I hear the shower running before I walk in, but I don’t care as I push the door open and lift my t-shirt off over my head.
“What the fuck are you doing, P?”
I roll my eyes and then look at Linc. The shower in this bathroom is all glass with a tile floor. There’s nowhere for him to hide, but he doesn’t have anything I haven’t seen before. Although his is by far the best male body I’ve seen, sculpted and hard from years of working out his frustrations. “I need a shower.”
I unhook my bra, sliding my thong down and open the shower door, walking inside. “What. The. Fuck?”
I turn to look at Linc’s face. “Please don’t act shy around me. I see you, Linc.” I repeat back to him the words he would use to taunt me when we were young. I know him just as well as he knows me and always have.
“We don’t shower together.”
I roll my eyes again and move past him to grab the shampoo, lathering it up in my hands. “And yet, the other night you were asking me for an orgasm.”
I stand under the spray of the shower, letting it wet my hair before raising my hands to scrub the shampoo into my brown locks.
His jaw ticks as he watches me with a brooding and angry look on his handsome face. He’s definitely not in a good mood today.
Well, neither am I.
“So, you’re going to blow me then?”
I rinse the soap from my hair and turn away from him, letting the water wash down my face, closing my eyes and enjoying the feeling before I grab the conditioner and rub it into my hair.
I feel him move right behind me, his hands gripping my arms, but not pressing up against me. “You acting out, P?” I close my eyes again, hating this day, hating that I’ve spent every birthday of Colt’s with him since his tenth, until now. “Because of the date on the calendar?”
I swallow, brushing the water out of my eyes as I turn to face him, still looking only at his face. I won’t give him the satisfaction of ogling him. I like pissing him off by acting like he’s unimpressive. “That’s all today is to you? A date on the calendar?”
His eyes darken, and I know he’s trying to act as if he doesn’t care, but he’s swimming in the same sea of regret and sadness I am. “It’s just like any other day.”
I shake my head, letting the water rinse the conditioner from my hair, not saying anything.
“What are your plans for today?”
I move out of the water as I grab a loofah and let him rinse off. When he turns away to wash his face, I allow myself one curious look. My eyes move over strong, muscular arms and down to a perfectly sculpted, round ass before I grab my body wash and lather myself up.
“I’m going to one class this afternoon, and then, there’s a frat party I’m going to tonight.”
He turns around to look at me quickly, water dripping down his chest and the ridges of his abs. I catch myself before I look any lower as he sounds annoyed, “Frat party?”
“Yes, Linc. A frat party.” I nudge his body out of the way so I can rinse off. “I need to get laid.”
“Judging from your appearance when you got home, I would say you did yesterday.”
I shrug and open the shower door, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around me. “It sucked. I need a good lay.”
He turns the water off and grabs his own towel, securing it around his waist. “And you think a frat boy is going to help you with that?”
I shrug and brush my teeth at the sink, spitting out the toothpaste and rinsing the basin with water. “I guess we’ll see.”
“P.” He grabs my arm before I can leave, causing me to look up at him. “I’m going with you.”
“What? No.”
“Yes. Or you’re not going.”
I furrow my brow, irritated by him telling me what to do. “You’re not the boss of me.”
“You either take me with you or find a new fucking place to live.”
I jerk my arm out of his hold. “You wouldn’t dare kick me out.”
His face hovers near mine, his masculine body wash seeping into my senses. “Fucking try me. I don’t have to please my parents all the time. I’m not him.”
I swallow, my throat feeling dry and my chest aching just from his mention of Colt. “No. Shit.”
He takes a step back. “What time are we leaving?”
I hate him. He’s infuriating, but I promised Nora I would at least give it a full year, and I have no doubt the pissy asshole will kick my ass out. He’s right, he’s never felt the need to please his parents. “Nine.”
He nods as I leave the bathroom, walking down the hall to my bedroom to sit on the end of my bed and sob into my hands.
I’m sorry, Colt.
I could kill her. It would be a lot fucking easier than trying to keep her safe. And she’s definitely determined to kill herself.
I don’t want to be her keeper. And I really don’t want to go to a goddamn frat party tonight, but my sister showing up yesterday and her little speech got into my head.
It’s clear P is spinning out of control. I mean, Jesus Christ, walking into the shower with me this morning? What the hell is she trying to do to me?
Her naked body taunting me with my own right fucking there, dying to touch her. Resisting urges is definitely not my forte.
I park my car outside the massive house with Greek letters on the front and turn to Penelope. “There are better ways to get over him.”
Her eyes meet mine in the darkened car, but I can make them out clearly, the anger and resentment in them. “There is no getting over him.”
“Then what are we doing here?”
“Escaping, if only for a brief moment.”
She opens the door and climbs out. I stay seated, not wanting to follow her. I want to be anywhere else.
I let out a frustrated yell and punch the steering wheel before pushing open my door and jogging to catch up with her.
We walk inside the crowded house filled with coeds who are spread out in various states of inebriation. Some jackass with a beer bong is chasing a giggling girl, and two chicks in bikini tops are carrying around trays of Jell-O shots.
“Great, we’re in a fucking college party movie. Where are the togas?”
P grabs a Jell-O shot and tosses it back. “I think that’s next week.”
I hate what she’s wearing—a peach tank top with a low back and bare sides. She’s not wearing a bra. That fucking top is skintight and leaves nothing to the imagination, along with short, cutoff jean shorts with a black belt that cinches her tiny waist, making her look like a fucking Barbie doll. I hate it because I can’t fucking stop staring at her full, braless tits. And if I can’t, none of these frat douchebags will either.
“Why don’t you try to have some fun?”
I look at her like she’s stupid. “Have you ever known me to have fun?”
She grabs a vodka bottle and takes a swig right from it and hands it to me, leaning into me with one hand pressed against my chest. “I remember a time when you could. I remember a lot of things, Linc, like the sound of your laugh.”
I swallow the lump in my throat, my lips making a thin line. “I remember yours too.”
She shrugs and takes another swig. “Maybe you’ll hear it again tonight.”