Careless (An Enemies To Lovers Novel Book 3)

by Michelle Horst

  I can’t help but grin at her. “You should’ve gone into medicine with me. You’d make a great doctor.”

  She pulls a face, shaking her head.

  “Hell no, I’d kill all my patients. Fashion is my passion. While we’re on the topic of fashion…”

  Willow grabs the laptop and closes it before pulling me up along with her.

  “Go shower and put on the dress I made you. Don’t you dare put up your hair in that god-awful bun. It makes you look like a nun who escaped from a convent.” She pulls a face as my eyes dart to the messy bun on top of her head. “I’ll curl it for tonight. You’re nineteen, not ninety.”

  “You’re really going to make me go, aren’t you?”

  She grins, a wicked gleam in her eyes which promises no sleep in my near future.

  “I only have you for another three months before you start your residency. I get a feeling I won’t see you for the next six years. Hell, I’m taking full advantage of my time with you.”

  Willow is right. I’ll be working my butt off over the next six years. I want to make a difference in this world, especially when it comes to heart transplants.

  I go through the motions of showering and washing my hair. While I leave the conditioner in for a few minutes, I quickly shave. I can’t wear the gorgeous dress Willow made when my legs are so hairy. After rinsing the conditioner out, I grab a towel and pat my body dry before wrapping my hair in it. When I rub lotion all over my body, I inhale deeply. I’m addicted to the sweet, rich fragrance of jasmine.

  Walking back into the bedroom I share with Willow, I’m not surprised to find her waiting.

  “Let’s do your hair. I’ll shower while you’re putting on your makeup.”

  There’s no use in arguing with her, so I take a seat at the vanity. Willow gets busy blow-drying layer by layer of my hair. As I sit and watch her hands move, I think about how lucky I am to have her as a friend.

  She shares the apartment with two other girls. I’ve spent some time with Evie, whom I get along with. I can definitely see myself staying friends with Evie once I leave. I haven’t seen much of Della, but she seems nice.

  When Willow is busy massaging styling wax into my hair so it won’t go frizzy, I ask, “You mentioned a party? Will Evie be going as well?”

  Willow wipes her hands on the towel I had around my hair while admiring her handy work.

  “Yeah, she’s already at Carter’s place. We’ll meet her there.”

  “Carter? He’s friends with Rhett, right?” I’m still trying to remember names, never mind who fits in where in their social circle.

  “Yep, you’ll meet all of Rhett’s friends tonight. Carter is an asshole, so just make sure you stay out of his way.”

  My eyebrows almost dart into my hairline. The fact that Willow thinks the guy is an asshole says a lot. She’s the kindest person I know.

  “Okay,” I agree, although I’m curious why she doesn’t like him.

  “Come to think of it, just stick to my side tonight. I don’t want any of the Screw Crew getting their hands on you.”

  “Why are we going then? If you don’t like any of them, we can do something else.”

  Like, stay at home.

  I can think of a couple of things I’d rather do than go to a party.

  “We’re going because it will be fun. Besides, it’s not that I don’t like them. They’re just too wild and tactless for you. They’re fun to hang out with, but you seriously don’t want to end up in bed with one of them. Believe me when I say they will try. They have this thing going to see who can screw the most girls.”

  Worry lines instantly cover my forehead.

  “I really don’t think I should go. You know I have zero experience with guys. I wouldn’t know who’s being nice and who’s playing me even if my life depended on it.”

  “You’ll be okay. We’ll stick together, and they won’t try anything with you as long as I’m by your side.”

  Curious to find out more, I ask, “Have any of them tried to get you into bed?”

  Willow scrunches her nose. “Only Marcus has tried. Ugh, he’s the worst of the group.”

  I don’t miss the blush creeping up her neck as she quickly leaves to go shower. There’s definitely a story there.

  ∞∞∞

  We’ve been here twenty minutes, and I’m ready to go.

