Wow, I'm nineteen and already a cynic. Great. They do look happy together. One bad apple shouldn't spoil the bunch. Not every guy is like Nick Harris. Not every guy is a bully.
One more thing I need to keep repeating to myself.
"Hey, Amber." Ev pushes off Micah, throws her arms around me and drags me into their little group. "I want you to meet everyone."
So I do, nodding and smiling.
First is Micah, of course. He knows who I am and seems interested in the fact I'm into art, which reminds me he's a tattoo artist, and how cool is that? Thumbs up for Ev.
Then, just as I start to relax into the conversation, talking about tattoos, scarification and jewelry as ways of body modification with Micah, she hauls me away to meet her other friends and Micah's co-workers.
Now, isn't it weird that she's the one introducing me to them, instead of her boyfriend? Though, it seems they've become good buddies with her, too.
Lucky girl. Seriously.
The guy with the Mohawk is Zane, the blond guy standing next to him Dylan. Then there's Rafe, who has rakish golden hair and eyes like a cat, his big hand wrapped securely around his girlfriend's smaller one. The girl's name is Megan, and after giving me a blinding smile, she gently disengages her hand from her boyfriend's-with some difficulty, I note with amusement and a bit of unease, as he doesn't seem inclined to let go-and wanders off in search of someone.
Next in line are some of Micah's closest friends-the blue-haired Ocean, who's also a tattoo artist, and Seth, who's one of the three apprentices at the tattoo shop and works in the evenings at a nearby movie theater.
Her voice fades into background noise as I take these boys in. Jeez … Ocean's hair is the hue of his eyes, and Seth is all dark exotic eyes and broad cheekbones, a light scruff dusting his jaw, and... holy crap. Hot boy overload. I hope I'm not drooling. I check my mouth to make sure it isn't hanging open, and find Seth's eyes on me.
He nods and smiles, probably trying not to laugh as he catches me in the act of discreetly wiping my chin.
Dammit!
"So you're the friend Ev mentioned," he says. "Any friend of Ev's is a friend of mine, and same goes for my cranky cousin Shane, if you happen to see him hiding in some corner. He's the long-haired, grumpy one in the family." Seth's eyes crinkle at the corners. His teeth are white but slightly crooked, and one of the incisors is chipped, I notice. Cute. "We both owe Ev a lot."
Ev and Seth share a look I can't decipher. There's history in that look, history I don't have a clue about-but never mind. Somehow I like this guy. His affection for Ev shines through his eyes, and his smile is kind.
The black studs and silver bars that shine in his ears are interesting, too, as are the tattoos visible on his neck and arms. One cool boy.
Then he turns to say something to Ocean, and I notice a stiffness in his movements. That reminds me of something Ev mentioned, about one of Micah's friends getting beaten up by her crazy ex. I wonder if it was Seth. He has a pinkish scar on his jaw, now that I'm looking more closely, and his nose is slightly crooked, as if it was broken at some point in the past.
Before I can get a better look at his tats or ask Ev about him, she steers me away.
"I want you to meet Cassie," she says, and Cassie turns out to be a fairytale-pretty girl Ev used to work with, at a sports store downtown. Cassie is here with her best friend, a long-legged brunette with the most amazing dark, long-lashed eyes I've ever seen, and jeez Louise, is everyone picture perfect in here? I'm starting to feel like the ugly duckling.
They both smile politely – two porcelain dolls, one fair, the other dark. They ask if I've been to Madison before and how I like it here-
-and by the time they turn away to talk to someone else, the living room has turned into a porn movie.
Or what I imagine a porn movie to be like, anyway.
Bodies writhing on the sofa. Bodies writhing against the walls. Bodies humping and grinding in corners, leaving a few odd ones out who are uneasily swaying to the music in the middle of the room.
Crap.
But Ev doesn't even bat an eye at the mess. She drags me inside, past a threesome on the coffee table, and keeps moving.
"So if Micah and you are moving in together, who is Seth moving in with?" I ask as she tugs me along.
"He isn't. He's getting a new roommate." She stops, glances around. "Man, can't see Jesse, but there's Shane. Let's go say hi. Don't let him scare you off. He's your typical tall, dark, silent type."
