Twisted Minds (2 page)

“What age is that again?” I asked in an innocent tone.

“Eighteen,” Joe answered, releasing his wife. “Kira’s very hot headed, you’ll soon learn.”

Hot headed. Eighteen.

I loved those words.

Two

Fortunes

“You ready to try some fine Ripley cuisine?” Finn asked enthusiastically, slapping me on the back as though it would somehow get my spirits up.

“I have a feeling I’m not going to be surprised,” I said in disdain, staring at the unappealing, kitschy building in front of us with its green neon sign.

From behind me, Kira grumbled something under her breath which sounded a lot like, “Arrogant jerk.” She really had a problem with me, but I was yet to uncover exactly what that could be.

After Theresa had gone upstairs for a good, few minutes to talk to her, Kira had eventually returned downstairs and grudgingly announced she would join us for dinner with Finn’s friends in town.

The three of us were standing outside a Chinese restaurant called
Fortune Cookie
—actually one of the very few restaurants in town as Finn had informed me—waiting for Kira’s friend to arrive.  The air was warm and dry, but not enough to make me uncomfortable in my long-sleeved shirt.

“There she is!”

Kira finally sounded excited about something, so I turned my head to the right to see what this friend of hers looked like.

Cute. Definitely not as attractive as Kira, who I was starting to think was a rarity in this town. Her friend was a little shorter, a little chubbier, but had a good looking face. Her features were rounder, lips full, and eyes that were dark brown. Her dark hair was dead straight, as though she had spent a good amount of time running a straightening iron through it.

She had on a cute, little skirt with flowers on it, and a white top that was generously cut low. This gave me the immediate impression that she was single and seeking attention. Even though Kira was still in jeans and a black top with spaghetti straps, she was the clear winner.

“Hi!” The girl’s voice was bubbly as she greeted us, her eyes growing wide as they fell on me.

“Hey!” was Kira’s response as they did the hug thing that all girls do.

“Amy, this is my friend Nathaniel James that I’ve been telling you about,” Finn introduced once the girls broke out of the hug. “Nate, this is one of Kira’s best friends, Amy. They’ve been attached at the hip since preschool.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Nathaniel,” Amy said brightly, her dark eyes wandering over my body.

I knew what she saw—a tall, dark haired guy who clearly took care of his physique. My dad was an asshole, but there was a reason, other than his money, why he could get a hot model. I shared the same genetics as him; broad-shoulders and a muscular build that I had worked on in the gym since I was a teenager.

Even though I didn’t need this girl’s gaze on me to feel validated about the way I looked, it was nice all the same. Especially since Kira’s reception towards me had been pretty icy.

“Well, it’s a shame I’ve heard nothing about you, Amy,” I said smoothly. “Especially about how beautiful you are.”

Amy blushed, her smile growing. Kira narrowed her eyes at me. I beamed.

“Alright, smooth talker,” Finn said, elbowing me sharply in the ribs. “Let’s go inside.”

Feeling satisfied that I had pissed Kira off enough, I followed after Finn as he walked into the restaurant. Kira and Amy trailed behind us, and I could hear Amy whispering excitedly to Kira in a low voice. I had a feeling it was something about me.

The restaurant was a lot nicer on the inside. It was clean with a red and white color scheme, and a large mural of a Chinese garden on the back wall. A single red lantern had been placed on each table as a centerpiece, with what looked like a lit candle in the middle.

It was at two of these tables that had been pushed together that Finn’s friends were waiting for us at. There were three of them, and at first glance it was pretty obvious two of them were coupled up—the big, broad-shouldered guy wearing a Yankees cap, and the skinny girl with pale, blonde hair. The other guy, with a mess of brown hair, looked like the awkward third wheel.

“Hey, Finn, over here.” ‘Yankees cap’ waved us over as though we would miss him in the almost empty restaurant.

“Hey, buddy.” Finn moved towards him, his steps quickening.

