The Good Girls (4 page)

“I’m fine.”
Just a little humiliated.
My head began to feel light, and the feeling soon spread throughout my body. Cara passed the pipe to Tristan who lit it by himself as he pressed his knee against the bottom of the steering wheel to keep us on the road. Normally I would have freaked out, but I felt too good to care. It was the first time in days that I wasn’t upset, and I just kept telling myself that I deserved this.

We pulled up to a large two-story home with people standing all around the front lawn, drinks in hand. The bass from the music was so loud I felt it vibrate through my body. I looked to Cara, who gave me a small smile before I opened the passenger door and stepped out onto the road. Cara slid out behind me and clutched my hand in hers. I immediately relaxed at her touch.

“It’s going to be fun, but if you don’t like it, we can leave,” she assured me as she began to pull me toward Tristan.

Brody groaned at the mention of leaving. “I will make it my personal mission to make sure you have fun, because I am for damn sure not going home until I am too drunk to remember my own name, or someone is moaning it.”

“Charming,” I mumbled to myself as we crossed the street and walked up the sidewalk to the front door. As we entered, I kept my head ducked. The guys all yelled to their friends, and the partygoers seemed pleased at their arrival. I wanted to melt into the wall, and with my buzz, I felt like that might actually be possible.

CHAPTER SIX

Cara

A
s we slipped into the house, I kept El close by my side. I could feel her grip tighten as we became submerged in the crowd.

“We’re going to have fun, I promise.” I gave her hand a quick squeeze back, and she smiled, her shoulders relaxing.

“I’m not really good with lots of people,” she whispered as if someone might overhear her.

“I’m better in crowds than I am alone,” I confessed with a smirk, but her eyebrows pulled together, trying to understand. “I don’t like to be alone with my thoughts.” I tapped at my head with my free hand. “Lots of scary things going on up there,” I added with a wink, eliciting a giggle from her.
She laughs like Tatum.

“I’m going to grab a drink,” Tristan called over the music, pulling my attention from Ellie.

“Sure,” I gave him a smile as he bent down and placed a chaste kiss on the corner of my mouth. The other guys followed him, leaving me with Ellie.

“You want to explore or something?” I asked as someone ran behind me, knocking me slightly off-balance. “Whoa! What the hell?” I spun around to see Ally, her arms crossed over her chest and a smirk on her lips.

“Oops,” she shrugged as if it was an innocent mistake, her eyes narrowing as she glanced behind me to El. “Is this your new replacement for Tristan?” My body stiffened at her words, because I already knew that El was the perfect package. I relaxed my face so she wouldn’t see my insecurities.

“Just because he doesn’t want you, it doesn’t mean he is going to leave me, Ally.”

“I’m the one who doesn’t want him, Cara, and we both know why. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She raised her eyebrow before disappearing through the crowd. I took a deep breath and turned back to El, doing my best to smile convincingly.

“So…want to explore?”

“Yeah, sure.” She looked like she had a million questions, and I knew I’d have to answer a few.

“Come on.” I kept hold of her hand as I pulled her through the crowd toward a set of stairs just inside the entryway. I grabbed the banister and made my way toward the top, stepping over a couple who were practically fucking, sprawled out on the stairs.

“That’s going to leave some bruises.” I laughed, and El covered her mouth with her other hand to muffle her own giggle. I pulled her hand free from her face.

“It’s nice to hear you laugh after everything that’s happened to you. Don’t hide it on account of those perverts.”

We made our way to the top landing and glanced around at all of the closed doors. One popped open, and I grabbed my chest, startled.

“Bathroom’s all yours,” he called out to us as he walked by and down the stairs.

“I guess we start with the bathroom,” I shrugged and pulled her toward the darkened area. I flicked on the light and screamed, jumping back into El as my eyes landed on the couple in the tub, his white ass rising and falling on top of a redhead on all fours.

Doubling over in laughter, I flicked off the light. “My bad,” I called out as I pulled the door closed. El was bent over, making an odd yipping sound as she struggled to catch her breath. “Bet they didn’t have that in your porn book.”

Her hand flew out, hitting me in the stomach as she finally managed to calm herself down. I reached up and wiped happy tears from her eyes.

“What do you think is behind door number two?” she asked, and I bit my lip, suppressing my smile as I took her hand and pulled her to the next door.

“Do you want to do the honors?”

