Frayed (19 page)

If she was trying to convince herself, then she
had a long way to go. Emma was obviously bothered by it, but she hadn’t brought the subject up to Bass. I wondered why. More importantly, I wondered if Carter had to do with her staying mum on the subject.

“You and Bass will be good, don’t worry. He’s crazy about you,
Boo. Now come on, let’s get some sun and get drunk.” Lindsey gave her a bright smile before dragging us both to the deck.

After we climbed the short steps, the large
, white polished expanse of the spot made the perfect location to sunbathe. “Sweet. I can actually see the guys from here.” I looked out onto the sea. The red kayaks looked like small dots from the deck.

“Will you stop checking out your stud muffin and lay out your towel already?” Lindsey yelled from behind me. “We get that you got laid woman, but being cock-struck is so not you.”

Emma laughed and smacked Lindsey’s ass with her bunched towel. “Oh, shut up, look who’s talking. I knocked on your door earlier, but you were too busy in the bathroom. I’m sure you spent more time scrubbing the tiles with your back than washing the dirt away.”

Lindsey busted out
with a loud, high-pitched laugh. “Shit, fine I’m not even going to play embarrassed here. Trista and I forgot to tell you, though, that we saw you and Bass as he plowed you hard. That man’s ass was mighty fine.”

Emma was stunned, cheeks inflamed. Her blue eyes popped out of its sockets. “You didn’t! Oh my God! You guys are insane!”

“Oh, please! It’s great to know that the guy my friend is with is pretty talented. You like that nasty talk while you guys are doing the deed?” Lindsey glanced at her as she rolled her towel, both Emma and I followed in the opposite sides.

“Are you kidding me? That’s one of the hottest parts. Bass is insatiable. I think the day that he doesn’t touch me will clearly tell me that he’s done with me.” Emma looked out
at the sea with a frown.

The girls were talking as my thoughts reverted back to last night. I was still in shock how Taylor and I progressed, but
I wasn’t complaining. Monster Boss was pure dynamite.

“Seeing you look all dreamy and shit, so how is Taylor in the sack? The guy looks like he can throw down some serious punch.” Lindsey wiggled her eyebrows, grinning like an idiot.

“Let’s just say pretty boy is now Monster Boss. It’s that huge. Shit, I felt like I was being attacked and I was trapped. Like a true damsel, I had to surrender to it, you know.”

Emma stood up and sat next to me. “Good for you. What other way to go have fun with a guy like Taylor. Bass tells me that he’s a good guy. He also tells me that he takes women seriously. So, you’re in good hands.”

Good stud, I wanted to add, but we were distracted by multiple beeping sounds coming from Lindsey’s iPad. We both focused on Lindsey as she went through her messages. “What? Facebook and Twitter. I had to update about where we are, duh! Let’s pose and make Plastic Tits jealous.”

Cece, who else?
“I fucking hate that skank,” Emma hissed at the mention of the woman who messed up her love life with Carter. Well, one of five, anyway.

Lindsey sat in between us and pointed the camera above us. “Come on. One, two, three say monster boss!” She took a few shots before she checked them out. “Damn, Emma’s boobies are huge and so
are yours, Tris. Mine look off. It sucks that I’m in the land of big bosoms. Anyway, we look hot shizzle. I’m going to put a header like ‘New actress Emma Anderson sunbathing with her sexy tatertots.’ Okay, now there it goes.” Lindsey announced as she flipped the cover back and stashed it on the side.

Lindsey started cussing when her cellphone started shrilling. Emma and I stared at her while she picked up the call, pissed off. “What? I’m still alive and breathing. I haven’t been kidnapped.” She rolled her eyes. “Where am I? If you must know, I’m taking a major shit at the moment, with
the runs and all.” Her face broke out with a grin and started laughing. “Seriously, you shouldn’t be watching movies like
Taken
if it turns you into a paranoid man.” She frowned again as she studied her nails. “I’m in Greece, not Turkey. Well I’m somewhere in the Aegean Sea on a yacht rented out by Bass.” Lindsey sighed. “Yes, she is. No, no. Come on! Dude! Fine, fine. But I think it’s completely stupid. Okay, gosh seriously, okay.” She then handed her phone to Emma, who looked stricken. “Carter.”