  I can’t dance so I avoid the makeshift dance floor at all costs. The living room is packed with students, some drinking while others are already drunk, and most are in various stages of making out.

  Suppressing a yawn, I decide to go outside for some fresh air. I avoid going near the pool which is surrounded by party-goers. The last thing I want is to be thrown in the pool. It would ruin the beautiful dress Willow made me. I smile as I look down at the pale green, silky fabric. She made me a shift dress which might be a little too short for my taste, but it fits perfectly otherwise.

  I spot a table with drinks and make my way over to it. I’m surprised the table isn’t crowded with students. When we got here, we couldn’t even get into the kitchen where the drinks were.

  When I notice only sodas on the table, I understand why it’s practically deserted. I pour coke in a red solo cup and watch as the tiny bubbles fizz to the top.

  “You want ice?” a deep, gravelly voice says from behind me, which startles the hell out of me. I drop the cup, and it falls to the ground, causing soda to splash all over my legs and sandals.

  “Damn it,” I groan as I step away from the mess at my feet. I bend to pick up the now empty cup, seeing as the contents are all over me when I hear the voice behind me again.

  “And here I thought it would take some foreplay to get you wet.” From the laughter in his voice, it’s clear he thinks my accident is hilarious.

  “You must be one of the assholes, thinking it’s funny that I messed all over myself,” I snap as I place the cup on the table and turn around, getting my first look at the guy.

  Shit.

  I freeze like a deer in oncoming traffic as I take in the perfect specimen of everything that’s male, standing in front of me. Even though his smug smile makes my anger grow, I can’t help but drink in the sight of his dreamily carved, scruffy face. Don’t even get me started on his hair which is a few shades darker than mine, disheveled and sexy.

  Ugh. Double shit.

  “You must be one of those bitches, unable to take a joke,” he says as the smile around his full mouth curves into a wicked grin which only makes him hotter.

  Damn it. Why does he have to be so incredibly attractive? It messes with my ability to think, which has never happened to me before.

  “I can take a joke,” I say, clearing my throat.

  “Could’ve fooled me.”

  I watch as he pours soda into a cup. He holds it out to me, one eyebrow raised. Not even thinking, I take it from him and as our fingers touch briefly, a shiver races over my body.

  To make matters worse, as I’m about to take a much-needed sip, he takes hold of the hem of his shirt and yanks it off his body in one smooth motion.

  My mouth drops open as my eyes dart over his chest, wildly trying to drink in every inch of tanned skin and muscle. Damn, he might have a shitty attitude, but his body sure makes up for it.

  He grabs a bottle of water which he pours out over my legs and feet. My brain is screaming at me to slap the smirk right off his gorgeous face, but my traitorous body won’t move a muscle.

  “Sit,” he says. His voice a mixture of playful and raspy, making flutters erupt in my stomach.

  Placing his hand on my shoulder, he pushes me lightly back, and my body, ever the traitor, goes where it’s being guided. The back of my knees hit the edge of a chair, and I sit down.

  I want to say something clever that will put him in his place, but my mind has clearly taken a hiatus, leaving my hormones in control of this situation.

  He reaches for my left leg, and slipping the sandal from my foot, he starts to dry my leg with his shirt. />
  I can’t stop myself from staring at his well-toned back and broad shoulders, fascinated by each muscle rippling when he moves. When he’s done with my left leg, he repeats his actions with my right leg. Only, this time his left hand slips up until it reaches the back of my knee while he keeps drying my already dry leg.

  I clear my throat to get his attention. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get my voice back with all the tingles zapping upwards to my lady parts, from where he’s touching me.

  “There you go, all dry,” he says as he stands up. He looks down at me as he throws the shirt over his shoulder. “Run along now, your mother must be worried.”

  “Huh?” I grunt as if my IQ dropped to a miserable zero.

  “Pretty little things like you shouldn’t hang out at parties. Isn’t it past your bedtime?”

  Finally, a flicker of my intelligence returns along with my temper. I push myself up from the chair, not that it helps as I barely reach his shoulder.

