Very Twisted Things (Briarcrest Academy #3) (10 page)

Spider stumbled groggily into the marble tiled entry, blue hair sticking straight up from his pale face. We’d had some words last night about Mila, but our spats never lasted long. They’d both been gone last night when I’d returned.

“Rough night?” I asked.

“Maybe.” He scratched his crotch through his dark blue boxers. Nice.

The doorbell went off and he flinched at the sound.

“Bloody hell, who’s here this early?” He stalked to the door to check the peephole. Seeing who it was, he tossed a smirk over his shoulder at me. “Now that’s a sight for red eyes. It’s your girl from next door.”

“Not my girl,” I said. “You handle it. I have some muffins to check on anyway.” I left him in the foyer and headed down the hallway to the kitchen.

He snorted, yelling at my retreating back, “You’re kidding me, right? There’s a hottie on our steps, and you don’t want to invite her in? Maybe she brought us an apple pie.”

“You hate apple pie,” I called back.

He muttered loud enough for me to hear. “Be warned, I never turn down girl pie.”

Whatever. I kept walking until I was in the kitchen. I pulled out the blueberry muffins, and Monster flew into the room, practically salivating.

I strained to hear what Spider had decided to do, and was rewarded when I heard him open the door. Muted conversation and then laughter reached my ears. A bolt of unwanted jealousy hit me. Of course they’d hit it off.

Spider sent me a smug-ass look as they entered the kitchen together. “Look who’s here,” he announced. I definitely detected glee in his tone.

She set down a purple dog collar on the granite countertop, a rhinestone nameplate dangling from the center. “I wouldn’t have come by so early, but I found this at the bottom of the pool when I cleaned it this morning. Thought you might need it since Monster likes to run off.”

“Thanks.” I did my best to not let my eyes rake over her, but they had a life of their own. I took in her tight running shirt, gray pants, and athletic shoes. Sweat still glistened on her face, and her ponytail was damp. I wanted to lick her neck and taste the salt on her body. I wanted to pull her hair down and run my hands through it. I wanted to peel her shirt off—
stop!

She rocked on her heels a bit, looking uncomfortable as we made eye contact.

On the other hand, Spider seemed bushy-tailed, leaning against the stainless steel fridge, watching us both with a crazy glint in his eye.

I cocked an eye at him. “Don’t you think you need some pants?”

He sent me a wry grin. “No way am I budging from this kitchen. Does my lack of attire bother you?” he asked V with a formal flourish.

She chuckled. “I suppose all your important bits are covered, and I love your accent, by the way. It makes your near nudity quite funny.”

He barked out a laugh and stuck his hand out. “Great. I’m Spider, by the way. I think I missed saying that at the door. Probably because I was blinded by your beauty.”

“I’m V.” Her eyes lingered on his tattoos. She smiled at us both. “So. You got any bananas?”

“What’s going on?” I asked as Spider handed her a couple of bananas from the fruit stand on the counter.

“When I opened the door, V noticed how poorly I looked and offered to make me a hangover remedy. By the way, nice of you to tell me you took a swim in the neighbor’s pool to rescue Monster.”

“I didn’t tell you because you were gone when I got back,” I snapped, jealous of their instant camaraderie.

“I’ll need more fruit—whatever you have. And something green, like spinach or kale or fancy lettuce,” she said, busily peeling the bananas and ignoring us. “Oh, and a mixer or a blender would be great, too.”

I found the blender while Spider pulled oranges and spinach leaves out of the fridge. “This work?” he said.

“Perfect,” she said brightly, taking it from him. “Once you drink this, you’ll be ready to take on the world.”

“Healthy drinks aren’t my cup of tea, but I’ll try anything for you.” He smiled broadly, his eyes crinkling in the corners.
Great
. He liked her—which was a rarity.

I grunted.

She shot me a look. “You need one too? It’ll help.”

“With what?” I muttered.

“With your grunting problem. Constipated?” she asked.

Spider snickered. “Oh, he’s just mad because I let you in.”

“Is that so?” she said, giving me a careful look.

“We left on weird terms last night,” I admitted.

“What happened last night?” Spider chimed in, eyes darting between us.

“Nothing,” V and I said in unison.

He narrowed his eyes. “Uh-huh.”

I checked out the mixture she’d put in the blender. It looked disturbing, but I held my tongue. I smiled. “So I take it you like to cook?” Being cool. Pretending like I didn’t want to sweep her out of this kitchen and straight to my bed.

She laughed. “Don’t let my expertise with fruits fool you. I’m a lousy cook. On the other hand, if you like cheese puffs and Oreos, I’m your girl.”

“I love Oreos,” Spider said in a flirty tone, and she rewarded him with a smile.

“Here, peel those,” she said, tossing me an orange.

“This is going to be gross, isn’t it?” I asked as she poured ice water over the mixture.

She shook her head. “My mom used to make these when I was sick with a cold. She swore it cured whatever ailed you.”

“Yeah, because it made you sicker,” I joked.

“Funny,” she said and hit the button, turning the contents a greenish-brown. Spider pretended to throw up in his mouth.

“You see your mom often?” I asked.

She went white and her hands stilled as she lifted the blender off the base. “She’s dead. Both of my parents are.”

My chest constricted at the pain on her face. “Recently?”

She nodded, and I noticed she was gathering herself, her throat muscles working as she swallowed. And right there in the kitchen with the early morning sunlight shining through the window, V became more than just a girl I was attracted to. She was
real
, a person who’d seen the loss of a parent at a young age, who’d faced empty chairs at the dinner table.
Like me
.

I got some glasses down from the cabinet, and she divided the green stuff between us. It sloshed into the glasses with a thud.

