“Between my legs if you must know.” I try to sidestep him, but he’s right there with me. “By the way, in the event you didn’t get the memo, we speak no evil if you get my drift.” I glance down to that unnatural bulge in his jeans in the event it’s not clear as wicked crystal.
He folds those massive arms across his chest, and I catch an array of shapes and sizes inked into his skin that I quickly memorize to sort out later.
“Evil, huh?” He huffs at the idea. “I thought you might be leaning more toward heavenly. Looks like I might need to invoke another round to convince you otherwise.”
“Right. Try that, and I’ll be invoking a restraining order.”
“Hey!” His sister pops up, a feminine, far prettier version of him, and her features smooth out a moment. “Who do you think you are, threatening him with a restraining order?”
Jet turns to her, and I take that as my cue to make a dash for the exit. No sooner do I hit the fresh air outside than I take a moment to catch my breath. That cologne of his is still wrapped around me like a coat. It’s the kind that sticks to your skin, clings to your hair. I should know. I couldn’t wash his scent off me this morning no matter how much I scalded myself. All day he’s been as good as on me as he isinme for that matter. Suffice it to say, the ghost of his male member is still very much alive inside my body. It’s as if I’ve walked around with a giant dildo cast out of Jet Madden’s man parts lodged deep inside of me. A part of me wanted to go to the student health department to see if there was actually something wedged up in there. But the last thing I want is a team of student physicians gawking at my recently battered nether regions.
Piper shoots me a quick text letting me know they’re at Hallowed Grounds. A swell of relief fills me at the sight. I don’t need to see a doctor. All I need is a decent cup of coffee with my friends.
Irun allthe way to the Hallowed Grounds Café to find Cassidy’s pale arm waving me to the back where she’s seated with Piper and Scarlett in a woodsy area surrounded by overgrown houseplants that reach the ceiling, and, for once, I’m thankful to be cast into the unknowable corner lost in its fake flora and fauna. I’ve never been a fan of that murky area of the café before, and now that I realize how much anonymity it offers, I’m all for planting a jungle all over this damn school.
I fall into my seat with a huff, and Jet’s ghost appendage jabs me from the inside.
“I hope you’re all having a better day than I am.” I take a quick swig from Scarlett’s iced latte.
“Forget about us.” Piper reaches across the table and gives my hand a quick tug. “What’s going on with you? Did you ever talk to your family?”
“No. God no. My brothers and I have sent a few texts back and forth. They’re pretty sure I won’t be doing an internship at their firm anytime soon. I had one set up for winter break, but they said maybe next summer. It turns out, being the other woman in a political sex equation is tantamount to career suicide—especially if your indiscretion involves both politics and the legal system.”
“That sucks big ones.” Cassidy looks as if she’s about to be sick. “Oh, hon, all you need is for that old jackass to admit that nothing went on. And for the love of all things holy and right, how did you get mixed up with him anyway?”
My eyes enlarge at the thought of her wily sister putting me on “set it and forget it” mode and nary bothering to return my texts. Actually, she did. Caila sent a rather irritating message, brief and to the point much like her—we’ll talk.
“Let’s just say I sort of fell into the situation without meaning to.” I can’t believe I’m covering for the princess of the pole. Quite frankly, I’m shocked none of my friends have done the Stilettos plus Caila Jace math.
“Never mind that.” Scarlett threads her arm through mine and scoots in with her red hair bouncing between us like flames. “Move back into the dorm. I miss you.”
“Are you nuts? It’s bad enough I’m out in quasi-public with you.” I duck a little to better shield myself in the sea of faux green. Those stalkarazzi are sneaky little suckers. The female versions have followed me into the restroom twice, asking questions and not about toilet paper. “That’s sweet of you, but there’s no way I’m gunning to kill both of our legal careers before they ever get started. The Internet holds no secrets.”
Cassidy winces because she knows how right I am.
“My name and likeness are now available for every future employer to Google until kingdom come.” My voice breaks as I say it. “Face it, I’ve been branded theBologna Bopper. Senator Dingleberry is officially tied around my neck like a sexual millstone, and I’ve sunk. There’s no recuperating from this.”
“You seem rather accepting.” Piper leans in, suspicious, as if I’m trying to hide something.
“I’m not accepting any of it. Believe me, if I do accept any of this bull, you’ll find me in a fetal position sucking my thumb.”
Cassidy sniffs back tears, and the wound in my heart lances right back open at the sight. Here I am, undone by my own rotten circumstances, and she’s taking the emotional bullet. I want to weep right along with her, but once I start I won’t know how the hell to stop.
“Is Jet okay—you know, with you staying there?” she says it so sweetly, her Tennessee accent so thick, I just want to linger in it all night long.
“He seems to be fine with it.” More than fine. That boy should write every last one of my pink parts a thank you letter.
Piper narrows her eyes to slits. “Is he taking good care of you?”
“Oh, he’s taking care of me all right.” I swallow hard as memories of that dirty, luscious fucking run through my mind. That sounds so crude a part of me wants to shudder, but, really, I’m pretty sure there’s no other way to describe what happened last night. “He’s made sure my needs come first.” Quite literally.
Scarlett nods, resigned to the fact she’s been replaced as my roomie with over two hundred pounds of muscular Sheetrock. “Well, if you need anything, we’re here for you.”
“Thank you. But I’m a little sick of having the spotlight. Tell me anything to get my mind off of this. What’s new with you guys?”
Scarlett sheds a greedy grin. “Rex and I actually managed to get two classes together, which makes me unreasonably happy. If you would have told me a year ago Rex and I would be where we are now, I would have happily used your likeness for target practice. It’s surreal how you can go from literally disliking someone—strongly—to realizing your feelings were just misplaced. It’s insanity.” She hardens her eyes over mine a moment as if sending a personal message, and I laugh.
“Don’t get any ideas about that walking beef on a stick and me. That boy is a mechanical horse any girl can ride for less than a quarter.” I try to laugh off those heated memories of last night, but they just keep coming in jags, getting me hot and bothered in all the wrong places.Don’t fight it.My face heats like the surface of the sun at the memory.