Everyone at the table stood up to meet us. Finn made a round of introductions, and I found out that his buddy was actually called Buddy, and that his girlfriend was Amanda. She looked at me with creepy, pale blue eyes, and tried to hide her surprise as she appraised me, while Buddy’s reception was decidedly icy.

What was it with the people here taking an immediate dislike to me? Finn didn’t seem to notice, though. He immediately moved along to half-hug the guy with floppy brown hair. His name was Jackson, and he was a lot friendlier than the other guy, maybe because he didn’t have a girl to act all macho about.

Jackson, I was also pretty sure, was high, which may have been the main reason why he was in a much better mood than Buddy. It also explained his dreamy expression and glazed, brown eyes.

After we all took a seat, and I had a chance to look over the laminated menu, Amy dived right into an array of questions about the city.

“I mean, I would love to live there,” she went on animatedly, “but I’m not sure I could handle all that noise.”

I nodded, my eyes wandering over to rest on Kira’s cleavage. I loved the way her breasts seemed to want to burst out of her top. My thoughts fell back to an hour ago when I’d seen her undressing in her room, picturing her tits in her bra.

Fucking incredible.

“Bonnie’s in Tokyo right now, and she loves it, but I just don’t know if it’s me,” Amy continued, playing around with the pair of chopsticks in front of her.

“Bonnie?” I asked, only half-interested in what she was saying.

“Our best friend,” Kira answered, her eyes flickering to me.

I tried to avert my gaze, but she caught me staring at her boobs. Kira’s face immediately turned red and she narrowed her eyes at me. Oh, well.

I gave her a small shrug which only seemed to enrage her even more. She pulled up her top and focused her attention back on Amy who was talking about Japanese food now. I followed along with the conversation, extremely uninterested in the day to day life of Finn’s uninteresting friends.

Finn’s attention was captured, but I think it was only because he had missed the town and his friends. Amy seemed to be the only one who had something of interest to say; even Kira seemed bored with the conversation.

Stealing a glance at her again, I wondered how she fit in here. There was something about her—something bright and sharp in her face—that made everyone else dull in contrast.

The waitress came by to get our orders, and I went with the honey ginger chicken with pork fried rice. A part of me wished there was booze on the menu, but it appeared this restaurant didn’t have a liquor license. The jasmine tea just wasn’t going to cut it.

“Griffin?”

The unexpected voice came from behind us, startling the hell out of me. It was a voice I hadn’t heard in a while, and certainly hadn’t been expecting to hear.

From beside me, Finn’s body tensed and he immediately clenched his fists. I almost reached out to put a calming hand on his shoulder, but didn’t want to make it obvious that she had gotten to him.

“Cassidy,” Finn said, through gritted teeth as she rounded the table and came into view.

Cassidy Turner was a hot little thing. Slim, petite, about 5’1”, with perfect rosebud lips and glorious auburn hair which she often let hang straight down her back. Apart from being a babe, she was also Finn’s ex-girlfriend.

Oh, and I hated her guts. The girl was a whore.

I’d first met her when she’d moved to New York City to be with Finn. They’d dated since junior year in high school and she hadn’t wanted to be away from Finn. She’d worked part-time as a waitress and taken a few photography classes at a cheaper college in the city.

But the arrangement was short-lived. Their relationship turned rocky and she returned to Ripley to figure her life out. The summer after, they managed to patch things up and she returned to the city again, only to cheat on him and completely devastate him. That had been six months ago and Finn still wasn’t over it.

“It’s n-nice to see you all.” Her eyes darted around the rest of the table before falling on me. Her mouth tightened as she realized I was really sitting there in front of her.

I gave her the most condescending smile I could muster, and if it were not for the table of people around me, I would have flipped her off.

She recovered quickly and a fake smile filled her face as she zoned in on Finn again. “How long are you in town for?”

“I dunno.” Finn shrugged, and I was damn proud of him for resisting her charms.

