Unthinkable: (Unstoppable - Book 2) (The Unstoppable Series)

by Danielle Hill

  I flattened my lips. “Helpful.”

  He paused and flashed a grin, seemingly amused with himself. I reached out and plucked one bottle from his grip, sending two others bouncing to the ground.

  “Ah, now look what you did!” he muttered, shaking his head.

  “Just trying to help, Dan,” I said with a smirk. “Would you look at that, we both fucking suck at it.”

  “Point made, Ice Princess.” He wrapped one arm tight around the bottles in his arms and tried to retrieve the two from the ground.

  “I prefer Snow Queen,” I muttered, bending down to pick them up and striding past him toward the house.

  He frowned, following me. “What?”

  “Nothing.” I waved a hand, brushing him off and settling the bottles on the countertop before moving back through the doors. “If you see Ri, tell her I’m out by the pool, yeah?”

  “Will do.”

  “Hey, Liss.”

  I spun to the sound of my name being called and spotted Sara Greyson sitting alone on the edge of the pool a few feet away, her feet dangling in the water. Sara and her mom moved to town last summer when her mom took up with Jason Connolly’s dad. After almost a year here, she still sported that deer in the headlights look.

  “Who knew you had boobs?” I teased as I dropped down beside her.

  Her cheeks reddened as she lifted her arms to cover her chest. Tendrils of dark, tousled hair had escaped her loose bun, and they curled over her shoulders. Sara was one of those naturally pretty people. No bells or whistles. Nothing fake or enhanced. And the outside reflected the inside; she was sweet as spun sugar. Which was why I’d taken her under my wing last year when the vultures descended. Raya Mitchell and her followers would have chewed her up and spat her out before breakfast.

  “I feel awkward,” she admitted, fidgeting with the strings of her bikini top.

  “Don’t.” I met her eyes. “You’re hot. Own it.”

  She looked uncertain, but let her arms fall to her sides. The girl was still stiff as a board, but it was something.

  “Did you get your acceptance letter?” I asked.

  Shifting to face me, she nodded with a bright smile. “I did. Heading back to Florida in the fall.” As soon as the words left her mouth, her shiny smile dimmed, those chocolate brown eyes clouding.

  “That’s good, right?” I asked, picking up on the mixed reaction.

  “Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Just… well… I spent the better part of a year hating the idea of this place, and now the thought of leaving…” She let the words drift off and placed her palms flat on the ground beside her thighs, turning her gaze down to look at the water. The smile she offered when her head came back up seemed forced. “It’s not what I expected, is all.”

  I leaned back on my hands and bobbed my head. “This place grows on you, huh?”

  Sara’s gaze floated over my shoulder. “Yeah, something like that.”

  “Like mold,” I quipped, and she chuckled.

  Gripping the hem of my cover-up, I tugged the sheer material up and over my head. Chin down, I righted the scraps of gold mesh material on my breasts until everything looked sufficiently covered, and then I looked up… and found a pair of hooded ocean-blue eyes glued to my chest from across the pool.

  Air puffed out of my nose and I cocked my head, waiting with a glower on my face for Pretty Boy to realize how busted he was. It took a solid minute, a whole sixty-fucking-seconds, but his gaze finally tracked up and landed on mine. Instead of looking away in shame—like I expected him to, like he should have done—that asshole wagged his brows up and down then dragged his teeth over his bottom lip. His biceps flexed in a fluid motion as he stretched his arms out along the edge of the pool and settled back with a lazy grin.

  I narrowed my eyes, refusing to look away. Damned if I’d break first. He was the reprobate who couldn’t keep his pervy eyes in his head.

  Charged seconds ticked by in which neither of us so much as blinked as this battle of wills continued to play out. But the longer we stared, the darker Leon’s eyes grew, and the air between us seemed to fizz with a palpable tension that pricked at the surface of my skin.

  When Leon raised his brows in challenge, his mouth curling up at one side, I dropped my head back and shrugged. Do your worst, Bradshaw.

  His languid gaze lowered slowly, and then he proceeded to run it over every curve of my body.

