Shockingly Seductive (Addicted To You, Book Seven) (5 page)

You’re young, you’re beautiful, you’re smart, and you’re a
freshman.
You should be having the time of your life.”

I blushed at the fact that Carter was calling me beautiful. I thought again about how Justin didn’t like me talking to Carter, and I wondered again if I should be worried about Carter being interested in me. But it wasn’t like Carter was telling me to break up with Justin. In fact, he was telling me the opposite. He was saying to just have fun.

“That makes sense,” I said slowly. “But how do I do that?”

“How do you relax?” he chuckled.

“Yeah. I can’t seem to stop thinking about everything.”

“Just ask yourself if you’re going to remember any of this in a day, a month, a year.”

“Remember it?”

“Yeah. Like, is there a chance this situation is going to be different tomorrow?

And then take it one step further. Are you going to even remember this in a month, or in a year? It puts things in perspective.”

“Wow,” I said. “How’d you get to be so smart?”

He shrugged. “I’m not, really. Just been through it. And came out on the other side.”

I wondered if he meant freshman year, or something with a girl. I wanted to ask him, but before I could, he said, “Besides, you want to get yourself all worked up about something, try having an auditor start going through your data without you. That’ll really stress you out.”

I laughed. “Poor Jenna,” I said. “She felt so bad, you could tell.”

“Was I that hard on her?”

“No,” I said, deadpan. “But she’s probably crying.”

Carter groaned.

“You know she has a crush on you, right?” I teased.

He looked shocked. “Jenna? Nah.”

“Yeah, she does. Totally.”

He shrugged. “Jenna’s cute. But I’m not interested in her.”

“Why not?”

“Just not. She’s a sweet girl, but come on, could I ever be with someone who just let an auditor in without supervision?” He winked at me.

“Carter,” I said. “Is that really going to matter in a year?”

He grinned. “That, my dear,” he said, “is TBD.”

I laughed.

I was feeling a lot better. So much so that when Carter got up to go get us more coffee, I pulled my phone out of my purse.

Hey,
I texted to Justin.
What’s up?

The reply came almost immediately.
Kind of having a weird day
.

Me too – wanna do something fun tonight?

I held my breath and waited.

Sounds good – I know just the thing.

Okay – what should I wear?

Something sexy.

I smiled. Carter was definitely right. I just needed to relax. And tonight would be the perfect time to start.

JUSTIN

It was late when Lindsay and I met out in front of the club. It was this newer place called Urge, and I’d never been there, but one of my friends had started bartending there recently.

I was wearing crisp new jeans and a black Gucci t-shirt. I didn’t own a lot of expensive clothes, but I kept a few nice things on hand.

When I saw Lindsay, though, I was stunned. I’d told her to dress sexy, but I hadn’t expected this.

She was wearing a strapless black dress that showed her legs from top to bottom, and they were practically gleaming underneath the streetlights on Boylston. Her hair was all shimmery, and she had on that eye makeup that seems have glitter in it, causing her to light up even more when she smiled at me.

“Wow, you look amazing,” I said.

She put a hand on her hip. “That’s because I’m finally letting myself enjoy living in Boston and going to college and being young.”

“Oh, so that’s your new attitude?”

“Yup,” she replied. “And the new me is a lot more fun.”

I looked at her, wondering if she could be as fun as I wanted her to be. Maybe this meant she was actually ready to let go of the whole thing between me and Brooklyn.

It would help if Brooklyn wasn’t still stalking you
.

That was a problem. Since I’d left the gym, she’d already texted me three times.

None of the texts said anything meaningful, they were just random little throwaway lines, none of which I’d responded to. Apparently she hadn’t meant it when she said she understood if I didn’t want to see her anymore.

“Okay, I’m ready to see the new you,” I told Lindsay. “Let’s go inside.”

Soon after, we were in the dark and almost deafening club, where a decent crowd of people were already dancing the night away. I grabbed Lindsay by her hand and led her through the gaps in between the dancing bodies, and all the way to the packed bar.

