Tangled (4 page)

Thankfully
her mother didn’t try to run interference again. But her stepfather waited for
her in the foyer.

Jesus,
why couldn't they just leave her
be
?

Ray offered her a tentative smile and
held up a container. “I made extra chicken
parm
last
night, if you want to take the leftovers with you.”

As far as investment bankers went,
Raymond Calloway defied expectation.

In a manner of speaking,
anyway.
Laidback
with a weakness for dungarees, he was completely unlike the paste-colored,
stiff suit-wearing yuppies that inundated Wall Street.

But that was where the dissimilarities ended.
Still a decade off from middle age, he scored precious few points in the looks
department. A less than redeeming waistline didn’t help. Ruddy complexioned and
plagued with a case of acne that had rolled over from adolescence, Tess knew
exactly why her mother had fallen into ‘love’ with him.

Or rather, with his
piggy bank.

Her mother, however, wasn’t the only one
with ulterior motives. The years of destitution hadn’t detracted from her
beauty. Even glammed in her Goodwill garb, Maia was a looker. So Ray, wanting a
trophy wife who wouldn’t think twice about signing a
prenup
,
eagerly agreed to tie the knot.

Besides, there was nothing like the fear
of poverty to keep her in her place. In the end, everyone got what
they
wanted. Her mother didn’t have to scrub another toilet
in her life and Ray got to tote around the faux belle of the ball.
 

At the wedding, Tess hadn’t known whether
to burst out laughing or wish them luck.

But since everyone seemed determined to
pretend that they genuinely cared about one another, Tess went along with the
charade.
 

She plastered a smile. “I’ll be ok.”

His face fell. “Oh. Are you sure?”

“Yeah.
I’ll probably eat out for dinner tonight with my friends. Take care of Maia.”
She ducked out of the door before he could shove any more
well-meaning
at her.

Half-jogging
through the lobby, Tess saw her brother outside leaned against Cameron’s Audi.
He revved the engine as the doorman allowed her passage.

“Pussy
ass car,” Tony sneered.

Cameron
arched a brow. “How about you talk to me when you get a license.”

Tony
folded his arms. “Real New Yorkers don’t need licenses.”

“That’s
right, Tones. Don’t listen to him.” She pecked his cheek.

He
hurriedly gave her a quick, one-armed hug. “Peace out. And tell
dickface
to drive safe.”

Sprawled
in the driver’s seat, Cameron shot her a crooked smile behind expensive Ray
Bans as she settled in. “Aw, that was sweet.”

Tess
flipped him off.

An hour and half later they cruised onto
campus. The familiarity of the place buoyed her spirits. As much as she bitched
about the backcountry locale, the peculiarities of the townies residing at the
bottom of the hill, and the overall lack of anything to do, this place had been
home for the last year and would be for next three.

Tess directed him to her dorm. After
checking in and receiving her key card and checkpoint from the front desk, she
texted Cameron her room number and went to scope out her new digs.

 
“Tess!” She didn’t make it a foot into
the room when she fell under attack.

“Jade!”

Her roommate and best friend since
freshman year bound her in a hug worthy of any grizzly. “I missed you.” Skin a coppery
gold owing to a mixed heritage, downy brown hair that fell mid-back and a
heart-shaped face, Jade Wolfe was sex on legs.

Tess pulled away first. “Why didn’t you
come visit me?”

“Oh, like you couldn’t hop on a bus to
Virginia.”

“What? There’s intelligent life outside
of the city?”

They glanced up as Cameron practically
tripped into the room, the straps from her duffel bags crisscrossing his torso,
a roll-on suitcase in each hand. “Don’t worry, I don’t need any help.”

“Cam!” Instead of lending a helping hand,
Jade flung her arms around his neck. “I missed your face.”

“Jade, sweetie, can’t breathe,” he
wheezed.

She bounced back. “I can’t believe you
scored off-campus housing. You do realize that your place is going to be
jumping 24/7?”

“Don’t worry. We got you, post-party
clean up wise,” Tess said innocently.

“Why do I have the feeling that’s the
first and last time I’ll hear that?”

That was probably because he was right.

Smartly switching tactics, Tess and Jade
relieved him of her luggage. “Come on. I’ll help you bring the rest of your
stuff in,” Jade said. “Then Cameron can give us a tour of his place and we can
meet up with the guys at The Grill.”

After several trips, they dumped her
things into the room and piled into the Audi.

Tess tilted her head back as the wind
fingered her tresses. Absent of clouds, the stark azure sky promised good behavior.
On the quad, those already finished moving in lay on blankets, soaking up sun
or playing ultimate Frisbee.

Damn, it was good to be back.

Lined with quaint, two-story row houses,
Cameron’s street depicted a neighborhood imported straight from Pleasantville.
Tess knew better than to believe the illusion. Most of the houses were
college-owned and utilized as off-campus property for upperclassmen. In less
than a week the neatly trimmed hedges would become stuffed with abandoned
articles of clothing, manicured lawns trashed with broken beer bottles and
empty kegs.

