Addicted for Now (20 page)

I think they’ve gone nuts. They obviously don’t understand
what Daisy looks like or realize her age and the fact that just outside our
window are hundreds of horny fucking guys. “Can I talk to you and you”—I point
at Lily and Rose—“in private. Thanks.”

From the suitcase, Daisy glances up at me. “I’m sorry about
the swimsuits. It was just a joke, honestly. Here.” She tosses a new shopping
bag to me, and I hesitate, mostly because I see how much Daisy wants me to be
okay with her here. She doesn’t want to put anyone out since she’s essentially
crashing our Spring Break. And I think if I told her that she’s not welcome,
she would be on the next flight without argument.

Before I search in the plastic bag, I keep my gaze trained
on Rose who has the most sway in whether or not Daisy stays in Cancun. “What
happens when a guy offers her a drink?”

“I’ll turn it down,” Daisy answers. She rocks on the balls
of her feet, prepared to answer more questions.

“Are you going to drink?” I ask her.

“If it upsets you, then no.”

My muscles twitch. I don’t like the idea of people being
sober just because I am. That’s ridiculous. “It doesn’t upset me, but you’re
underage, Daisy, even in Mexico.”

“Since I was fourteen, my mom has always let me drink during
vacations. Ask Rose.”

Rose unplugs her flatiron and brushes her glossy hair. “Just
the fruity drinks,” she says. “And only because Mother trusted you not to go
crazy.”

“I won’t,” Daisy says. “And if it makes you feel better, I
won’t drink at all.”

I shake my head and wear a deep frown. I’m not sure what the
right call is. I know that most kids drink at sixteen. And I wouldn’t want to
baby her just because I’m an alcoholic. But is twenty-one the magical safe age
or something? I don’t know.

I internally groan. She may not be staying here at all so it
won’t even matter. “What happens if she breaks from our group, Rose?”

“She won’t,” Rose retorts. “I’m not going to leave Daisy
alone in a foreign country. While the big brother routine is flattering, Loren,
she has two sisters in Cancun who care for her just as much, if not more. She’s
safe with us.”

I watch Lily glance between me and Daisy, and I see the
worry so apparent on her face. She wants her little sister here just as much as
Rose does. Maybe they want to spend time with her, to reconnect together in
ways that they haven’t in a long, long time. And if Daisy can put a smile on
Lily’s face, then maybe the hassle will be worth it.

“Okay,” I nod.

“Are you sure?” Daisy asks. “If you’re upset, then I can
go…”

“No,” Rose cuts in.

I glare at her. “So glad to know that you consider my
feelings, Rose. We now know who the nicest sister is.”

“I thought that was me,” Lily pipes in with a coy smile.

“You’re the best everything, love, that’s unspoken and
true.”

She bites her lip, and I can practically hear her chanting
for me to come over there and kiss her. I would, but Rose is searing holes in
my forehead.

“What about Connor and Ryke?” Daisy asks hesitantly.

“Connor won’t care,” Rose tells her.

Ryke will.
I flash
her a comforting smile that feels a bit false for me. I just hope I’m not
grimacing. “If Ryke isn’t nice to you then I’ll take care of him.” I actually
turn to Rose for approval, not sure why hers means so much to me. But she nods
in appreciation, or as close to the sentiment as that girl can come.

“Thanks, Lo,” Daisy says.

Lily stands up and sidles to me. I wrap an arm loosely
around her shoulders while she sinks into my body. This is a hug that should
turn into something more. I can feel her aching for it as her fingers dig deeper
in my waist. But she can’t. I just hope she can withstand a week without sex.
She’ll need to be satisfied by kisses. Whereas normal people take a kiss as
real affection, Lily sees it as nothing more than teasing if it’s not the means
to a good fuck.

I rub her back while I dig through the plastic bag with one
hand. I find three appropriate male swimsuits in black and navy-blue. “Are
these the only other guy suits you bought?” I ask Daisy, a wicked thought
crossing my mind.

