Tempted (In Too Deep) (9 page)

I whimper
from the sudden absence of warmth and reach out for him.

He chuckles. “I’m not going anywhere, Shrimp, just turning off the light.” He flips
off the light and comes back to the bed, pulling me tightly to his chest once again. I sigh and relax into him, thankful for his presence and long past feeling guilty about that kiss.

After I’ve quieted my tears and breathing has returned to normal, I roll over, turning toward Reis. He looks down at me and brushes my hair back from my
face and smiles.

“How stupid am I?
”

“
Shh,” Reis whispers, playing with a lock of my hair.

“
I gave my heart to someone who can’t be trusted. He hasn’t changed one bit. And to think, I almost slept with him before he left.” I shake my head. And I would have, except it’d been Bria even then coming between us. It’s just like MJ said it would end.

“You mean you never slept with him?”

“That’s what you took away from that?”

He chuckles. “Sorry.”

“One track mind, much?”

“Well
it’s Colt, so I figured you had. And even though it would have been weird being with you after that, I was willing to overlook it.”

I sit up in bed. “Reis, I’m not going to be ready to be with anyone for a while. I just need to be by myself.”

He nods. “I’ll wait for you until you’re ready. I’m nothing like him, you know?”

“I know that.”

“So maybe there’s hope for us.”

“I don’t
think so.” Reis is a nice guy. Why couldn’t I have fallen for someone like him? But I wasn’t ready to even consider another relationship. I should be banned from interacting with the male species. “I’m not ready for anything, with anyone.”

“Let me worry about that then. You just focus on being happy again. And I’ll be here to cheer you up. How’s that sound?”

“Nice,” I admit.

“Good. Come here.” He holds out his arm and I snuggle in against his side, letting my whole body relax.

Chapter 24

Colt

Taylor was quiet when I told her Bria and I would be in London for another two weeks. I’d apologized profusely, but she hadn’t said much. After we got disconnected, I tried to call her back and instead of answering she’d sent me a text. She was tired of not being able to trust me, she said. It was over. She was officially done with me.

I fall back against the pillow. My sleeping schedule is completely messed up and m
y head is spinning. It’s been too long since I’ve seen her. Too long since I’ve held her, and she’s forgotten how good we are together. That’s all. I know I can get her back. Two more weeks and I’ll get my chance.

Then I remember that tonight was
Reis’ dance. She hadn’t said anything about it, but damn, she hadn’t said much of anything. Did the dance have anything to do with her change of heart? Maybe that’s what she realized she needs. A typical high school experience, a boyfriend who’s actually around, not working in another country for weeks at a time. It’s her senior year. I couldn’t expect her to wait for me, I just figured our relationship was important enough for her to want to. I guess not.

I consider calling her
again, we need to talk this out. But it’s late, and she probably needs time to cool off and realize this isn’t what she really wants. I switch off the lamp and punch my pillow into shape. Just as I’m falling asleep, my door squeaks open and I see Bria’s silhouette against the darkness.

“Are you awake?” she whispers.

I swallow down a lump in my throat. What the fuck is she doing in here? “Yeah.”

She tiptoes into the room.
“I can’t sleep.” She comes in and shuts the door, shutting out the light that spilled in from the hallway and sits down on the edge of my bed. I push up on my elbows to look at her.

“Did something happen?”

“It’s just Liam. I shouldn’t have slept with him.”

Fuck. I didn’t know she’d actually slept with him. They’ve been out twice. Fear twists in my stomach, worrying what this might mean for the case. “
Bria, I told you not to get involved. We need this deal with his uncle.”

“Relax. This has nothing to do with your precious deal. Geoffrey loves us. Liam on the other hand, now that he got what he wanted, is all back to all business.”

I breathe a sigh of relief and fall back against my pillow.

Bria
crawls up the bed and leans against the pillows beside me. “Why can’t I find a guy who loves me for me?” Her eyes implore mine. I have no idea how to answer her question. I thought I found love with Taylor, but now I think I’ve already lost it.