  He flashes me a confident grin, his eyes dropping to my feet before slowly making their way up my body. I don’t miss how they rest on my hips and breasts for a few seconds too long before they settle on my face.

  I’ve never been so blatantly checked out in my life before, and it makes a dreaded blush creep over my cheeks.

  “That’s right, my eyes are up here,” I say so he’ll know that I know he was ogling me. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m nineteen. I’ve practically been living on my own since I was thirteen. Also, I do not appreciate you calling me a pretty little thing. Women aren’t things.”

  Feeling proud of my ability to string a few sentences together, I smile triumphantly.

  “Jax, stop harassing my friend,” Evie suddenly says behind me, which makes me swing around from surprise. I recognize Rhett, but I haven’t met the other guy with them.

  “Your friend?” Mr. Too-hot-to-have-a-personality asks. Thanks to Evie, I now know his name is Jax.

  I feel him move behind me and I hate that my body is aware of him. His arm presses against my shoulder and my sandals appear in my line of vision.

  I do my best to ignore the fact that I almost forgot them, and snatch them from his hand. I drop them to the floor and quickly slip them onto my feet.

  “Yeah, my friend, which means she’s off limits.” Evie hooks her arm through mine and pulls me closer to where Rhett’s standing. “You’ve met Rhett, and this is Carter Hayes. They live here.”

  Smiling, I reach out a hand to Carter. “Leigh Baxter. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  We shake hands as Willow joins us, followed by another guy who looks like he’s about to kill someone.

  “Sorry, I leave you alone for ten minutes and the wolves descend.”

  “Wolves?” Rhett asks with a playful smile on his face.

  “Yeah, wolves. Leigh’s parents would kill me if any of you corrupted their daughter.”

  “You’re carrying on as if the pretty little thing is fucking royalty?” Jax says from behind me, sounding a little offended. I also don’t miss how he accentuated ‘pretty little thing’ as if he’s already caught onto the fact that I hate it whenever he says it.

  “You could say that,” Evie says. She looks to Carter. “Dr. Baxter, your dad’s heart specialist, is her father.”

  Instantly, a cloud moves over Carter’s face as if Evie just spat at him instead of introducing me.

  “In that case, she’s off limits,” Carter bites out. He grabs my hand and starts to pull me away from the growing crowd gathering around us. “I’ll take her back to the apartment. Willow, are you coming?” It doesn’t sound like a question but more like an order.

  More common sense seems to return to my frazzled mind, and I yank my hand free from his grip.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” I seethe as my anger quickly burns through my body now that my focus is no longer on Jax.

  “You shouldn’t be here, Leigh. Your father will kill me. I’ve heard him talk about his little girl. I’m not pissing off the man who might have his hands inside my dad’s chest one of these days.”

  I throw my hands in the air, actually dumbfounded by how quickly the night went downhill.

  “You know what,” I say as I start to walk towards the side of the house, “I don’t want to be here. Why the hell I’m torturing myself like this is beyond me.”

  I keep walking, not looking back to see if Willow is coming. I’d rather sit outside the apartment for the entire night than spend another second here.

  Chapter 2

  JAXSON

  It fucking pisses me off that I keep looking up to the apartment and wondering if the pretty little thing is home.

  Della’s truck has been giving her problems, and with Carter already giving her shit, I offered to help her out. I glance up, and my eye catches my brother and Marcus sitting in the truck, talking shit.

  “So much for helping,” I say, wondering why they even came along.

  “We are helping,” Marcus shouts as if I’m not standing a few feet from him. “We’re here for moral support.”

  “Fuck moral support. You could go get beers. It’s fucking hot out here.”

  “For breakfast?” Logan raises an eyebrow at me, clearly not impressed with my request.

  I just grin and get back to work. The truck’s timing is fucked to hell. It sounds like it’s dying when you start it. Trust a chick to fuck up a perfectly good piece of machinery.

  I wipe the sweat from my forehead before checking which parts we need to buy.