“Yeah. Are they bad?” She comes to my side and peeks in the
bag. “These Ralph Lauren ones should fit.”

“I know. I’m just thinking that you only bought two of
them…for me and Connor.” They all catch on to my ploy.

Rose shakes her head repeatedly, but Lily is nodding
fiercely. Daisy’s lips pull into a devious smile, definitely up for a bit of
harmless fun.
 

If Ryke and I are going to be brothers, I might as well
start reaping the benefits. And it starts with a prank.

{ 20 }

LOREN HALE

We took one step onto the beach, and I thought my
eyeballs were going to burn out of their socket. The sun was inescapable, too
hot to even breathe properly. And all the beach cabanas are
first-come-first-serve, so we have to wake up earlier to claim one tomorrow. We
end up finding seven lounge chairs around the crowded pool. On the elevator
ride down, Daisy asked me again if it was okay if she drank around me. Personally,
I feel worse if people stop having a good time on my account. I’ve forced
Connor to order wine—his drink of choice—on numerous occasions.

But I thought I’d be a little more creative in my reply to
Daisy since she is sixteen and I’m still trying to understand what’s
appropriate for teenagers. I told her that I didn’t mind if she drank, but she
shouldn’t drink more than Rose. In fact, she should try to loosen Rose up this
week. If there’s anything I’d pay good money to see, it’s Rose Calloway drunk.

Daisy easily agreed. She seems to want to please other
people, and I wonder just how much of her life has been dedicated to appeasing her
mother.

Both Daisy and Rose wade in the pool with piña coladas in
their hands. An engulfing rock fountain swamps one circular alcove where a
pool-side bar lies, but we’re a good distance from that mobbed area.

Ryke climbs out of the pool and nods to the rest of us who
idly stand in the water. Lily is the only one on dry land.

She lies alone on a lounge chair, not wanting to join us. I
get it. She touched herself the first night, and I’ve been repeatedly telling
her that she’s not going to have sex this week. Now we’re at a pool with
half-naked guys, a half-naked
me.

I can spot several couples groping underneath cabanas, and
even a few cling to each other in the water, making out, the guy’s tongue deep
down the girl’s throat. There’s no shame there either. And I think she’s
probably just as jealous of that too.

She’s craving sex badly, and I understand wanting to drift
off with music and take a nap in the sun. So I let her have her space and try
to talk with our friends.

“I’m going to go buy some tacos,” Ryke says. “If you want to
eat one, you better come with me.” He stands confidently in his hot pink
mankini. When I told him it was the only suit left, he literally shrugged and
put it on. Tan skin, ripped abs, and stylish wayfarers—he instantly looked cool
even wearing that damn thing. And the girls playing water volleyball even gawked
at his ass.

That’s not exactly the reaction I was looking for.

Melissa swims to the edge and climbs out, always attached to
Ryke in some way. And whenever she’s forced to untangle herself from him, her
mood flips. A part of me wonders if that’s what Lily and I look like when we’re
in someone else’s company—bored and aggravated. Probably. I guess it’s something
we’re working on.

“Ready?” she asks, hooking her pinky with his fingers.

He lets go of her hand and nods to the pool again.
“Calloway,” he calls. All three girls turn to look at him, even Lily on the
chair. He rolls his eyes and points at the tall blonde. “Daisy. You coming?”

She shakes her head and sucks on the straw of her piña
colada. For lunch, we all ate handmade pizza, but Daisy picked at a salad
instead. I think it’s a success that she’s even sipping a fruity drink that
contains a shit ton of calories, but knowing Ryke, he no doubt believes alcohol
is the equivalent of bark on a food pyramid.

“Come on,” he prods, gesturing her to follow him. “You’ll
like the taco, I promise.”

“I probably will,” she says, “but that still doesn’t mean I
should eat it.”

