by Tara Brown
I owed her so much more than this.
“She has sex tapes,” I whispered to my brother.
“What?” The color left his face.
“Of all of us, when we were younger.”
“And now until we take her down, most of us have something to lose.” Ella’s eyes darted to our brother. “Which means we need to bump up this plan. Fling Club is sort of weak in comparison to where we’re at now. We need to change the plan.”
“Holy shit.” He sat, but it looked like he fell into the chair. “Sex tapes?” His voice cracked.
“She’s been using Cora to do her dirty work: record people and trick them into doing things, or spy on them. Blackmailing her into blackmailing others.”
“Blackmailing her with her sex tape?”
“Yeah.”
“Does anyone else know?” he asked.
“No, just us and the girls. Hence the reason they won’t betray us,” Ella added.
“That psycho!” He sounded weird. “Have you seen them all?”
“No,” Ella scoffed. “I can’t handle that much kiddie porn. And anyway, I don’t care about the porn. All I need to know is, where are you with your own data? Has something come from recording her?”
“No. She hasn’t strayed from Ashley once. She hasn’t been getting it on with anyone. She seems crazed, actually. She talks shit about everyone who isn’t there and she’s been treating people terribly when she thinks no one is looking. She’s stressed. She’s cold as ice when she doesn’t think he’s paying attention, and sweet as honey when she thinks he’s noticing. She actually cares that he doesn’t like her.”
I broke in. “Well, we need something else. We need a plan. Ella’s right, you guys and this crazy list of rules we were gonna break, it’s not working. Yeah, she’s slumming with Ashley and acting like a giant bitch, but that’s about it. Besides letting your ass into Fling Club this year. She’s broken, like, two rules. Big deal.” I was starting to come undone.
“We can’t do anything too rash until we get the USB or hard drive from her. There’s no way she’s had all those videos for all these years and never backed them up. Her computer isn’t as old as the oldest videos, so we know she uploaded them. Those files got transferred somehow.” Ella started pacing.
“We need a new plan. We can’t worry about the stupid rules; we need to figure out something worse than what she has, in case she ever tries to use it.”
“Great.” Andy sat, staring at the wall. “We’re so screwed.”
“Hey!” Ashley came up the stairs into the room, smiling but looking unsure about interrupting us.
“Hey!” Andy said bitterly, and left with Ella hot on his heels.
“All done with your date?” I asked bitterly, too, kinda hating that he’d been out with Cait again today after seeing her last night at the Spring Fling, kinda hating her for existing, and kinda hating life.
“Yeah.” He sighed and sat down. “She’s exhausting.”
I snuggled into the arms of the one person I didn’t want involved in this plot. Especially now that videos and photos and other disturbing moments had surfaced.
Ashley kissed my cheek. “I’ve missed you lately.”
“I know.” I’d been avoiding meeting with him in my bedroom a bit. I needed to deal with my icky feelings of betrayal before I could really enjoy being alone with him again. Not to mention his constant dates with my archnemesis. They were driving me nuts. Whenever he was with her I found myself with Andy, huddled over a laptop, watching the live stream of boring bullshit Ashley suffered through.
“Have you missed me?” he whispered as he kissed up to my ear and bit my lobe. He was different with me. Real. With her it was more like he was being forced to breathe to stay alive.
“Yeah.” It wasn’t a lie, and it wasn’t the truth. I missed being fun and the ease with which we did everything. Instant connection. Instant attraction. Instant relationship. But the hard part of being in that instant everything was being real. I was hurt and crushed and a little withdrawn. I didn’t know him well enough to be all those things around him when I wasn’t calm. I didn’t doubt he would be there for me like he was before, but it wasn’t the same as those other moments, like Griffin needing a punch out or me hating Cait. This was something else. This was me being filmed while having sex as a teenager. Losing my virginity. I really didn’t want to talk to him about it.
