Which made her feel really guilty. Ultimately, Landon had never done anything to her. They hadn't ever spent much time together. He'd said dirty things to her, but he said them to everyone with breasts. He was stand offish and somewhat rude, but again, he was that way with everyone around him. He'd never actively been rude to her, or mean, or nasty. And he had invited her on this trip, even paid for her ticket, all because he wanted easy sex and he knew being at home was hard for her. Knew because it was hard for him, too.
Maybe I shouldn't hate him. Maybe I should try to get to know him, understand him, because clearly we've got a lot in common.
5
Landon sat on a bar stool, his back to the actual bar so he could face the beach. He was supposed to be looking out for his friend, but he'd forgotten all about Velez when he'd spotted Tori down by the water.
Goddamn, that body.
He'd always thought she was good looking, since he'd first met her. Empirically, she was attractive. Tall and leggy, fit and curvy, with a great smile and warm eyes. Bonus, she liked to show off all her assets and knew exactly how to do so in the best ways. When she was working, she was always in tiny shorts and tight shirts, or bustiers, or crop tops. He kept hoping that some day she'd be brave enough to just show up in pasties, but it hadn't happened yet.
He'd assumed she'd bring bathing suits with her, and he'd assumed she'd look good in them, yet he was still a little stunned when he saw her walk onto the beach. They hadn't hardly seen each other since they'd checked into the hotel. Landon had gone straight into the shower, and when he'd come out, she'd been knocked out on the bed. Jet lag had kicked her ass. So he'd left her sleeping and he'd gone downstairs to set up a meeting with Velez.
Apparently Sleeping Beauty had woken up, and hitting the water had been the first thing on her mind. She was wearing a brilliantly white bikini which glowed against her tan skin. It was plain in comparison to a lot of the string bikinis on the beach, but it was perfectly molded to her body, the top forcing her breasts together and up high, the bottoms show casing her perfect ass and round hips.
While Landon was taking in all that sexual perfection, apparently so were the other gentlemen on the beach. A man approached Tori, saying something to her which made her laugh. She turned and faced the guy, putting her hands on her hips while they spoke. Her new friend must have been some sort of comedian, because she never once lost her smile.
When new guy stepped closer and leaned down to her, Landon got off his stool. Slid his sunglasses back on and made the trek across the hot sand. The object of his attention wasn't even aware of him till his shadow fell over her.
“Hey!” Tori said, startled to find him right next to her. “I didn't know you were down here.”
“Who are you?” Landon said to the guy, completely ignoring her.
“I'm Richard,” the man introduced himself, holding out his hand. “I was just telling Tori here it's nice to run into another American.”
“Yeah, real nice,” was all Landon said in response. Tori coughed nervously and moved so she was standing in front of the two men.
“This is my friend I was telling you about, Landon,” she introduced them. “Uh, Richard said he's a doctor here for a medical convention.”
“Really?” Landon cocked up an eyebrow. He spent so much time spinning his own bullshit, he'd become excellent at detecting it.
“Yes, over at the Hyatt.”
“What's your specialty?”
“Oh,” Richard forced out a laugh. “I don't want to bore you with details like that, I mean, you guys are on vacation. So how are you liking Bali, Landon?”
“Actually, it's Dr. Edenhoff,” Landon corrected him. “And I like boring details. I'll go first. I have a double specialty in cardiology and emergency medicine. I went to school at Northwestern, then John Hopkins.”
There was a long, awkward silence. Tori's eyes bounced between the two men, then she cleared her throat.
“He's, uh, also worked with Doctors Without Borders, and Globa-Doc,” Tori added, referring to some of the international medical organizations Landon had volunteered with over the years.
“Really! Very noble of you. Is that the time?” Richard asked, grabbing Tori's arm and looking at her wrist, where a watch would've been if she'd bothered putting one on. “I'm late for a speech.”
“Oh, I'd love to hear it. What are you giving a speech on?” Landon asked.
