by Natalie Rios
“For crying out loud, I’m your brother!” Cam grouses. Not that they are paying him any mind.
“It’s not like I got the money shot. No man meat for me, sadly. Just some post coital canoodling and shuffling,” Allie continues.
“Oh, I definitely missed out then.”
“Get this, they even lost the condom. I had to point it out to them. By the way, in the future, can you guys not have sex on my grandmother’s couch? I mean, Camilla and I used to watch Saturday morning cartoons on that thing when we were growing up. And my grandmother used to sit on it every night with my dad to read the bible before going to bed. It’s been in the family for at least three generations now-”
“Okay!” I interrupt, not wanting to hear any more about the history of the Perez Family Couch. “That explains you. Lia? Why aren’t you surprised? I was honestly worried you would be angry.”
Lia’s mouth forms a giant ‘O’ shape. “Angry? Me? Why?”
“Because we’ve been dating for two weeks-”
“Three weeks,” Cam corrects. Because, of course, he likes to count from the first time we had sex.
“Three weeks without mentioning it to you.”
Lia shrugs. “I’m not mad and I’m not surprised. I mean, I totally purposely guilt-tripped you into going to lunch with him after the gym that one time.”
“You – what?” I have no words. No. Words. Who knew my best friends were such little schemers?
“In case you two are wondering, this right here-” Cam wags a finger in between the two of them. “This is why you’re both single.”
“Happily single,” Allie counters.
“Who says I’m single?” This comes from Lia, followed by a saucy wink. One growl from Cam has her hurrying to change the subject though. “Okay, maybe I’m a little surprised. Surprised it took you two this long! Cam’s had a crush on you for years-”
“Wait, what?” I whirl around to face Cam. Tonight’s the night of surprises, I guess.
But he doesn’t say anything. Just nods along as his sister continues. “Yeah, he asked me if you were single when he first met you. Looked mighty disappointed when I told him you weren’t.”
“And every once in a while, he would ask if you and Daniel were still together,” Allie chimes in. “I swear I thought he was going to throw a party the day he found out the two of you were dunzo. I expected him to come knocking that very night. But no, Cameron lollygagged along for an entire year. Such a waste. All I wanted to do was grab him by his jersey, give him a good shake and say Jesus Christ, man! Grow some balls and kiss the girl already!”
“I swear to God, Allie. You are a menace,” Cam shakes his head. “A regular ballbuster.”
Allie winks at him. “True story: my resume reads Allie Perez, pre-med student and ballbuster extraordinaire.”
“Someone needs to teach you a lesson.”
“We should set her up with Theo Montgomery, have her knock him down a peg or two,” I joke. “Then maybe they can teach each other a lesson.” And maybe I’m seeing things, but I swear Allie’s hand, the one holding the glass of water she’s yet to so much as take a sip from, shakes at the mention of Theo’s name.
“Hell yeah!” Cam rubs his hands together with excitement. “I bet he’d be shocked someone on campus doesn’t care who he is.”
“Theo who?” Allie asks. Her face is sporting the same look she gave when she kept busting in on me and Cam earlier. Fool me once...
Cam hoots. “Even better, she doesn’t know who he is! Montgomery would probably shit a brick. Great idea, babe.” Wrapping an arm around my waist, Cam squeezes me into a side hug. “But whatever you do, you can’t sleep with him, Allison. You might not know him and he might appear charming on first glance, but trust me when I say he’s a prick.”
“Um…” I’m not entirely convinced Allie doesn’t know who Theo is, but Lia distracts us all with her next comment.
“Seriously, Cam? If you’re going to try to match anyone with Theo, it should be me. I’ve only been asking you for an introduction for, like, two years now.”
“Never gonna happen, kid.”
“Fine,” Lia sniffs. “Anyway, congrats, you two! I’m so happy for you!” Lia pulls us both in for a hug.
“You’re seriously not mad?” I ask.
“I’m so excited! If you two get married, I’ll finally have a sister!”
“Whoa, time out. No one’s talking marriage.” I nervously glance over at Cam. We haven’t even said the ‘L’ word to each other yet. Not that I love him or anything. I mean, it’s too soon right? No one falls in love that fast.
“Slow your roll, baby sis. I’m working on convincing her to move in with me first,” Cam replies nonchalantly. Um, what?
“What! I call dibs on decorating!” Lia shrieks just as Allie yells, “You can’t steal our roommate! Who’s going to help pay the rent?” Meanwhile, I’m looking at Cam like he’s sprung a second head.
“Aren’t you moving a bit fast there?”