“You don’t sound like you missed me.” He scooped me into his arms and got up. “Which means I have to remind you what there is to miss.” He threw me over his shoulder and carried me to the hall that led to my bedroom.
“Ashley!”
“Don’t Ashley me, missy.” He turned and headed for my bedroom, slapping me on the butt. “This has all gotten too serious. I think you need to remember this was supposed to be a fun summer. As far as I recall, you sold it as fun.”
“I lied.” This was never going to be a fun summer, but having a few moments of fun spread among the chaos wasn’t such a bad idea.
He walked the long hall, not speaking, not joking. He’d switched to serious Ashley, the one who took sex to a place I hadn’t ever gone before meeting him.
When we got to my room, he closed the door and put me down, making me dizzy as the blood rushed back into my body. I swayed and he caught me, like an old-fashioned movie.
He held me, staring into my eyes, telling me everything he was about to do with just a look.
A slow smile crested my lip as he took a knee.
“Can we just snuggle?” I whispered, breathily.
“No.” He lifted my skirt, making the rush of soft air on my thighs give me goose bumps.
He leaned in, tracing his nose over my cotton underwear, giving me more chills.
Sliding his face up and down my cloth-covered slit, he made me forget everything. I became insanely aware of only the moment I was in.
He pulled my underwear to the side, leaning in, his soft breath tickling me as he lazily licked his way into me. I spread my legs slightly, giving in to the promise of pleasure I wouldn’t regret. I never did.
My hands slid down into his hair, gently touching his head as one of his fingers, my favorite one, slid between the folds of my pussy. He pushed in, making me nearly buckle, but my fingers gripped his head harder as his tongue flicked my clit, forcing my breath ragged and my eyes closed.
I got lost in the buildup of pumping fingers and flicking tongue and the warmth of his mouth covering my most delicate places.
My hand shot out, grabbing the doorknob behind him, working at holding me up better as he drove me to bliss.
He pushed me over the edge, fingering and sucking and caressing until my head dropped back and my breaths became moans and my body became his again.
I came with shaking legs and a trembling body, jerking and moaning until it ended. He lifted me up and carried me to my bed, laying me down and dragging my body to the edge of the bed to tear my underwear off and spread me, sliding his cock into my desperately ready body.
He didn’t give me the slow strokes or the time to welcome him into me. He pushed in with force and fucked me, lifting my ass off the bed. I countered, pressing my feet on his shoulders and positioning myself to maximize pleasure.
We didn’t even undress; we fucked. He gripped and thrusted and grunted until we found the height of pleasure together, me clenching and him pounding until he collapsed on top of me, resting his head on my chest.
“I missed you.” I smiled, forgetting all my troubles for a moment.
“I knew ya did.” He nodded, kissing my shirt.
He took the shame from sex. He made it so I felt like I was owning my place in this coupling and not just consenting, but wanting. Something I so desperately needed after experiencing Cait’s proverbial mind fuck.
He cleared up the murky water I saw life through by taking away all the shit that clouded it. He was real, and this physical relationship had no ulterior motives. Our emotional connection was still buildin
g, but I had faith, for the first time, that this was the right choice.
He was mine, and Cait Landry couldn’t take him if her life depended on it.
She wouldn’t stand a chance.
He was mine and I was his.
And when he pulled out and climbed onto the bed, curling himself around me, I relaxed into him. I relaxed in everything.
Chapter Thirty-Three
LIP CRACK
Cherry
The pool party at Cait’s the next day was surprisingly fun. Mostly because I knew we were about to do some serious damage. Who knew that notion could be so calming and uplifting?
Sarah sat next to me, laughing and joking with Andy, who seemed like he was actually having a good time. Or he was faking it better than ever.
“Stop being such a worrywart.” Sarah nudged him but gave me a look. “Andy thinks the moment he goes back to the city next week with your dad, a certain evil queen is going to trick us all into eating poisoned apples.” She rolled her eyes.
“He does have a point.” I actually agreed with him. “We’ve all had our fair share of rotten fruit.”
