Rough: Daunting Temptation (Coral Gables Series Book 1) (6 page)

"Maybe this morning. I think. In any case, he knows my opinion on affairs and all that. He simply could have shown a tiny little bit of respect," I explain. It hurts me to see Delsin with this woman. After all, he kissed me this morning, or afternoon - I am not sure about the exact time right now, and it does not matter. Just a few minutes ago, he was nibbling at my ear. "I think the problem is a different one. You're falling in love with him," Avery muses.

My laugh is forced. "That's a bunch of crap. I am not falling in love with Delsin Rough. I don't even know him."

He shrugs. "Then I must be wrong. I'm sorry."

"Maybe though ..." I grin up at Avery and stand next to him. "Maybe I should spoil his little encounter."

"I wouldn't do that," Avery warns.

"Why not? He kissed me yesterday night. He kissed me this morning ... He's had it coming, and it serves him right, Ave."

He utters a sigh of resignation. "Okay, but I will stay here. I don't want to be a witness."

"Fine. See you in a few." I am still grinning when I swim back towards the shore.

"Good luck, Sweetie," Ave calls after me.

"Thanks." When I feel the ground beneath my feet, I stand up straight and walk through the surf. Straight to the spot where Delsin and the woman are still rolling around on our towels. I can see their tongues dueling, and it makes my blood boil. I finally bend down and push them off my towel. "Excuse me ... I want to get dry." I keep standing over them, so the water drips from my hair. She starts to sqeal when the droplets hit her back. "Oh, fuck, are you mental? You're getting me wet!" she croaks.

I raise an eyebrow. "You're at the beach, wearing a bikini. You're supposed to get wet here. If I were you, I'd worry more about letting this guy stick his tongue into your mouth. Do you have any idea where else it has been?" Then I squeeze the water out of my hair, squarely on her.

She yelps. "You bitch!"

"Oh. Tell me more, good girl," I shoot back as I sit down on my towel.

Delsin tries not to laugh. "You better go now, Jordie."

"Why?" she whines.

"Because I have to get some things straight here. I'll call you later," he explains calmly and shoves her gently away from himself, sitting up.

"Okay. Just call me when you're done." She gets up and marches off through the hot sand, while I towel my hair dry.

"What was that supposed to be, Camille?" Delsin asks.

"What was what supposed to be?" I echo, feigning confusion.

"Why did you provoke her like that?"

"I did not provoke her. I merely wanted access to my towel, which you two were using for your screwing practice. Sorry if I spoiled your party, but you shouldn't have invited me to come," I answer, matching his ostentatious calm.

"You are jealous," he states.

"I am not jealous of your little exploits. I could have my own if I wanted to, but I care about my reputation. You obviously don't, because you seem to want to be the male college whore," I rant, suddenly annoyed.

"What is your frigging problem?" he shouts, now also irritated.

"You! You're my frigging problem, Delsin. You invite me to come here, and then you all but screw some slut right on my towel. I honestly don't know why I let you sleep at my place last night, or why I even speak with you at all. Maybe I thought that deep inside, you were a normal guy after all," I say loudly. Then I stand and put on my top and skirt. "Don't call me again ... oh, whatever, my number will be deactivated soon anyway. But just leave me the hell alone, you asshole."

I kneel in the sand, fold my towels and put them into the bag.

Delsin grabs me by my wrist. "You are such a frigid bitch," he growls.

That is enough! I swing at him with my other hand, hitting his cheek so hard my palm hurts. Yes, I really ought to find a better strategy than violence, but this time, he really went too far.

"What is wrong with you?!" he yells at me and lets go of my wrist.

"What is going on here?" Avery's voice interrupts our row. He has returned from the ocean.

"Your stupid best friend here frightened Jordie away, and then she hit me in the face," Delsin explains angrily.

"Oh, and your horny best friend is so eager to become known as the town whore that he works on that title while I go for a swim. Yet he was the one who dragged me along on this outing, practically begged me to come," I chime in. "Whatever. I'm out of here. See you, Ave." I turn to him and plant a kiss on his cheek. Then I grab my bag and my sandals, and walk towards the boardwalk.

I hear Ave and Delsin argue, but I don't stop and I don't care. I will go home now, snuggle up with a good book and not leave my room before Monday morning. I've had enough of this weekend. It has been shitty right from the start. Yesterday, we wasted our time watching the skate battle. Today, Delsin nags me until I come along, and then he sets me up like this. Tomorrow, I will stick my nose into my course materials and study.

"Camille," Delsin calls after me when I have reached the asphalt.

I roll my eyes before I turn around. "What do you want?" I ask when he has caught up with me.

"You forgot your sunglasses. And Ave is forcing me to apologize."

"You can stick that where the sun don't shine." I grab the sunglasses from him, put it on and turn away.

"You're such a bitch," he mutters.

"And you're an asshole. We've established that already," I say calmly and start to walk away.
Leave me alone,
I think, and quicken my steps.

"Why won't you give me a real chance?" he asks, still following me.

I turn around with a jerk. "I gave you a chance, but you blew it when you decided to roll around on my towel with Jordie - or whatever her name is. I really thought we could be friends, but we can't. We're too different. You're living in your world and I in mine. Please leave me alone, Delsin," I say, feeling agitated.

He snorts. "You did not give me a real chance."

"Yes, I did!"

"No, you didn't. Alright, so I was being an asshole, but dear god, this is who I am. I want to have fun and not sit around waiting for true love like some frigid baboon. I enjoy having sex, whenever and with whomever I want. Don't you do the same?" he asks in an upset voice, but quietly enough so the people around, walking their dogs or skating, cannot overhear us.