Emma’s neck muscles came out as she stared at the phone, frozen in time. She then looked at me and then to Lindsey.

Ah, shiznits. “You don’t have to…” I trailed off, knowing she had a lot of questions for Carter at the moment.

Well, I was caught by surprise when she actually took the phone and strode towards the tipping point of the deck before she finally took the call.  Her back was to us, giving us a nice show of her electric blue bikini-clad body. Lindsey and I sat quietly, but we could barely hear anything from her. After five minutes, she finally walked back to us.

“What do I do with your brother, Lindsey?” Emma voiced out as she handed her phone back to her.

Lindsey sighed, shrugging. “He’s in love, apparently. I don’t know why he had to fuck up big time for him to realize just how much you meant to him. I told him that you’
d moved on, Em, but he’s not listening. From what I’ve seen and heard, he’s not even screwing or seeing anyone. Now, that’s shocking. Guess he’s serious about this whole idea of winning you back.”

Emma shook her head and went to her towel. She sat there brooding.

If Lindsey ever found out how serious, I think she’d be shocked. That sapphire ring sealed the commitment aspect for me. If I were Emma, I’d be all messed up by now. Okay, Carter fucked-up, but when they were together, they were great, too. He was crazy about
his Emma
. The bigger question was how could a woman ever let go of someone like Bass? It didn’t matter if both men were still in that heart of hers because Bass clearly had to step-up and fucking claim her before they got back to LA, before Carter got a chance to weave his way in and break that barrier she had against him.

Lindsey was looking at her with concern. “He still affects you.” She concluded as a statement, a fact, not a question. “Shit!”

I suddenly came to Emma’s defense. “They were together for a while and in love at that. Even if they broke up after that boathouse incident, they still made out a few times afterwards.
That was what?
Five weeks ago?
I don’t blame her being affected by Carter. It’s natural to feel like that towards someone you love.”

Lindsey shook her head as she placed her sunglasses on. “I don’t know. We had this similar conversation before you went back to my brother, remember? You chose him over Bass. I want you to be happy, that’s all I care about. If you do think about it, just know that a man like Bass Cole will not take second rejection lightly. In a sense, Bass and I are alike in that department. I could just tell by the way he talks, his beliefs and how he treats people. He’s a great man, but he has limitations, Em. No matter how crazy you are about a person, without trust, that’s shit goes downhill pretty fast. Just be careful, okay?”

Emma nodded before responding. “Yeah, I will.”

Was that what happened with Brody?
Must be. Lindsey seriously forbade us from ever speaking his name while on vacation. Yes, we were on a yacht on
vacation
and yet we were all so depressed. “Right, now that we got the bad doo-doo out of the way, can we have some fun now?” I threw my sunglasses at Lindsey.

She stuck a tongue at me and handed her iPad
over. “Here, bust out some good beats while I go get those guys to make us some drinks and cater to us.”

I arched my brow at Emma when Lindsey left us. Emma simply smiled and started to untie the string from her back. She was on her chest with her eyes closed. “Good music, please,”
she mumbled.

“Yes, missy.” The playlist I chose had Kesha, Maroon 5,
Rihanna, LMFAO among others. We certainly needed upbeat songs to lift Emma’s spirits.

Chapter 16

Trista

Lindsey came back with the four, buff crewmen dressed in white cargo shorts and white, crewneck, cotton shirts. One of the men with brown hair and brown eyes held a tray of champagne flutes containing pink liquid topped with frothy pink stuff, while the second man had a tray of snacks. The third had stacks of towels and the fourth one had all types of lotions and oils in a silver bucket.

The guy with the champagne flutes came over and handed me one. “Strawberry bellini.” He then gave one to Emma before handing one to Lindsey.

“Trista, this is Jacques. He’s French and he’s going to be your masseuse.” Lindsey referred to the guy who handed us our drink. She sounded so blasé about it, like we did this on a daily basis.

