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Standard disclaimer.
SAM
Mercedes and I stared at each other, as the thunderstorm raged outside, the thunder cracking so loud, it rattled the windows.
The storm mirrored what I felt inside and my fingers still tingled, from when I'd touched her, moments ago.
I could see her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were still shining with bliss.
Dammit, I was harder than a rock.
I wanted to go to her, but she stumbled a step back and hastily drew the dress over her head.
Once she had it situated on her, she swallowed hard, as she looked out the windows, watching the rain as it pounded the deck.
"God," she said, voice scratchy. "Shay and Caleb are out there in this."
"They'll be okay. Caleb will make sure of that."
She cast me a quick look over her shoulder. The passion had faded from her gaze, and was now replaced by a keen wariness.
"So will Shay. She can take care of herself," she said.
"I didn't say that she couldn't."
I scrubbed my hands through my wet hair and then grabbed a towel, that had been left on the back of a bar stool.
I soaked up as much water as I could and then dropped the towel on the puddle I'd created.
The dress Mercedes wore, was soaking up the wetness of her and clinging to her curves, in a way that made my mouth water, but as it stood, she had checked out of the fun and naughty stuff.
I didn't blame her. I hadn't planned on that happening, either. Okay. Maybe I'd planned on kissing her, but I hadn't expected it to go that far, especially, when we hadn't even kissed.
Now I had no idea what she was thinking, as she turned around, her gaze bouncing off mine.
"I think I'm going to go take a nap," Mercedes said, not meeting my gaze.
My chest tightened.
"Mercedes, what happened..."
"It's okay. I mean, it was great." Her cheeks flushed, as she edged around the island, steering clear of me. "We don't have to talk about it or anything."
I frowned, as I tracked her across the kitchen.
"But I want to talk about it."
She neared the living room and the stairwell, then said,
"No guy wants to talk about that...whatever that is. I don't have crazy expectations, so you don't need to set me straight or anything like that."
My mouth flopped open.
"What?"
"I know that...what happened...doesn't mean anything. I know it doesn't..."
"Excuse me?" My voice rose as irritation flooded me. "It didn't mean anything?"
Confusion pinched her pretty face, as she stopped at the bottom of the stairs.
"Did it?" she asked.
'Did it?'
Holy fuck! I stared at her, and the only good thing I could think at that moment, was the fact that I no longer had a raging, rock-hard boner.
"Of course not," I snapped.
She flinched...fucking flinched, like I'd hurt her feelings or some shit. Then, she nodded jerkily and turned, racing up the steps in her bare feet.
I stepped forward, partly worried she was going to fall and break her neck and also to run after her.
But I stopped myself, knowing I was too damn angry, to have a normal conversation, that wouldn't end in us screaming at each other.
Whirling from the stairs, I stalked back into the kitchen, stopping at the glass doors, with my hands on my hips.
What the fuck?
That didn't mean anything?
What did she think I did?
Went around randomly getting chicks off for shits and giggles?
Well, actually, she probably did think that.
"Shit," I groaned, dipping my chin.
Based on what she knew about me...what she'd seen from hanging out with me...I was an equal opportunity fucker.
Hell, why would she think she was any different, than the slew of girls that had come before?
But she was different, and dammit, she had to know that. I wouldn't just fuck around with a friend of Shay's. That was obvious, because, if that was the case, I would've tried to get between those pretty thighs, the first time she'd mouthed off at me.
I heard the front door open and I turned, spying Caleb and Shaylee. They looked like they'd swum in a river to get there, but both were smiling.
"Holy shit!" Caleb said, dropping his backpack by the glass door.
Laughing, he shook the rain out of his hair and droplets of water flew in every direction.
"That storm is crazy."
"Yeah," I murmured, heading to the fridge. "It came out of nowhere."
Shay moved to the sink, where she wrung her hair out.
"We checked the weather. There wasn't supposed to be anything, until this evening."
"We didn't even get far," Caleb complained. "As soon as we saw those clouds rolling in, we started to head back."
I pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and tried to force myself to pay attention to the conversation, but honestly, I didn't give a fuck.
Shay straightened and turned around, frowning.
"Where is Mercedes?" she asked.
"Taking a nap," I replied. My hand tightened on the water bottle until it crackled.
Her brows rose.
"I think I'll go check on her."
I raised the bottle to my mouth, having no idea what Mercedes was going to say to Shay. God only knew.