“It would be my pleasure.” She laughed as she gripped the brass knob in her hand and turned it. Behind it was another sexual adventure, but this was two girls making out on a bed as a guy nearby watched, jerking off. His brow was furrowed in concentration as a girl with a short blond bob ran her tongue over a brunette’s nipple, causing it to harden.

He glanced our way, unfazed by the interruption. In fact, he seemed pleased to see us. “There’s room for two more,” he said, his hand working against himself as he looked us over.

“No, thank you,” El called out in the most polite voice she could manage, pulling the door closed. The look on her face was priceless, as if she’d just witnessed the most horrific act of her life.

“Two girls was a little much, huh?”

El shook her head as her eyes met mine. “His thing was so…little.”

I burst out laughing as I pulled her away from the door. “His
thing
? It’s called a dick, and yes, it was frighteningly small.”

“Good thing the guys weren’t up here to see that, huh? Tristan seemed a little…” She let her words trail off as she looked up at me.

“Tristan is a small-town boy. Small town, small mind.” I made a face, embarrassed by the way they spoke around Ellie. But part of me was pleased that she found what they said offensive. As sheltered as she seemed, she wasn’t close minded.
Would you judge me if you found out about my past?

“Speaking of which, who was that girl?”

“She used to date Tristan. Her friends all treated me like shit when I got here. He didn’t like it, so he left her. A few weeks later, he asked me out.” I shrugged. “She spread a bunch of nasty rumors about him after that. It was awful.”

“I think I need a drink.”

“Let’s go find the guys and get us a little liquored up before we check out any more doors.” I looped my arm in El’s as we made our way back down the steps to the entryway. I turned to walk us through the living room, which was packed with people dancing and Christmas lights flashing. El stopped walking, pulling me to a halt.

“How are we going to get through all of those people?” she asked as I began to walk again, tugging her with me.

“Just shake your ass, and we’ll shimmy our way through. Just don’t let go of my hand.” I unlooped my arm and slid my fingers in hers, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

“There he is,” I yelled over my shoulder to her as I spotted Tristan in the kitchen, a Solo cup at his mouth.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Ellie

I
kept close behind Cara as we wove our way through the rooms. Once we reached the kitchen, Tristan poured us each a drink. When I went to take the cup he held onto it, his eyes locked on mine. He was the perfect person to be with Cara—both devastatingly beautiful. It made me uncomfortable to hold eye contact with him even for a few seconds. His gaze was too intense, and it caused a chill to run down my spine.

“Don’t take a drink from anyone but me or Cara, understand?”

I nodded, and his fingers slid from the cup as Cara looked at me and rolled her eyes, gulping down the contents of hers in one swallow.

I drank down my liquor, my throat immediately in flames from the harsh taste. I made a face, and Cara laughed as she took my cup and handed them both back to Tristan.

“Slow down,” he warned her quietly before his stern look turned to me, but he refilled our cups for us again.
Was he always this serious?

“We need to catch up,” Cara replied as she winked toward me.

Brody, Luke, and Cameron got drinks for themselves and went their own ways as Tristan struck up a conversation with some guy wearing a blue T-shirt with yellow Greek letters across the chest. Cara pulled me away, laughing as she took a sip from her cup.

“Isn’t this fun?”

My eyes scanned over the room full of bodies dancing to the mindless beat. I shrugged, unsure of how I fit in with this crowd. “It’s…different.”

“Come on, let loose a little.” She pulled me toward the center of the room, and I set my cup down on a stand beside the couch as we disappeared into the masses. Cara’s hand left mine, and she held both her arms over her head as she swayed her hips to the beat. I began to move with her. Even though I wasn’t one for parties, I loved to dance. Judging by the look on Cara’s face, she was pleased by my moves. I turned around, and her hands grabbed my hips, pulling my back against her chest as a scene I read from my book played through my head.

We danced together through three full songs until our bodies were slick with sweat, but I didn’t care. I wanted to keep going. I noticed Tristan with his back against the far wall, watching us as he drank from his cup, his jaw clenched with what looked like frustration. Brody was at his side, and he said something to Tristan before his eyes were on us, too, as we moved.

I began to sway my hips more, bending at my knees as I moved against Cara. It was odd feeling like the center of attention, but I knew this was probably how Cara felt all of the time. She was very outgoing, and I had always wished it was that easy for me to let go and not care what others thought.

“I think Brody likes you,” Cara spoke into my ear. I watched as Brody’s eyes traveled up and down my body before shaking my head. “Let’s give him a show.”

“I think he just likes watching two girls grind on the dance floor.” I brushed off the idea, but it didn’t stop me from pushing my ass back against her a little harder.