People were standing in line three deep all the way around, but I jostled and maneuvered and got myself up front to be seen.

My buddy Evan was bartending, and I shouted his name loud enough to get his attention. He looked up at me and got a huge smile on his face. “Oh, shit, you actually decided to come. What do you want, my man?”

I held up two fingers. “Two Bud Lights.”

“Sure thing.” He cracked open two beers and poured them into two plastic cups, slapping the cups down on the soaking wet bar in front of me. “On the house,” he said, winking.

I threw down a ten dollar bill for a tip and then somehow managed to get away from the bar without spilling every last drop of beer.

Lindsay was standing there, looking gorgeous. It seemed like every dude in a twenty foot radius was absolutely ogling her, and I didn’t like it much. I handed her a drink.

She took a long sip and then licked her lips. “Next time, you should get us tequila shots,” she said.

I stared at her. “Are you sure you know what you’re talking about?”

“Yeah, I’ve had tequila before.”

“Okay.” I smirked.

“Don’t look so surprised, Justin,” she said. “You haven’t seen every side of me, you know.”

“I believe you,” I said. The truth was, I could barely keep my hands off her. The dress clung to her in all of the right places, and I couldn’t stop thinking about last night, and how her mouth had tasted—how her body had felt against me.

“Let’s go and dance,” she said, grabbing my hand.

I shook my head. “It’s not my thing.”

“You brought me to a dance club. What did you expect to do?”

“I’m too sober. I need a few more in me first.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“I’ll just watch you for a minute.”

She hesitated for a minute, and I was almost sure she was going to chicken out.

But then she got a determined look on her face. “Fine,” she said, tossing her hair, “have it your way.” And then she went out on the dance floor by herself.

I was shocked to find that Lindsay could really move. Not that she was some professional dancer, but it was just a kind of gracefulness and self-confidence I didn’t expect from her. More than that, though—she was sexy as hell. Soon, she was practically surrounded by four or five knuckleheads trying their best to grind up on her.

The minute I saw that, I couldn’t stand there and watch anymore. I walked out onto the dance floor, sober or not, and grabbed Lindsay by the waist, pulling her toward me.

She smiled, placing one hand on my chest and the other one on my shoulder. We started dancing together, grinding our hips against one another.

We were both already soaked with sweat, because it was hot and crowded in the club. After the first song, something just clicked.

I went to the bar and ordered us tequila shots and we did those.

Then it was back to the dance floor and we just went at it. We were touching each other, laughing, holding one another close, our bodies rubbing in all the right places.

I’d never been so turned on in all of my life.

After about an hour of nonstop dancing, I was ready to leave.

I wanted to kiss her but I wanted it to be back at my apartment, where we could keep going.

We hopped in a cab and I put my arm around her shoulders, as she leaned her head against me. I could see her cleavage, and with her smooth bare legs against my legs, I dropped a hand down to her thigh.

She smiled, closing her eyes. “Mmmm…that feels good,” she whispered.

The cab swerved and sped through the streets of Boston, taking us back to my apartment.

“I had so much fun tonight,” she said. “Carter was right.”

I pulled back and looked at her. “Carter was right about what?”

She opened her eyes, saw the look on my face, and her smile faded. “Nothing.

He just encouraged me to relax.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet he wants you to relax.”

“He encouraged me to not stress so much and just enjoy my life, which is part of why I’m here with you right now. Maybe you should thank him.”

“Ah, no—I don’t think so.”

My cell vibrated. I ignored it, my blood boiling as I pictured this idiot Carter, and what he looked like and how stupid he probably sounded. Big man on campus.

“Are you going to answer that?” Lindsay asked me.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m with you right now.”

“That’s sweet,” she said, but her eyes were watchful.

A moment later, the cab arrived at my apartment and we got out. Once inside, we made our way to my bedroom. Lindsay sat on my bed and I lit a few candles.

“Want something to drink?” I asked.

“Just a glass of water,” she replied.

“No beer?”

She made a face. “Uh-uh.”

“What happened to the fun girl from the club?”

