriend.
Unwillingly, I felt my gaze slip to Roman, who was of course surrounded by a gaggle of young models and actresses near the merry-go-round. I blushed as we locked eyes for a second, and a weird look crossed his face before he turned away, totally ignoring me.
A moment later, he broke away from the group to lead a leggy blonde onto the makeshift dance floor.
I frowned. Well, he seemed to be having fun. Anger suddenly surged through me. Why did he get to have all the fun? I should be out there flirting too! I didn’t know why I was still feeling so bummed about last night. Surely I must’ve imagined the hurt look on his face.
Devils don’t have feelings.
“Excuse me, would you like to dance?” A smooth British accent cut into my thoughts.
I looked up, my breath catching when I saw the very handsome, very famous face of Oliver staring down at me. Known only by his first name, Oliver had recently been named as the “male model of the decade” by Vogue. Even in person, he looked photoshopped.
“You want a dance? With me?” I squeaked, pointing to myself.
He nodded, giving me a dazzling smile no girl could resist. “Only if you would like to, of course.”
Oh, would I look to!
I happily accepted, feeling better now that I wasn’t sitting by myself like some loser while Roman was flirting with everything in a skirt.
Oliver led me to the middle of the dance floor, near where Roman and the blonde were dancing. He gently grasped one of my hands in his while his other arm slipped around my waist.
Just then, Edwin McCain’s classic “I’ll Be” came on, and I sighed, wishing I was with someone I loved. It was the ultimate romantic song, and while Oliver was hot and all, it would’ve been so much better if I was dancing with my boyfriend. If I had one, that is.
“What’s wrong?” Oliver murmured, his intense blue eyes boring into mine and making me a bit weak in the knees.
Did the boy even know the effect his looks had on people? Seriously, he was almost as good-looking at the Scions. In fact, he might even be on par with them. It’s not fair.
“Nothing,” I lied, watching Roman and the blonde out of the corner of my eye. Gosh, they looked like they were glued together! Feeling disgruntled, I smiled at Oliver and pulled my hand out of his grasp to wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer.
He looked surprised but not displeased as he rested his hands on my hips. “Good. I don’t want any unhappiness to mar that beautiful face of yours,” he murmured.
Ok, so that was cheesy as hell, but he was hot and seemed nice enough, so I’ll give him a pass. “Thanks."
I rested my chin on his shoulder, and as we turned, I locked eyes with Roman again. He was glaring in my direction with a very angry look on his face.
What was his problem now?
Choosing to ignore him, I averted my gaze, then stiffened as I felt Oliver’s hands slip lower to a rather inappropriate part of my body. Hoping it was an accident, I moved it back up to my hips, where it stayed for about ten seconds. Then it moved back down.
“I don’t think I’m feeling well. I should go sit down,” I said, highly uncomfortable now.
He frowned down at me. “Why? We’re just getting started.”
I shook my head. “No, really, I should go,” I insisted, but Oliver wasn’t listening.
He was looking at something over my head, a rather wicked smile on his face. “Amazing. I believe he really minds this time.”
I frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Instead of answering me, Oliver grabbed my face and crushed his lips against mine. I let out a muffled squeal of surprise, too shocked to do anything for a moment. I was just about to push him off when I felt someone yank him away from me.
I stumbled back a bit, then gasped as Roman threw Oliver to the ground and punched him in the face. Blood spurted from the male model’s nose and dripped down onto his pristine white shirt.
“Roman! What the hell are you doing?” I screamed, while the people around me stopped what they were doing to stare at the spectacle in front of them.
Roman ignored me as he went to punch Oliver again.
Oliver managed to roll away at the last second and he stumbled to his feet, wiping some of the blood from his face. “Bloody hell, that hurt,” he muttered.
“Yeah, well, it’s going to hurt a lot more when I’m through with you,” Roman growled, a dangerous expression on his face.
“Oh yeah? Let’s see you try then,” Oliver taunted.
I groaned. Did he want to die?
I looked around frantically, hoping to spot Carlo, Parker, anyone, but I couldn’t find my friends anywhere. Even Venice and Zack were gone. None of the other party guests seemed willing to help. In fact, some of them were recording the fight on their phones. I guess celebrities weren’t much better than teenagers after all.
“Stop!” I shouted as Roman and Oliver continued to fight each other. I was nearly crying in frustration.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. Even though I knew it was a stupid move, I ran towards them and managed to yank them apart.
“Stop fighting! Do you guys know how stupid you’re acting right now?” I demanded angrily.
Roman glared at me, his eyes ablaze. “I can’t believe this,” he hissed, his face a mottled red as he trained his gaze on my hand, which was currently pressed against Oliver’s chest to hold him back. “You’re taking his side?”
“I’m not taking anyone’s side!” I cried exasperatedly. “I just don’t want you to fight anymore!”
“Yeah? How would Carlo feel about you messing around with another boy behind his back? Again?” Roman sneered, obviously referring to our little moment last night.
I flushed. I couldn’t believe he was bringing this up right now. “That’s our business,” I hissed.
“Yeah, mate, you need to calm down,” Oliver said. “It’s not my fault she’s more into me than you.”
That seemed to make Roman snap all over again. I swore I saw his blood pressure rise as he lunged towards us to take another swing at Oliver.
“Stop!” I screamed, trying to block him. I did, in a way.
The only problem was, the punch Roman intended for Oliver ended up hitting me instead, and let me tell you, he hadn’t been holding back at all.
I managed to see horror cross everyone’s faces before I blacked out.
CHAPTER 22
My head really, really hurt.
I groaned, trying to shift positions to ease the stiffness in my lower back, but the minute I moved, a searing pain tore through my head and I instantly stilled.
My wasn’t the only thing that hurt. My jaw was throbbing, my throat was dry and scratchy, and I felt dizzy even though I was lying down.
“Water,” I croaked without opening my eyes. I didn’t even know if anyone was around me. With my luck, I was probably talking to myself right now. “I need water.”
“I have water!” a cacophony of voices shouted at once, making me wince.
I reluctantly cracked one eye open, then the other, until I saw Adriana, Zack, Parker, and Venice crowded around me with concerned looks on their faces.
“She’s awake!” Zack exclaimed. “Here!” He shoved a glass of water in my direction.
“Thanks,” I murmured, taking a sip. I almost spit it right back out. “Zack, why is this spicy?”
“I put a dash of chili powder in it,” he explained, beaming. “I read online that it’s supposed to help.”
“You put chili powder in her drink?” Venice shouted. “Do you want to kill her?” She grabbed the glass from my hands and gave me another one. “Here, drink mine. It’s normal.”
I nodded, immediately gulping down the refreshing liquid to soothe the burn from the chili-infused H2O.
“What? So you think my water is inferior to yours or something?” Zack huffed.
&nb
sp; “Obviously. Didn’t you see her face turning red?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, it wasn’t that spicy. I just added a dash!”
“Do you even know how much a dash is?”
“Isn’t it the same as a tablespoon?”
“God, you’re so—so—“
“So what?”
“Zack, Venice, stop arguing,” Adriana said sharply. “Or if you are going to continue, don’t do it here.”
“Fine!” they shouted at the same time, then stomped out of the room together, bickering the whole time. Apparently it didn’t take much for them to forget about me.