by Alexa Davis
“Hey.” I grinned as she slid into the seat next to me. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I guess; where’s Maddie?” As I pointed toward the dance floor and her eyes spotted the terrible scene unfolding in front of her, she screwed up her nose in disgust. They weren’t making out, but she was grinding on him like there was no tomorrow. “Oh, right, okay. Well, that’s... weird.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Obviously, it wasn’t a regular thing then. I had no idea what was going on with those two. It was totally bizarre
“So, what do you think about Maddie?” Blair turned to face me, looking at me through her eyelashes. My heart absolutely melted at the mere sight of her in a way that it hadn’t in a very long time... maybe not ever. She was doing things to me that I didn’t know how to deal with, and that spelled trouble. “Do you like her?”
I opened my mouth to tell her no, but snapped it shut just as quickly. Maybe I could work out how Blair felt about me by riling her up a bit. Jealousy was a great tool, and I knew how to use it to my advantage well. “I dunno, she seems okay.” I shrugged and smirked. “She certainly isn’t shy about showing how she feels now, is she?”
“Oh, right, yeah. Of course.” She shuffled on her seat, her entire face flaming. She was jealous, and I liked how that felt. “Well, I think she likes you.”
“Yeah, I think she does, too.” I leaned in, just about to connect my skin with hers to see if there was any electricity there, but just before I could manage it, I felt arms wrap around me, dragging me right out of the moment.
“Hey, you two!” It was Maddie, her and Cameron back to break the magic. Much as I was annoyed, I couldn’t show it – not if I didn’t want Cam to catch on.
“Did you two have fun?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“Yeah, but maybe not as much fun as you.” Cameron was pissed; he could see that I was turning it on.
I slid back in my seat, trying to create a distance between me and Blair. This was really dangerous territory, and I needed to be careful. “Well, it’s good to have you two back.”
Cameron leaned in and whispered to Blair, and I could tell that I was the topic of conversation, judging by the way she kept darting glances at me. It left me unsettled and uncomfortable because I knew that it was a mess of my own making. All I had to do was keep away from Blair – it was so simple. Why couldn’t I understand that?
“Right.” Cam spoke louder, directing his voice only at me. “Blair isn’t feeling well, so I’m going to take her home. Will you be all right with Maddie?”
I stared at Blair, trying to see how she felt about this, but she was refusing to meet my eyes. I wasn’t sure if she was instigating the end to the night or if Cameron was insisting on it, but there was no changing it all the same.
“Sure.” I smiled and nodded slowly. “I’ll get Maddie back.” I didn’t dare look at her, but I was sure that Maddie’s eyes were lighting up excitedly.
As we all walked outside, and I watched Cameron bundle Blair into a cab, Maddie started to paw at my arm, expecting something from me. All I wanted was to be in the other car, with the other girl, but because it was my friend’s sister, there was no arguing. I was on a slippery slope, and I couldn’t seem to stop myself from falling.
“Shall we go back inside now that the boring people have gone?” She jumped up and down, practically squealing. “Or did you want to come back to my place?”
There was no way that I wanted to go back in there, not now, so the latter was the best option. I wouldn’t go in with her – I was never going to sleep with Maddie, not while I had interest in Blair – but if she thought I would then I could probably get her to go.
“Let’s go, I’ll hail a cab.”
As the driver took off, Maddie’s hands moved all over my body. She was trying to get a reaction from me. She wanted me to grab her and kiss her, but I couldn’t.
I knew this wasn’t me, I was well aware I was acting way out of character, but there was something in the way I felt about Blair that was a little different.
“I live just up here; you’re going to come in, right?” Maddie gave me a look, and I slowly shook my head, trying to communicate no, but she seemed to tune that out completely. She turned her head away from me and gazed back out the window with a big smile on her face.
One thing was for sure, I had a long night ahead of me.
Chapter 10 – Blair – Sunday
What is wrong with me? I thought nervously as I stood outside Maddie’s home. Why am I even here?