  I was not prepared for my reaction; for the rush of warmth that flooded my cheeks and pooled low in my stomach. Certain parts of my anatomy went rogue—parts I couldn’t hide very well under a flimsy bikini top. Heat flared in Leon’s eyes when he noticed, and his carved shoulders rose higher with his indrawn breath. The smirk melted from his face as he trained his eyes on my chest and swallowed roughly. And then his gaze came back to mine, burning with a simmering intensity that caused a fissure of heat to unfurl in my pelvis.

  I squeezed my thighs together, my tongue sweeping over suddenly dry lips. A knowing lilt tilted Leon’s mouth as he watched me squirm, and I ground my teeth together because, damn, I could do without him getting me off without laying a finger on me. The guy’s ego was already inflated to capacity; I had no desire to add to it.

  All the sunshine and bare skin were messing with my head.

  I saw the guy’s physical appeal. Honestly, it was hard to miss. He was poster boy perfect, and I got why cheerleaders lined up outside the locker room for a quick five minutes against the shower stall door. But that was their thing, not mine. I’d considered myself immune.

  Stabby was my default setting when it came to Leon Bradshaw. The guy had rubbed me up the wrong way so many times I had permanent chafe marks, and the packaging wasn’t nearly enough to make up for it. On a normal day.

  But it had been a while since I’d seen Leon sans shirt, and the sight of his ripped, bronzed body was tipping the scales a little, and doing strange things to my libido. Being stationed far enough away from him that my palms weren’t itching to slap his too pretty face made it a lot easier to appreciate the view.

  Guys like Leon couldn’t be trusted—a fact I’d never allow myself to forget—but that didn’t mean he wasn’t fun to look at. And looking never hurt anyone… but when his hand disappeared beneath the water, my heart rate spiked, and I pulled in a hard breath.

  He’d never hear it from my lips, but Leon’s dick was far from average, and disturbingly, it had been on my mind way more than I’d like to admit ever since I’d wrapped my hand around it.

  A high-pitched squeal rang out a split second before a bikini-clad body crashed into the pool and a wall of spray flew up between us. I blinked and looked away, grateful for the distraction. Reaching for the almost empty soda bottle perched beside Sara’s tote, I tipped my head back and downed a mouthful of lukewarm liquid. A cold drink would have been nice—it felt like the temperature had climbed a dozen degrees in the past minute or two. I aimed a glower up at the ball of heat in the sky, despite knowing it had nothing to do with the sun.

  “Damn, it’s hot,” I grumbled as I tossed the empty bottle aside and swiped the back of my hand across my forehead, keeping my gaze trained on this side of the yard. That was enough fun for one day.

  “I love the heat,” Sara murmured, lowering her lids. Her dark lashes fluttered against her cheeks and a serene smile played over her lips as she angled her face up toward the sun.

  “You’re from Florida. This is your norm.”

  Sara stretched an arm out behind her and snagged a bottle of water from her bag, then held it out to me with a conciliatory smile. I took it from her with a muttered thanks, and lowered my legs into the cool water, pulling my sunglasses down over my eyes. Commotion from the other end of the pool drew my attention back to enemy territory. Two more cheerleaders splashed into the water in a tangle of limbs and outraged cries, and I watched behind dark lenses as Leon waded to the side to avoid being drenched.

  He leaned out over the edge of the pool, giving me an unobstructed view of his s
culpted back before he straightened and shook his hair out. It was such a fucking cliché move, I almost scoffed, but then he heaved himself out the water, and every visible muscle rippled and contracted, sending beads of water streaming over the defined ridges and valleys of his hard body. My curbed scoff almost strangled me, and I spun the lid on the bottle in my hand like it was a roulette wheel then started chugging back water like it was free champagne. And then, because anything else would be completely futile at this point, I conceded.

  Okay, fine… take a minute to appreciate the bod while his back is turned. Just don’t make a habit of it, and for christ’s sake, don’t let him catch you.

  “Hey, you okay?” Sara asked.

  Without looking at her, since I was busy eyeballing my kind-of enemy, I murmured, “Peachy, Sar.”

  If you could consider lusting after Leon Bradshaw peachy, that is. I didn’t. But I’d give myself a pass on this occasion on account of the soaring temperature and the fact that, sometime between sophomore year swim class and now, Leon Bradshaw had filled the fuck out.