Melissa clutches Ryke’s hand and begins to pull him towards
the outside grill behind a set of palm trees. “She doesn’t want a taco,” she
says, tugging him like a child would a parent. “Let’s go.”

Ryke’s jaw locks, and I think he would try to convince Daisy
until she relented, but not with Melissa yanking his arm. So he leaves with
that failure. Ryke inserting himself in other people’s problems is nothing new.
I’m not surprised that he would take interest in Daisy’s diet, one that she
maintains only to please her mother—I’ve known that since she started modeling.

 
Connor holds a mojito
low in his hand and watches Melissa disappear behind the palm trees with Ryke.
“He’s going to regret bringing her.”

“He already does,” I say. I didn’t think being around alcohol
would affect me as much. My attention zones in on the plastic cup, and it takes
a great deal of energy to concentrate on other things. Like my brother’s sex
life, not that I particularly care about it.

“What’d you do last year for Spring Break?” Connor asks.

I strain my mind and shake my head. “I can’t remember.” I’m
sure I spent my nights at a bar while Lily fucked other guys. Our old routine.
It’s all so hazy, even trying to crawl back through the memories is like
walking through fog. “Probably something stupid,” I mutter under my breath.

Connor takes the hint and doesn’t prod. “If it makes you
feel any better, my last three Spring Breaks were in Japan trying to convince
angel investors to capitalize in Cobalt Inc.”

I let out a short laugh. “Now I just feel like an
underachieving loser.”

“I tried,” he says with a casual smile.

Rose swims over to us and she elbows me in the ribs.

“Hello, Rose,” I say with a grimace.

She points to our lounge chairs where Lily lies.

“Do you see what she’s reading?” Rose asks me, not even
slurring yet.
 

I frown and study Lily. Sure enough, in her hands is a Cosmo
magazine. “Where did she get that?”

“Daisy probably bought it from the airport.”

“Is she not allowed to read trashy magazines?” Connor asks.

Rose tilts her head like he asked a stupid question. “Not
ones that describe sexual positions and have romance stories in the back.”

I raise my eyes at him. “You’ve never read Cosmo before?”

“I never needed to know the top fifty ways to pleasure a
man.”

I splash him, and he lets out a laugh, and I actually smile.
I swim to the ledge, knowing full well that if I had whiskey today, nothing
would have stopped me from uttering a biting response. And for once, I truly
feel like I achieved something.

I hop out of the pool. Lily doesn’t even see me coming, too
immersed in a dirty magazine.

{ 21 }

LILY CALLOWAY

5
Sex Toys Perfect for Traveling.
My little bullet vibrator survived the
bellhop-impersonator-thief since I stowed it in my purse, but there’s a slim
chance I’ll be using it anytime this week.

Vibrating panties even made it on the list. I have those too
(back home), but I never actually tried them out. I flip the page and land on
the sex tips from guys. Some make me laugh, while others are actually helpful.
I skim the list and smile at the advice from Brett, 24.
“Wet your lips. Then tell me you can’t wait to taste me.”
 
Thank you, Brett for making it seem like
girls have to give blow jobs to please a guy. Not true. In fact, if I didn’t
like giving Lo head, I wouldn’t do it.

“Hey.”

I jump a little at the voice and press the magazine to my
chest, flushing in a rosy shade. I relax when I see it’s Lo, dripping wet in
his swimsuit. I try to focus on his face and not his body, but even the
striking jaw and dark, wet hair looks extremely sexy right now.

I lick my bottom lip and say, “I can’t wait to taste you.”

He narrows his eyes, not amused, and grabs the magazine from
me. My shoulders slacken as his eyes flit over the page. They roll dramatically
when he reads Brett’s advice. Lo folds the magazine in his hand and sits down
on the foot of the lounge chair. I realize I’m probably not going to be getting
that Cosmo back.

“It’s not porn,” I defend immediately.