The ruse was that I was bringing my best friend coffee and bagels to help her recover from her hangover, but deep down, I knew that it was more.
I wanted to know if Marcus had stayed over. It’d kept me up all night long. I’d tried to just flop into bed and sleep, but I’d tossed and turned, getting myself increasingly tied up in knots.
Why did I tell Cameron that I didn’t feel well? What the hell is wrong with me? I just couldn’t stand the thought of seeing Maddie and Marcus hook up, but that had royally backfired. Cameron had taken me home, and Marcus had taken Maddie...
Oh, God, I needed to put an end to this mystery now before those horrifying images filled my mind all over again.
I hopped from foot to foot as I waited for Maddie to answer the door. She was taking ages; what the hell was she doing in there? Was she throwing her clothes on after a night of hot sex with Marcus? Ugh, God, why couldn’t I stop wondering what that was like?
It was torturing me, even more so knowing that I would now have to hear all about it. I really didn’t want to know. I needed to turn around, go home, and forget that I ever came here.
“Hello?” As the door finally swung open, I found myself looking at a very disheveled Maddie. Her hair resembled a bird’s nest, her eye makeup was all down her cheeks, and she was pale and sickly. She looked like death, which suggested she hadn’t had much sleep, either. I was sure why she hadn’t been sleeping, and that made me feel even worse. This was all a big mistake.
My heart was thundering painfully in my chest. This was a huge mistake, any minute now I was going to have to face Marcus in a post-coital bliss. If he was still here, he’d come out eventually, and I would have to face them both hugging and kissing. This was absolutely terrible.
“Oh, thank God, did you bring food?” She snatched the bag from my hand and stalked inside, leaving me with no choice but to follow her. “I am starving. My stomach is twisting and turning like crazy.”
I glanced toward Maddie’s bedroom door as we passed it, wondering if he was in there. I could sense a heat coming from there, but I had no idea if it was all if my head – my paranoia coming to life.
“Yeah, it was pretty wild last night, wasn’t it?” I started casually, trying to find out what had happened in the most discrete way possible.
“Yeah, I know. I drank way too much. Did you? You got sick or something, didn’t you?”
If parts of the night were a blur to her, then hopefully she wouldn’t recall the moment when she came to separate me and Marcus. Nothing had been going on, not really, but there was an intensity between us like nothing I’d ever experienced before. If it was that obvious to me, she and Cameron must have been able to see it.
“Are you all right now?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m good now.” I smiled and nodded, leaving a weird tension hanging in the air for way too long. Luckily, Maddie was too busy stuffing the bagel into her mouth to notice, proving that it was all on my end.
“So, how did things go in the end?” I was trying to act casual, but my eyes were drawn to the bedroom door no matter how hard I tried not to. “With, er... your whole having a fling thing?”
Any minute now, he would come out, and I needed to act casual. If Marcus even suspected that I was hurt by his actions, he’d know that he’d gotten to me. I wouldn’t put it past him to hit on me after a night of passion with my friend – playboys didn’t care who they trampled on the way to happiness.
“Yeah, Marcus was hot;
although I’m worried your brother ruined it a bit by flirting with me.”
I narrowed my eyes, recalling the entire incident very differently. I could’ve sworn that it was her grinding all over him. Still, that wasn’t an argument that I needed to have right now. “I see,” I ended up saying, making myself sound really lame instead. “So, what happened in the end?” She still hadn’t gotten to that point, and I was desperate to know. The more time passed, the worse it became.
I gulped and rubbed my forehead hard, waiting for the answer. I didn’t want to hear it, but I needed to know at the same time. I just wished that she would put me out of my misery right away, ripping it off like a band aid. The longer I waited, the twitchier I became.
“Oh, Marcus and I got a cab here, and he walked me up to my apartment.” Oh, God, I need her to stop. But she was on a roll; it was far too late. “But he didn’t come in. I guess he was being a gentleman, which totally contradicts everything that Cameron said about him. It seems like he isn’t the playboy, after all.”
