Nora’s lips stretch into a smirk. ‘Sexual tension – check.’
‘He would flirt with me, convince me that he liked me and then deny it to everyone else. Basically, he made me feel like I wouldn’t ever be good enough to have him.’
‘Sounds like an A-Grade asshole,’ Cami mutters, shaking her head. She brings her hands up in an ‘X’ shape in front of her and makes a buzzer sound. ‘It’s a no from me.’
‘Then he broke up with his girlfriend – Zayden said he never really liked her, but I don’t know. It was a whole big thing. He came to my eighteenth birthday and things got heated. I don’t want to go into it but, basically, he hasn’t been around for ages and now he’s back and we’re living together. I don’t really want anything to do with him now, but I also want him to fuck my brains out. I have complicated feelings.’
Nora spits her drink across the table and Cami shrieks when half of it lands on her. I burst out laughing and hastily grab a napkin, dabbing it on her arm and then the table.
‘Sorry,’ Nora chokes, slapping her chest. ‘I didn’t expect you to say that.’
‘You just need to show him thatheis the one who isn’t good enough foryou.’ Cami points a shiny, black-nailed finger at me.
‘Mmhmm,’ I mumble, reaching for her hand to inspect the dainty tattoos covering her fingers. I have been wanting to get a tattoo for ages, but Dylan always told me he hates the look of tattoos on women. ‘I’ll get right on that.’
I take a long sip of my drink. My head is feeling a little light, and I decide then that I need to slow down. I don’t make great decisions when I drink, and since Mason will be at home, I need to have a clear head and be on my best behaviour.
‘The hottest of hot just walked in,’ Cami whispers, running her tongue across her teeth as she not-so-subtly checks them out. Nora and I both turn to see.
I scoff, turning to glare at my drink. ‘Gross.’
‘Gross?’ Nora exclaims with wide eyes. ‘Are we looking at the same guys?’
‘That’s my brother,’ I mutter. ‘And Mason. Aka, the best friend.’
Cami and Nora gasp, then turn to stare at the boys walking over to the pool table. My hands curl into fists seeing Mason. He is too damn sexy for his own good. It makes it hard to hate him. It honestly feels like having an ex, but we never even had the relationship part. Can you have a ‘one that got away’ when you never got to have them in the first place?
‘Damn, girl.’ Cami waves a hand near her face, fanning herself. ‘I get it now.’
‘Get what now?’
‘The infatuation.’ She blows out a breath. ‘That boy is so hot, it’s criminal.’
‘Right?’ I sigh, leaning my head back against the seat. ‘I’m so screwed.’
‘Also, your brother ... wow.’
‘Ugh,’ I groan, reaching for my drink – my earlier decision disintegrated the moment the boys entered the bar.
Nora not-so-subtly stares at the boys, quietly sipping her cocktail. She quickly looks away and shoots me an apologetic look. ‘Oops. I think they saw us.’
The girls sit up straighter in their seats as the boys approach. I suddenly find the table fascinating and glare down at it.
‘Looks like they let anyone in here.’ My brother smirks at me. His hair is messy, and his shirt looks two sizes too big, but that’s standard for my brother. He rocks the ‘just rolled out of bed’ look no matter what the occasion, but to be fair, it does work for him. If I attempted that, I’d look like I just stepped out of a hurricane. ‘Must be cool by association with these lovely ladies.’
‘Ugh.’ I scowl, but it’s half-hearted. ‘Don’t flirt with my friends.’
He raises his hands innocently, and I notice some new tattoos lining his wrists. At this rate, he will have more tattooed skin than not. Our mum will have a fit when she sees him. She was horrified when he got his first one, and now he has two sleeves. ‘I’m simply here to say hello to my dear sister.’
‘Hi,’ I say unenthusiastically, avoiding the searing eyes of Mason. I squirm in my seat, hating how the temperature seems to increase whenever he’s close by. ‘You can go now.’
Zayden’s eyebrows rise and I sigh.
‘This is Zayden,’ I deadpan.
Zayden grins, extending a hand to Nora. She smiles up at him as he shakes her hand and then repeats the procedure with Cami, who is looking at him like he’s something she wants to eat. Mason smirks at me when I finally turn to look at him.
‘What?’ I snap rudely.
