Wild(11)

            Pure contrariness had me tossing that out at him. I knew enough about his and Reece’s family life to know that he probably never had a curfew. Not since his mom died when he was a kid. His father was disabled and not exactly a check-the-homework-and tuck-’em-into-bed kind of parent.

            He laughed deeply then, tossing his head back. It was a deliberate dig, and instead of getting offended, he laughed. It was a hypnotizing sight, the way his throat worked, tendons moving beneath that golden skin. The flash of his straight teeth. My belly dipped and I knew this was why girls my age and older forgot about his age and dropped their panties for him. He oozed sex and confidence. I blinked hard, disgusted with myself.

            The sound of his laughter sent goose bumps over my flesh and settled in the pit of my stomach.

            He stopped laughing to say, “I’ve never had a curfew.”

            Never? I shook my head, telling myself now was not the time to marvel at his lack of supervision. My mom firmly believed no good could come of staying out past midnight. When I went home on break my parents still imposed a curfew on me. As if I wasn’t in my second year of college. As if I hadn’t been staying out all hours of the night doing all manner of naughty things. Yeah, okay, so I wasn’t. But I could be.

            This reminder of my sheltered existence just made me more determined to live my life on my own terms. To do tonight what I set out to do. To stop living such a boring existence. I was twenty and I’d been living the last four years like a married woman. School. Studying. Sex once a week. Shit. Liar. I couldn’t even be honest with myself. The last year with Harris we maybe had sex every month.

            Standing there looking at this incredibly hot guy who had a hell of a lot more experience than I did and was younger only flustered me. I flipped the hair back over my right shoulder, noting that his eyes followed the move, skimming over the long trail of blond hair before moving back to my face. Suddenly, I was glad that I had styled it so carefully for my date and worn it down in soft waves tonight.

            “I’ll leave. Fine. For tonight.” I started to walk past him, but he blocked me.

            “Meaning you might come back?”

            I edged back from the wall of his chest, careful not to touch him. I think Reece mentioned his brother played sports. It explained the breadth of his shoulders, which tapered down to a lean waist. The flat stomach. I’d glimpsed Reece without a shirt when he stayed the night with Pepper. It was criminal. Logan was in good shape. My gaze flicked over him. Okay. Great shape. He was probably ripped under the black shirt he wore. Just like his brother. Ridiculous six-pack, defined biceps and all. I swallowed against the sudden thickness of my throat. Shoot me. Was I actually drooling over a guy still in high school?

            I shrugged. “Maybe.”

            He rubbed a hand over his scalp, dragging his hand over the close-cropped dark blond hair. “That guy you were talking to? The one you were about to get busy with on the pool table? Georgia,” he expelled my name on an exasperated breath.

            “You don’t have a clue about the things he’s into . . . the things he’ll do to you.”

            I shivered a little beneath the weight of his blue eyes. “I can handle myself.”

            “Does Pepper and Em—”

            “Pepper and Emerson aren’t my parents,” I snapped. “I’m a big girl, thank you very much. I don’t need permission to be here.”

            He looked me up and down, his gaze lingering at my throat. “Sure you do, Pearls. You fit in here about as much as a bull in a china shop.”

            My hand flew to my necklace. The pearl necklace had been a graduation present. For some insane reason the hot sting of tears pricked the backs of my eyes. I would not cry. He would not make me cry.