My heart dipped and rose all at once. I was glad that Marcus hadn’t come inside, but if he was being kind and sweet with Maddie, did that mean he liked her? He hadn’t denied it when I questioned him the night before. Maybe he wanted to date her properly. Somehow that would be way worse than putting up with them having a one-night stand. I really didn’t think I would ever be able to watch it all unfold.
“Oh, right. Well, that’s a shame, since you only wanted a fling.” I needed to know where her head was at. What the hell was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I just let it be?
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much. We’ll be bumping uglies soon enough. He wants me, I can tell. He’s just being nice. He probably didn’t want to seem like he was taking advantage of me because I was so drunk.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” I nodded slowly, wondering what the freak out inside my body was all about. Did I really care about Maddie, or was this more to do with Marcus? Was I finally ready to admit to myself that I liked him?
No, I wasn’t there just yet.
“Ugh, I think I’m gonna have to go back to bed soon. I still feel like shit,” Maddie groaned, her eyes rolling back into her head. “Sorry, I feel bad since you came over here with food and stuff.”
“No, don’t worry.” I stood up and smiled serenely. I’d gotten what I came here for; now I needed to get out.
Cameron had given me a long ass lecture about Marcus last night, and I wanted to have a chat with him, too. Most of it was drunken bullshit, so I wanted to know what he remembered. Somehow it seemed like I was trying to pave myself a way to get to Marcus, which was not what I wanted at all. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
She staggered into her bedroom, and I made my way out of her apartment as quietly as I could, not wanting to disturb her hangover any more. I felt bad, like I was being a little bit of a bitch, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. Something else had control of me.
I hopped into my car and made my way over to my brother’s home outside of the city, my mind whirring the whole drive. I had no idea what was making me act this way. There had never been a guy who made me act so out of character before, but there was something about Marcus that brought it out of me.
I wouldn’t go there, that was never going to happen, but my emotions were running wild. I felt like a crazed, jealous girlfriend, and nothing had even happened. Maybe it was a good thing that I had no intention of going anywhere near him. I didn’t know what sort of jealousy would come out of me. The last thing I ever wanted was to become an insane stalker type.
I hopped out of the car and raced into Cameron’s house. I never bothered to knock. He gave me a key because when we were on good terms, and even when we were on bad terms, I came and went as needed.
“Cam?” I called out loudly, needing to disturb him from his hangover sleep, too. “Cam, are you awake?” I was pretty sure that he didn’t have a girl with him; he certainly hadn’t had one with him when he dropped me off at home, but that didn’t always stop him.
“Yeah, what do you want?” he snapped, rolling out of the living room. He looked like hell, but based on the fact that he still had the clothes from last night on, at least I could assume that he was alone. Finding all the people in my life in bed by themselves added a buoyancy to my step that probably shouldn’t have been there.
“I just wanted to come and see if you’re okay.” I smiled widely. “And to make my wonderful brother some coffee.”
As I flicked the coffeepot on, Cameron slumped his head over his dining table. I decided to delve into the very tricky subject that I needed to tackle carefully. “So, I don’t think Marcus hooked up with Maddie last night.” I cringed as the words left my mouth, already certain that I was giving myself away.
“Good, I did warn her,” Cameron groaned. “He’s not the sort of guy you want to get involved with.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” I handed him the mug and sat down opposite him. My fingers were tapping nervously on my mug as I tried my best to work out how to word the next part of my question properly. “So, erm, why not? I’m only asking... you know, for Maddie...” Shit, I was being too obvious; this was all falling apart.
“Well, I have never seen him settle down with any woman. I don’t think he’s had a girlfriend that’s lasted over three months.”
“But that’s just like you. I mean, don’t you ever see yourself changing and settling down? If you meet the right girl?”
“It’s not just that.” He looked at me with warning in his eyes. Maybe he could see through me, after all. “He has family issues like no other. It’s not the sort of thing you want to get involved with.”
