Frigid (2 page)

Now I felt like a lame turd. “It’s all right, really. I’ll be right over.”

“After you finish your drink?” When I nodded, she sighed. “You never finish a drink, but I’ll be waiting. Don’t take forever.” She started to turn and then whipped back to me, nearly losing a bottle of beer. “Actually, take your time.”

“Huh?”

Her smile spread. “Look who just came in.”

I craned my neck to follow her gaze. “Oh.”

“‘Oh’ is right.” Andrea bent down and kissed my cheek. “Forget about Kyler the man-slut. You’re better than that. But him?” She nodded at the door. “That’s a keeper who’s more than willing to end your celibacy.”

Heat swamped my cheeks. Before I could argue the use of the word “celibacy,” Andrea had skipped off and I was left staring at Paul Robertson.

Paul was new to our group; I’d met him in my Cognitive Processes lab. He…he was good-looking. He was nice and funny. He was perfect, really, but…

He stopped just at the edge of the dance floor, tugging off his skull cap. Scanning the bar, he smoothed a hand over his blond hair. His eyes met mine and a quick grin spread across his face. Giving me a little wave, he easily navigated the group of people huddled around round tables.

Paul would be perfect for me right now, and for that very reason alone, I needed to stop thinking about the unattainable and start thinking about what was right in front of my face.

Taking a deep breath, I mustered up what I hoped was a sexy smile. There was no better time than tonight.

I was already starting to get a headache. By the way the chick was squirming in my lap like she was ready to get it on right now, this was going to be a long night. I crunched down on the piece of ice, half-tempted to spit it out.

But that would be sort of rude.

I should have been in the mood to celebrate, except I wasn’t. One more semester of college left, and then what? Join the family business and shit? God, that was the last thing I wanted. Well, not necessarily the
last
thing. Trying to explain to my mom why I didn’t foresee a career in bar restoration in my future was probably the last thing I wanted to do. It was never something I wanted to do, but almost four years of college later, and I was about to walk out with a degree in business bullshit.

Reaching around the girl, I grabbed the neck of the beer bottle. Across from me, Tanner raised his brows. I smirked as he turned back to whatever the brunette chick was saying to him. Something about getting a wax yesterday and she was outside the mandatory twenty-four hour waiting period. Seriously? That was pretty much the last thing either of us wanted to hear.

Knowing there was an all-clear on getting down did have its bennies, but Tanner didn’t look too into it.

“Kyler,” the blonde crooned in my ear as she wiggled her ass. “You don’t seem happy to see me. I’m happy to see you again.”

And apparently I wasn’t too into it, either. Taking a long drink, I knew I had to proceed with wise caution. Supposedly I knew this girl—like
knew her
, knew her—but I couldn’t place her face or her ass, which was all kinds of messed up. How could I not know her when I’d most definitely slept with her at some point?

Fuck.

Sometimes I was sick with myself.

She leaned in, pressing her breasts right up under my chin. Okay. I wasn’t
that
sick with myself. “Honey,” I said, fingering the bottle. “I’m going to need to breathe at some point.”

Giggling, she leaned back far enough that I could sneak another drink. She ran her hands through my hair, tugging it off my forehead. I fought the urge to knock her hands away. “You gonna play your guitar for me later?”

My brows rose. “I played the guitar for you?”

Tanner choked on a laugh.

The girl—and damn, I hoped her friend said her name real soon—frowned. “Yes!” She smacked my chest playfully. “You played it with those awesome, talented fingers of yours, and then you played something else.”

Oh.

Tanner leaned back in his chair. “Look at you and your
awesome
fingers.”

“My awesome, talented fingers,” I corrected him.

Shaking his head, he looked away as the brunette leaned over, tracing the edge of the tattoo that popped out from under his rolled-up sleeves.

“You don’t remember?” She stuck out a glossy lower lip. “My feelings are hurt.”

I snorted and took another drink, my eyes scanning the now-packed bar. Sometimes I had no idea how I ended up in situations like this. Okay. That was a bald-faced lie. What was between my legs was how I ended up in situations like this.

But it was more than that.

It had always been more than that.

“Kyler,” the girl whined.

I took a deep breath and turn back to her, giving the girl my most charming smile. “Yeah?”

“You gonna share?”