  Soft laughter catches my attention, and I glance up to see who it’s coming from.

  Fuck me.

  Leigh’s standing on the other side of the truck. The smile on her face takes my breath away, and again I’m struck by how beautiful she is. I thought she was fucking with me when she said she’s nineteen, but Evie confirmed it. She looks nothing over seventeen, but it might be because she’s so small. Not small as in short, but rather fragile looking. Beautiful is really not the right word to describe her. She’s got a waiflike delicacy, which makes you want to protect her. Well, until she opens her mouth and nails you with one of those death glares she seems to favor so much.

  She’s a little too slender for my liking, but with a face like that, it’s something that can be overlooked.

  Her eyes look like melted chocolate and her hair, fuck I’d love to feel it wrapped around my fist as I silence her with an orgasm. No scratch that. As I make her beg for an orgasm. Yeah, I’d love to see the princess beg for my cock.

  “You find something funny?” I rest my hands on the side of the truck, smirking at her. It seemed to get her all riled up on Friday whenever I smirked.

  “Not really… yeah, maybe.” She laughs again, a light musical sound that has a direct link to my cock. She better stop smiling before I embarrass myself by going rock hard right here in public.

  “Care to share?” I keep my tone bored which makes her smile fade a little.

  She points to her face. “You have grease all over the right side of your face. Looks like the truck is kicking your ass.”

  The grin on my face widens as I yank my shirt off and wipe my face with it. Just like Friday night, her eyes drop to my chest. Fuck, I wonder if she’s even seen a naked guy. I doubt it. She’s probably one of those women who insist you switch the light off before fucking.

  “See something you like, Princess?”

  Her eyes dart to my face, and I wink at her as a blush colors her cheeks. I’d like to find out if her cheeks will flush the same way when she’s coming apart under me.

  She lifts a tray with frosted glasses. I didn’t even notice that she brought us something to drink.

  “Yeah, I do,” she says as she places the tray on the floor. “Just a pity that such a great body is being wasted on a shitty personality.”

  “Burn!” Marcus laughs from behind me. The fucker has been watching this little dance between Leigh and me. I give him a thanks-for-having-my-back-dickhead glare which
only makes him laugh harder.

  “So being a bitch, it just comes naturally to you?”

  She arches an eyebrow, clearly ready for anything I might throw at her today. For some fucked up reason, I’m not willing to admit to myself yet, I find this feisty side of her sexy as hell compared to the frazzled mess she was at the party.

  “No, it’s an allergic reaction I have to assholes like yourself.”

  “You really love that word… assholes. For a pretty little thing, you sure love to talk dirty.”

  She flips her hair over her shoulder and smiles sweetly. Yeah, like I’d be stupid enough to fall for that shit.

  “You have a thing for the word bitches. But don’t worry, I understand. We can’t all have good taste in vocabulary.”

  I glance up to the heavens for help as Marcus starts cracking up with laughter. Logan joins in, only making things worse.

  “Finally, someone who doesn’t take shit from my brother.”

  I glare at Logan, but he ignores it and widens his smile as he reaches a hand out to her.

  “I’m Logan West, the better brother.”

  I can’t argue with that because he really is the better brother.

  “Leigh Baxter. I see you got the personality and charm. Lucky for you he got saddled with all the shitty parts.”

  Fuck, this woman is really pushing it. I give her a look which promises payback when she least expects it.

  “Well, it was… fun, for lack of a better word. When you’re done with the drinks, please bring the tray up to the apartment.”

  I watch her walk away, thinking it won’t be much of a hardship to screw that stuck-up attitude out of her.

  ∞∞∞

  LEIGH

  I hold the cold bottle of water to my neck, trying to cool down after my altercation with Jaxson. There’s just something about him that gets under my skin.

  I walk back to the couch and take a sip of the water as I sit down. Dragging my laptop closer, I fully intend on getting lost in the latest posts on all the medical forums I’m a member of.