After her steps faded, Caleb eyed me from where he stood.
"What's up?"
"The sky," I replied.
He rolled his eyes.
"Did we miss anything interesting today?"
Like I was going to go there with him.
"We hung out in the pool for a while, before it stormed."
"Uh-huh." A knowing look crossed his face. "I guess, Mercedes was just worn out from the exertion, of hanging out in the pool?"
"Guess so," I muttered, finishing off the water. "I've got to get out of these wet clothes."
Caleb said something, but I wasn't paying attention. I headed upstairs, as the thunder continued to rumble outside.
I almost started toward Mercedes' bedroom, but figured Shay was with her.
Stripping off the swim trunks, I grabbed a pair of shorts and dragged them on. Then sat on the edge of the bed, blowing out an aggravated breath.
Rubbing my temples, I closed my eyes.
Maybe I was off, when it came to Mercedes. Yeah, she wanted me, and today proved that, but it didn't mean she wanted more.
Wait a second. Did I want more?
I already knew the answer to that.
"Fuck," I muttered.
That was pretty much the only word that summed it all up.
MERCEDES
The storm subsided briefly and then came back with a vengeance.
Rain pounded the roof and the pool was starting to overflow, as water lapped over the edges, seeping through the deck boards.
Lightning cut through the black sky and thunder shook the cabin.
Yet, I stood by the window, watching the sky light up, like someone was setting off fireworks from the cusp of Seneca Rocks.
I blew a breath out and watched it fog the window.
Of course not.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to shake those three little words off.
At no point, had I ever entertained the idea, that Sam's sudden interest in me, had anything to do with long term. He was a...virile man, and I'd turned to putty in his hand...literally. I shouldn't feel any regrets, but I did.
I always did.
Because, for once, I wanted to be...I wanted to be something more than just a hookup. I wanted to be...worth more. I wanted to not feel the need to sneak downstairs and get a drink. I wanted to not be feeling this way.
Resting my head against the cool glass, I sighed.
Truth was, I wanted to be with Sam. I wanted to lose myself in him, give away a little piece of myself and not to think passed that moment.
Dinner hadn't been too awkward, as Sam pretty much seemed to forget, that I was sitting in the same room as everyone else, and afterwards, we all went down into the media room.
The boys had had an epic air-hockey death match, and about an hour ago, I'd left, claiming to be exhausted.
I hadn't looked to see if Sam had watched me leave, because, I was pretty sure he hadn't.
I thought my little speech in the kitchen, about it not being a big deal, would've smoothed things out, but I had the distinct feeling, I'd made it worse.
And I had lied. It was a big deal.
The way he'd handled me, how he touched me, had erased every incident I'd ever had with a guy before. He made me forget. Everything.
One could not put a price on that. One could not pass up that kind of opportunity.
But I had a feeling that I had, without realizing it.
Moving away from the window, I sat on the edge of the bed and stretched my legs out.
I had that habit...a habit of making things worse without really even trying.
Like when I'd changed my majors. I could've gone with a nursing degree, then, at least it wouldn't have been like, I was tossing away nearly four years of education.
There were more examples I could give myself, but I really didn't want to travel down that depressing road tonight.
I stood and headed for where I'd left my purse on the dresser.
Opening it up, I poked around the red bottles, until I found the one with the sleeping pills in it.
I'd just started to pop the cap, when there was a soft knock on the bedroom door.
I guessed it was Shay, so I dropped the bottle back in my purse and padded over to the door, opening it.
My eyes widened. It was so not Shay.
Sam stood in the doorway, his hands planted on the frame, and his head bowed.
A moment passed, before he lifted his chin. His eyes were dark green, and intense, as they immediately latched onto mine. And my breath caught in my chest.
"I lied," he said.
"What?"
His hands slipped off the frame, as he straightened.
"I lied earlier...while we were in the kitchen. What happened between us in the pool? It did mean something to me."
SAM
The moment those words came out of my mouth, I knew how true they were and there was no taking them back.
When I'd come upstairs, I hadn't planned on stopping at Mercedes' bedroom, but it was like my brain had shut the hell down and I found myself standing in front of her door.
There was no way I could go to sleep, with her thinking I didn't give two shits.
And now I was here and she was staring at me, like she'd never seen me before.
I had no idea what to make of that, but a tense second passed, and then she took a step back, and then another.
And I took that as an invitation.
Stay safe!