“Oh come on. You must realize how freaking hot you are.” Cara moved her hands to my shoulders and spun me around to face her. “Brody is practically ready to fuck you right here. Go ask him to dance.”

“What? No! I don’t even know him. We just met today.”

“
We
just met the other day, too, but you’re out here with
me
.” She cocked her eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. Her words struck me. Why was I so willing to follow Cara blindly through all of this? What was it about her that made me feel secure?
You’re different.
“Come on. Any girl here would be dying to fuck that man’s face.”

“You included?” I laughed as I looked over my shoulder to Brody, who took a drink from his beer bottle before licking his lips.
Why are you trying so hard to push me on Brody when we are having so much fun together?

“No,” she replied quietly. I glanced back at her before looking back to Brody. “I’d be over there admiring you, if I wasn’t the one lucky enough to already be dancing with you.” Every nerve ending in my body seemed to fire off at once with her words. How could someone as beautiful as Cara really think of me as attractive?

My gaze drifted over his muscular tattooed arm as a blush crept over my cheeks from her words. “He’s trouble.” I shook my head as I studied the tribal swirls that covered his flesh.

“One kiss from that man, and we might be able to dislodge that stick you have jammed up your ass.”

“Again, I do not have
anything
jammed up my ass, as you so eloquently put it, and I need some air.” With this many bodies packed into such a small room, it was becoming hard to breathe, and this conversation wasn’t helping.

I slipped by Cara and made my way to the kitchen and out the back door, feeling humiliated. There was a small porch, and there was surprisingly no one lingering around the back of the house. I sat down on the edge of the top step as the door opened behind me. I didn’t have to look to know it was Cara.

“I’m a fucking idiot,” she said as she sat down next to me with a sigh.

“You’re in good company,” I joked as she rolled her eyes and ran her fingers through her long hair.
I’m the fucking idiot.

“You’ve never even
kissed
a boy?”

“Of course I’ve
kissed
a boy, just not…you know…
kissed
one.” I could feel my cheeks burning red with embarrassment. Cara slipped her hand in mine and gave it a squeeze.

“Why are you blushing? It’s
not
a big deal. Any of those idiots in the party would be happy to kiss you. If you don’t like Brody, we can find someone else. You’re a hottie.”

“Who says I
want
to kiss them?” I asked with a sarcastic laugh, our gaze meeting. I hated that I was feeling so conflicted inside. I longed for the protective bubble that I grew up in where I didn’t need to entertain these feelings. “I just don’t want the first time to be humiliating in front of a crowd of people.”

Cara’s brow creased slightly before she swallowed, her tongue running out over her lower lip as her gaze dipped to my mouth. “Do you trust me?”

I laughed, shaking my head slightly. “No. I don’t even know you.”

The sides of her mouth turned up in a smile as her head tilted to the side. “We can change that.” She winked, and I couldn’t help but smile; I dug my teeth into my lip as my butterflies began to take flight in my stomach. Even I was drawn to Cara’s beauty, but my clouded brain told me her flirtatious behavior was a direct result of weed and liquor. When I didn’t respond, she took matters into her own hands.

“Fine,” she sighed dramatically as she put her hands on either side of my face. “I’ll show you how to do it, but you have to promise not to tell any of those idiots in there, or they will make us do it all the time, like circus monkeys.” But as she spoke I knew she was more worried about their judgment, and then it dawned on me what was going to happen next.

“Wait…what? No, Cara. I’m not going to kiss—” my words were cut off as Cara’s soft lips pressed against mine.
Fuck.
She pulled back fractionally and angled her head to the left as her mouth moved tenderly against mine. Her tongue slid over my lower lip, and I sighed, my lips parting slightly to grant her access.

“Just do what I’m doing,” she whispered before our tongues met. My hands instinctively went to her neck.
I need you closer.
I could feel her touch tingle through my body all the way to my toes. Our mouths pressed a little harder, our tongues pushed a little deeper as our chests brushed. My body was on fire, and I couldn’t believe I was scared of something that came so naturally.

Cara pulled back, and I slowly opened my eyes as a smile spread across her face. “Not bad, huh?”

I nodded like an idiot, because I had no idea how to respond to what had just happened. She stood, brushing off the backside of her jeans before holding out her hand and pulling me to my feet, and I wobbled.

“You’re right about not wanting to kiss any of those idiots in there. I don’t blame you.” She turned to walk to the back door, and as she pulled it open, she called out over her shoulder, “You’re welcome, El.”

