Believing Lies Page 9

  My eyes widened as I stared at the shot glasses, which were filled with my recently acquired nemesis: Tequila. My stomach churned just looking at the stuff. My eyes darted from the evil liquid to Sophie. Surely she didn’t want to drink this any more than I did. She was worse off than I was the last time we drank tequila. I gave her a tiny head nod toward the shot glasses, hoping she would understand. Nope, no such luck. She picked up the saltshaker from the tray, licked her wrist, salted it, and then slid the shaker to me. I pushed my bracelets up my arm and did the same before passing the shaker to Adam. I felt a spark when his fingers brushed mine. Our eyes met, and I took my hand back like I’d been electrocuted. He licked his wrist slowly and then shook the salt onto it. His eyes stayed glued to mine the entire time. I stopped breathing as I watched him. I gulped and averted my eyes toward the salt sparkling on my wrist. Conner must have finished with the salt because, out the corner of my eye, I saw the shaker had made its way back to the tray.

  “Cheers!” Sophie exclaimed. “To a great night ahead.” We all raised our glasses and tinged them together before licking the salt off our wrists, downing a shot, and biting into a lime wedge. My lips puckered, and my eyes watered. The liquid burned as it coursed down my throat.

  “Thanks for the shots, Adam,” Sophie said, smiling brightly.

  “No problem. Conner mentioned that you and Sienna have a history with tequila, so I thought it’d be fun. Although I’m pretty sure there aren’t any bathtubs to sleep in around here.”

  Sophie playfully hit Conner on the arm. “I told you that in confidence. Okay, not actually in confidence per say, but I didn’t think you’d tell anyone.”

  Conner was rubbing his arm, laughing. “It was too funny not to share. Sorry, Babe.”

  “It’s okay. If the roles had been reversed, I would have told Sienna about it too.”

  “What embarrassing thing did you do that night, Princess?” Adam questioned.

  Sophie had already been asleep in the tub, so she didn’t even know what I had done in my drunken state. I needed a little more alcohol in me if I was going to fess up. Forgoing the salt and lime, I grabbed my second shot and downed it in one gulp; this time embracing the burn. I stared at the empty glass for a moment before bringing my attention back to the three people staring at me.

  “I flushed my engagement ring down the toilet,” I said quickly before losing my nerve.

  Sophie fell off of her barstool. Her foot must have slipped or something because, as soon as the words were out of my mouth, she was on the floor. Conner scrambled off his stool to help her up.

  “Are you fucking kidding me right now!” she screeched at me as she got back onto her stool. Her eyes looked as if they were going to pop out of her head. “Please, please, please tell me that magnificently beautiful diamond is not currently swimming in the sewer,” she pleaded.

  “It’s gone. Half a bottle of tequila made me think it was a great idea.” My face scrunched. “But it was one of the dumbest things I’ve ever done.”

  “Holy Hell, Sienna!” Sophie followed my example, shooting her second shot without salt or lime. She then dramatically threw her head into her arms on the table. Conner seemed to be concerned and started to rub her back.

  I was so preoccupied by her reaction that I had forgotten it was Adam who had originally asked me the question. “Damn, Princess. Remind me to never piss you off after buying you anything nice.” He was shaking his head back and forth chuckling. I’m not sure if he was chuckling more at me or at Sophie’s reaction. Probably both.

  “First, stop calling me Princess. Secondly, it was a mistake.”

  He stopped laughing, and his eyes narrowed. “A mistake because it was a very expensive ring, or a mistake because you still want to be engaged?”

  Sophie’s head popped back up at Adam’s question. All eyes were once again on me. When did this conversation turn so intense? Hmmm, probably when you decided to open your big, fat mouth to confess something that you should’ve taken to the grave.

  “Because it was expensive. It was a waste. I wish I would have given it back to Trenton.” Coming out tonight was a really bad idea. I was feeling like total crap now. I started to suck down my drink faster.

  Conner took his second shot and stood up. “I’m going to go get another round of shots before it gets busy in here. Adam, come help me carry.”

  “Nah. Take Sophie with you. She can pick out the next round.”