She links her arm through mine and pulls me across the living room as if the porn scene unfolding around us is perfectly normal.
Maybe it is, and the hot, dark current zipping under my skin and sending an ache through my core only makes me more uneasy by the minute. I feel like a voyeur, and it makes me wish for something I'm too scared to chase after anymore.
How sad is that?
"Hey there, Shane," Ev trills. "Glad you could make it."
Shane tilts his head to the side, regarding us. His hair is long and shiny black, caught in a ponytail. A silver dreamcatcher hangs from one earlobe, and if anything, he's even more exotic-looking than Seth, with his almond-shaped dark eyes and tanned skin.
"Micah promised beer," he says, his voice deep like a gong, sending goosebumps over my skin. He lifts his beer bottle in evidence. "How could I say no?"
"Right. Of course." Ev shakes her head and rolls her eyes. "Have you seen Jesse? Can't seem to find him anywhere, and I thought he came with you."
He takes a swig from his bottle and then frowns as if in thought. "Chicks."
"I'm sorry?"
Shane waves his bottle at the room and the hot, grinding bodies. "Plenty of chicks here. He must've caught one."
I gape at him. Is he seriously talking about girls as if they're fish on a line?
"I see. Have fun, then." Ev drags me away as I try to decipher Shane's expression, to detect any glimmer of humor in his eyes, but his face is still, as if carved in stone.
"Is he always that witty and entertaining?"
"Always." Ev giggles and then squeals. "Joey! Oh my God, you made it. Over here!"
And she ditches me between a couple humping against the wall and another writhing on the couch.
She ditches me in order to wrap herself around a hottie with dark hair and sparkling eyes.
What in the world?
He laughs and returns the hug easily.
"Evie, you dork," I hear him say as I approach them. He pulls back and ruffles her hair. "You look real pretty, you little shit. Look at you, all dolled up. How's it hanging?"
Okay, who's this guy, and what's going on? I glance around for Micah, expecting him to come punch this asshole off his feet, but Micah is grinning from ear to ear, heading our way.
"Joel, man, what's up?" Micah and this Joel guy shake hands and clap each other on the back. "You here alone?"
"Yeah."
"Ellen couldn't make it?" Ev blinks innocently at Joel, her eyes a tad too wide.
"Nope."
"You didn't ask her out, did you? Be honest."
He scowls, and I seriously consider turning on my heel and going to look for a beer, because I have no clue what's going on and what they're talking about.
"Amber." Ev comes after me before I take two steps. "Come meet my brother, Joey."
Blinking, feeling a bit stupid and a whole lot annoyed that I didn't guess as much, I do my best to grin at Ev's handsome brother and assure him it's a pleasure to meet him.
They don't look one bit alike, but oh, Lord, I'm so glad I didn't open my mouth earlier. So glad I didn't immediately think he was insulting Ev and didn't attempt to kick him in the nuts or slap his handsome face.
Crap.
Stammering an excuse, I make my escape and go look for that beer. I'd leave, but this is my apartment now. Nowhere else to run and hide.
So beer it is. Or wine, or whatever such buffer I can place between myself and the real world. A door with a lock would have been preferable, all things said and done.
And why the hell not? This is my apartment, my bedroom. If I want to lock myself inside, if I want to be antisocial and stand-offish, that's my right, isn't it?
I'm actually heading that way, the pull of peace and quiet too strong to withstand-when the bathroom door is thrown open in my face, missing me by an inch. As I jerk back, it bangs against the wall, and someone stumbles out into the dim hallway.
I back away, but the hallway is three feet wide, tops, and the guy, because it is a guy, tall and broad-shouldered, bends toward me from the waist, his lips curling into a grin like the sin of the angels. Lazy. Sexy. Beautiful.
Dangerous.
"What have we here?" he whispers, his eyes going half-lidded, bright against his tanned skin, a startling blue-green in the shaft of light falling through the open bathroom door. "A girl."
Holy crap.
My throat clicks. My lips move. No sound comes out. Could be because he chooses that moment to straighten, and I finally notice he's bare-chested, flaunting the most perfect abs and washboard stomach I've seen outside of magazines.