Mad About You: A Box Set

by Pamela Ann

  “So, I’m guessing Courtney stayed around town for school?” he casually asked while he busied himself with his meal.

  Courtney was my best friend and the only person who had an idea of the demons I had chased away. She and I were inseparable, so she knew Jackson and Drew very well.

  “She decided to go UCSD ’cause, you know, it’s close but not too close to home. I guess she and Dave are getting serious, so it works for them.”

  “Dave …” he trailed off, frowning.

  “Dave Stanton.”

  Jackson wasn’t in the same circle of friends as Dave, but they knew each other because they were in the same grade level. We had both grown up with these people, and it was no shocker when Courtney had finally dated the guy who had been in love with her since she was a freshman.

  “Good for them, I guess.” Jackson shrugged before drifting to other subjects.

  After our lunch, we had to head back to the apartment because his friends were apparently coming over to chill for a while until it was time for them to head to wherever these guys went on a Saturday night.

  “This is Chloe, my sister I was talking about,” he introduced me to Chris, Benson, and Spencer who all seemed more preppy than his usual crowd. Nevertheless, they were nice, good-looking guys who happened to be quite pleasant to be around.

  Their afternoon consisted of playing video games, watching sports, munching on junk food, smoking, and whatever else guys were into these days.

  With little sleep, it was odd how much energy I had. As a result, while they were in the living room, I busied myself with finishing up my room. Every once in a while, I paused and wondered where in the world Drew was, but I was too cowardly to ask Jackson. Besides, it was none of my business what he chose to do with his time, whatever that might be.

  Glancing at the clock, I noticed it was almost six at night. The late lunch had helped stave off my hunger, but I craved a good cup of java. With that in mind, I sprinted out of the room and into the kitchen, passing the guys as they fought each other in a popular Xbox game. A smile crept up my face while I fixed myself a cup of coffee. I was surprised to find Spencer hovering around the kitchen counter, intently looking at me with his boyish good looks and a shy, playful smile across his face.

  “How does it feel to live with two guys? I kind of feel sorry for you,” he stated in a friendly yet neutral manner.

  I paused a moment, considering him for a second. “I’m coping. I guess it hasn’t really hit me yet, but then again, I grew up with them so … you know,” I responded as I scrutinized him further. I came to realize he sort of reminded me of one of the guys from One Direction sans the British accent. Boy bands weren’t my thing, though they weren’t that bad to look at.

  “It has its ups and downs. I’m sure having guys over is going to be a big problem.”

  “Pfft. I don’t think Jacks will mind. I mean, I’m almost twenty; I can date whomever I want.”

  He beamed at me, flashing those straight, pearly whites, making me rather conscious of my own periodontal state. Mind you, I’m meticulous when it came to my hygiene, but I was two months past-due for my six-month cleaning, so I was rather hesitant to smile in case he was one of those guys who nitpicked everything about a woman. Normally, I wouldn’t be this self-conscious around a guy, not even Drew, but I had this odd intuition that Spencer was the type who expected such things. Maybe it was the fact that he was too stylishly put together. Of course, this was New York, so I should get used to it. Gone were the days where I was surrounded with laid back surfer dudes with their flip-flops, board shorts, and Hawaiian shirts.

  “So, what do you do, Chloe Armstrong, apart from attracting men wherever you go? Because, come on. You’re, like, fucking flawless.”

  This guy was majorly flirting with me, unbothered by my brother being in clear view. If Spencer thought boosting my ego would get him somewhere, he could think again. Shitty lines like that shouldn’t be allowed when trying to get women. It was all around cheesy and unappealing.

  “I’m the ultimate box of fun. You know, like the crazy psycho kind.” Although I smiled while stating it, I made that odd expression that I was half-joking and half-meaning it.

  His brown eyes sparked with mischief as he pressed his lips together. “Ooo, I do love the crazy, psycho kind.”

  Well, hell. What the fuck was this? I wasn’t sure if he meant it or if he was goading me more just to see if I would fold. Whatever it was, he and I made banter like that for a bit.