“I'd love to tell you all about it, but I've really got to go. It was great meeting you, Tori!”
Richard was already jogging away as he called out the last words.
“What was that all about?” Tori snapped, glaring up at Landon.
“That was some bullshit,” he informed her. “That guy isn't a doctor. He's probably a pharm rep.”
“A what?”
“Gross human beings who convince hospitals to buy overpriced drugs.”
“How could you even tell? You'd barely spoken to him,” Tori pointed out, staring off after their new friend.
“I know a doctor when I meet one,” he said. “He just wanted to get laid, and claiming you're a doctor is a fantastic way to get pussy.”
“That's stupid. I've known you were a doctor this whole time, and I never wanted to sleep with you.”
“Tori, you have slept with me.”
“Yeah, but that didn't have anything to do with your medical degree.”
“Pity, it's a very impressive degree,” he sighed, sliding his arm around her waist and pulling her close. “And I do know a lot about anatomy.”
“Still not impressed,” she replied, then she let out a squeak when he squeezed her ass.
“Don't really care. We should get drunk and go fuck on our balcony.”
“Landon, it's ten o'clock in the morning.”
“So? That makes it like six at night at home, perfectly acceptable.”
“I don't want to get drunk.”
Her body was pressed against him and he was bored with their conversation, so he ignored her and put both hands on her ass. He roughly picked her up and started carrying her across the sand.
“Okay, I'll get drunk, you do all the work.”
“I don't think that's -”
“Land-O!”
Landon groaned and stopped moving, but he didn't put Tori down. As he slowly turned, she wrapped her arms around his neck, struggling not to tip over.
“Velez,” he sighed, watching as the other man jogged up to them.
“Nice catch,” the Puerto Rican laughed and gestured at Tori. “I didn't know mermaids looked this good.”
“She's less like a mermaid, more like a harpy,” Landon said. She struggled against his hold, but when he still didn't put her down, Tori reached an arm out and offered her hand.
“Hi, I'm Tori, and I'm being kidnapped. Be a doll and call for help?” she asked. Velez laughed and shook her hand.
“Sorry, babe, you're asking the wrong dude – I'm the bad guy,” he teased.
“Doubtful,” she said, glaring down at Landon.
“Look, give us half an hour, and I can meet you back at the bar?” Landon asked.
“No, no, no, I'm fine. Put me down and you boys can have your meeting now,” Tori offered quickly. He dug his fingers into her flesh, earning him another squeak.
“I've got a great idea,” Velez offered. “How about we all go back to the restaurant in the hotel and get drinks there? I'm buying.”
Landon thought that was a bad idea, and judging by the look on Tori's face, she agreed. But Velez didn't give them a chance to argue, he just started walking away. And since he was Landon's only source of coke in all of Indonesia, he had no choice but to follow.
“Okay,” he sighed, slowly setting Tori down. “But later we're definitely fucking.”
“Maybe. If you're nice to me,” she said, stepping away from him. He took the opportunity to smack her sharply on the ass, making her jump.
“I'm going to be very mean to you, and you're going to love every
minute of it.”
She walked away from him, but not before he saw a very tell tale blush creep up the side of her face.
Oh, we are going to have a lot of fun, Tori. It's almost a shame it's gonna end in a week.
VELEZ WAS TORI'S KIND of guy. He was loud and he was funny and he was brash. He also liked to flirt, and did so with her, much to her delight. Not necessarily because she wanted him to flirt with her, but because she could tell it made Landon mad, which was interesting. Just as interesting as when he'd chased the fake doctor away from her.
Could it be Landon's jealous? I never would've believed it.
“But do you have to?” Velez whined as Tori pulled a pair of jeans on over her bikini bottoms.
“The restaurant said no bathing suits,” she laughed, grabbing her shirt off the bed.