“Maybe. But we’re in this together. I’ve got your back, and you’ve got mine.” She lifted her glass. “And for the first time I feel like we’re really meeting each other. All of us.”
“Cheers to that.” I clanked my glass to hers and smiled, feeling the exact same way. Tragedy had brought us together.
“And we need to make sure we don’t fall back into those old patterns of being fake and lying.” Her eyes dazzled.
“Never again.” It was the truth. I drank to her weird toast, hoping we could all live by those words.
“So, Ashley is hanging out with Cait still.” Her eyes darted over there. “I can’t believe you tricked her into picking him.”
“It was easier than it should have been,” I scoffed. “She’s so predictable.”
“You should go talk to Cait. She’ll suck up to you extra, try to flaunt Ashley at you. Get a feel for what she’s doing this week. She hasn’t said anything to Ashley about her plans. But she’ll gloat to you.” Andy whispered to me as he took my drink in his hand, as if he’d leaned over to talk to me just to steal it.
“Hey!” I pretended to glare. “Guess I need a new drink.” I winked at Sarah, who nodded knowingly. I got up and stalked over to the bar, leaning on it right where Cait and Ashley were talking. His eyes darted to mine. “A mojito, please.” I smiled sweetly at the bartender, letting the alcohol I’d drunk make me appear a little more radiant.
“Hey!” Cait leaned my way, offering a fake smile and side hug. “How’s it going?”
“Good.” I spewed fake me all over her. “The party’s a hit. Everyone seems to be having a good time.” As I pulled back I noticed her bright-red lipstick didn’t smudge on the wine glass. “What are you wearing on your lips?” I leaned in again a little too far, as if I were drunk. “Is it lip stain?”
“Yeah. It’s called LipSense. It’s one of those home-shopping things. A friend at school told me about it. She got it from the set of a TV show she was working on as part of her degree. They use it ’cause it doesn’t smudge or come off. Works like a hot damn.” She pulled a tube of it from her purse. “It’s all I use now. I’ve thrown out all my old lipsticks. I can hook you up.” She said it like we were besties again. Like this wasn’t even slightly uncomfortable. We’d share lipstick like we shared guys, and it would be cool.
“Awesome,” I said, playing along. I could be cool with it. I could be cool with the fact that she believed she was kissing my ass. She was sweet and kind to my face, all the while laughing on the inside, because she banged my boyfriend. Well, this time, I was laughing too. Because I was banging her fling.
“I don’t want red; it would clash with my hair. And pink would be too girlie.” I twirled my hair like a moron. The moron she believed me to be. “I’ll let you pick for me.”
“I’ll have it tomorrow. My girl keeps a huge stock. I’m telling you, you won’t ever go back to regular lipstick again. My friend is dealing it all over the Upper East Side, like crack. We actually call it lip crack.” She laughed, so I laughed too. We were having fun. We were friends. Her being so nice suddenly was incredibly confusing and exactly what my brother had said would happen.
I started to see the patterns in it all.
The times she gushed and fawned over me, all the while knowing she was doing something seedy in the shadows I didn’t see.
“What are you guys doing all week?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Oh, we have the regatta. Don’t tell me you forgot,” she scolded me.
“Regatta?” Ashley’s eyes narrowed.
“Yeah.” Cait’s cheeks flushed as she tucked some of her pale hair behind her ear. “You have to come, obviously. I’m going. It’s going to be a blast. Every year we host a massive party at the club.”
“Sounds like fun.” He didn’t sound like he thought it was fun. He also didn’t sound like he’d known about the regatta at all.
“And we’re doing dinner tomorrow night with Liz and her fling. My parents are hosting a small gathering of close friends on the beach.” She said it with the usual zest and flair. Trying to sting me.
“Awesome. I guess I’ll see you guys later then. I need to find my date.” I took my drink, but she grabbed my free hand.
“See ya later.” She slipped a hand into Ashley’s. Tormenting me.
