Chasing Him - Kat T. Masen Page 0,28
most of my time in the city doing tourist stuff. Oh, I took some surf lessons at Bondi. The water is—”
Lex interrupts me. “You hate sports, Adriana. Anything athletic. What possessed you to do that?”
I roll my eyes at him. “Lex, surfing isn’t athletic. It’s something on my bucket list, plus the teacher was hot,” I add to make the lie more believable.
“Now you’re talking,” cheers Kate.
The ringing of my cell stops the conversation at the table. I lean into my purse and see his name flash on my screen. Lex is watching me intently as I grab my cell and excuse myself from the table, practically running outside.
“Hello?”
“Hey,” he replies.
There’s a lot of noise in the background, and I try to figure out where he is, but it slowly disappears.
“Where are you?”
“Publisher party.” His voice becomes clearer as he moves to a quieter environment. “Adriana, I miss you.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “I miss you, too. This week has been hard without you talking to me,” I admit.
“I’m sorry, I was a jerk. It’s been hard on me, too. I just… I am frustrated, you know?” he slurs his words.
“And drunk?” My conscience tells me not to ask if he’s high. He said that he wouldn’t touch that stuff again, and right now, I trust his word.
“Yeah, maybe a little. Adriana, I can’t stop thinking about you. How beautiful you are, the smell of your skin, the way your face glows when I’m inside you.” It may have been a drunken ramble, but it’s exactly what I need to hear. I know I’m blushing, and phone sex is super-hot when you’re not at your brother’s house.
“I, um…” I lower my voice and move further into the yard. “I can’t stop thinking about you. All of you. I’m shit at phone sex, but to make a long story short, when you’re back, you’re mine for at least the first twenty-four hours.”
He laughs. “You’re shit at phone sex, but knowing you want to fuck me for twenty-four hours straight satisfies me plenty.”
I hear the door creak open. Nikki has moved onto the verandah, prompting me to end my call.
“Listen, I gotta go. I’ll call you when I’m home, okay?”
“Okay, and Adriana?”
“Yes?” I reply quietly, eyeing Nikki as she waits for me patiently.
“Never mind.”
I don’t want to let him get away with that answer, but with Nikki hovering, I have no choice but to hang up.
I place my cell in my back pocket and walk toward Nikki. We both stand on the deck before Nikki talks. “Everything okay?”
“Yes, not sure why everyone asks me that. Did Charlie send you out here?”
She smiles, playing with her ponytail which distracts me. “Charlie is still probing Lex about the porn stars on the beach.”
I laugh out loud, Nikki following, but my head is elsewhere.
“Adriana, I know we don’t talk as much as we used to, but I’m here, you know. Any time you want to chat.”
What’s this about? Dog sniffing the trail? Okay, pretty fluffy cute dog sniffing the trail.
“Thanks for the offer, Nikki. Really, I’m okay,” I reassure her.
“If there’s something you need to get off your chest, I promise not to say anything to anyone.”
I shoot back defensively, “Have you been speaking to Eric?”
“Uh, no, but I did run into Tristan earlier.”
“Oh…” I play dumb. “How is he?”
“Good. He’s perfect for Eric. Really grounds him. But listen, that’s not what we—”
We are interrupted as the rest of the group walks outside. Rocky starts rambling on about something which leads to a conversation involving Elijah. Everyone stops and turns to look at me.
“I’d really appreciate it if you guys stopped doing that. I’m fine.”
“Sorry,” Rocky says.
“Let’s go inside for dessert,” Charlie says. “It’s homemade blueberry pie and vanilla bean ice cream.”
“See, this is why I love LA.” Rocky places his arm around Charlie as the rest of the group follows. Eric stays back.
“I haven’t spoken to you about your adventure Down Under. Give me the juice,” he probes.
“Eric, this isn’t the time. Not here, at least.”
He lets out a loud gasp and covers his mouth. “You got laid!”
“Eric… shh!”
“Batman got some kitty!”
“OMG, Eric. That’s so crude, even by my standards.”
The back door opens once again with Lex carrying a bag of trash. He looks our way, his eyes darting with curiosity, and I know he really doesn’t need to take out the trash. Considering he despises housework, it’s blatantly obvious what he’s doing.
“Let’s go in. We’ll talk later.”
Back inside, everyone is happily