He shrugs, jerking a finger back at my roommates. “Tweedledee and Tweedledum over there said I was dragging my feet. Just trying to keep up with them.”
We both eye each other for moment and then I smile. “Ask me again at the end of the semester.”
He returns my smile with a heart-stopping grin. “Deal.”
Epilogue
Veronica
The best part about having a boyfriend with a car? Being able to borrow said car whenever I want.
It’s the first day of senior year and I’m missing my girls.
It took Cam more than the semester to convince me to move in with him. I ended up waiting until the end of the school year, when my lease was up. By then, Allie’s cousin Camilla had been accepted to Carlton and was on board to become the new third roommate.
Living with Cam is like a dream. I wake up in his arms every morning. Sometimes, we start the day with hot and frenzied morning sex. Others, it’s slow and lazy sex. And others still, we just snuggle. But every day, he tells me he loves me.
“You’re it for me,” he told me the day I moved in. “I love you and I’m all in.”
All in. I know what he means by that. Marriage, a house with a white picket fence, a dog, children. I think he’s waiting until I graduate to ask me. Which is fine by me. I know I love Cam and I want to spend the rest of my life with him, but I have to focus on graduating and finding a job for now. Planning a wedding can definitely wait.
And right now, I just want to see my girls.
It feels weird ringing the bell, but I no longer have a key. I gave my copy to Camilla when she moved in earlier this summer. The door swings open to reveal a grinning Allie. “Well, well. It’s been a long time, stranger.” She reaches for a hug and I’m halfway there until I notice her shirt.
There are huge, ugly splotches of...I’m not really sure what all over her pink t-shirt. “Um, Allie? Is that vomit on your shirt?”
“Ugh, no!” Rolling her eyes, she gestures for me to come in. “Why does everyone think it’s vomit?”
“Well, I know you guys were at a party last night and you don’t usually go out. Maybe you partied a little too hard? Spilled a rum and coke on yourself?”
“It’s the middle of the day! Do you really think I would wake up with vomit on my shirt and not shower?”
I shrug. “I have no idea what time you woke up.”
“It’s just coffee.”
“Coffee?” I study the stain again. I guess it is kind of brownish. “Yeah, I can see it now. What happened? Did your thermos spill on the bus?” I feel bad Allie and Lia still have to take the bus into campus. But since Cam’s job is over an hour away in Boston, we moved there after he graduated in May. I live way too far and out of the way to carpool with them on a regular basis.
“No. I had an awful run-in with a douchebag. I don’t want to talk about it,” she adds before I can ask any follow up questions.
I hold up my hands. Whatever happened, she still looks so
ur about it. And sour Allie is no fun. “Okay. Where’s Lia?”
“In her room. But let me change my shirt before she-”
“O-M-G! It’s an apparition. The long lost third roommate doth returns.” Lia waltzes in and wraps me in a hug. “Don’t tell me. You realized Cameron snores like a horse and came here to beg your way back into the No Scrubs Palace.” No Scrubs Palace is Lia’s nickname for the apartment. Because, and this is in Lia’s own words, we don’t want no scrubs. “Tough luck, future sister. Camilla’s got your bed.”
“Veronica can always bunk on the Love Couch. Since, you know, the rest of us refuse to sit there ever since the condom incident,” Allie offers.
“Ew! Why don’t you just get a new one-” But my question is cut off by Lia, who is studying Allie in horror.
Uh-oh. No Scrubs Palace’s own fashion police just caught sight of Allie’s major faux pas. Duck and cover, folks.
“What the hell happened to your shirt?”
“Minor coffee incident.”
“One apparently involving a douchebag,” I add, just to get back at her for the horrible couch reminder.
Sure enough, Allie’s glaring daggers at me while Lia bombards her with questions. “What douchebag? When did this happen? Didn’t you have an 8am class? Oh my God, please don’t tell me you walked around campus, let alone walked into a lecture hall, looking like that!”
“What do you think? As if I would miss class because my shirt has a little stain on it,” Allie snorts.
“That is not just a little stain, Allie Perez! It’s covering half your shirt, including your boobs!”
“It’s still just a stain.”
“That shirt is no longer wearable! Do you know how hard it is to get coffee stains out? The color’s not even bleachable!”
“You know they sell bleach for colors now, right? Bleach no longer discriminates.”
Someone is ringing the doorbell, but the two of them are too busy arguing to get it. So I open the door. And immediately pounce on Cam. “Cam!”