“Right, sure, I see.” I took a big swig of my coffee while I thought. If Cameron was going to tell me what the family issue were, I would’ve heard them already. He never liked to keep things inside. If he wasn’t saying it now, it was because it wasn’t his secret to share.
“Why? Does Maddie really like him?”
The way that he asked that proved exactly what I suspected. He could see right through me. My discretion was absolutely pointless.
“Erm, no, I don’t think so. I think she just... wants some fun...” I was making a mess of this. I was making it sound like it was me who wanted a fling. “Well, I’m sure she knows what she’s doing.”
But Cameron could see that it was me. I needed to change the subject, and quickly.
Chapter 11 – Marcus – Monday
“Honey, I’m home!”
“Ugh...” The singsong voice waking me up was definitely not a welcome one. I was still feeling a little crappy from the string of late nights and jetlag, so all wanted was to sleep in. “Who is it?” Of course, I knew who it was – there was only one person who had the key to my apartment besides me, but I wanted to prove a point.
“It’s Cameron. I’ve come here for you to make me breakfast.”
I staggered upright and moved my way across the apartment to where he was standing in the kitchen with the kettle already switched on. “God, now I’m starting to regret moving to America. I thought being a prince was hard work with all the early mornings, but now I have you doing that job for me. What the hell are you doing out of bed so early? Don’t you have some hangover to sleep off, or something?”
“I’m meeting darling daddy for lunch in a bit.” He glanced at his watch and smirked happily at me. “I’ve come to find out about your wild ride with Maddie.”
Maddie... Maddie... My brain was so consumed with thoughts of Blair and trying to disguise those feelings that I almost forgot who Maddie was.
“Oh, right; no, I didn’t hook up with her. I just took her home and put her to bed. She was super wasted, so it felt a bit weird.”
He jumped up on the bar stool and stared intensely at me. “Something like that would’ve never happened to you before. You were the king of the players. What’s going on? Are you losing your touch or something?”
My entire body flamed angrily as he suggeste
d I’d done something to blow it with Maddie. I chose not to be with her; this wasn’t because I wasn’t attractive. But no, that wasn’t something that I needed to be arguing about right now.
“Nah, she just wasn’t right. I don’t want to...” I couldn’t say ‘get involved with someone so close to you’ because that was exactly what I wanted. “To jump into something potentially heavy.”
“Right, right... So, what about those hot chicks in the gym? They were well up for it, and you didn’t seem too concerned about them, either. Is there something going on, buddy? You haven’t like, come to America to escape a broken heart or something, have you?”
I laughed loudly, maybe a little too loudly, making myself look guiltier than I intended. “No, nothing like that, I just...” Shit, what can I say? I had literally no valid excuse for this one. I racked my brain desperately, but nothing came to me.
Luckily, I didn’t need to because I was saved by the bell of Cameron’s phone blasting out. “Oh, hold on a moment. Hey, Blair.” My heart skipped an undeniable beat. “Yeah, no, I can’t. I’m sorry, Blair, but I can’t. I have dinner with Dad. No, it isn’t something that I can cancel, why would you even say that? Okay, maybe I’ll try and fit it in before then. See ya, bye.”
I poured some coffee into a mug, trying to act like I wasn’t eavesdropping, but of course, my heart was soaking in every single word. Much as I knew just how wrong it was, I really wanted to see Blair again. She was the first person I had ever felt that real intense spark with and I couldn’t help being intrigued.
“Ugh, God, she’s such a nightmare,” Cameron growled irritation flowing off his tongue. “As if I have nothing better to do than trail around after her. Honestly!”
“What does she want?” I tried to ask innocently, but I felt the guilt pouring off me. Cameron would kill me if he knew what I was thinking about his sister. We were players together. I couldn’t see any universe where he’d understand that maybe my interest in Blair ran a little deeper. Which was why it made even less sense why I couldn’t keep away.