Page 49 of Finding Fate

Not interested. Ha. He has no idea. That girl is as good as fucked if she gives him clearance. Then he’ll move on like it never happened. Presley huffs out. “Fine, but she’s going to stop insulting people. It’s rude.”

“Presley, if your friends can’t take a little heat from a high schooler, then maybe you should find new friends. There’s an idea. You went from life of the party, queen bee of Laguna High, to this. It’s depressing. I’m going to make a Bloody Mary. I know you have the stuff. Then I’ll change into a suit since you’re overly sensitive about every damn thing. You’re acting like Mom on her period.” Something hits my arm. “Hey, lumberjack, you the one with the non-pregnant girl?”

Landon chuckles at the nickname that couldn’t be more accurate without her actually knowing me. I look at her. “It’s Maddox. Yes.”

“Can you go fetch her? That’s who I want to hang out with.” She stares at me for a second, before rolling her eyes dramatically. “Please.”

But she turns around and walks off without waiting for an answer. So much for a date night.

Twenty-Nine

Paxtyn

Iwalk down the basement stairs with my glass in hand, sipping on my Bloody Mary—my personal favorite. Awesome start to a school break, I’d say. Not. Here I was thinking this was the perfect opportunity to work on my relationship with my sister now that the ‘fantastic four’ are no longer together—her, my brother, and the Baker kids—yet still, she treats me like I’m her child instead of her younger sister. She acts like I annoy her to no end, and I gave up being with friends for this.

I’ve always been the straggler kid, following in their shadow like a throwaway, and I’m starting to think that’ll never change, grown up or not. The older I got, the more I broke off with my friend Navy and her parents since she’s an only child, becoming like their second. I go everywhere with them. My parents never give me an ounce of grief for missing family vacations and the like. In the beginning it was just to see if they cared enough to fight me on it. They didn’t. They had their prized children in tow. I got left out before either of the Bakers’ kids did. It stung. I’ve been growing thicker skin ever since.

A motorized noise sort of like a hairdryer comes on just before I step off the bottom step, drawing my attention to the guy with rich brown hair and gray eyes way too hot for his own good. He has a drawl to his words I’ve never heard in person before. He knows he looks good too, based on the little comment digs he’s been throwing my way since I got here.

With an ego the size of California, he may be the perfect opportunity for me. In a couple of days, I’ll be headed back home for school—a place where keeping my reputation intact is important. Laguna High is my kingdom. No one is knocking me off my throne. Most popular, richest, and biggest bitch aren’t easy titles to earn. Every girl wants to use me for social gain and every guy wants in my pants. The biggest mystery at school is who has gotten it in. No one knows. I’m not giving all that up just so a hot guy can say he nailedthePaxtyn Dunagin one Saturday night in the back of his truck. That was Presley. I’m sick of being her shadow. She could separate sex and emotions better than anyone I’ve ever met. I’m not risking the vulnerability. It takes a lifetime to be crowned queen. It takes seconds to fall. What I need is a sexy stranger. No harm, no foul.

I suck the vegetable and vodka goodness through my straw from the side of my mouth, coming to a stop beside him at the quickly rising air mattress. “What are you doing?”

“Fishing,” he retorts. “What the fuck does it look like I’m doing? Would you rather sleep on the floor? Doesn’t make a damn difference to me. I have a bed. I’d offer you the sex couch, but you seem a little too clean to sleep on a mixture of cum from several different contributors.”

I stare at him. Guys are animals. “That’s disgusting.” He goes back to blowing up the air mattress. Of course, she’s going to put me on the floor while everyone else has a warm bed. Why did I expect anything different? Sisters who are close would have just slept together if there were no more beds. All she had to do was scoot to the middle to be between me and Konnor. It’s not like I haven’t known him my entire life. With the rise of my emotions, the bitchiness will escalate. “I need to change.”

“Then change,” he tells me. “Think I haven’t seen tits and pussy before? I doubt yours are any better than the rest. Your underwear doesn’t leave much to the imagination. I don’t know why you’re worried about it.”

Way to make a girl feel sexy, hick. Jesus. And here I thought west coast guys with good looks could be assholes.“Never heard a guy complain about sexy underwear before.”

“You’ve never met a guy like me,” he says simply, sealing the air into the firm mattress from where he’s squatted beside it.

I roll my eyes and set the glass down on the stage they have down here, my hands already on my back unclasping my bra at the middle. I’m not sure why they need one of those. The floor works just as good. When each side retracts, I slide my black bra down my arms, dropping it on the mattress. I glance around me for my suitcases as I shove my black, lace cheeky panties to my feet. When I don’t see them, I turn around, my eyes instantly locking with his targeted ones as he just stands there holding sheets and a comforter. “What? I thought you’ve seen tits and pussy before,” I throw back at him slathered in sarcasm.

“You have a g-string tan line.”

“So . . . I tan in a g-string—my tanning panties.”

“Isn’t that the point of tanning? To not have tan lines.”

“Maybe I don’t want my vagina that close to where other girls’ vaginas have been. Just because I clean the bed before I get in doesn’t mean certain bacteria aren’t still living on the surface.”

His eyes drop, making my heart jump, before quickly coming back up. “What fucking seventeen-year-old waxes?”

I squint at him and his condescending tone. “Lots of them. Why would a girl want razor bumps and ingrown hairs and for her vag to take on a diseased look if you can afford to just have it gone within an hour and not have to do the work? It’s just for now anyway. My mom agreed to let me have laser hair removal when I graduate.”

He tosses the bedding on the mattress. “That’s a lot of work for one guy here and there. Planning to show it to men in number? Maybe do a little stripping? Whoring or nude dancing makes more sense than doing it for you.”

I cock my head to the side, the smirk already growing as I make my way toward him, not stopping until my nipples are brushing his shirt. He hangs his head to look down at me. “Why do you care?”

“I don’t. Just my observation.”

So he’s the observing kind, huh . . . I don’t buy it. “So you think I’m a whore?”

“The shoe fits.”

“Well I think you’re an asshole because you have a little dick. You know, gives you a sense of balance in the world. I’m a girl that likes to play games. Wanna make a bet?”

---