Holy shit
, Lindsey worked fast.
Was this even allowed?

“Antonis and Gino here will take care of Emma.” She directed the two Greek men to Emma, whose eyes sparkled mischievously.

Yeah, who wouldn’t if you had two men to cater to you?

“I get Preston here.” Lindsey downed her drink and turned onto her stomach.

Was I the only one who was shy and hesitant here? Emma had her eyes closed as one of her men started to work on her hand, the other on her foot. “Do you want me to untie your bikini?” Jacques said in fluent English with a hotter-than-thou French accent. His hand was located on the tied strings on my spine.

“Sure, untie away,” I mumbled. It was somehow erotic when he applied the oil on my back and on my legs. My shyness dissolved as the Frenchman worked his magic on
my back. Trust Lindsey to distract Emma in the most awesome way. Now, I couldn’t really blame rich housewives cheating on their husbands if you had guys like these at your beck and call.

To be quite honest, I think Lindsey’s plan was to rouse some emotion out of Bass. This was Lindsey’s vindictive, evil twin working. I was sure that the whole once-over Bass gave to that woman earlier was noted, especially since we knew the whole exotic brunette with an accent preference of his. The agreement Bass and Emma had bothered Lindsey.
Then let’s not forget Dimitris
. Lindsey meant well, but if I ever had confided about what I had gone through with Harry then, I don’t think he would’ve survived it. Since Lindsey lost her parents in that tragic accident, she held her friends close to her heart and went overboard to protect us sometimes. That’s Lindsey, passionate and feisty to the very core.

I was drifting in and out of sleep when I faintly heard Bass’s chatty voice from afar. I could hear footsteps drawing near, and so I twisted my head to the other side, away from where they were approaching. Bass was now on the stairs and Taylor was with him, talking. “Missed out on ice climbing last year, but this year is on. It’s a blast—
What the hell Emma!
”

Heck, I was way too curious not to watch Bass Cole lose it before my eyes, so I turned my head back to watch the action. Bass was shooting daggers at the guys who were touching Emma. When they tried to apologize and started to leave, Emma interrupted. “It’s fine Antonis and Gino, please continue.” The guys went back to kneading her shoulders and her thighs. She then spoke to the golden boy. “Bass, don’t be an ass. It’s only a massage.
Think nothing of it
. I’ll see you in a bit.”

My eyes flickered towards Taylor who simply shook his head and left the scene. Yeah, we were definitely involved at only a physical level; no more no less.

“If you want a massage then I will give you one.”

“Honestly, Bass two hands to four? I’m good.” Emma then turned her head away from him. It was a cue for Bass to leave her alone, but that gesture didn’t sway him.

Damn, she was beyond jealous with that Katarina woman.

“I’m giving you sixty seconds. If you don’t get up and wrap that towel around you, I’m going to haul your ass out of here, with or without that bikini top. I don’t think I deserve to suffer like this, Emma.”

And just like that!
Emma dismissed the guys and went to tie her bikini back on. “You’re crazy, you know that? I was actually enjoying myself.”

Bass pulled her up and kissed her nose. “You have no idea how crazy I am about you.” He kissed her a few times before speaking again. “You knew one guy touching your thighs was enough to drive me insane, but add another who was massaging your back and the side of your boobs, well that was just asking for trouble.” Bass looked at us, shaking his head. “Pretty women with angelic smiles, those are the kind men need to watch out for.”

Lindsey snorted at that. “Angelic is never associated with me. I don’t know if I should be offended by that,
or am I losing my touch?
” She teased, smiling at Bass.

Emma let out a loud yawn. Bass held her hip then directed his eyes on me. “Want me to get Taylor?”

Um, why?
I waved my finger at him and Emma. “Taylor and I aren’t like you guys. We’re just enjoying each other in a physical sense. Fuck buddies, plain and simple.”

Both the girls laughed at my crudeness, but Bass seemed confused. “Gotcha. See you ladies later.” Emma made another yawn. Without warning, Bass effortlessly plucked her off her feet with her head on his shoulder. “You’re tired, babe.”