The Hidden (The Hidden Trilogy) (12 page)

Thomas stifled a laugh. “You
sure
you don’t want any help with that?”

I can do it myself, you smug son of a–

“I’ve got it,” I muttered, trying and once again failing to get it high enough to pour. “Damn it, why’d you have to fill it up all the way? It’s so…” I grunted again, using all my strength to lift the giant container. “
Heavy
.”

He exhaled a sharp breath. “Let me help you.” He reached out and tried to take the gas can from me.

“
No
.” I yanked it back. “I don’t want your help.”

He reached out again, pulling on the handle. “Don’t be ridiculous, just let me–”

Gas flew everywhere, splashing on the ground and spraying our feet and legs. “Look what you did!” I shoved the can into his hands. If he wanted to pour it so bad, I’d fucking let him.

He scowled and took the container. “What
I
did? If you’d just let me pour it in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened!” He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. “Jesus Christ, when did you get to be so stubborn?”

What was
that
supposed to mean?

An odd expression flickered across his face as he effortlessly lifted the container up to my car’s gas hatch and began pouring. I heard a few
glug glug
’s before the stream became silent. The tension grew as the seconds passed. I was just about to apologize for yelling at him when he withdrew the can’s nozzle and tightened the lid back on the hatch.

“You can start your car now,” he said in a clipped tone, keeping his eyes down.

He’s mad at me.

I instantly didn’t like the thought, or the feeling that accompanied it. It felt…
not
good. I didn’t want him to be mad at me.

What did you expect? That he’d be
happy
you snapped at him?

I told myself to shut it as I walked around my car. Pent-up heat rushed out as soon as I opened the door. I climbed in and started it, hearing my car’s subtle purr.

A quick tap on my trunk let me know Thomas needed to put my gas can back. I pressed the trunk-release button and heard the trunk close a few seconds later. I cranked up the AC and flipped my visor down, looking at myself in the little lighted mirror. My face was flushed from the heat, and I swiped back a few stray hairs from my forehead. Just as I was about to close the visor, movement in the mirror caught my eye. It was Thomas, walking back to his car already.

I flipped it closed and started to get out. I wanted to thank him for helping me. After all, I
did
appreciate it–even if I hadn’t acted like it–and thought he should know.

The loud rumble of his engine caught me by surprise, and I paused, halfway out of my car.

How the hell did he get to his car that quick?

He drove off the shoulder and back onto the road, passing me by without so much as a glance or “goodbye.” Hell, I would’ve settled for a nod or a wave. Maybe even a smartass “you’re welcome.”

What I
did
get was a good view of his profile, complete with hard eyes and the tight line of his clenched jaw.

Chapter Nineteen

THOMAS

Fuck! Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!

I slammed my hand against the steering wheel as I drove away from Emily, denting it.

Fuck.

What the hell was my problem? Why did I keep messing up around her? It was like the filter from my brain to my mouth quit working whenever I was around her. 

I said “when.” Not “
why
are you being so stubborn,” but “
when
did you get to be so stubborn.” Sooner or later, she’d catch on to my slip-ups.

And why did I have to push her? We’d been doing so well before that. It was like for every two steps forward, we had to take one back. No matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to gain any ground with her.

The wind whipped through my hair, and I rubbed a hand over my face. Maybe I should just admit defeat and leave her alone. Besides, what did I really expect to happen from all this? That we’d become…friends? Lovers?

I quickly dismissed the idea of a sexual relationship. She wouldn’t want me in that way…at least not more than once.

“It’s about friggin’ time!” Beth exclaimed as I swung our front door open. She stood up from the couch and turned off the TV, then threw the remote down on the coffee table and grabbed the towel off the back of the sofa. “Let’s go.”

Crap, I forgot we were supposed to go swimming. “I have to get changed first.” My keys rattled as I tossed them on the couch, along with my purse.

Five minutes later, we were out the door and in the hallway, waiting for the elevator. It dinged as the “down” arrow lit up and the doors slid open.

“Who’s gonna be there?” I asked, reaching out to push the button for the lobby.

“Just some people Andy knows,” Beth said without looking up, her eyes glued to her phone as she texted.

The elevator began to lower, and I couldn’t help but peek over Beth’s shoulder. It wasn’t hard, since she was so short. I saw Josh’s name at the top of the screen, and smirked as the elevator doors slid open. “Is Josh gonna be there?”

“Shut it.” She stuffed her phone into her purse and breezed past me, out of the elevator. But I’d already seen the smile she was trying to hide.

We pulled into the makeshift parking lot at the quarry, and I scanned the group milling about the parked cars. Andy was here, Hayley too, and–would you look at that. Josh was here. Go fig.

I did a double take when I saw the black muscle car at the end of the row and practically broke my neck whipping around to scan the group once more. Sure enough, Thomas was here, in the back. I frowned and killed the engine. “What’s
he
doing here?”

Beth followed my gaze and gave me a puzzled look. “Wait a sec–you don’t
like
him?”

I
can’t
like him, Beth.

“Not really,” I mumbled.

“Why the hell not?”

“I just…don’t.” I opened my door and got out, wishing I hadn’t said anything. Now she’d be bugging me about it all day.

She slammed her door shut and came around to my side. “What’s wrong with you? He’s one
fine
piece of ass, and he’s totally into you.”

I reached into the backseat to grab our towels and bags. “What? He is not.”

“Come on, the guy saved you a seat yesterday. That’s not exactly subtle. ’Sides, I saw the way he was looking at you. He definitely wants to tap that,” she said, smacking my bent-over ass. “And if I were you, I’d totally let him.”

I climbed out and shook my head. “A guy like that’s not gonna be satisfied with one girl. I mean, yeah, it’d be fun for a couple weeks, but then he’d get bored and dump me. It’s just not worth it.”