She shrugged. “She has a headache.”

I laughed. I went to the kitchen and got us each a glass of water, and then came back and sat down next to her on the bed.

My phone buzzed again. And then again.

“You really should check and make sure it’s not an emergency,” Lindsay told me.

“It’s no big deal.”

“But how do you know?”

“Because, Lindsay. Because.”

Suddenly, I felt her body stiffen next to me. “Fine, Justin. Whatever.” She drank from her glass.

“What’s the problem? Why do you care whether I answer my phone or not?”

She looked at me and rolled her eyes. “Come on. I’m not stupid.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“It’s probably a girl. And you’re trying to hide it from me.”

I sighed. “I’m not hiding anything from you. Look, I’ll show you the texts.” I pulled my cell out and handed it to her.

Her voice got soft. “They’re from her. Brooklyn. I knew it.”

“Look at them all. I never texted her back once. She’s crazy.”

“I don’t want to see them.” She pushed the phone back at me.

“Jesus, Lindsay, I really can’t win with you, can I?”

“Oh, Justin, don’t play the victim. It’s not my fault you chose to have a one night stand with that girl.”

“I didn’t say it was your fault. But you act like I’m doing something wrong.” I put the phone in my pocket again without even really looking at Brooklyn’s latest messages, although out of the corner of my eye, I saw the words “miss you” as I put my phone away.

Lindsay had now moved herself further away from me on the bed. “I don’t see why you’re still talking to her at all. If you don’t like her, just tell her you’re not interested.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Yeah, it kind of is.”

“No, it’s really not.” I looked down at the floor, considering just how much of the day’s events I wanted to get into. In some ways, Brooklyn was the least of my problems.

“What is going on with you, Justin?”

I looked up at her. “My new coach is her dad, and he also happens to be nuts.”

“Well, aren’t all of you fighters a little nuts?”

“He’s different.”

“Tell me. Tell me what you mean.” She leaned forward.

“I tried to talk to him about Brooklyn, tried to explain that it was a mistake and I wouldn’t be seeing her anymore. He basically told me that his daughter likes me and I’d better not hurt her or else.”

“Or else what?”

I shrugged. “He wasn’t specific. But he said that I had no idea what he’s capable of.”

Lindsay gasped. “He threatened you, Justin.”

“People do that sometimes. Especially in this business.”

“Yeah, but that’s not okay. It’s totally inappropriate and wrong. He’s trying to force you to date his daughter.”

I laughed humorlessly. “I know. And that’s not all.”

“What else is going on?”

I opened my mouth to tell her more, but hesitated. If I got into the stuff about steroids, she’d flip out. She’d tell me I needed to quit the gym, and nothing I said would make her change her mind. She wouldn’t understand that without Quarry, my career could possibly be finished before it even started. He would ruin me in the UFF if I went against him. And the UFF was pretty much everything nowadays.

“Mostly it’s just how they train there,” I lied. “Every day sparring hard rounds.

It’s bad for my body.”

“Then you have to stop training there.”

“But I can’t. It’s written into my contract. Right now, Quarry pretty much owns me,” I told her.

She looked at me with confused, wide eyes. “Justin, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” I sighed. The mood had been ruined now. “I’m tired,” I told her.

“Want to go to sleep?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Can I stay over?”

I laughed, as if she even needed to ask that question.

***

My head was pounding.

It was a steady, thump, thump thump and it hurt my skull and my temples throbbed in time with it.

Thump.

Thump.

Only, as I started to swim out of unconsciousness, I realized that the pounding actually wasn’t in my head.

I had a headache, but someone was also pounding on my apartment door.

I sat up in bed, startled.

Now I heard the knocking again. “Mister Brown?” someone called through the door. “Justin Brown, are you in the apartment? Please open the door.”

Somehow, Lindsay was sleeping through the noise. I got up and left my bedroom, tiptoeing down the hallway.

Three more hard knocks. “We know you’re inside, Justin. Please open up.”

“Who is it?” I called, my voice low and aggressive.

“Please open up,” was all the man said.