“I’ve already seen your dick. It’s not that interesting.”
“That’s a lie, and we both know it.”
She arched an eyebrow.
“Look, I’d be happy to give you another look if you don’t remember,” I said, standing and reaching for my swim trunks.
“Austin!” she said, jumping to her feet. “Cut it out.”
“Come on. Let me show you something.”
“I really do not want to go anywhere with you.” She pulled back her arm as I reached for it.
“Christ, just trust me, Jules.”
“I don’t.”
She strode back into the lake house, and I followed her at a close clip.
“Jules…”
She whirled around. “Stop calling me that. You know I don’t like it. It’s Julia. You can call me Julia, like everyone else.”
“Fine. Julia.” I stepped up to her, as if I were approaching a wild animal. And, with her unruly red hair down, tangling around her shoulders, she gave a pretty good impression of being one. “I thought you’d like to see this.”
She stumbled forward a step, as if drawn by an invisible cord that linked us together. As drawn to me as I was to her. Or maybe I was drunk and imagining things because her eyes shuttered, and that spark was gone.
“Why do you think I’d like it?”
“You’ll know it when you see it.”
Her curiosity must have piqued enough because she finally gave me a stiff nod. “All right. Where to?”
I grabbed her wrist, and she only glared at me.
“Follow me. It’s almost time.”
Three
Julia
Going anywhere with Austin Wright was a bad idea.
I’d had my fair share of bad breakups. And whatever the fuck had happened with Austin ranked up there. I was going to put it in the number two spot. The number one spot would always be taken.
Maybe I was actually following him because of my most recent breakup though. No one would blame me if I slept with Austin to forget the last year of stupidity I’d let myself go through. To let myself believe for so long that I could do nice and normal.
Except me. Would I forgive myself?
Austin had gotten under my skin.
Like a virus, and I was so fucking sick.
Austin grabbed keys off of a hook by the kitchen and then veered toward the exit. I glanced over my shoulder once and realized that no one else had even seen us leave. I’d been friends with Heidi and Emery for almost two years now, but the whole Wright family thing was a bit over my head. Strangely, it felt like Austin was the only one who noticed that. Or maybe he didn’t, and he just wanted to get in my pants. I rarely could get a good read on him.
“Where are we going again?” I asked.
“I didn’t say.”
He shot me that panty-melting grin, and my frown deepened.
Warning alarms were going off in my head. I should stop this. I should go back to the party and enjoy my time with friends. I didn’t have to do this with Austin to have a good time.
But I walked out the door anyway.
He jangled the keys in his hand, absentmindedly flipping them around and around on the key ring. I didn’t see his shiny red Alfa Romeo. A fucking beautiful car that I had fallen in love with on sight. Not its owner, but definitely the damn car.
Austin swung me toward Jensen’s giant truck.
“Um…what are you doing?” I demanded.
“Going for a drive.”
“You are not fucking driving! You’re drunk.”
His face split into a smile. “I’m not driving. You are.”
He threw the keys to me, and I caught them, one-handed.
“You want me to drive this huge truck? Does Jensen even know we’re borrowing it?”
“Eh, don’t worry about him. He won’t care.” He popped open the driver’s side. “Need a boost?”
“I don’t want to steal his car, Austin. Grand theft auto isn’t in my repertoire.”
“You want me to drive then?” he asked, reaching for the keys.
I held them back, out of his reach. “Definitely no.”
“Then, get your ass in the truck.”
Austin didn’t give me a chance to argue; he hoisted me up and set me down in the driver’s seat. I didn’t even know how he’d managed it. I wasn’t a small person. Short, yes. Thin, no. I’d never in a million years been Heidi’s size. Not that I gave two fucks. This was who I was, and I liked it. But, damn, Austin had to have biceps for days to lift me like that.
“Austin,” I said softly. My voice was a knifepoint.
“Hmm?”
“If you ever touch me again without permission, I’ll gut you like a fish.”
He laughed and trailed a finger down my exposed leg. “Sure thing, Jules.”