Twisted (6 page)

“And to answer your earlier
question, no, he's not a druggie. I mean, he does drugs but he's not a junkie.
His older brother is a dealer and Cole helps him with business.”

I nod and process this new
information. Oddly enough, I don't feel the urge to run. If anything, I'm even
more fascinated with Cole. He's clearly interested in me and I'm ready for a
change. Cole would definitely keep things interesting. Not that I had any urge
to do drugs or any of that stuff, but it would be fun to see how he lived. My life
could definitely use some excitement because the last thing I want is to go
home every night and be as bored as I was last night.

I reach over and pick up
another fry and nibble on it as I watch Cole line up a shot. I'd known when I
first laid eyes on him that he was bad news. I was going to be one of those
fools that probably fell for the bad boy and got her heart broken, but at that
moment I didn't care.

“My warning didn't faze you
at all, did it,” Paige sighs, noting my expression.

I turn back and meet her
gaze. “I'm not the nice girl you seem to think I am. I can handle him.”

The other girl shakes her
head. “No one
handles
Cole. Don't ever say I didn't try, okay?”

“Okay.”

At that moment, Cole and
Blake come back to the table and Cole slides in next to me. Before he can say
anything, he frowns and pulls out his cell phone. He glances at the screen and
immediately rises to his feet. “I'll be back,” he says simply before he walks
away, cell phone held to his ear as he begins to speak.

Blake eyes my basket of fries
with interest. “You
gonna
eat all those?”

I snag one more fry and then
push the basket to him. He grins and immediately begins to devour them while
Paige rolls her eyes.

Cole is back within a minute
and he pauses near the table to look at Paige and Blake. “I need to head out, I
have business to deal with.” His eyes shift back to me. “I'll take you back to
school.”

I rise from the table and
glance at the couple across from me who are making no move to rise. “We'll
catch you later,” Paige says to me before turning her attention to her
boyfriend.

We make our way out of the
bar and once again I am climbing on the back of the motorcycle, my arms
wrapping around Cole's waist. As we speed down the streets, I can't help but
notice that I can feel the hard ridges of Cole's abs. Cali definitely had
better 'scenery' than Minnesota ever had.

Instead of pulling into the
parking lot, Cole brings the motorcycle to a stop directly in front of the
school. I climb off and turn to face Cole, who is still sitting there even as
he cuts the engine. “Thanks for lunch,” I tell him.

“You busy tonight?” he asks
as he holds my gaze.

“No.”

“I'll pick you up at
nine-thirty. Give Paige all your info” he says before he starts the motorcycle
up again.

“Where are we going?” I yell
over the engine.

He just gives me a sly smirk
and pulls away from the curb, leaving me standing there.

As I began to get ready that
evening, I find myself looking forward to whatever the night would bring. I'd
managed to pass on my address and cell number to Paige after school so she
could pass it on to Cole. I'd asked Paige where she thought Cole would take me
and she said Cole had plans to go to a frat party tonight near the college.
She'd warned me to dress casual.

After pulling my hair back in
a sloppy knot, I study my outfit critically. I'd chosen a creamy pale yellow
halter top and my new jean skirt, pairing the outfit with simple brown flip
flops. It was cute but casual. Hopefully I'd fit in. I'd never been to a party before,
so this was going to be another first.

The rumble of a motorcycle
making its way down the street lets me know that Cole is here. The house is
silent as I hurry downstairs to the front door. My brother was working as usual
and Noah was off at his job. Sooner or later, maybe I'd get a chance to have a
real conversation with him again and I could ask where he worked. I was still
curious about him but the only time we really seemed to see each other was in
passing in the kitchen or in the hall upstairs.

Cole pulls the motorcycle
into the driveway just as I step outside and lock up. Then I walk down the
driveway towards him before he can climb off. His eyes drop briefly to my legs
before lifting back up to my face.

“Hey,” I greet lightly.

He gives me a lazy grin. “Get
on.”

I climb on and get
comfortable, tugging my skirt down over my thighs before wrapping my arms
around him. Cole turns the bike around and then we are off to our destination.
The ride to the party is the perfect way to start the evening. I absolutely
love the feel of speeding through the night with nothing to really keep me from
harm if we crash. I think I'm turning into a bit of an 'adrenaline
junkie.'  Nothing exciting had ever happened back in Minnesota.

When we make our way to the
street the party is on, Cole cruises the motorcycle towards the house throwing
the party and manages to park between two cars, putting us directly in front of
the house. As I climb off, I look around with interest. Cars are lining the
streets and I can hear the loud pounding music coming from inside. College
students are milling around on the front lawn and I catch sight of someone
throwing up in the bushes next to the porch.

Cole slings his arm around my
shoulder and leads me through the throng of students. Some of them greet Cole
by name, letting me know that Cole is evidently a regular on the college scene.

The house is packed to
capacity. We literally have to squeeze through the crowd on the porch to make
our way into the large two-story house. We enter what looks like a foyer and
there are people standing around smoking, drinking, and talking loudly over the
music. I'm led past the first room and into a large living room where the
stereo is blasting and there's a huge crowd dancing and grinding. The music is
so loud that I know for a fact that my ears will still be ringing after getting
home later tonight.

It's a struggle not to look
shocked as I catch sight of a girl dancing on a table wearing nothing but her
bra and panties. Guys are surrounding her and hooting and hollering, obviously
urging her to strip even more. In the corner is an end table and I see that a
guy is leaning over it and beginning to snort a small line of white
powder.
My eyes shift to another sight of a guy and girl
making out in a recliner at the edge of the crowd and the guy's hand is up her
skirt.

Cole leans into me and says,
“You look like you've never been to a party before.”