  He might be the biggest thorn in my side, but right now he was making me tingle. Everywhere. I cut myself off when Leon meandered through the crowd and disappeared inside.

  That’s enough, junkie.

  A wistful look crossed over Sara’s face when I gave her a sidelong glance and found her eyes fixed on that same spot over my shoulder she’d looked at earlier. When color tinted her cheeks and her eyelids swooped down, I twisted round to sate my curiosity, and my lips formed an amused O.

  Jason Connolly… you dirty dog.

  Hands planted on his hips, bare chest gleaming, Jase’s stare lingered on his stepsister long enough to make it obvious he had more than familial affection on his mind. Face grim, he drew in a heavy breath and shoved a rough hand through his hair before stalking off. I watched Sara track Jase’s departure with eyes full of longing and cleared my throat loudly.

  “Anything you’d like to share with the group there, Sar-Bear?”

  Her head snapped to me, chocolate brown eyes wide in her small face. “What?”

  Oh, Sara. Sara, Sara, Sara. You had to ask. I tugged my glasses down my nose and flashed a grin. “You’re hot for your brother.”

  “Stepbrother,” she corrected quickly.

  My brows went up. “Well, that wasn’t a denial.”

  “Uhh…”

  I laughed, pushing to my feet, and dropping my shades down on top of Sara’s tote. “Yeah, I’ll let you uh on that for a minute while I go get myself a real drink. This is turning into a hell of a day.”

  Her head fell forward with a gentle shake and I gave her shoulder a light squeeze before snaking through the crowd. Who’d have thought it? Sweet, quiet, little Sara, boning the stepbro.

  Grabbing a plastic cup from the countertop, I filled it to the brim.

  “That’s some bikini, Snow Queen.” Leon’s deep voice sounded right by ear, making me jump.

  Cool liquid sloshed over the edge of the cup and spattered over my thighs. My lids slid closed as I pulled air in through my nose, and the only thoughts I had about Leon and his balls currently, were the ones where I ripped them from his body and stuffed them down his throat. So, business as usual. Thank fucking god.

  I took a quick glance down and swiped at the sticky liquid coating my legs as I muttered, “There’s a whole roomful of people here, Bradshaw. Surely you can find someone else to irritate the shit out of. Go find a friend.”

  Those pillowy lips curved as he leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over the wide expanse of his chest. Muscles I wasn’t even aware he possessed shifted and bulged, and my thoughts took another deviant turn. I threw a mouthful of beer down my throat and forced my eyes anywhere else.

  Thought we agreed not to make it a habit, bitch?

  He’s still bare-chested, my mind argued.

  And it was a fair fucking point. I’d defy a nun to keep her thoughts pure when presented with this shit.

  “… friend.”

  “What?” I barked, my head popping up as I caught the tail end of Leon’s sentence.

  “I said, you’re my friend.”

  “Who told you that?”

  He smirked. “You seemed pretty friendly when you were eye-fucking me out in the pool.”

  “Eye-fucking you?” I repeated with a frown, injecting a healthy dose of scorn into my tone. Because it didn’t matter how true his statement was, I’d drown in a sea of my own lies before I admitted it to him. “Think the heat’s gone to your head, Pretty Boy.”

  That sexy smirk elongated. “Which head?”

  I hit him with a look of disdain, but before I could take my next breath, he was right in front of me, so close that the whiskers of his jaw scraped my cheek. My body tensed.

  “Ready to give it another squeeze?” His husky voice vibrated across the surface of my skin, and I pulled in a breath through my nose, trying to suppress the effect it had on me. For a split second, part of me was tempted—my body even swayed closer to his.

  And then my instincts kicked in.

  This was Leon, for Christ’s sake! Leon.

  My gaze cut to his face, narrowed and firing, only to find his deep blue eyes watching me, uncharacteristically serious and abuzz with curiosity. He leaned back and thumbed his jaw, his blonde head cocked to the side as he looked at me like he was trying to take a glimpse inside my head.

  The edges of my lips turned down. I didn’t need Leon looking at me like I was a puzzle to solve. Today aside, I knew where I stood with him, and that’s exactly how I liked it. This was a blip. There was no room for ambiguity. I knew exactly who Leon was—a sculpted chest and above-average dick didn’t change that.