“They don't actually care. In fact, I'm positive I've seen people go topless in there before,” he insisted. She smirked, then glanced at Landon. He was leaning against the wall near the bed, watching the whole exchange. So she made sure to take her time as she slipped into the tight, sleeveless top, then she made a big production of adjusting her boobs inside it.
“Oops, too late, should've said something earlier. Let's go.”
As they headed down to the resort's main restaurant, Tori hung back and let the two men talk amongst themselves. She'd expected to spend most of the vacation on her own, their company was actually a surprise, so she let them talk while she pulled out her phone. It was around eight o'clock at night back at home, so she called Katya.
“Happy New Year!” her friend shouted when she picked up. Tori laughed and pulled the phone away from her ear.
“Happy New Year. How was the party?”
“Oh my god, amazing. Our plan totally worked.”
“It did?” Tori asked, though her heart hurt a little. She wasn't a bad person – she wanted Liam to be happy, and she wanted Ayumi to be happy, and if they were happiest together, then so be it. She wished them well.
But it still hurt.
“Yes. Whatever Wulf said did the trick, I guess, because Liam showed up an hour late and sort of burst into the room and just grabbed her and kissed her. In front of everyone. It was like a movie, it was so romantic.”
I'm going to vomit.
“That's awesome,” Tori managed to say. Landon glanced back at her, then double took at the phone she had to her ear.
“Yeah. Then he carried her out of the room, it was amazing. I guess they worked a lot of stuff out. She's still doing her nanny-thing over at Brie's, so they'll be close together, too.”
“That's good. I mean really, that's totally awesome.”
“I'm sorry, Tori,” Katya sighed. “We don't have to talk about this. Tell me about your trip. Have you met any cute guys?”
Tori eyeballed the two men walking in front of her. Velez was tall and dark, though not quite as tall as Landon. Not quite as lanky, but more built in the chest and shoulders. He would've been intimidating, but his broad grin and the mischievous glint in his eye stopped him just short of it.
Landon was the opposite – despite having a face which she knew was made for smiling, he was glaring more often than not. When he did smile, it was usually mocking, or naughty.
“Uh, a couple,” she answered honestly. “Nothing special. I'm gonna go get dinner now, okay? But I'll check in tomorrow.”
“You had better. Have fun, but not too much fun.”
“Thanks, mom.”
“Hey, I worry about you, sue me.”
“Love ya, Kitty Kat.”
“Love you, too.”
A depression settled over Tori which she couldn't seem to shake for most of the night. All the silliness and teasing from earlier died. She sat at the table and picked at her food all while staring out over the ocean. Not that it even mattered to her companions. Velez and Landon continued speaking in low voices. Continued ignoring her.
It was fairly late, so while they were still seated, the restaurant dimmed the lights and a DJ started playing music. Slowly at first, people began to fill the dance floor, then after about an hour, the place was packed. Normally, Tori would've been right out there with everyone, shaking her ass and being the life of the party.
But suddenly, that kind of life didn't seem quite as appealing anymore.
“You've been quiet.”
Velez had to almost shout to be heard over the music. She glanced across the table and was surprised to find him sitting alone. Landon was gone.
“Kind of a shitty week at home, lots on my mind,” she replied. He nodded and scooted his chair over so he was sitting next to her.
“I hear ya. I haven't been home in a long time because things are always shitty there.”
“Where's home?”
“Los Angeles,” he replied, sipping at a drink. “I mean, all over, really. Born in Puerto Rico, army brat, moved everywhere. Settled in Los Angeles a while ago, then did a lot of traveling of my own, lots of central and south America. That's how I met your boy.”
“My boy?” Tori started laughing so hard, she choked.
“Yeah, you know. Landon.”
“I'm pretty sure Landon doesn't spare me any second thoughts while he's hitting on that chick,” she replied when she finally got control of herself. “And I don't particularly care. He's not 'my boy' in any way, shape, or form.”
“Yet you flew halfway across the world with him,” Velez pointed out. She frowned and glanced around the restaurant, wondering where Landon was.
