Page 26 of Drawn Together

“And where are you going?”

“Does it matter? I’m going out, and that should be enough of an answer.”

“Given you’re my responsibility, yes, it does. Now tell me.”

“To a party on Park Avenue, at a penthouse. Happy? Now, can I go?”

“Give me ten minutes.”

I waited patiently for him to get dressed. What I didn’t expect was for him to come out in slacks, a dress shirt, and sneakers, looking so good I almost fell on my ass. My friend karma was paying me back yet again.

As we stepped into the elevator, I couldn’t help but look at our reflection in the mirror. We made an incredible couple. Rarely was a guy so much taller than me in heels, but Sebastian still loomed over me. Feeling brave, I stepped closer to him. The minty scent of his shampoo instantly came to me in waves, making him even more irresistible. He was so masculine, so sure of himself… and so totally immune to me.

That night, I’d taken extra time with my makeup to highlight the bright green color of my eyes. It had always been easy for me to leave men staring, to feel desired, so it irritated me that Sebastian couldn’t give me one damn compliment, but what bothered me most was that I was offended by his lack of flattery. I had always hated being valued only for my physical appearance, wanting to be seen beyond the packaging… And yet, there I was, having spent two hours getting ready—somethingI rarely did—all for what? Sebastian was only here to protect me; nothing else interested him in the slightest, not my personality, opinion, or my looks. He wasn’t going to touch me or even look at me inappropriately because he worked for my father, someone you did not want to cross, as I knew from personal experience.

A specific memory of my father tried to come to the surface, but I forced myself to banish it from my mind; a single image of that day would be enough to make me start shaking. I had learned it was better to leave bad memories tucked away in the back of a locked drawer.

We arrived to the party fifteen minutes later. I had called Liam to invite him, but he hadn’t answered. I wanted to see him in person to make sure we were all right, but his silence every time I called made me worry he was still mad at me. Tami had been friendly with me the other day, but I knew something must’ve happened at the movies to make them both leave so abruptly and angrily. Sometimes I asked myself how it was possible that my two best friends could both get along so well with me but then hate each other.

We went up to the penthouse’s rooftop of the building and were met by a large group of college students jumping around and dancing to the rhythm of electronic music. The party was being hosted by the new team captain, Andrew Davis, which meant that his best friend and my ex-boyfriend, Regan, was surely lurking around there somewhere. I hoped I wouldn’t run into him—that asshole always put me in a bad mood—so I went the opposite direction and started looking around for my girlfriends.

Stella was in the kitchen, passing out Jell-O shots and pouring drinks, which could only mean one thing: she’d gotten back together with Andrew. She let out a shrill squeal when she saw me and started jumping up and down. I laughed and gave her a hug.

“You look amazing!” she said, looking me up and down. “Is that Dolce?” she asked, eyeing my dress.

“Versace,” I answered, picking up a beer and checking out the rest of the party. Sebastian seemed to have disappeared, although I imagined he was watching me wherever he was. It was a relief to feel like I was alone, even if just for a few hours. “Where’s Lisa?” I asked. If she wasn’t with Stella, she was most likely hooking up with someone.

Stella’s face fell, and she suddenly seemed nervous. “I didn’t want you to find out like this, but…”

Before she could say anything, Regan entered the kitchen, dragging a fairly drunk Lisa behind him, her lips swollen and her lipstick smeared. Regan seemed surprised to see me, and as his eyes ran down my body, I regretted having worn something so daring. The last thing I wanted was to get that asshole’s attention.

Regan let go of Lisa’s arm and came over to me. Lisa, drunk as she was, didn’t seem to notice; she picked up a beer and started dancing with the group that was jumping around in the middle of the room.

Had they hooked up?

“Look who we have here. The queen bee,” he said, hovering around me like an annoying mosquito.

I faked a smile. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he got to me, even though he always did. He had humiliated me and made me believe he was in love with me, only to gloat about it with his friends and lie about things we never did.

“Don’t get too close; I might sting you.”

Regan smiled in that way that used to drive me crazy. “You look superhot, as always.”

I took a sip of my beer and tried to ignore him.

“What’s wrong? You can’t even look at me anymore?”

“I prefer to pretend you don’t exist.”

Regan laughed and stepped in front of me, inches away from my face. “Are you ever going to forgive me?”

I looked at the traces of Lisa’s red lipstick on him and almost laughed out loud. “Forgiving you would mean admitting that I give a shit about you, Regan, and that is far from the truth. Now go away so I can enjoy the party.”

Regan seemed unaffected by my words, placing his hands on my hips and pulling me toward him. “You weren’t this cold when we met, Marfil, maybe that’s why I didn’t fall for you… You were a little girl straight out of high school, so innocent, sopure…” His fingers slid down my back to my ass. “Now you walk around like you’re the queen of the universe, creating and destroying things at your will… I can’t deny that it turns me on, a lot.” He pressed his body to mine, and I could feel his erection against my stomach.

I remained still. Shamelessly, part of me liked knowing that he was still capable of falling under my spell. “You missed your chance,” I said, so close to his lips that I could smell the whiskey and cigarettes on his breath.

“It’s not about chance, Marfil. This is about the score we still have to settle.” He moved his hand up my side and wrapped it around the underside of my left breast.