  “Why don’t you come with us tonight? We’re going to this rooftop party on the Upper Eastside. You might just like it.” He casually threw out the invitation just as I finished with my coffee. “It’ll be fun… unless, of course, you have other grand plans for tonight your Saturday.”

  Yeah, grand my holy patronizing ass. He knew I didn’t have any friends around here.

  “All right, count me in,” I relented, smiling while giving him the evil eye.

  Chapter 38

  My brother didn’t mind that I was tagging along with him and his friends. Although, I wondered where Drew was since I hadn’t seen him all day. Wasn’t he a part of Jackson’s circle of friends? Not only was that surprising, but none of them seemed to mention him, either, which was extremely odd. I made a mental note to ask Jacks about it at a later time.

  I wasn’t particularly excited to go out tonight, but it beat staying home and seeing Drew plowing someone’s YouTube channel. Ha, that was sort of innovatively funny.

  Quirkiness aside, I took a moment to study my closet. Black and white. The contrasting hues blatantly screamed at me. A thought came across me that Spencer had a far more fun and interesting wardrobe than mine. Hell, maybe if I hung out with them often enough, his cool, effortless style would rub off on me. My usual black numbers would be such a bore. Maybe I could mix it up some other night. Tonight, I needed to wear white. It could be quite tricky to pull off, but since I had lost a fair amount of weight, my confidence had been off the charts.

  It was disheartening to think of how many girls and women out there who were beyond conscious of their appearances. It was a twisted thing, but that was the world we lived in, as saddening as it was to admit. It had taken a good amount of weight loss for me to find that happy medium with my body and my mental health. Missing pudginess aside, I surely wasn’t skinny; my still chunky bottom made sure of that.

  After opting to wear a white, short pleated skirt and an off-the-shoulder sleeve body suit top in the same shade, I then braided my hair on one side before sweeping it up into a loose bun and finishing it off with the south sea pearl studs my mother had given me on my sixteenth birthday. The white, three-inch strappy sandals completed the ensemble. Fun, cute, and sexy.

  I silently admired myself from all angles in front of the floor to ceiling mirror. “Definitely sexy.”

  The skirt showed off my toned, tanned legs, credited to swimming and hiking. The length of it just stopped at the point where demure met vulgar.. And as for makeup, I simply used dual coat mascara and a peach matte lip gloss. Thanks to my good genes, my eyebrows were highly defined and thick. The same went for my lashes; they were quite long without any artifice, but I liked them to be dramatic since the rest of my face was unadorned. I had to choose the best asset to enhance. They were dramatic, indeed. My eyes did the talking, and they were talking seductively, loud and clear.

  Satisfied, I then grabbed my purse and left my room, heading toward the living room. I hoped I hadn’t kept them waiting for long.

  “Damn,” Benson muttered under his breath, his eyes roving all over my body.

  My brother looked mighty uncomfortable and a little ticked off. “Behave, you morons. She’s my sister; don’t you guys fucking forget that.”

  I could have blushed, but Jackson’s reaction to his friends made me hide a laugh.

  The guys barely shrugged before muttering that we should head out. Since they’d had pizza, wings, and a few bottles of beer already, dinner was out of the q
uestion. I made a mental note to stop by a café later to get a sandwich, something light to tide me over for the rest of the night.

  As we strolled out of the apartment and onto the elevator, Spencer stayed close to me before leaning over to teasingly whisper, “If you’re aiming to scare me off, you’re not doing a good job at it, Chloe.”

  Was that a challenge I heard? He was daring; I had to give him that.

  “It’s just an underwhelming warm up. Don’t get too excited just yet,” I coyly responded, secretly liking this flirty banter.

  “Let me clearly say that I seriously look forward to being overwhelmed.”

  Merely shaking my head, I tried to ignore the fact that he was standing so close to me the entire journey from the elevator to even sitting next to me in the cab and when we got to the rooftop party. He wasn’t annoying in any way at all. I was just not used to having a guy so outright persistent on the first day I’d met him.