“You still shouldn’t read it. You’re trying to go a day
without thinking about sex, and flipping through a magazine that highlights the
ten best ways to go down on someone is not going to help.”

I just nod, and then my eyes drift to Ryke who walks back
towards our area with an aluminum foil wrapped taco. He licks his fingers, so I
assume he already ate one on the way here. Melissa says something, and she
leaves his side, heading back to the hotel room. It’s strange that she would
ditch him when she’s made it clear that he’s the only reason she’s withstanding
the rest of us.

My gaze drifts to the bright pink mankini that leaves
nothing to the imagination. He fills it out too well. One wrong move and
everything may just pop out. “That kind of backfired, didn’t it?” I say to Lo
with a smile.

Lo places a hand on my bare calf, which sends tingles down
my spine. Even the simplest touch right now, I covet. “How was I supposed to
know he was so comfortable in a banana hammock?” Lo says loud enough for Ryke
to hear when he approaches. “We’ve only been brothers for four months.”

“We’ve been brothers for twenty-one years,” Ryke refutes. He
sits on the pool ledge beside our chair, sticking his feet into the water. “You
only knew about me four months ago.”

“And that’s supposed to make me like you more?”

Ryke flashes a dry smile and nods to the magazine in Lo’s
hand. “Beach reading?”

Lo tosses the magazine on the wet cement beside Ryke. “Here,
maybe you can learn how to go down on Melissa. She seems incredibly displeased
by you.”

“I can lick her just fine. That’s not why she’s mad.”

I tear my eyes off the hand that Lo keeps planted on my
ankle. I would like, dearly, for his fingers to run up to my thigh. Especially
after all this sex talk. “Why is she upset?”

“Same reason you are.”

“She’s a sex addict too?” I say brightly. I’m not the only
one out there. Wow, that feels good.

“No, she’s just a normal horny girl.”

Oh, damn. My shoulders droop.

Lo starts rubbing my calf.
That
feels even better. I sink against the back of the chair,
relaxing. Lo scrolls through his cell phone for a moment, and I watch as Ryke
motions to Daisy in the pool without calling her name.

She swims over to his spot by the pool wall, and since he
sits out of the water, he towers above her and hunches slightly to look down at
Daisy. He holds the taco out to her.

She sets her empty cup beside the sopping magazine. “I
thought you said I could only have a taco if I went with you.”

“I’m making an exception.”

Her eyes flicker between the taco and Ryke, and I don’t like
where this is headed. It reminds me of the time where he tempted her with a
piece of chocolate cake. She ate it, but only after a string of inappropriate
events. Lo didn’t see that. And he’s too focused on his phone to look up and
watch Daisy and Ryke.

But maybe…maybe it’s all in my head. I mean, my thoughts
circumnavigate to sex all the time. Maybe these past three months without Lo,
their time together has been innocent and not as bad as I believed. And I
do
want Daisy to eat that taco.

“What will you do for me if I eat that?” Daisy asks, a
scheming smile lifting her lips.

“We’re bargaining now?”

She swims a little closer to him, her shoulders the same
height as his knees. “It’s only fair. You want me to do something. So I think I
should get something in return.”

“You get the nutrients of this fucking taco,” he tells her.
“That’s a win-win.”

She tries hard not to smile and just shakes her head. Oh,
she’s learned how to play his games since the last time. I should break this
up, I think. But I’m hypnotized by their easy banter.

“What do you want?” he asks.

I nudge Lo with my foot. He needs to see this! They’re about
to strike some deal that is not going to be pretty. I try to find Rose and
Connor too, but they’ve drifted over to the pool-side bar.

Lo reluctantly tears away from his phone and follows my
gaze, watching my sister and his brother.

And then Daisy’s sly smile falters. “I don’t know what I
want,” she realizes.

“Well that’s a problem.”

Lo gives me a stare like
that’s
what you’re freaking out over?
Really? It’s all in my head, isn’t it?