Before I could respond, she took the bottle from my hand and downed damn near close to the whole thing. My brows shot up. Damn. That was sort of impressive… and gross.

Her friend giggled. “Jesus, Mindy, take it slow tonight. I am
so
not carrying your drunk ass back to the dorm.”

Aha! Her name was Mindy! I felt a little better about this.

Mindy just shrugged as she turned back to me. She leaned in and when she spoke, all I could smell was beer. “You’re so incredibly sexy. Have you ever been told that?”

“A time or two,” I replied, wishing for another beer.

Andrea appeared at the table, two beers in hand. One was for her and the other for Tanner, so that sucked. She looked at me and huffed. “Like Kyler needs his ego stroked.”

“Kyler needs something else stroked,” Mindy murmured, pushing down with her hips.

A look of disgust crossed Andrea’s face as she sat on the other side of Tanner. The look didn’t bother me. Now if it were someone else? “Have you seen Syd?” I asked.

Andrea eyed me over the rim of her bottle, eyes narrowed. She didn’t say anything.

I sat back in the chair, sighing. “I invited her.”

Tanner arched a brow. “You know damn well Syd’s in her dorm, packing for our trip. Actually, she’s probably
re
packing for our trip.”

A smile pulled at my lips. She probably was retentively going over what to bring.

“Who cares about her?” Mindy folded her arms, which made her breasts even bigger. Impossible. She looked at her friend. “I need another drink.”

“So do I,” I said, bouncing my knees so she’d get off. She didn’t take the hint. I sighed. “Since you drank mine, why don’t you go get us a refill?”

Another pout graced Mindy’s lips. “Have you seen how packed the bar is? It will take forever.”

“You
could always get up,” Andrea suggested.

I looked over my shoulder at the bar. The damn thing was packed. Shit. Half of the University appeared to be here.

Mindy’s beer-soaked breath brushed my cheek. “You should go get us a drink, babe. I love Jell-O shooters.”

“I’m not your babe.” My gaze traveled over the people at the bar. Was that Paul? He didn’t come here regularly, only if Syd actually showed up here. Wait a sec… I leaned to the side to get a look around some huge dude. Was that Syd at the bar? With Paul?

A hand ended up in my hair again. “You were my babe a couple of weeks ago.”

“Interesting,” I murmured. The dude moved away, beers in hand, and holy shit, it
was
Syd. Her long, black hair was down and her feet were crossed at the ankles. She looked so damn tiny sitting there, I was surprised she’d even gotten served.

I was also surprised that she was at the bar, without me and
with
Paul.

What the fuck was wrong with this picture?

Turning back around, I pinned Andrea with a look. “When did she get here?”

She shrugged. “Dunno.”

My irritation spiked. “She shouldn’t be at the bar by herself.”

Mindy said something, but I wasn’t listening. I had this wonderful selective hearing thing going on right now.

Andrea shared a look with Tanner, a look I ignored. Therefore, the look never happened. “She’s not by herself,” she said sweetly.

“That’s the point.” I gripped Mindy’s hips. An excited look crossed her pretty face. Too bad I was about to burst her horny bubble. Lifting her out of my lap, I deposited her on her feet. “I’ll be back.”

Mindy’s jaw unhinged. “Kyler!”

I ignored her. I also ignored Andrea’s smirk and the eye roll Tanner gave me as I stood and pivoted around.

Syd really shouldn’t be at the bar by herself. Being with Paul didn’t count. She needed someone to look out for her, to keep an eye on things, because Syd…well, she had this naїveté about her that drew dickheads in by the masses.

Dickheads like Paul and other guys like me who pretty much did nothing but get a girl on her back. But I was different, way different when it came to Sydney Bell. And it had been my job since I could remember to keep her out of trouble. Right now was no different than any other time.

Yep, that was exactly the reason I was about to break up this little conversation.

“Hey,” Paul said, sliding into the spot Andrea had occupied. “I didn’t know you were coming out. You didn’t say anything in class today.”

“Last minute decision.” I took a sip of my rum and Coke. It was already watered down. “How was the final?”

“I think it went well. You?”

I shrugged. “I think I passed.”

“You probably aced the damn thing.” He stopped, ordering a Sam Adams when the bartender came around. “Are you all packed for the trip tomorrow?”