“You know, maybe I don’t need this. I feel better all ready,” Spider said uneasily as he stared at it. I bit back a grin because his face was almost the same color as the drink. Spider might be an abrasive bastard, but his stomach was as delicate as a newborn’s.

“Drink it,” she ordered him with a smile, and for a second I thought he might resist, but he took a small test sip.

I chugged mine to the last drop. “Excellent,” I lied. No way was I going to ruin her memory of her and her mom’s thing.

She leaned over to encourage Spider, and I got antsy. Did I notice that his eyes were glued to her rack? Maybe. Did I notice that she ran her eyes over his bare chest more than once? Yeah.

I set my glass down sharply. “How’d you end up in LA?”

“Lots of reasons. Mostly to get out of New York.”

“Is that where your ex is?” I tried to sound smooth.

She blinked. “Yes.”

Good, he was thousands of miles away. I nodded. “How’s the playing coming? Any closer to getting yourself on a stage?”

Fear flickered over her face as she fiddled with her glass. “I have a job coming up, but I’m not sure I can do it.”

“Maybe you could play with us sometime?” I said. “We practice a few days a week at a studio on Melrose. You could even ride with us down there.”
Dammit
. Even though I didn’t mean to, I was sending mixed signals.

Spider’s eyes had widened at my offer. Girls were generally not allowed at our work sessions. I ignored his searching looks.

“I’ll think about it,” she said, but I could tell by how stiff she’d gotten that the thought terrified her. She checked her watch. “I have to go. I have an appointment later.”

She was running away. Part of me was glad, but the insane side of me wanted her to stay. I let out a sigh. “Sure, let me walk you to the door.”

She said her goodbye to Spider, and we walked to the foyer where I asked for her phone. She handed it over, and I typed in my digits.

“What are you doing?”

“Putting my number in so you can call me if you ever need anything. That’s a big house you live in. It worries me.”

She stared at me. “I think you made it quite clear last night that it's not a good idea for you to be alone with me at my house.”

I groaned at the memory. “I’m sorry for kissing you and then pushing you away. I never should have let it get that far.”

She nodded and stared at the ground. “No, it was my fault.”

“No, it was mine. I
had
to kiss you. I wanted to since the ice cream shop.”

She sent me a sly smile. “Well, if you change your mind about some super-hot-no-strings-attached-sex with me, I’m ready—” She burst out laughing. “I’m kidding. Oh my God, if you could see your face right now. It’s bright red and I swear some sweat just popped out on your forehead.”

“You’re a little devil,” I muttered and turned to the side—trying to hide my erection.

“Or a very good tease,” she said softly.

I licked my lips. “Do you want to spend the day with us? Maybe drive out to Malibu and catch some rays?” I had plans with Blair, but I’d chuck them.

She bit her lip and shook her head. “Maybe next time,” she said as she slipped out the door.

I watched her slowly disappear down the drive as Spider walked up behind me.

“You been lurking back there, listening?”

“You know it,” he said. “This is the most excitement we’ve had in this house since Monster rolled in her own shit and we had to take her to the puppy salon.”

I chuckled at the memory. “Poor thing. She was terrified of the blow dryer.”

“And the pink hair bow they put on her—bloody ridiculous. Her name
is
Monster.”

My eyes followed his to V. “Stop looking at her ass,” I said, trying to edge him out of the door as we jostled for the best view. Like kids.

He sent me a calculating look. “You missed it at the door when she said she liked my hair. I think I love her.”

“Stay away from V.” I’d tensed up. I wasn’t kidding anymore.

“Why? Maybe she wants to get on the Spider train. You aren’t interested in her—are you?”

“No,” I bit out, my jaw clenched.

“Bollocks. You’re a liar.”

I glared at him. “I can’t date anyone right now. Not with the media breathing down my throat, expecting to see me with Blair. I made a deal with her, and I can’t just break it off. It would cause a shitstorm of negative publicity.”

He rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay, I get it. But V’s the kind of chick that won’t stay single for long. And those eyes? I mean you could drown in them. Like fucking pansies.”

“Coming from the guy who only notices tit size?”

He cocked his head. “Maybe with her, I’d do it different.”

My hands fisted. When it came to V, something in me was wired to explode. I wanted to pound his face. “
No joke
. Stay away from her.”

Spider took a sip of his coffee, all Mr. Cool to my hothead. “She cares about people. You can tell by the way she waltzed in here and wanted to make me feel better.”

“Yeah? You know what else I noticed about her? She’s rich. And she has an ex-boyfriend who’s calling her. That remind you of anyone?”

“She’s nothing like Emma. First of all, cock sucking isn’t her primary talent. Second, V’s classy. Emma is nothing but a Dallas debutante with a hard-on for diamonds and social standing.”

I tried to tune him out. But it’s hard to tune out a blue-haired English dude in his underwear. “She could be
the one
for you,” he said, his tone serious.

The one?
I reared back. His hangover had addled his brain. He didn’t sound like Spider at all. “Since when did you get all mushy?”

“Dammit, maybe you’re rubbing off on me,” he snapped and then stalked off to get dressed.

Okkaaay.

“I’d dropped out of college, had never had a real job, or even had a good orgasm. I didn’t know jack, but I did know that even after the people you love are torn from you, time keeps beating away at the black metronome that’s called
life
. It doesn’t care that you’ve cracked wide open, that you’re screaming for everyone to just stop. It doesn’t hear you. You are nothing. People still go to dinner, planes take off and land, lions roar, violins play. And you are left in your corner, hanging on to memories, nothing more than a speck of dust on the metronome’s base.”