  Sophie stood up and grabbed Conner’s hand. “Ladies choice. Let’s go, sexy,” she said to Conner as she pulled him away from the table.

  I was very aware of the fact that Adam and I were the only ones left at the table. I scrambled for something to say—anything that didn’t involve ex-fiancés or rings. I noticed his second shot was still sitting in front of him.

  “You didn’t take your other shot,” I pointed out, my attempt at an ice breaker.

  He didn’t respond. He was just looking at the table. No, he was looking at my hand. Before I had time to wonder why, he took my hand in his and brought it to his mouth. He placed his lips on the skin between my thumb and pointer finger and gently sucked. Tingles exploded from my hand all the way down to . . . let’s just say it was all the way down. He took his mouth away and sprinkled the spot with salt. He lifted my hand back to his mouth once more, and his tongue caressed my skin as he licked the salt, before slowly releasing my hand back to me. He tipped his head and took his shot before biting into a lime wedge.

  “Delicious,” he said with a devilish smirk.

  “Huh?” I squeaked out.

  “Cat got your tongue?”

  My eyes shifted to his mouth. “Tongue?”

  He chuckled, and I finally snapped out of my lust-filled stupor. I didn’t know what to say or how to react. Luckily, Sophie returned.

  “You kids get along while I was gone?” she asked playfully, looking between us. My heart was pounding out of my chest. Did she see?

  “You could say that,” Adam replied, shooting me a naughty grin.

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Yep.”

  Conner came back holding a tray with six, small, black shots. I instantly knew they were Jaeger, Sophie’s favorite. Tequila chased with Jaeger. Are they trying to kill me?

  “I want to go dance, so let’s take these quick,” she said to me, bouncing up and down anxiously on her stool.

  Sophie, Conner, and I slammed our shots. The guys decided to go talk to some friends they recognized at the bar, and Sophie dragged me out to the dance floor. I could feel the alcohol flowing through my veins as I lost myself to the beat of the music.

  Sophie and I were sweaty after several songs of non-stop dancing. A couple of times, random guys tried to dance with us, but Sophie shooed them away like annoying flies. I was feeling dehydrated and needed to stop to get some water. We were laughing and having a great time as we made our way to the bar. When I got my water, I chugged it, letting the cool liquid refresh my parched mouth.

  We scanned the room and found Conner and Adam playing a game of pool with two other guys. Adam was lining up his cue stick, and my imagination was running wild at seeing him stretched across the pool table. Sophie ran up to Conner and jumped into his arms, wrapped her legs around his waist, and gave him a huge kiss. It made me smile to see her so openly affectionate with him. Adam missed his shot due to the distraction Sophie had caused, but he didn’t seem to mind. He was looking at them, smiling as much as I was.

  A fairly pretty girl with black hair, fishnet stockings, and a short, plaid skirt walked up behind Adam and put her hands over his eyes. Adam turned around, and she grabbed his shirt in her fists, and planted a kiss on his lips.

  Jealously hit me like a sucker punch to the gut. I wanted to rip her fucking face off. Whoa. Where did that just come from? I was being completely irrational. I was absolutely nothing to Adam in any sort of romantic sense. We were friends who liked to give each other shit back and forth. That’s all. Heck, I didn’t even want anyt
hing with any guy right now, so why was I getting my panties in a bundle? He could kiss as many girls as he wanted.

  Conner set Sophie down, and I walked the couple of steps to reach them.

  “Please say that Adam’s not going to ditch us, leaving us without a ride home, to go have sex with some bar fly,” she said to Conner, clearly agitated.

  Conner nervously laughed. “It wouldn’t be the first time. If he does, you and Sienna can stay at our house. It’s only a short walk. You two can take my bed, and I’ll sleep on the couch.”

  “That won’t be necessary.” Sophie pointed at Adam.

  Adam had stepped back from the girl, and by the expression on her face, whatever he was saying to her wasn’t what she wanted to hear. She started to raise her voice, and I could make out “asshole” and “jerk” before she slapped him. Ouch. My jealous side did a little happy dance knowing that he wasn’t going home with her tonight. She stormed off, and he turned to us. There was now a red mark on his cheek on the exact same spot as the yellowing bruise. Double ouch!