Beth’s face fell. “You really think he’s like that?”

“You heard what Andy said. Thomas gets hit on constantly, and I’m sure he loves it. What guy wouldn’t?” I shut the door and locked my car.

She looked thoughtful. “Point taken. But Andy also said that Thomas is a pretty decent guy.”

“I’m not totally convinced.”

Beth eyed me. “Did something happen between you two that I don’t know about?”

Son of a bitch,
why
couldn’t I keep my damn mouth shut today? “No, of course not.” I started walking down the narrow path at the edge of the woods lining the quarry. Everybody else had already disappeared down it, making their way to the water. Beth caught up to me and I said, “I’m just not interested in being another notch on his bedpost.”

She shrugged. “Eh, I wouldn’t mind.”

*          *          *

Once everybody was down by the water, we broke up into little groups. Some people were already swimming, but most were hanging around by the shore.

Hayley, Beth, and I were off to the side when I saw Thomas approach Andy and Josh’s group. I looked over Beth’s shoulder, watching Thomas as he pulled his shirt up and over his head, revealing taut abdominal muscles and a broad chest.

Figuring my sunglasses afforded my eyes a certain amount of perverse leeway, I ogled him to my little heart’s content, my gaze raking over his lightly tanned, heavily muscled body. I kept going back to the dip in his hips and the light dusting of blond hair just under his navel, trailing down until it disappeared into his swimming trunks. His body was even better than I’d dreamed it to be. Damn, I wanted to run my tongue up his–

“Emily?”

I tore my eyes away from him. “Huh?”

Beth gave me a weird look. “Nothing, just… You opened your mouth like you were gonna say something.”

“Oh.” I looked at the girls in the group, seeing that they were all looking at me expectantly. I lifted my sunglasses and sat them atop my head. “I, uh, forgot what I was gonna say,” I mumbled, realizing my mouth must’ve dropped open while I was busy eye-raping Thomas.

Beth shrugged and began taking off her clothes. I followed suit, turning my back to the majority of everyone there and stripped out of my shorts and tank-top. It felt weird to take off my clothes knowing Thomas was within sight. I was convinced my bikini had somehow shrunk since the last time I wore it, since I didn’t remember it covering this little.

Turning back around, I saw a girl rubbing sunblock on her legs and realized I’d forgotten mine. “Crap, did you bring any sunblock?” I asked Beth.

She shook her head. “Nope.” She bent over and adjusted her boobs in her bikini top, using gravity to help give the girls a lift. She stood back up, eyeing her work. “My tits look okay?” she asked, her eyes still on her chest as she tried to push them together more.

I nodded, just as the little bit of cleavage she’d made receded back into the red triangles of her bikini top. Beth was a small B at best, but it fit her petite frame. She’d look silly with huge knockers.

“
Shit
,” she muttered, trying to coax them back into place.

“You guys need some sunscreen?”

I jumped when Thomas spoke. I’d been so caught up with watching Beth squeeze her boobs together that I hadn’t seen him approach.

Beth stopped playing with herself long enough to say, “Actually, I could use some on my back.” She turned around and lifted her shoulder-length hair, exposing the nape of her neck. Tilting her head to look back at him, she smiled and batted her eyelashes. “Do you mind?”

He gave her an awkward smile. “Uh, sure.”

She faced forward, winking at me as he started lathering her up. “Mmm, that feels good,” she purred.

I tried not to roll my eyes.

Several seconds later, Thomas worked the last bit of sunscreen into Beth’s back. “All done,” he said.

She dropped her hair and smiled up at him. “Thanks. You have strong hands.”

He looked away and mumbled, “No problem.” He bent down and picked the bottle off the ground where he’d set it. “You need some?” he asked me.

“Yeah, but–”

“Did you hear that?” Beth asked, looking in the direction of the water. “Sounds like someone’s calling my name. Coming!” she called out as she took off.

Awesome. Now Thomas and his “strong hands” would have to put sunscreen on me instead of Beth.

Damn her and her scheming ways…

I nodded towards the bottle in his hands. “If you don’t mind?”

“Not at all.” I saw the little grin on his face before I turned my back to him.

I lifted my hair off my back and shoulders, waiting for him to start. I jumped when he finally touched me. “Oooh, that’s cold.” I shivered as goose bumps rose.

He chuckled. “Sorry.”

His hands were warm, though, and quickly heated the lotion. Damn, Beth was right. Thomas
did
have strong hands. They slid over my skin as he worked the lotion into me, rubbing my shoulders and back. I closed my eyes, lost in how good it felt, and thought it wasn’t that far off from what he’d felt like in my dream.

Oh, God, the dream…

A sudden deluge of images and feelings bombarded me, making me all hot and bothered. My heart rate increased as the muscles between my legs clenched.

As if Thomas had read my mind, his hands stilled on my shoulders, gripping me. I kept my eyes closed, knowing that opening them would ruin this little moment I probably shouldn’t be having, but wanted anyway.

Thomas stepped closer. I
felt
it, felt the heat emanating from his body as he stood so close to me. All my senses were heightened, like I was a live wire.

He released my shoulders and ran his fingertips down my arm, slowly, until he grazed my fingers. My heart pounded as his nose brushed my exposed neck, his other hand resting on my hip. His fingers laced through mine, squeezing me, as he clutched my side. I felt his breath on my neck before his lips met my skin, just under my ear. 

Oh my god...

That was the kick in the pants I needed. I broke away and dropped my hair, grabbing my towel off the ground. I wrestled with an overwhelming urge to cover myself with it. “Thanks…for the sunscreen, I mean.” My voice waivered and I couldn’t look him in the eye for the life of me.