“What i
s it about Taylor? I mean, why her?”

I’
d never really thought about it, but I knew the answer without even thinking. She was open and outspoken. She wasn’t overly concerned with her appearance or impressing me like other girls. She made me earn it. Earn her and be worthy of being with her. “She challenged me.”

Bria
scoots closer and I let out a frustrated sigh, but I don’t stop her. She’s testing the boundaries, waiting to see what I’ll do, if I’ll push her away. Now that I know how it feels to be rejected, I don’t have it in me right now.

“Can I stay in here?”

Without waiting for my response, she crawls toward me. “Bria…” I don’t want to argue with her right now. But she shouldn’t be in here.

“I’ll stay on my side, just please. Please let me stay.”

“You’ll behave?”

“I promise,” she whispers.

“Fine.”

“Night Colt.”

“Goodnight.” My mind reels. Sleep will be impossible tonight.

Bria
rolls over to face me, a smile on her lips. “Despite constantly acting like a jerk, you’re not so bad.”

“Thanks.” Little
does she know, Taylor is done with me, thinks I was a terrible boyfriend. I probably am.

She inches even closer until she’s lying against my side. Her bare arm and leg press against mine in her barely
there pajamas. I move my arm out of the way and she snuggles in against my chest. Her perfume is a little overwhelming, not like Taylor’s subtle but sweet scent, but her body is soft and curvy where I’m hard. It’s nice. This is who Taylor thinks I am. So why should I fight it?

***

Last night shouldn’t have happened. Bria’s gone from my bed when I wake, thank God. I never should’ve let her stay. I should have called Taylor back and made her listen to me. I can already feel a headache forming. I stagger out of bed. First on the agenda is a shower. I soap up then let the rough spray of water beat down on me for several long minutes. I throw on jeans and a T-shirt and head into the living room. Bria’s gone, but she’s ordered coffee that’s been left for me in a warming carafe on the table. I pour myself a cup and sit down in front of my laptop. There’s an email from Geoffrey, one about a new possible case, another from Bria thanking me for last night, and nothing from Taylor.

T
he hot coffee works to ease some of the tension in my shoulders, enough to ward off the impending headache, but not enough to keep me from thinking about Taylor. She was the one girl I wanted to change for. Wanted to protect, and make happy. And now I’ve fucked things up.

I remember back to last night, and
Bria climbing in my bed. Since I’d lost Taylor, part of me wondered if I should distract myself with the release that Bria’s body would bring me. I push the thought away. I pour myself another cup of coffee and settle into work.

Chapter 25

Taylor

I tell myself that I won’t hack into Colt’s emails anymore, that I’m done worrying over him. But that lasted about three hours. By lunch, I’ve hacked into his account and read all his emails. There was only one from Bria, thanking him for last night and accusing him of being a cover hog. My stomach turns and I think I may actually be sick. But deep breathing and squeezing my eyes closed help to keep my lunch where it belongs. After the, I promise myself again that I won’t look at his emails again, unable to stomach what I might find.

The next two weeks
pass without a word from Colt. Well, other than one late night text that just said
U there?
I hadn’t responded. I kept busy with school, my friends and of course Reis.

This morning
when I log in, there’s an email from Colt. No subject line. When I open it I’m both relived and disappointed to see it’s a new case for me. His note is professional, all business detailing the case. It seems a woman has an internet stalker who’s sending threatening emails and the police won’t do anything. My job is to find out who’s behind the emails. Seems simple enough. There’s one line at the end that I fixate on, the one personal thing he’s added to the email. He’ll be home tomorrow.