  Jackson’s warning earlier didn’t deter him from staying close to me. Spencer was a proud snob, but he did it in a funny, teasing manner that somehow made it passable and not so offensive. It didn’t take a genius to pick the hints that his family was wealthy. It wasn’t necessarily off putting. I mean, I had grown up in Newport Beach, so being surrounded by money wasn’t a big deal. It was the way he made it known that he was well connected in politics and so forth that made it odd to me. I guessed some people appreciated that kind of conversation. I sure as hell didn’t. If this was his way of trying to impress me, well, he could think again.

  “Can I get you anything to drink?” Benson asked me out of the blue. He had just gotten back from the other table. Jackson was still there, engaged in some serious talk with a bunch of guys, including their friend Chris.

  “Thanks. I’d love one.” I wasn’t of legal drinking age, but what the hell? This wasn’t my crowd, and I needed something to do other than look around and make small talk with Spencer.

  “If your brother catches Benson giving you a drink, the shit will hit the fan.” Spencer smirked at me, shaking his head before taking a sip of his champagne.

  Wait. What did Jackson have to do with it?

  “What are you talking about?”

  Raising his brow, he nodded toward my brother, who still happened to be consumed in whatever conversation that was taking place. “He warned us not to give you any alcoholic beverage … you know, since you’re not twenty-one. He’s just being a good big brother; that’s all.”

  Typical Jackson, but he should know better. I had been drinking since I was sixteen. It wasn’t much of a mystery when I began to get curious inside my father’s wine cellar.

  “Well, I’ll handle him,” I replied as I watched Benson approach our small, circular table. There weren’t any chairs anywhere, so everyone had no choice except to stand the entire time. It would be unfortunate for someone who’d worn uncomfortable shoes. It was a different kind of hell when you had to tolerate wearing shoes that hurt, but the beautiful design made it impossible to say no. I had those moments myself. Tonight, I was glad I had worn something that was easy on my feet, or I would have cried murder already after standing an hour.

  “Thanks, Benson!”

  He handed me a peach colored drink that smelled deliciously divine and looked like a martini cocktail. My eyes grew wide the second the liquid hit my tongue.

  “Farrrk! This is hella strong.” Although the sweet aftertaste somewhat made up to the copious amount of vodka, I wasn’t sure if I liked it enough to finish it. Besides, I didn’t have much food in my stomach after that late lunch with Jackson, so I was in danger of getting drunk twice as fast if I wasn’t careful.

  “What’s going on over there?” Spencer nodded toward Benson.

  “They’re talking about a trip next weekend. They’re arguing about the destination,” Benson responded before retreating back to my brother.

  According to Spencer, Benson’s mother was part of Jordanian royalty, but his parents had divorced last year. Chris, on the other hand, had a father who was a hedge fund owner who scammed people from millions of dollars. After the housing burst in ’08, his dad had apparently left the country and hadn’t been heard of since. It was unnerving to think that someone would do that when people trusted you with their investments, but stories such as these weren’t new.

  “So, why did you choose NYU and not Columbia like Jacks and the rest of us?”

  Wait a sec—

  “Columbia?” I frowned deeply at him. “Jackson?” Had I heard him right, or was I already drunk?

  “Yeah, woman. Slow down on the drink, will you? I wouldn’t mind carrying you to bed, but I’d prefer it if you were awake and half sober.”

  “Dream on, Spencer.” I rolled my eyes at him. There was no way in hell I was going to sleep with him tonight. I was a major flirt, but getting me to have sex would take a good deal more than a few words and flashing your credentials.

  While he resumed back to his fun, flirting self, my mind wandered to what he had revealed. Jackson was studying at Columbia and not NYU like everyone thought back home? Jackson wouldn’t lie about something like that, would he? Something wasn’t adding up.