We were leaving on our annual ski trip to Snowshoe Mountain tomorrow. This was Paul’s first time, but Kyler and I had been going up to his mom’s ski house since we were kids. This was Andrea’s and Tanner’s second year, and some of Kyler’s other friends would be there, too. We usually had a big group going.

“I was packed last weekend.” I giggled. “I’m anal like that.”

His easy grin spread. “I still need to pack. By the way, thanks for inviting me. I’ve never been up to Snowshoe.”

Surprising since he’d grown up in the neighboring town, and I figured everyone who lived in Maryland had been to Snowshoe at some point. “No problem. You said you liked skiing and stuff, so it made sense. Kyler will be out on the slopes all day and night, so you’ll definitely have someone to ski with.”

Paul’s blue eyes drifted toward the table they sat at. “I don’t know about that.”

I frowned and totally refused to see what was happening at the table of sin and sex. They were probably making babies. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t get the impression that Kyler’s a big fan of mine.” His gaze settled on me once more and he shrugged. “Anyway, you’re heading back home after you leave Snowshoe?”

I nodded. “Yep, doing Christmas with the family and staying there until spring semester starts back up. You?”

“I’ll be in Bethesda part of the time and then Winchester with my mom.” He scratched at the label on his bottle, his brows knit. “Parents divorced a few years back, so I go between houses.”

I hadn’t known that. “Sorry to hear that.”

A small smile appeared. “It’s no big deal. I still get to do the whole two Christmases thing, so I’m not complaining.”

Taking another quick sip, I placed my glass down. “Double the presents.”

“Double the fun.” His gaze fell to his beer. Half the label was gone. “Look. I thought we could do—”

Strong arms wrapped around my waist from behind. I was pulled off the stool, and my surprised shriek was cut off when my back hit an immoveable wall of muscle. I was enveloped in a bear hug that smelled of the outdoors and light cologne.

Only one person in this world gave me hugs like this or felt that hard…that good.

Kyler’s deep voice rumbled through my body. “When did you get here?”

My feet still weren’t touching the floor. “A little bit ago,” I gasped out, gripping his forearms through his sweater.

“What the hell? Have you been hiding from me?”

Paul leaned back against the bar and grinned, but it was strained. Not that I could blame him. Kyler always kind of burst in and took over every situation. “I haven’t been hiding,” I told him, flushing when my eyes met Paul’s. “And can you put me down?”

“What if I don’t?” he teased. “You’re so little I could put you in my pocket.”

“What?” I laughed. “Put me down, you idiot. I was having a conversation.”

“Sorry, Paul, I’m stealing her.” Kyler wasn’t sorry at all. He backed away, giving me no choice, because there was no way I was breaking his hold. He turned, dropping into a chair nowhere near the table he’d been at and pulling me into his lap so I was sitting sideways. He looped his arms around my waist. “I’m not happy with you, Syd.”

I arched a brow as my heart rate picked up. He was the only person who called me Syd—well, the only person I let call me that without kicking them in the shin. “Really? Over what?”

“You’re talking to that douche.”

“What douche?”

He leaned in, resting his forehead against mine, and my breath stalled in my chest. Why must he always get so damn close? And he really, truly, always did. “Paul.”

“What about him?” I put my hands on his shoulders to push back, but his arms tightened, holding me in place. “Are you drunk?”

“Am I drunk? Aw, now you’ve gone and hurt my feelings, Syd.”

I smirked. “You don’t have any feelings.”

“Now, now. That wasn’t very nice.” His impossibly long lashes lowered, shielding his eyes as he lifted his head, rubbing his cheek along mine. My fingers dug into his shoulders as desire twisted tight in my center. “I have all these feelings, Syd.”

It took me a moment to respond. “You’re so full of it.”

He rubbed his cheek against me like a cat seeking a belly rub, and I fought the urge to purr. “I’m full of something.”

“Piss and vinegar?” I suggested as I desperately tried to ignore the way my pulse pounded in all the right places.”

He chuckled deep in his throat as he leaned back against the seat he’d taken hostage. “Back to the serious nature of our conversation.”

“Which is: why are you playing Santa right now?”

Kyler’s lashes lifted and his eyes drilled into mine. “Hmm, now that sounds interesting. Have you been naughty or nice this year, Syd?”