“And I don’t have time for you to figure it out,” Ryke tells
her. “The taco will be cold by then.” He peels the aluminum foil back and holds
out the end to her. “Come on, just one bite.” His tone isn’t kind or soft. It’s
rough and forceful, something that Daisy is not used to, I think. Her curiosity
twinkles in her eyes.

Daisy stares at Ryke for a long moment. “Why do you want me
to eat this so badly?”

“Because your body needs something more than fucking rum, ice
and piña colada mix.”

“My agency would disagree.”

“Your agency fucking sucks,” he says.

“You would try to make every model eat cake, wouldn’t you?”

He doesn’t deny it.

She smiles. “You know they’d just throw up afterwards.”

“You better not—”

“I’m not bulimic,” she says. “I’m not even anorexic. I just
know what I should and should not eat. And trust me, when I’m not counting down
the days to a photo shoot, I’ll pig out. But I have a runway in three weeks.
Everyone will be pinching my fat, and you won’t be there to see their
disappointed, disgruntled looks. I will.”

“I think,” Ryke says slowly, trying to process the words,
“you need to realize that this taco isn’t going to add an inch on your
waistline. If you have as great willpower as you say, then eating this won’t
cause you to binge tomorrow.”

I kind of want to clap. He actually makes complete sense,
and Daisy contemplates his whole statement with high regard. And then she nods
in acceptance.

“Okay,” she says. “But just one bite.”

“Unless you love it.”

“Like I said—”

“
You like many things
,
that doesn’t mean you should eat them
,”
he finishes. “I heard you.”

“You listen,” she says mockingly. “What kind of guy are
you?”

“The rare kind.”

My shoulders tense. Are they flirting? Does Lo see this? He
is watching, but I can’t read his expression at all. His muscles, however, pull
tight.

“Okay,” Daisy says, eyeing the taco. “I’ll eat it.”

“Stop talking about it and do it,” he says.

She sets a hand on his leg and the other on his wrist as he
holds out the taco. She leans forward to take a bite, and I swear, her eyes
connect with his the entire time. There’s something incredibly dirty about this—I
see it, does anyone else?

Lo says nothing.

When she takes a bite, her eyes flutter closed and she lets
out an audible moan. “Oh my God,” she mumbles, chewing.

Ryke wears a satisfied grin, like he won the best prize,
seeing her happy (or making an orgasmic noise, I have no idea). Sauce leaks
onto her chin, but her head is tilted back, too absorbed in food bliss to notice.
He uses his thumb to wipe the sauce right below her lip.

“Good, right?”

She swallows. “The best.”

Okay, maybe I’m the only one processing the event in a
phallic way. Ryke and Daisy act completely innocent about the entire ordeal.
Maybe they don’t even realize how sexual it all was. (At least it wasn’t a hot
dog.)

“Here.” He holds out the rest of the taco.

Surprisingly, Daisy accepts the food, taking the foil from
his hands. “Thanks,” she says in genuine appreciation. And then she swims off
towards Connor and Rose.

Lo opens his mouth, and I wonder if he’s about to chastise
Ryke. But how can he when Daisy ate something healthy for once? That has to be
a win, right? Before Lo says a thing, Melissa returns and we all go quiet.
Well, technically Lo and I were already quiet, but the air stretches in an
uncomfortable way.

Melissa sits beside Ryke on the cement, and she leans a
shoulder into him. He wraps his arm around her.

“The maids are done with our room,” she tells him,
practically batting her eyelashes.

That’s where she went—to check on the status of
our
room? If I’m not allowed to have sex
there, then why can she? I look to Lo for answers, but his gaze has permanently
fixed on Ryke.

“I already talked to you about it,” Ryke says evenly.

“Yeah, but the public bathrooms are so gross.” She looks up
at Lo and me. “You guys don’t care if we fool around for a couple minutes back
in the room, right? We’ll stick to the cot.”