I bite my lower lip so hard it hurts. Then I turn and rush away from him.

"Camille!" he says in a desperate voice, still trailing me.

"What do you
want
?" I yell at him. If he knew I am still a virgin, he'd probably laugh at me.

"I want an answer."

I stop abruptly. "I don't do it," I simply say, looking down at the ground.

"Why not?"

"Because I am waiting for true love, like a frigid baboon," I whisper. Then I run away.

"Shit," I hear him curse, but this time he does not follow me.

I run until I reach the next bus stop, flop down on the bench and wait. The next bus won't be here for another twenty minutes, so I lean back and close my eyes for a moment.

Ten minutes later, my phone rings. "Oh, I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair." I rummage through the bag and pull it out with a sigh. I was so clever as to choose the same ringtone for both my phones. This time, it's the new one. It's Avery.

"Hi, Ave," I say.

"Hi, Sweetie, where are you? Delsin and I are heading home, so I can pick you up and drive you home, too," He suggests.

"I'll pass on that."

"If she doesn't want to come because of me, just give me my board from the trunk and drive her home," I hear Delsin say behind Ave.

"Did you hear that, Sweetie?"

"Yes, I did, but I'm already sitting at the bus stop and the bus is coming any minute now. You two go home without me. I'll be alright. But thanks anyway."

"You're sure?" he asks.

"Yes, I'm sure. Thank you."

"You want to hang out tonight? I'm in the mood for some Italian food, but I can't cook, so I could take you out to dinner," Ave suggests.

"We could cook together," I offer.

"Cool. Will you come over?" I take a deep breath. "If Delsin won't be around, I'll come over."

"He'll be there, but I swear he will not get on your nerves," he promises.

"Okay. I'll be there around seven thirty," I concede, even though the mere thought of Delsin makes me upset again.

"Great. See you then, Sweets."

"Bye." I hang up and put the phone back into the bag.

Only a moment later, the bus arrives. "I'm not sure their idea of 'on time' is the same as mine," I murmur as I get up and board.

Luckily, my stop is not far from campus and thus, from our apartment.

Chapter 4

Finally I can get off the bus. It was a long ride and the bus was smelly. The campus is deserted and peaceful. Here and there, you can see small groups of students lying in the sun or playing football. The majority probably spends the day on the beach. I hope that Hailey and Thalia aren't home, for I'm not in the mood for their inevitable sermon. They would grill me for details, and I shudder at the thought of their inquisition.

My mood is dark when I walk the last block to our apartment. I have been ignoring my phone, which has emitted the text message sound several times already.

Ten minutes later I open the front door, step in and slip into my room. Stealth mode.

"Hailey?" Thalia calls out.

"No, it's me," I say.
So much for stealth mode,
I think.

"You're back early," she states as she steps into the hallway. I turn to her. "It's too hot outside. I've had enough already."

"Okay," she nods. "And you're sure it has nothing to do with Jordie and Delsin?"

"Are you a spy?" I counter, surprised.

"Jordie is in some of my classes, and we just talked on the phone because I needed some notes from last week. Missed Tuesday's class."

Great. Just great. So the story is already making the rounds.

"No, it only has to do with Delsin. Do you have any idea how awkward I felt? He begged me to come on this trip, and then he acts like a horny ape the minute I go for a swim," I explain, letting my bag drop on the floor.

"Because he kissed first you and then Jordie?"

I lean against the wall and tip my head back. "Yes," I groan, feeling cornered.

"Uh oh," she says softly. She comes closer and pushes me gently into my room, towards my bed, on which I flop down. "Listen to me: Delsin Rough can be a charming guy until he's had you in bed. If he decides that he wants you, he won't rest until he conquered you, so be careful. Don't fall for him, Cami, just don't. Promise me that!" She sounds insistent.

"He knows that I'm still a virgin," I reply.

"How come?"

"I told him when we argued. He said I ought to understand him, because surely I enjoyed sex, too," I explain.

"That makes you even more of a challenge for him," she states.

"I'd file his 'shit' more under 'I'd rather not.'" I shrug my shoulders and lay back on the bed.

"Cami, please stay away from him. Better yet, stay away from Avery, too."

"Avery is my best friend, Thally. I cannot ignore him just because he shares an apartment with Delsin. That would be unfair and immature. I'm going to ignore Delsin instead, until he loses interest," I say with a sigh.

She lies down next to me. "I bet you didn't think that college would be like this."

"No. I really didn't expect any of this. I always thought Hailey and I would start college together and get our degree together. But then that damn accident mixed up everything. Sometimes I ask myself why I came here at all. I mean, my classes are interesting, but apart from that, my life is a mess. I rarely see you and Hailey, because our schedules don't match. You're off when I have to be in class, and the other way round. That's a bunch of crap," I say in a bit of a whine. "I want to go back to Austin," I groan.

"You want to give up college?" she asks, incredulous.

"Yes, sometimes I feel that way, but I wouldn't dare, cause my mom and my stepdad, and even my dad, all spent their savings so I could come study here."

"But Hailey told me you had a grant."

"Yes, I had. But because I couldn't start when I had said I would, they gave it to someone else," I say in a small voice.

"Shit," she mutters.

"You can say that again." My phone rings. "Jesus, why am I suddenly this popular?" I sit up and go to fetch my bag. When I finally find my phone in there, I see that I have missed several calls and text messages. I was aware of the texts, but when did someone try to call me? The texts are from my mailbox, the calls from Avery. I dial his number and wait.

"Sweets, what's going on? I tried to call you."

"Yes, I just noticed that. What's up?" I ask.

"I wanted to ask you what you want to cook tonight?"