  “Enjoy the show?” he asked Conner, who was cracking up.

  “Dude, you had that coming. Do you even remember her name?” Conner asked between laughs.

  “Sure I do. Lori.”

  Conner snorted. “Nope. It’s Tori.”

  Adam shrugged his shoulders. “Lori. Tori. Close enough.”

  Sophie made a gagging noise. “You’re a real pig sometimes. You know that, right?”

  “It’s part of my charm.” He took a drink from his bottled water. “You girls have a good time on the dance floor?”

  “Yes,” I replied curtly. “We were just taking a break, but we’re going back out now.” I grabbed Sophie’s arm, and she waved goodbye to Conner as I pulled her away. I needed to get away from Adam before he noticed that I was unjustifiably and irrationally jealous.

  I let Sophie know that we needed to make a beeline to the bar for some shots first. Sophie used her looks and flirtatious ways to get us waited on quickly. We both slammed the Jaeger shots she ordered and pushed our way back to the dance floor. Hopefully, the Jaeger and some dancing would make me forget about my conflicting feelings regarding Adam.

  We were about three songs in when I felt as if I was being watched. I glanced over Sophie’s shoulder to see Adam and Conner sitting at a table by the dance floor looking at us.

  “Conner is over there,” I yelled to Sophie over the music. She turned her head to where I was pointing. She crooked her finger, motioning for Conner to come to her. He seemed happy to oblige and made his way through the sea of dancing bodies.

  I leaned in, so she could hear me over the music. “I’m getting tired, so I’m going to go sit by Adam. Dance with Conner for a while.” I wasn’t really tired. I simply didn’t want to be a third wheel.

  I was near the edge of the dance floor and almost back to the table that Conner had just left when I saw that it was empty. I was mid thought, wondering if I should sit by myself, when I felt hands on my hips. I tried to turn around to tell whoever it was to take a hike, but the hands tightened and kept me in place. I glanced down and recognized the leather wrist cuff. All thoughts drifted away. By instinct alone, I molded myself against Adam’s body.

  “You look so damn sexy out here. Do you realize what you’re doing to me?” Pulled tight against his body, I could feel exactly what I was doing to him. He started to sway my hips for me until we were moving in sync with each other to the beat of the heavy bass.

  I knew this was a bad idea, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to feel alive again, and at that moment, my whole body was alive and humming with electricity. His hand left my hip and goose bumps prickled along my skin as his fingertips glided up my arm. He gently moved my hair to the side, and I felt his lips scattering kisses along the arch of my neck.

  “Adam.” I didn’t know if I said his name to get him to stop or to urge him on, but his mouth and hands were no longer on me. I stopped dancing, my body mourning the loss of his touch.

  He spun me, and I was suddenly looking up into his deep brown eyes, which were filled with as much desire as I was sure mine were. Without hesitation, his lips crashed down onto mine. At first, I was paralyzed by the action, my body unable to process the events as fast as they were happening. But a breath escaped my lips, parting them slightly, and he deepened the kiss. My entire body spiked with heat. Giving into the moment, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back. Recognizing my complete surrender, he pulled me closer to him.

  To my surprise, his kiss soon softened. “I want you so bad right now,” he spoke into my lips. “Please tell me you want this just as much. My house is close.”

  His words were like ice-cold water dumped on me. “I . . . I can’t.” I’m so stupid. Of course he was just after sex.

  Slipping out of his arms, I left him standing on the dance floor as I walked quickly in the direction of the bathroom, where I hoped to hide for a few minutes and collect my thoughts. I was steps away from the door when my hand was grabbed, and I was pulled backwards. I collided against Adam’s hard chest with a thud.

  “Sophie’s looking for you. She wants to go home,” he said matter-of-factly, his face expressionless.

  I stared at his bicep and the black lines peeking out from under his sleeve while I tried to ignore the warmth of my hand in his. I was so embarrassed by what just happened on the dance floor that I refused to look him in the eye.