“Hey, a free ticket is a free ticket.”
“Free dick probably isn't bad, either.”
She turned her gaze back to Velez. Oh, he wanted to play this kind of game? Shame the slut, found out the horny details?
“No, it's pretty awesome, actually. It's his only redeeming quality. Got a problem with that?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest. He shook his head.
“Not at all, just wondering if it's all free dick you're into, or just his.”
“You offering?”
“Fuck yeah.”
“I'm declining,” she replied. “I know him, have for a couple months now. This is just a thing we're doing together, I'm not interested in doing it with random strangers.”
“Pity he doesn't feel the same way.”
After his cryptic statement, Velez pulled the cocktail straw out of his drink. After licking away the excess liquor, he pointed the piece of plastic across the room. Tori followed it with her eyes and saw Landon standing at the bar. He was next to some very young blonde woman, laughing and smiling at whatever she was saying. Brushing her hair back over her shoulder, making her laugh and smile, too.
“Just because I don't fuck anything that moves doesn't mean he isn't allowed to – like I said, he's not my boy,” she replied quickly, then she snatched away his drink and downed the rest of the contents.
“Right, keep telling yourself that, sugar,” he chuckled.
Tori stood up and lurched away from the table, not bothering to say goodbye. She walked calmly and quietly out of the restaurant, not once glancing in Landon's direction. Then she took the elevator back upstairs to their room.
It's the truth. He can do whatever he wants, right? But I mean, then why did he bring me? If he was just going to pick up some tourist trash, why invite me along?
Tori was beautiful, and she was sexy, and she was funny, and sometimes even smart. She was a good time, and an even better friend. So why, she wondered, did it feel like when it really came down to it, no one really wanted her?
6
Tori had no idea what time it was when she was woken up. She could hear the ocean and when she finally opened her eyes, she saw the balcony doors were wide open. A strong breeze blew through the room, causing the curtains to billow out into the room.
I don't remember leaving those open.
She slowly pushed herself upright and looked around the suite. The king bed was in a separate, raised portion of the room. The lower, and larger, area was
filled with couches and arm chairs, and there was even a wet bar against one wall. No one was there, though, and she could see the bathroom door was wide open, the room completely empty.
Taking a deep breath, she slowly slid off the mattress and walked towards the balcony doors. She was a little nervous – Landon was unpredictable at the best of times. What if he was out there with some chick?
I guess then I'd have to glad he had the decency to take her somewhere other than the bed I was sleeping in.
She was more glad, though, when she tip toed outside and saw he was sitting alone on a lounge chair. It was very dark outside, the moon little more than a crescent above them. The cherry of his lit cigarette glowed brightly as he took a drag. He didn't acknowledge her at all, just kept staring out over the ocean.
“You okay?” she asked, her voice hoarse from sleep.
He didn't answer. She stared at him for a moment longer, then finally sat down in the chair next to him. It was very warm out, easily in the seventies, but a strong breeze ripped across the balcony, carrying sea air with it. She shivered a little and folded her arms across her chest. She was only wearing sweatpant shorts and her bikini.
“You left dinner early,” he finally spoke after a couple minutes of silence.
“Not really,” she replied. “You left dinner early. I left the restaurant after I got done eating.”
“I thought you'd come back downstairs.”
“Oh. I didn't.”
She wasn't sure if they were having a conversation, or an interrogation. He didn't sound mad, which he had no reason to be anyway, but he did sound off. Almost like he was annoyed.
“You're not my girlfriend,” he stated, and she finally laughed.
“Yes, I'm very aware of that fact, and very happy about it.”
“So the blonde wasn't the reason for you dipping out without saying goodbye?”
Tori was a little stunned he'd connected the dots.
“No. I'd been feeling shitty ever since my talk with Katya. You were gone, I don't know Velez very well, I was over the night. I just wanted to sleep,” she explained.
Neighborhood Watch Page 5