Having him back will be strange. He’s been gone for six weeks, practically a lifetime. We’d only been dating for four months, and he was gone for a month of that time.
His persona in this school is larger than life. There will be no avoiding him, no going unnoticed. If I thought dealing with my ex-boyfriend, Wes in a sea of hundreds of students, confronting Colt on a daily basis was sure to be much worse. Not to mention, I’d grown closer to Colt than I ever had to Wes. After learning about his mother’s death and the way it affected him, being part of his Dad’s departure from the company, I felt sort of responsible for Colt’s growth. It would crush me to see him revert back to his old ways with a steady stream of girls to fill his time and take his mind off of his pain. I couldn’t imagine dealing with that.

I set to work on my newest case with the internet stalker and tuned everything else out. It was Friday afternoon, which meant Reis would be here in a little while to stay the weekend. With Colt coming back, I imagine he’ll have to start camping out in a couch in the common room, but it’
ll be nice to have him as a sort of buffer from having to deal with Colt. I should feel guilty using Reis as a buffer, but I don’t, we’re like peanut butter and jelly. It’s just a combination that works.

School is starting to feel almost secondary to all the crap I have going on in my personal life. I go through the motions each day, sure I’m not learning, or retaining any of it, feeling more distanced from MJ and Logan each day. I hate that feeling, but I do nothing to try and change it. At our shared lunch table, I listen to the conversation, but rarely contributing. I no longer debate with MJ and Logan over her latest crazy idea.

I head into the bathroom and see MJ getting ready in front of the mirror. She meets my eyes. “Logan and I are meeting up with some guys from St. Johns tonight at Taste. Come with us.”

Taste is a dance club MJ likes, I’ve been there once before, but it’s really not my scene. “Sorry. I’m hanging out with Reis tonight.”

She shakes her head. “Do you have some sort of addiction to those brothers or what?” She holds up a hand, stopping me from saying anything further. “Never mind. Have fun.”

I knew I was letting Reis come before my friendship with MJ, but why couldn’t MJ understand that there was something about his company
that I needed that I needed right now.

***

Reis and I sit in the
common room, a deck of cards spread between us. Hanging out in Colt’s room has a strange forbidden feeling to it, like I don’t belong in here, with Colt’s presence looming in every corner. And with him due tomorrow, it’s time we found a new place to hang out.

“You’re not going to want me around anymore, with the brother you really want coming back tomorrow.”

“Hush. I’m done with all his shit. I’m better off on my own.”

The disbelief rolls off Reis in waves.
“Riiight. You’re pissed right now, but I know you’re both still crazy about each other,” he says, glancing up at me to gauge my reaction.

“Have you been talking to him?” I wonder what Colt’s said to make Reis think he’s still crazy about me.

“Of course. You guys still haven’t talked?”

“Not since the night of the dance.”

He shakes his head. “You’re both so damn stubborn.”

I
fold my hand of cards on the table. “Sorry I’m longer speaking to the guy who cheated on me.”

He shakes his head, his eyes full of concern. “Wait a second, what exactly did Colt tell you that night?”

I think back to our conversation, his words felt like a confession. “We had a bad connection, but he said something about him and Bria and how sorry he was.”

Reis frowns
. “He was trying to tell you about him and Bria having their trip extended another two weeks. He was worried about how you’d react, since you weren’t happy about him being there with her.”

“You mean he and Bria never…”

“He didn’t cheat
,” Reis says with certainty.

His words should flood me with relief, but that sensation is strangely lacking. Something nags at me that
there’s been several times now where Colt hid the truth from me. “Doesn’t matter. It was only a matter of time.”

“Taylor, it
matters. It changes everything.”

I’m not sure if Reis is right. I don’t know if this changes anything. I’m also not sure
based on the emails I’ve seen that I even believe they weren’t together in London. I don’t tell Reis about the email where Bria thanked Colt for a good night and accused him of being a cover hog since I don’t want to admit to hacking into his account like a psycho. Right now Reis still thinks the best of me, and I want to keep it that way.

He’s still looking at me, studying my expression, waiting for a reaction. His hair is in need of a trim, but somehow the unkempt look suits him. “Shrimp, are you okay?”