“Sounds good.” I waved and sipped my drink, acting oblivious. It wasn’t anything new for me. In fact, it was my go to for most occasions. It was the calm on the surface while the storm brewed underneath.
And underneath I was pissed off and hating her hands being on Ashley, but I chanted that it was for the greater good. Keep Cait happy and distracted while we put this shit to bed once and for all.
I sauntered over to Rachel, Laura, Cora, Sarah, and Erica. Smiling wide. “Well, she took the bait,” I said in a low tone so only they would hear. “Spent the whole time telling me about the lip stain she uses now instead of lipstick. Like I gave a shit. Then I went for the kill. They’re doing dinner here on the beach tomorrow.” I flashed my eyes at them.
“Okay, good.” Rachel wrinkled her nose as she spoke. “And I don’t know what’s up with her, but she’s all over Ashley tonight. He’s going to need a bleach bath before you kiss him again.”
“Yeah.” I sighed, not so interested in kissing him suddenly. I hated Cait. I was tired of this show. “I want this over, like now. I want to end this—”
“But if we don’t do it carefully, all our sins are going to come tumbling out,” Sarah said, cutting me off.
We glanced over at Cait and Ashley as his eyes met mine, but I couldn’t hold the stare. I couldn’t stand to watch this anymore.
Cait slipped her fingers into his and led him around the side of the house to the guesthouse.
“Oh, shit,” Sarah gasped, and my heart landed with a thud on the ground.
“He won’t do anything,” I whispered, not even convincing myself.
This was my worst nightmare coming to life.
As much as I wanted every detail of what was going on with them, I didn’t actually want to know a thing. I’d never felt so disgusted—not in him, but myself. Not even staring at my own dirty pictures or video.
Renting out the guy I liked was disturbing, and I was reaching that threshold, the one where I would end this and never look back.
Ashley and Cait never returned from behind the shed for the rest of the night.
My heart was pounding, and my fake fun was over. There was no way I could contain the hurt or rage I felt.
I wanted to trust him that he wasn’t doing anything back there in her little sex house, but I couldn’t. Too many burns from the same spark had taught me to fear this.
I hurried to my brother, interrupting his conversation with Josh and some other guy. “We need to talk.” I dragged him away.
“I saw.” He nodded, letting me know h
e didn’t want to talk about it here. “I’ll see you at home, and we’ll go over everything there.” He meant footage.
We would watch the footage of Ashley and Cait in the guesthouse.
I wasn’t so sure I would be able to handle that.
In fact, I didn’t think I was able to handle much more of anything.
Chapter Thirty-Four
THE SNAKE CHARMER
Ashley
“She’s so pretty, don’t you think?” Cait asked me as we watched Cherry and her friends.
“She is.” I shrugged, trying to maintain the indifferent act as I reached into my pocket to find my sunglasses. Shit. They weren’t there. I winced inwardly as I realized I’d left them in the car. I remembered taking them off when the sun went down.
“I heard a funny thing about her.” Cait leaned in, whispering in my ear. “Wanna know?” Her tone changed, and her vicious whisper told me I didn’t, but it also scared me into finding out what other vitriol she was about to spew about my girl.
“I heard she likes you. And that she was going to choose you for her fling.” She sounded so strangely savage.
Now that news, I could handle. “Yeah, I know that.” I said it with all the attitude in the world.
“And you care for her?” she pried, her eyes analyzing everything.
“I was looking forward to getting to know her, until you chose me for your fling. Now I’m trying to be a gentleman.” I wasn’t so sure that was the right thing to say.
“I have something special to show you.” She slipped her hand into mine and pulled me around the side of the house, her fingers gripping tightly like this was nonnegotiable.
She led me to the guesthouse in the back, the one Andy said was a place for naughty things to go down during parties. Sort of like a dirty room. I didn’t like where this was going. I was about to see just how dedicated I was to the whole mission.
Cait grinned like the evil stepmother on “Cinderella” as she led me inside and closed the door.