“Daisy is sleeping on the cot tonight,” I remind her. Daisy
offered to sleep on the floor, not wanting to ruin our arrangements with her
impromptu arrival, but Ryke refused to let her crash on the ground. He was nice
enough to take the worst spot.

“Then we’ll use the couch,” she says with a shrug. “You two
are free to go back and have fun whenever. Really, it doesn’t bother me.” Hope
surges through me. This is my opportunity to have sex later this week. Just
when I’m about to tell her to frolic right on over to the room, Ryke has to
speak.

“It bothers Rose and Connor.”

Her face falls. “Oh.”

An awkward silence soaks the air, and Daisy swims over to
cut it right up. “Rose and Connor are fighting,” she exclaims. She lifts her
body out of the pool and sits on the chair next to me. “It’s kind of scary. I
don’t understand half the words coming out of their mouths.” Her hair looks
almost brown now that it’s wet. She wrings it out in her hands.

I glance at the pool-side bar. Sure enough, Rose and Connor
square off, their mouths moving in such rapid succession that they look as if
they’re on a debate team. People surrounding them watch in amusement and even
awe.

“Anyone want a refill?” Melissa asks. She stands and waves
her empty cup.

“I could take a daiquiri,” Daisy says.

“Virgin, right?”

Daisy doesn’t even blink. “No, I’m drinking rum.”

“I don’t really condone underage drinking. You’re what,
seventeen?”

“Sixteen,” she says, still unaffected by Melissa’s edgy
words. “In some countries, I’m old enough to be married and sold into
prostitution, so hey, I think a couple of drinks won’t necessarily kill me.”

“Well life is different here. We’re in America.”

“We’re in Mexico, actually.”

Melissa’s throat bobs, but she tries to brush off her snafu
with a shrug. “Yeah, whatever.”

Ryke hardly suppresses his grin, and when he meets Daisy’s
gaze, she gives him a look like
you’re
going to get in trouble.

Ryke does not care what anyone thinks of him, even his
somewhat-girlfriend.

Melissa sets a hand on her hip. “Want anything,
babe?
” she asks Ryke with a little
force.

He doesn’t drink. We all know that, and so her power move is
completely obvious.

“No, I’m good,” he says. When she struts off in her black
bikini, Daisy tilts her head, watching Melissa’s butt bounce all the way to the
tiki hut. “She does have a nice ass.”

“Yeah?” Ryke says casually, eyeing Daisy as she observes
Melissa.

“Oh yeah,” Daisy says. “But I’d put my ass in contention
too.” I think she’s testing Ryke.

Lo stiffens beside me, and he waits to see how his brother
is going to respond.
Shut it down, Ryke
—I
can hear Lo recite in his head. Or I’d like to
think
I can hear him. I still haven’t developed that superpower
yet.

“Her ass is better. Sorry,” he says, but he never looks back
at Melissa. Daisy has stolen his attention.

She shrugs. “You’re probably right, but if I had to rank
asses, Rose’s would be number one. She has the best hair too.”

“Your hair is pretty,” Lo tells her.

“Don’t,” Ryke warns him with the shake of his head. If Daisy
is insecure about anything it’s the hair she cannot cut or dye, per her agency’s
rules.

Lo’s face sharpens, resentful that Ryke knows more than him.
Being out of the loop for three months has been a disadvantage. Ryke saw
exactly what went on when Lo was in rehab. Lo did not.

I scoot to the foot of the lounge chair and rest my head on the
crook of his shoulder. He draws me into his arms. But my presence isn’t enough.
I can’t give him back all those days he missed.

“My hair is fine,” Daisy says. But she braids it
subconsciously. Then she rises and sets her toes on the pool edge. She splashes
into the water, and surprisingly, Ryke joins her, dropping in. He breaks the
surface and runs a hand through his wet hair. Both of them cling to the wall,
facing us.