The memory of my kiss with Reis replays in my head. His lips placed over mine, the firm pressure yet tentative movement of his tongue.

As worried as I’d been about Colt being unfaithful, how was it that I was the one who cracked first? Sure Reis might have been tempting, but I trusted myself not to act on it. Colt trusted me too. I was the one who’d blown it.
“But what about that kiss?” I know Reis likes me, and I need to stop toying with his emotions. “Nothing like that can happen again,” I add quickly.

“I could explain it to him. He’d forgive you. I’d tell him it was my fault, which it was.
Trust me, he’ll be pissed at me, not you.”

Would that even be fair to let Reis take the blame? I might not have initiated it, but I’d been a willing participant in that kiss.
“Well considering I’m not speaking to him, I doubt we’ll even talk about it. Unless you were planning to tell him?”

“I’d rather not get my face pounded in.” He smiles and I can’t tell if he’s serious or not.

My phone rings, interrupting the silence of this heavy moment. The caller ID says it’s Logan and when I answer, a blast of music invades my ear drum.

“Logan?”

“Taylor! We’re at the club, and MJs puking in the girl’s bathroom. Can you come get us?”

I roll my eyes. Was this MJ acting out because I haven’t been around?
“Yeah and Reis and I will be right there. Go in there and help her.”

“I tried and I got thrown out of there, just hurry, okay?”

I remember back to the time Colt came into that same public restroom to talk me out of the stall where I’d been crying. No one had questioned his presence in there. Colt just gave off that vibe of authority and confidence that meant he usually got his way.

Reis and I shuffle into shoes and head out into the night. I give him directions and a few minutes later, we’re pulling up in front of the club. The guy at the door won’t let us in without paying the cover charge, not believing that we just need to go in quickly to get my friend. When I tell him that Reis will wait outside for me, he agrees, letting me go inside.
Reis isn’t happy about the idea, but I promise him I’ll just get MJ and Logan and we’ll be right out. Reis gives a tight nod and I disappear into the club.

Logan is easy to spot, waiting near the front entrance. He helps
me to the back restrooms, parting the crowd to guide me through. I find MJ sitting alone against the wall in the corner on the grungy tile floor. She’s barely coherent, her eyes rolling in her head. “MJ!” I shake her awake.

“Taylor?”

“Come on, we’re gonna get you out of here.” I help her stand and support her weight as we head to the door.

I sit in the back of the Jeep with MJ’s head resting in my lap while Logan takes the front seat. It’s a silent drive back, Reis doesn’t even turn on the stereo. I cradle MJ’s head across my knees and rub her hair back from her forehead. I hate that I haven’t been a good friend to her lately, too wrapped up in Reis and Colt and my own shit that I hardly had time for her. I’m glad Logan called me tonight. Maybe by
being here for her tonight, I’m making up for the past month in some small way.

When we pull into the school, MJ’s just a bit more coherent. She actually walks up the gravel drive on her own. I figured Reis would have to carry her. When we reach the lobby, she
gives Reis and I a hug, thanking us for picking her up. I make Logan promise to give her a big glass of water before she goes to bed, when the lights in the foyer suddenly flip on.

Shit. I know we’re busted.
It’s way past curfew. I expect to see Vera looming at the top of the stairs, and that’s why it takes me a minute to realize it’s Colt standing there. He pads softly down the stairs in bare feet, pajama pants and a T-shirt. It’s the first time I’ve seen him since he’s been back and my heart rate spikes. Even in his sleepy state, he’s incredibly gorgeous. It’s hard to look straight at him.

He surveys us, clearly noting MJs wobbling stance. “I’m not even going to ask. Everyone go get in bed.” His voice is quiet, yet domineering. It sends a silent shudder through me.

MJ steps toward him and pats his cheek with her hand. “You’ve been replaced,” she says as she passes. 

I duck my head as I pass by Colt, not wanting to meet his eyes, especially with the implication that Reis has replaced him hanging in the air.