  I trailed my eyes down over his body, trying and failing to bypass the chiselled abs, and settled my gaze on his blue board shorts. Specifically, the groin area.

  “Got a favorite nut, Pretty Boy?” I mused, tapping a finger on my bottom lip.

  “What?”

  I peered up. “Those huge balls of yours, do you prefer one over the other?”

  His eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Got a healthy amount of respect for both of ‘em, Snow Queen.”

  “Fair enough. I’ll just eeny meeny miney mo for it.”

  Catching on quickly, Leon cupped his palms over his dick and angled his body away from me. “You can get that idea out of your head right fucking now, Lissa.”

  “Oh, Pretty Boy,” I gave my head a rueful shake, “I knew you wouldn’t take it like a man.”

  “I’ll fucking take a man,” he said, then stopped and frowned. “Wait, that came out wrong.”

  My mouth curved. “Did it?”

  He huffed through his nose and glowered down at me. “For someone so hot, you’re fucking infuriating, Alissa.”

  I elevated a shoulder. “It’s a gift.”

  “It’s a pain in my ass.”

  “Sounds like you’d enjoy that.”

  His lips formed a flat line, majorly unimpressed. “I’m into pussy, not dick, Snow Queen.”

  “Not even a little? Everyone dabbles, right?” I pinned him with my eyes.

  His immediately shot wide, interest well and truly peaked like I knew it would be. The guy was so predictable I could set my watch by him. “Alissa Bedford, have you dabbled?”

  Rising on my toes, I leaned in close and let my lips hover over the shell of his ear until a low growl rumbled in his chest. “I’m not like you, pretty boy, I don’t kiss and tell.” I slapped a hand to his chest then murmured, “Except to say I had a lot of fun with a sexy redhead at Summer Camp a couple of years ago.” With a pinched grin, I whirled around and strode away. There was no redhead, and I never went to Summer Camp. But he didn’t know that.

  “Snow Queen, where the fuck are you going?”

  I walked away with an extra sway to my hips and waved over my shoulder.

  “You’re seriously gonna leave me hanging like that! That’s fucking bad form, Lissa!”

  I
heard his drawn-out groan as I sauntered through the door.

  Torturing him should have been way more fun, and it might have been if I didn’t suddenly feel the need to launch my ass into the pool. Leon wasn’t the only one I’d gotten all worked up.

  I needed a cold shower.

  And then a lobotomy.

  EIGHT

  LISS

  “You’re sure you won’t come?”

  Riley sighed. “It’s the last thing I want to do right now.”

  My brow creased as I peered down at the phone on my dresser. “Might be good to get out. Sitting thinking about it—”

  “We agreed we weren’t going to talk about it.”

  I expelled a breath. “For how long, Ri?”

  Silence filled the muggy air in my bedroom.

  Dropping my feet to the ground, I twisted the mascara wand back onto the tube, then strolled to the window and creaked it open a couple of inches. “Okay, I’ll shut up. For now. Want me to come there instead?”

  “Nah, I’m just gonna turn in. Go. Have fun. Don’t worry about me.”

  I tucked my lip between my teeth and shook my head. “Call me if you need me, yeah?”

  “Sure thing. I’ll see you tomorrow for the big birthday shindig.”

  I suppressed a groan. “Still set on that, huh?”

  “You bet your ass I am. Everything’s ready, and your eighteenth is a huge milestone, Liss. I don’t care what else is going on. You’re not ignoring it.”

  She’d coerced me into letting her throw me a birthday party. I was going along with it to help take her mind off things. “Whatever you say.”

  “Try to contain your excitement, would you?”

  “Yay. Can’t wait,” I muttered, the words dripping with sarcasm.

  A tinkle of laughter trickled down the line, pulling a light smile from me before she said her goodbyes and ended the call.

  Slipping my phone into the pocket of my jean shorts, I moved to stand in front of the mirror and ran my fingers through my wavy pale-blonde hair, ruffling it a little. With a smack of my lips and a quick swipe underneath my smudged liner, I stalked through the door.