“Hey, dirty girl. Do you mind backing up a bit? You know I love it when you molest me, but I don’t want to drop lunch.” He sends me a wink and holds up the plastic takeout bags hanging off each of his hands.
“Is that Cam? What are you doing here?” Lia walks over to hug her brother. Well, at least his presence managed to quell that argument. For now, at least. “Shouldn’t you be at work? And how did you even get here? I thought V drove your car here.”
“I took a half day, bought a new car and then decided to buy you all – Whoa, Allie. What happened to your shirt?” He sends her a smug look. “Partied a little too hard last night?”
I swear I can hear Allie’s teeth grinding. “It’s just a coffee stain. I swear to God, I’m going to kill-” Her words come to a halt and she abruptly leaves the room, muttering something about needing to change and how she hates football players.
“I guess it’s a good thing I don’t play football anymore. Sheesh, what’s gotten into her?” Cam asks, setting the takeout bags on the kitchen table.
“My theory? That’s what happens when you go years without sex. It’s like trying to plant a passion flower in the dessert. Without proper watering, your vajayjay shrivels up and dies, messing up all your hormones and stuff. It’s like menopause, but for young people,” Lia says while twirling a strand of hair around her finger. As if we weren’t all staring at her and wondering if she was crazy.
“I swear to God, sometimes I think she was switched at birth,” Cam whispers.
“Hey, I heard that!”
Time for me to play peacekeeper. “Can you go and get Camilla and Allie? Cam and I are going to set the table.”
“Okay, just as long as setting the table isn’t code for grinding on that wood. I eat my meals there, you know.”
“Jesus Christ.” Cam rolls his eyes and we both watch Lia practically skip out of the room. Circling his arms around me, Cam presses a soft kiss on my lips. “So, do you miss living in this zoo?”
“Sometimes,” I admit, because I do miss my girls. “But I would miss you even more.”
“Good answer.” He reaches for my mouth again, but I resist, pulling away.
“It occurs to me that we never did complete our Flirt meet-up. Sex in the library?” I remind him at his blank look. “We still haven’t done it there and we’re both on campus. So maybe after lunch…”
“You’ve got to tell me what you want, V,” he chides, and I really should know the drill by now.
Standing up on my tiptoes, I whisper in his ear, “Please fuck me in the library, Cameron.”
He sucks in a breath, pressing his forehead against mine. “Dirty girl…Your wish is my command.”
“I know.” Because I do know. Cam will give me anything I want. All I have to do is ask.
Thank you so much for reading Flirt! If you liked this book, please consider leaving a review. Reviews can help other readers find new books :) And if you’re dying to know what’s the deal with Allie’s shirt, you’re in luck! CLICK HERE for Allie and Theo’s story Playboy.
Keep in touch! Sign up for my newsletter!
If you sign up for my mailing list, I promise not to spam you. But I will send you advance notification before I launch my next book, so that you can get it at a discounted price! As a special thank you to my readers, I launch each book at a discount. I also send out calls for review readers via my newsletter, so if you’re interested, sign up and keep in touch!
CLICK HERE to subscribe!
WANT MORE ALLIE AND THEO?
Playboy by Natalie Rios
Arrogant. Playboy. A**hole.
Without a doubt, Theo Montgomery is the university's most promising student athlete – and it’s biggest playboy. Confident, charming, and handsome as sin, there isn’t a single girl at Carlton University who’s immune to this quarterback. Except Allie.
Smart. Confident. Sassy.
Make no mistake, Allie Perez can’t stand jocks. Especially the spoiled, cocky, womanizing types like Theo. She could have gone her entire college career without ever seeing his smarmy smile again. Except…they’ve been paired together for a major class project.
The solution seems simple: set their differences aside for the sake of their grades. Until one bet – one kiss – changes everything.
He wants to drive her crazy.
He wants to get to know her.
He wants…her.
Now if only he could convince Allie this playboy is boyfriend material. All’s fair in love and football.
GIMME MORE!
Other Books by Natalie Rios
THE HEIRESS SERIES
Catch Me
Tame Me
CARLTON UNIVERSITY
Flirt
Playboy
About the Author
Natalie can't sing. Or dance. Or play an instrument. She can't ride a bike and doesn't know how to swim or drive. As a result, her husband often asks if she’s from Mars (the answer, in case you were wondering, is no. Unless New York counts as another planet). When she's not geeking out at her day job, Natalie can be found attempting to wrangle her overly energetic Westie, baking ridiculously chewy chocolate chip cookies, and watching so-bad-it's-good reality television shows.
Follow Natalie on:
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Website