The last thing I want is for
him to realize how naïve I am when it comes to some stuff, so I decide on the
half-truth. “I've never been to a frat party.”

“They get pretty wild,” Cole
says with a grin. Then his attention shifts as he catches sight of someone
across the room and his hand touches my lower back. “I have to go do something.
Paige and Blake are over there, stick with them until I get back,” he says,
nodding to the right of us.

I look up and spot Paige and
Blake standing close to one another as they talk near the dancing crowd. When I
turn back to Cole, I find that he's already gone and I frown briefly as I scan
the crowd. It looks like there’s no other option but to approach the couple
since I wasn't familiar with anyone else. As I walk over, Blake notices me and
nudges Paige before disappearing into the crowd.

“Hey!” Paige greets over the
music.

“Did I scare him off?”

“Nah, he's getting us some
drinks.”

“I'm glad to see you,” I say
with a hint of relief. “Cole just ditched me.”

Paige doesn't look surprised.
“Get used to it. Business always comes first.”

It's hard to hide the
displeasure that wants to bloom across my face. Why had he asked me to come if
he wasn't going to spend time with me? Was this some sort of game?

“I warned you. You'll never
have his full attention unless he wants you to have it.”

“Meaning he leaves girls
hanging on a regular basis,” I guess dryly.

“If you want prince charming,
you're looking in the wrong direction. Cole will eat you up and spit you out
when he's done with you,” Paige says with absolute sureness.

Before I can say anything
more, Blake comes up and shoves a plastic cup in my hand and another in
Paige's. He pulls out a beer bottle from the back pocket of his jeans and
twists the cap off before taking a long drink. Then he looks at Paige with a
suggestive grin. “Let's dance.”

Paige moves closer to me and
yells in my ear, “Cole
will
treat you like shit. Find yourself a good
guy and forget about him.” Then she pulls back and looks at me seriously before
saying, “Or if you're serious about him, stay away from the guys here and
don't
dance with anyone. He'll be furious if you do,” she says simply before she
allows Blake to drag her off into the crowd.

I’m left standing there,
clutching my plastic cup and feeling abandoned. Since I have nothing better to
do, I frown down into my cup as I debate what to do next. Was Paige serious
with all her warnings or did she have some sort of vendetta against Cole? As
for Cole...I am definitely annoyed by how the evening is beginning to play out.
I came here to have fun with him, not stand around and patiently wait for him
to give me his attention.

I'm still not sure what to do
and I feel weird just standing there, so I lift my cup and sniff the bright
blue liquid before taking a cautious sip. It's fruity with a bit of a kick to
it. I kind of like it. I take another sip and scan the crowd absently as I
wonder what people see when they look at me. Do they see the girl that always
does what she’s told? I was sick of her, damn sick of her. Been there, done
that, and it hadn't turned out so well.

It was time to be the girl
that I want to be.

When have I ever danced? I
don't think ever. It's time to start learning how, right here and right now.
I'm done waiting for Cole to come back and I decide I'm going to have fun
without him. My feet carry me into the crowd while I sip my drink and move to
the pounding music. People bump me left and right but I don't care. The alcohol
has me relaxing, and I find that I am enjoying myself even if I have been cast
aside by my date.

A bit later a cute college
guy moves in front of me, his blue eyes asking to dance. I have no idea how
long Cole has left me alone and frankly I'm at the point where I no longer
care. I find myself smiling and nodding. We dance and a few times he tries to
put his hands on my hips in hopes of getting closer but I shake my head. I want
to have a good time, not grind my hips with a stranger. After a while he gets
bored with me and moves on.

I don't care.

Only when my glass is empty,
do I make my way out of the crowd only to come up short.

Cole stands before me, arms
crossed while his green eyes are full of displeasure. I gaze back at him
defiantly. I refuse to feel bad for having a little fun. Much to my surprise,
he steps forward, plucks my empty cup out of my hand and walks away.

My brows furrow. If that's
his idea of an invitation to follow him, it's disappointing and came off as
flippant. Part of me wants to stay put because I refuse to act like a puppy
being pulled around on a leash, while the other part urges me to follow him.

I decide to find out what
he's up to. What else am I going to do at this party? I'm finding myself
already getting bored. I catch up to him in the packed kitchen and among the
crowd, I spot dozens of hard liquor bottles lining the counter tops along with
plastic juice containers, beer, soda, and other bottles of alcohol that I am
not familiar with.

Cole pauses in front of me
and hands me a cup full of something dark pink. He puts his hand on my back
without a word, and leads me out of the kitchen before pausing in a hallway
where few people linger. He backs me up against the wall, his body in front of
mine as he looks down at me, his eyes narrowed. “I have rules,
Blayre
.”

“Oh?” My eyebrow quirks
slightly. “I wouldn't know. We have yet to have an actual conversation
tonight,” I say as I take a drink from my cup. Dang that's strong! My throat
burns and I fight back a cough.

“I'm into you,” Cole says
bluntly, his eyes pinning me where I stand. “Are you in to me or not?”

I'm thrilled to hear him say
those words but I am still annoyed, so I hedge with, “Maybe.”

“When you're with me, you
don't dance with another guy. You don't flirt, you don't smile, you don't even
look at another guy, got it?”

“Possessive much?”

His eyes turn cool. “If it
turns you off, walk away.”

Instead of answering, I
deliberately take another sip as I keep my gaze trained on his. I
should
be
turned off by his attitude but I'm not. I look up at him and shrug. “I have a
rule of my own, you know.”

Cole moves closer, his face
inches from mine as his hand comes up to rest near my head. I can feel the heat
radiating off his chest. “And what's that?”