  “Okay, I’m ready to go too.” He led me to the front door and out onto the sidewalk. The fresh, summer air enveloped my body, and it felt so nice to be free of the crowded bar. I looked around for Sophie and Conner, but I couldn’t find them. “Isn’t Sophie out here yet?” I questioned.

  “No, and I don’t expect she will be anytime soon.”

  “What are you talking about?” I furrowed my brow in confusion and irritation. “You said she was ready to leave.”

  “I wanted to talk to you, and I knew it would be a way to get you to come with me.”

  “Screw you, Adam. I don’t appreciate being lied to or tricked. I’m going back in.”

  “Just hear me out,” he said, almost sounding like a plea.

  My shoulders slumped in defeat, and I let out a sigh. “Fine.”

  We walked a few feet from the entrance before stopping and facing each other. I made sure to keep enough room between us to ensure there wouldn’t be a repeat of the dance floor make out session. I can’t believe I did that.

  He jumped right into what he wanted to tell me. “Look, I’m sorry for kissing you. I was out of line. Conner and Sophie really seem to be into each other, so the last thing I want to do is have you feeling uncomfortable around me. I’ll back off.” He hesitated. “Unless you’d rather I didn’t?”

  “No, let’s keep this platonic,” I quickly replied. “I have fun around you and would like us to be friends. I’m not ready for another relationship, and we both know that even if I was, you’re not the relationship kind of guy.”

  He nodded once. “True . . . Friends it is.”

  “Friends it is,” I repeated with a smile.

  He suddenly looked at me as if I had sprouted a second head.

  “What? Is there something in my teeth?” On reflex, my tongue rubbed the front of my teeth.

  He chuckled. “No, your teeth are fine.”

  “What’s with the goofy look then?”

  “I just realized I’ve been Friend Zoned. That’s never happened to me before . . . It’s kind of weird.”

  “There’s a first time for everything,” I tried to joke.

  He looked up at the night sky for several seconds before returning his attention to me. “I don’t think I can do strictly friends,” he stated bluntly. I started to protest, but he put a finger on my lips. Not going to lie, I wanted to suck it. I might have if he hadn’t removed it so fast. “I think I have a solution.”

  “Go on,” I urged.

  “You’re hot.”

  “This seems to be heading
in the opposite direction fast.”

  He chuckled. “Hear me out. I won’t kiss you again, but I don’t think I’ll be able to stop hitting on you. It’s not in my nature. You’ll just have to deal with it and know that I’ll never push past flirting. What do you think?”

  “Can I flirt back?” Why did I ask that?

  He pondered my question. “Sure, but be careful if you do. I can only handle so much temptation.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Deal.”

  He slung his arm over my shoulder and started to steer me back to the bar. “Come on, buddy. Let’s go back inside.”

  Chapter Eleven

  I picked up my phone to see who had texted me and was shocked to see Adam’s name. I was even more shocked to see his picture next to the text. He looked hot in the picture, and, of course, he was wearing a shit-eating grin.

  ADAM: RU missing me?

  ME: How did your contact info get into my phone? And why am I staring at a picture of your ugly mug?

  ADAM: Ask me no secrets and I’ll tell you no lies.

  ME: Ha. Cute ;)

  ADAM: I may or may not have messed w/ your phone yesterday.

  ME: I haven’t seen u since last week.

  ADAM: U were in the shower when I picked up Conner. Your phone was in the kitchen.

  ME: IT WAS IN MY PURSE!!! U went thru my phone and purse! :(

  ADAM: Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone about the “u know what” in your wallet.

  What’s he talking about? I quickly went to the kitchen to get my purse. I pulled out my wallet and started to sift through the contents—cash, license, school id, library card, debit card . . . A laugh burst from my mouth when I finally found what he was referring to. In between my debit card and credit card was a piece of yellow paper covered in Adam’s handwriting.

  Magic Ticket

  Good for one free massage.

  (Clothing optional)

  -Adam

  ME: Pervert.

  ADAM: That’s what u like about me.

  ME: Who said I like you?