Cam parallel parked alongside the curb.

“Wow. Your neighbor has a sweet set of
wheels.” Jade pointed out the matte black Ferrari across the street.

He muttered a few choice expletives under
his breath and pushed his sunglasses on top of his head. “Tess, there’s
something I need to tell you.”

“You’re gay,” Jade beat him to the
punch.
 

He slid her an exasperated look. “Really,
J?”

She rotated a shoulder. “Can’t blame a
girl for trying. This college is severely undermanned in the gay
bff
department.”

Before Tess could inquire,
the slap of a screen door ushered her gaze to the porch.

No.

No fucking way.
 

Hands casually tucked in the
pockets of dark wash jeans, Adonis stood in the doorway.

Tess vaguely heard Jade say
something but all was lost beneath the hot tide of blood crashing between her
ears. “What is he doing here?”

“It was a last minute
arrangement,” Cameron said, daggering the other male with an irritated glance.

Anger elbowed past shock as
the lie registered. Her fingertips bored accusingly into Cameron’s arm. “A last
minute arrangement?”

He winced and she was too mad
to care whether it stemmed from physical discomfort or otherwise. “It honestly
just slipped my mind.”

“How does something like this
slip your mind?” she hissed.

“He doesn’t have to explain anything to
you,” Adonis interjected acidly. “It’s none of your business.”

“I don’t believe I was talking to you!”

Annoyance flashed within surprisingly
clear amber eyes. “Get over it sweetheart, because I’m not going anywhere.” His
gaze swung to Cameron. “Isn’t that right, roomie?”

“Roomie!” She choked out. “And he’s
living with you?”

“I know I should’ve told you sooner.”
Cameron spoke in a low voice. “He wasn’t supposed to get here until tomorrow.
He transferred so I can keep an eye on him.”

“So he doesn’t drown in his
own vomit?” Tess inferred
monotonously.
Too bad.
She would’ve been more than happy to see his
demise. One less ignorant asshole on the planet wasn’t a bad thing.

Cameron sandwiched her face
between his palms. “Hey, do you think I would’ve agreed to this if I didn’t
think you could handle him?”

She tried to look away, but
he wouldn’t allow it. “After everything you’ve been through you’re telling me
you can’t handle one overgrown dick?” he teased.

The nerve in her jaw began
pulsating. After two years of maltreatment, did he really expect her to be ok
with her tormentor joining their brood? The earnest plea in his eyes only
spurred her anger. But she clung to composure, resolved not to give Adonis the
satisfaction of seeing her flustered. “Fine,” she bristled, in no way, shape,
or form comfortable with the arrangement. “Just keep him away from me.”

“Aw, and here I was thinking
we'd all be one big happy family,” Adonis drawled, not bothering to pretend he
hadn’t overheard. His eyes wandered to
Jade
. “And who
might this be?”

Tess stepped in front of her.
“Off limits.”

“Don't be rude.” She nimbly
darted around Tess and thrust out a hand with a winsome smile. “Jade Wolfe. And
you are?”

He took her proffered hand
and hit her with his trademark, panty-melting smile. “Adonis Benoit. I suppose
we'll be seeing more of each other.”

She had never seen her friend
blush, but sure enough Jade’s brown cheeks lit up like the fourth of July.
“Don't bet on it. He'll be too busy infecting half the campus with chlamydia,”
Tess said sourly.

“Enough, Tess,” Cameron cut
in before the conversation escalated. “Why don’t you two go on without me? I’ll
meet up with you in a few.”

“Gladly.” She snared Jade’s
wrist and set off. “I need something cheesy and calorific. Now.”

“So I guess we’re not taking
a tour of the house?” Jade asked, prying her gaze from the sexy hunk of man
candy.

“I’ve seen enough.”

___________________

Adonis watched her strut
away, friend in tow, like a peacock with a stick wedged up its ass.

Tessandra
Scarlatti.

He’d hoped in his absence, she’d fallen
off the planet or died. Preferably both.

But no, she was too alive and still
attached to his friend like a blood-sucking parasite. He thought after so many
years Cameron would’ve gotten wise to her act, but he was content to leave the
wool flapping over his eyes, the softhearted idiot.

Fuck, he couldn’t stand the bitch. He
hated her then, he hated her now, perhaps more. There was something…repellant
about her. And it was a shame. He was never one for letting a great pair of
tits go unnoticed.

But Adonis knew her type.

She was a cobra posing as a house kitten.
There was only one thing she wanted out of that relationship and it began with
Cameron and ended with money.

He longed to strip away that fake veneer
and expose her true colors. In prep school, he’d done his part to make her feel
unwelcome—hoping she’d get the hint and slink back to whatever gutter
from which she’d crawled out.