“I didn’t thank you for sexually assaulting me, Cara.” But I wanted to thank her, I was just too embarrassed, and her kiss left me with a high much more potent than anything I’d consumed tonight.

She reached behind her, and I slipped my hand in hers as we went back inside the house, making our way to the living room. Cara scanned the room for Tristan. He stumbled out of the hallway that led back behind the stairs with a red plastic cup in his hand.

“Babe, where the hell did you guys go? I was worried. You know you shouldn’t wander around these parties alone.” His words sounded concerned, but there was an edge to his tone, a warning. Guilt and shame washed over me.
I wonder if anyone saw Cara kiss me.

“I wasn’t alone.” She held up our clasped hands, and I struggled to suppress my giggle. Clearly, she wasn’t concerned.

His eyes were glazed over, but his lips twisted in a smile as he pulled Cara against his chest, his hand on her ass as he kissed her as she and I had just done moments before, only with more force. She held on to my hand, and I stood there awkwardly as they made out. I grabbed the cup from Tristan’s other hand and drank the contents as I waited for them to come up for air.

I gulped down the drink as a heavy arm went around my shoulders, and I jumped, looking up at a smiling Brody.

“Did you save a dance for me?” he asked, winking his honey-colored eye.

“Actually, I’m taking a breather.” I shrugged his arm off my shoulders and took a small step away from him.
Did I really prefer to stand here and watch Tristan shove his tongue down her throat?

The corners of his mouth fought against a smile as he raised his beer bottle to his lips. “Breathing Cara’s air?” he whispered as he cocked his eyebrow and took a drink from his beer. My eyes widened, and I pulled my hand free from Cara’s.

“I’m going to go dance with Brody,” I announced to absolutely no one; Tristan had all of her attention. I shoved the cup back in Tristan’s hand with a frustrated groan.

Brody put his arm around my waist and guided me back toward the living room. We stopped in the middle of the room, and I put my hands against his chest to put some space between us. “What did you mean by that comment?”
Please tell me you didn’t see us.

“Well, unless you were choking and in desperate need of mouth-to-mouth, I’d say you were making out with Tristan’s girlfriend. I’m not judging. It was fucking hot.”
This was bad, this was so bad.

I could feel my face burn with embarrassment. I opened and closed my mouth several times, unable to form a coherent response.
How will I talk my way out of this?

“Are you choking now? Because I’d be more than happy to give you a little assistance myself.” He placed his large hands on my sides and dipped his head closer to mine.

What would Cara do? I glanced back toward where I’d left her. Cara would shove her tongue down his throat and shut him up, but that was the last thing I wanted to do.

“Well?” he asked, his gaze dropping to my mouth as he licked his lips.

“You’re not my type.”

“You mean I don’t have tits, right?”

I stiffened my back and tried my best to look confident as I folded my arms across my chest. “Are you jealous, Brody?”

He looked thrown off-guard as if he’d expected a different response. I was actually shocked myself that I had said it. But I didn’t regret kissing Cara; in fact, it was all that was running through my mind. She was so confident, and her entire persona radiated sexiness.

“Absolutely.” He flashed his perfect white smile, and I nearly dissolved into a puddle on the floor. I was quickly jostled back to reality as someone dancing bumped into me from behind, causing me to fall against Brody’s toned chest. His arms slid around my back, holding me against him to steady me.

“You okay?” he asked, his tone no longer flirtatious, only concerned.

I nodded, trying to pull back, but he kept his grip firm.

“Have I earned that dance yet, or are you going to make me beg?”

I raked my teeth over my bottom lip before I began to move my hips like I had when I was dancing with Cara. Brody began to move with me, and I was surprised at how well he danced. His hands slid against my back, leaving a trail of want in his wake.

“You’re not bad,” I called out as I put my hands around his neck.

“Oh, I’m very, very bad.”

I laughed out loud at his cocky response, relaxing in his arms as the song changed and the crowd cheered. We continued to dance, my body grinding hard against his as the alcohol lowered my inhibitions more. I could feel how much Brody was enjoying this, too, as his length pressed against my hip. I turned around in his arms, pressing my bottom against him, and he groaned approvingly in my ear, his liquor-laced breath fanning over my cheek. His fingers roamed over my ribs before his hand pressed against my belly, pulling me tighter against him.

As much as I was enjoying getting lost in the moment, I knew I was taking this new carefree attitude too far too fast.