“Just for a few more weeks.” Kira jumped in. “He’ll be starting at a real estate company in the city.”

Kira sounded way too excited to see Cassidy. Clearly, she wasn’t aware of what a whore she was and how she’d fucked Finn over.

“At my dad’s company,” I added, reminding the whore that I was there.

“Oh.”

An awkward hush fell over the table. Amanda’s pale eyes were alight as she glanced between Finn and Cass, clearly hoping for some shit to go down. Buddy seemed interested too, but mainly in the short, slutty dress Cass was wearing. As for Jackson, well, he was inappropriately smiling at a spot just past Amy’s ear.

“I’ve really missed you.” Cass began toying with the edge of her yellow sundress, eyes drawn together, brows knitted as though she might burst into tears at any given second.

“Cool,” was Finn’s rather cool response.

Her eyes narrowed just the slightest—she was probably wondering why her pathetic act wasn’t working on him and why he wasn’t expressing his undying love for her. Maybe because she was a whore.

“Well, it was nice seeing you all. I better go join my friends,” Cass said, before giving Finn an award-winning smile. “It was good seeing you, Finn.”

“Yeah,” Finn mumbled in response, lowering his eyes.

I could tell seeing her had gotten to him, but it wasn’t like we could leave just because she was here. It would be letting her win, and that was never going to fucking happen.

“That was awkward as heck,” Amy said as she watched Cass sashay over to a table in the corner where two girls were watching her expectantly.

“Finn, you could’ve been nicer.” Kira shot her brother a disapproving look.

“And why would he do that?” I asked, not even giving Finn a chance to respond.

Kira shot me the most condescending look I’d ever seen. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Oh, yeah? Why is that?”

“Because you know nothing about being in a loving, stable relationship.”

Ouch.

It was true, but I hadn’t expected her to just come out with it. Kira didn’t hold back, and I could tell from the fire in her eyes that there was more she wanted to say.

“Cut it out,” Finn snapped, pushing his chair back and standing up. “She’s not worth it.”

He headed in the direction of the restrooms, head bowed. I stared after him for a second before following after him. I knew girls usually only went to the bathroom together, but I had to make sure Finn was okay.

When I pushed open the door, Finn was standing at a sink, splashing his face with water. He glanced up, his sad eyes meeting mine in the mirror.

“Hey,” I said, walking over to stand by the sink next to his. “Don’t worry about Cass. You won’t be here for much longer.”

“I know.” He pulled a paper towel from the dispenser and dabbed his face with it. “I haven’t seen her since I’ve been back, but it was naïve of me to think I could avoid her the entire time I was here. This town ain’t big enough for that.”

It made me mad that she could still affect him like this even though they’d broken up six months ago. “Listen, you need to find other girls to spend your time with. Get your journ-”

At the mention of ‘journal’, Finn shook his head, his hazel eyes almost yellow in the seedy orange light of the bathroom. “We can’t all be like you, burning through women and taking notes in a journal. I was with her for a long time.”

“Maybe that’s what you need to be.” Turning away from him, I gripped the edge of the sink with both hands, staring at my blank expression in the mirror. “My way doesn’t hurt as much.”

“I dunno, Nate.” Finn heaved a sigh as he ran a hand through his already tousled hair. “I guess I better get out there. My friends are probably wondering what the hell is going on.”

He began heading towards the door, and pushed it open, glancing back at me expectantly. “You coming?”

“I’ll be there in a sec.”

With a nod, he walked back out into the restaurant, leaving me in the peace of the restroom for a while. What I thought was going to be a peaceful trip was going downhill. A strange feeling washed over me, and I could sense something on the edge of my mind, like something bad was going to happen.

No matter how long I stood there, the feeling wouldn’t go away. And it all had to do with Cass. The girl was trouble. I had sensed it from the moment I’d first met her. Then I’d gotten to know her, and she’d revealed her true colors to me—colors that were worse than mine.