chapter 10
Trista
After a full hour of serene silence, the Fantastic Four along with Taylor joined us around the pool. I held my eyes shut, not caring about the intruders.
“Hey, Lindsey! We’re going back to shower and change. We’ll meet up at the same bar, let’s say around nine-thirty, ten?” One of the FF’s said.
“You bet! See you guys later,” I heard Lindsey say. After a minute, she spoke again, to Taylor. “You look pink, Tay Tay. Too much hanky-panky under the sun? How drunk did those girls get you, hmm?”
Hanky-panky? Was Taylor messing around with them? All FOUR of them? Uh, another case of ménage-a-f*cktard. Men. When it comes to women, no matter the quality, quantity overrules simple, common sense.
The playboy of the day gave a riotous laugh, like it was the funniest thing he’d heard all day. “Fine, I’m wasted. No harm no foul.” He admitted, leaving out the important detail of whether he had indeed had his fair share of hanky-panky.
“I just bet. Well, good for you. Hey, you’re on a holiday. It’s the best time of the year to get your freak on.” Lindsey and Taylor both laughed at that.
What was Lindsey doing cheering him on to whore it out tonight? Didn’t she insinuate that something was going on between Taylor and I? Of course it wasn’t true, but it kind of stung that if it happened to be true, she would suggest that to him.
“I’m getting hungry. Can we just order in tonight? I want to relax before we hit the party rock tonight.” Lindsey was gathering her things as she spoke. She grabbed her iPod, a paperback, cellphone and her see-through beach dress, all stacked up together.
“Sure,” I murmured. Taylor mirrored my answer.
“Awesome sauce! Don’t forget to wear something killer tonight, Trista Stevens. It’s on tonight, baby! We’ll find you a sinful guy to hump and bump on, clothing optional, of course!”
I love my friend. She likes to mess with my head too much, though. “Now, that’s my kind of plan.” Let operation Forget The Bastard be put into motion.
My inner cheerleader died when I heard Taylor snort at my response. “You have something to say, pretty boy? Spit it out, I want to hear it.” I raised my brow at him, my voice scathing. My hateful glare didn’t faze him. In fact, he rewarded me with one of his own.
Lindsey glanced at me, I saw her frowning in my peripheral vision. I’m sure my reaction to Taylor was already noted in that brilliant head of hers. I wasn’t going to explain anything, or back down from the glare war we were having.
Taylor simply got on my nerves. Since that night in Aspasia, we both had the whole I-think-I-might/I- think-I-won’t down to a T. Add in my emotional drama and my intense awareness of him, and it was a volcano, packed with crazy, ready to erupt. We were a disaster waiting to happen.
Like a ticking time bomb, our time was numbered until showdown. It would be a hateful mouth-off, one I was prepared for. He did tell me to start fighting, did he not? Well, here I was, fighting.
Come what may.
“O… kay. I’m going to order some food.” Lindsey started to walk away, but paused and looked back at both of us. “You know,” she said pointing her hot pink-tipped finger at us, waving it back and forth, “whatever’s going on… freaking get to it! You guys need to f*ck each other, already. The tension is just too damn much.” Lindsey shook her head prettily and went back inside the villa.
If my eyes had the power to sear people, Taylor would’ve been charred to perfection by now. The only tension I had at the moment was keeping myself from strangling this stupid man. I would also love to successfully swipe off that stupid smirk that just became pasted on his face while I was at it. “What?” I snapped at the infuriating man. His sudden amusement grated me to death. It was like listening to nails scratching on a chalkboard.
“Want to pay heed to her insightful advice?” Taylor delivered with such infuriating confidence.
F*cker! Hell no!
My blood boiled like hot magma. I simply glared at him before cutting his sexual prowess to a halt. “Over my dead body, Taylor. Keep dreaming, though, pretty boy. I just hope your imagination can handle the heat.”
Something flickered in his eyes, something dark and unattainable. I was unprepared when he strode towards where I stood, all cocky and confident. The moss-green depths of his eyes pinned me down. The amount of heat that channeled from those beautiful orbs burned me up, all the way to my toes causing my body to react acutely. I could feel it as my nipples tightened, my muscles clenched intimately, and a flush spread across my body at the potent intensity of it. Those eyes alone pierced me, drawing me in. The feelings had begun to overwhelm me, suspending my brain from thinking. All I could see was him, bewitching me with his spell. It was a whimsical fervor that bounded and disarmed me.
“I can definitely take the heat. I don’t dream about heat, Trista. I make heat. And once you get a taste of that, you will be the one begging me to take you.” The deep timbre of his voice vibrated all over my heightened body. I wanted to scold my treacherous body for reacting to him, but it was futile. It was uncomfortable, and yet, pleasurable.
If just his eyes could have this effect, I wondered what his touch would do to me. It would most likely light me up like a goddamned Christmas tree. I’ve never had this kind of sexual chemistry before, not even with Harry. That honest admission aroused something else inside of me, but I dispelled it as soon as I could.
Taylor was Bass’s friend. I didn’t want to hook-up with someone who I would eventually see back home. No, my life was complicated as it was, I didn’t need to tangle myself in another hot mess.
With my arms folded on my chest, I held his heated gaze with purpose. “I guess it’s a good thing that I’m not in to you, pretty boy. This technique might work on others, but it doesn’t do shit for me. Maybe it’s high time you go and treat your pretty dick to some p-ssy showdown. I’m sure you could take your pick from one of those over-eager New Yorkers.”
Taylor’s eyes searched mine before he trailed them to my lips, those eyes burning with evident need and something else, almost like he was fighting it, too. This weird pull was unnerving. Cautiously, he looked away and gazed at the sea. “Yeah, you’re right,” He murmured as his fingers ran over his hair. With a resolute sigh, he went back inside without giving me another glance.
I stared after him, knowing I did the best thing. Taylor might be irresistible, but I couldn’t risk it. With my luck, I would end up being hurt again. Going through this emotional death and physical pain of losing the only man I had ever loved was the greatest challenge I have yet to conquer. Involving another man that I would be seeing for the next four weeks was not the brightest of ideas. That would be like asking life to shit on you some more. Yeah, not going there—not if I could help it. If I wanted to get laid, it better be with some guy that I would never see again; never get an emotional attachment to. Ever.
That night, we went out to party again. I wasn’t a wee bit surprised when those girls joined us since they had already mentioned they would see us at the club. Their names floated around, but I never was interested enough to catch any of them. Lindsey seemed to get on with them, as did Taylor. He was different tonight; he seemed more guarded, unreadable. He wasn’t a jerk or anything, he still talked to me, but the warmth and playful tone were gone. I was hardly surprised. Men like Taylor aren’t used to the word “get lost”. I tried to ignore the odd feeling of his new treatment of me, so I paid extra attention to my drinks and danced with random people. I didn’t even try to engage myself in any lip-lock wars with other men this time because I didn’t want to see Taylor pull another stunt like he had the night before.
The other difference this time was that Taylor was openly flirting back with all of the FFs. The blonde twins, whom I was internally referring to as Buxom Blonde One and Two—or BB One and BB Two for short—were certainly making their interest blatantly known, rubbing their tits on the side of his arm. It didn’t help that they were voluptuously gorgeous. The urge to barf was strong, but I forced myself, though a difficult task to achieve, to look away and pretend I was enjoying the night.
I really did try. I danced with countless men, but I didn’t let it get past that. I didn’t need another close encounter with Taylor. No, not tonight . , N n ot when my emotions were at an all-time high. I simply didn’t trust myself around him.