  As much as I would love to find out the truth right then and there, it wasn’t the right setting to ask. Besides, the peach martini was warming my tummy, and I could already feel the slight lightheaded effect of the alcohol in my system. Instead, I dwelled on my surroundings and the thriving liveliness of the party.

  True New Yorkers did party differently than what I was used to back in Orange County. There was some sort of understated snobbishness when it came to this crowd, but as Spencer had stated, I would eventually get used to it.

  I ignored the odd looks headed my way as they briefly spoke to their friend Spencer. Some, I imagined, were women he used to date, because they threw the iciest of looks. If I were sober enough, I would have taken offense, but I was tipsy and didn’t care one flying fark about any of them.

  After my third drink, I was ready to call it quits. Glancing at where Jackson was arguing with a woman Spencer had identified as Yvonne, I thought there was no way he would willingly go home right then.

  Too drunk to care about their lover’s quarrel, I took hold of my purse before placing the empty martini glass on the table. “I gotta go. Thanks for an interesting evening.”

  “I’m coming with you.” Spencer began to stand up, but I placed a hand on his shoulder.

  “I’m okay. Stay and party a while. It’s not even one in the morning. I’m sure you have better things to do.”

  He took my hand and held it in his own. “I’m taking you home whether you like it or not, Chloe.”

  “Fine, whatever floats your boat.”

  Spencer didn’t once let go of my hand as he guided me out of the building. In a way, I was grateful. I didn’t want to find my way around town to get back home.

  Cabs were abundant since it was a balmy Saturday night, so it didn’t take us long to grab one and get dropped outside the apartment building.

  “Thank you. I can take it from here.” I grinned before opening the door, but much to my surprise, Spencer did, as well. “What are you doing?” I asked him after watching the back headlights of the cab as it drove away into the traffic.

  “I want to make sure you’re inside the condo; is that so wrong?” He threw me a look similar to what I had just given him moments ago, mocking me a little.

  “Fine, but if you have any other designs, I’m going to kick your balls so hard you’ll wish you’d settled for good ol’ blue balls.”

  He chortled before taking my hand once again as he led us inside the building and into the elevator.

  “I think I like you more than I should, Chloe,” he murmured close to my ear as the elevator door closed to take us to the eighth floor. His breath tickled the side of my neck before I felt his lips graze my skin. “Go out with me tomorrow night?

  Chapter 39

  Spencer was so close to me that I felt a little breathl
ess. He wasn’t the type of guy I usually went for, but I was attracted to him more than I cared to admit.

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

  Before he could manage to say anything, the elevator dinged our arrival, and it wasn’t long until we were strolling toward the apartment door. My mind filled with uncertainties as I withdrew my hand away from his grasp, pulling out the keys from my purse.

  Given how incessantly determined he had been, it didn’t shock me that he followed me in and closed the door behind him.

  We were skirting around the hallway before he pulled me close to him. “Give me one good reason why you shouldn’t enjoy my company tomorrow. Spare me the excuse about Jackson. I can talk to him about it.” Seeking my eyes, he ran his hands softly against my shoulders, pulling me a tad closer. “You can’t deny we have something here, so why don’t we just have a little fun and see where it’s heading?”

  I had dated before and after that night happened with Drew, but he was the only man I had been intimate with. More importantly, aside from Spencer being Jackson’s friend, I didn’t know him well enough to spend a night alone with him. Therefore, I was skeptical, and with good reason.

  “Some other time, perhaps.” Pressing my lips together, I made a slight smile. “Tomorrow’s just … too soon for me.”

  He let out a sigh, as if he didn’t want to pressure me further, before pulling me against his chest. “All right, I’ll back off for now, but promise me you’ll think about it?” he whispered close to my ear, making me shiver against his warmth. “Fuck, you smell so fucking good.”

  The alcohol in my system made my sensitivity even worse.

  “Umm…” A haggard sound came out of my lips, my resolve weakening every second he let his breath touch my skin. Then I felt him kiss the soft spot behind my ear, evoking a low moan from me.