The Tempted Series: Collectors Edition

by Janine Infante Bosco

  I looked up at my sister taking the cup of coffee she offered. “I’m not torn up about anything.”

  “Okay, so we continue to pretend,” she said treating me to an eye roll as she sat in the chair across from me. “Did you have a fight with Rico?”

  “I thought we were pretending,” I said hopefully as I stirred the creamer into my coffee. She shot me a warning look to give it up. “Fine… things are a mess between me and Rico and I am afraid it’s my fault.”

  “What happened?” she asked giving me her undivided attention. I loved how attentive my sister was with me so eager to help me unravel my problems. I hope that one day she will allow me to return the favor.

  “Mikey,” I started, taking a sip of my coffee. Closing my eyes, I silently damned Mikey with his good looks and bad boy tendencies to hell.

  “Mikey?” she raised an eyebrow pointing an accusing finger at me. “Spill.”

  I cringed taking a deep breath before I spilled the whole sorted story to my one and only confidant. “Ever since Mikey came home, I’ve been a disaster. I don’t even know if I love Rico because all I can think about is Mikey. How can I love him if it’s that easy to forget him? I can’t control myself around Mikey. I look at him and my body goes haywire! One minute his eyes get to me looking all sad and tormented. All I want to do is make him feel better to take him in my arms and make it all go away. The next minute it’s his muscles. If he wears a T-shirt I become a blithering fool and all I can think about is holding onto his arms as he screws my brains out,” I gasped as the words flew out of my mouth. Adrianna’s mouth fell open, forming a perfect O as she stared at me wide-eyed.

  “Nikki!” she covered her mouth to hide the laughter that threatened. Sure, laugh it up, Sis. I stared daggers at her, forcing her to pull herself together.

  “Don’t you dare laugh at me!” I warned. “I’m so out of control that… oh god. I can’t even say it.” I threw my head into my hands shamefully.

  “Okay, big deal,” Adrianna said calmly. “So, you’ve got the hots for Mikey. I for one am not surprised you’ve had a crush on him since you were ten years old.”

  “This is far passed just a crush,” I said, muffled by my hands.

  “Well, it’s definitely inconvenient because of Rico,” she said before sighing. “You might not want to hear this, but Nikki maybe you and Rico should take a break.”

  I lifted my head to meet her gaze. I was so not expecting that from my sister.

  “Hear me out. Mikey isn’t going anywhere and the crush you have on him doesn’t appear to be either. I mean ten years later and you’re still pining away for him. I know you care about Rico so before you are tempted to do something you might regret— “It’s too late!” I exclaimed. “I may have coerced Mikey into phone sex,” I coughed, trying to cover my words.

  “You had phone sex with Mikey? Wait a minute, how exactly— “

  “Don’t ask for details please,” I begged. “We sort of kissed, but Anthony walked in.”

  “Anthony caught you two kissing?”

  “Well, we were about to I mean he completely walked in at the wrong time killing the mood. Anyway, I left after that and went home. I thought Mikey was calling me to say it was a mistake and to apologize for kissing me. I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want him to say he was sorry for doing something we both wanted. He said it wasn’t a real kiss he baited me really, so I let my curiosity get the best of me and I kind of asked him to describe what it would’ve been like if he had really kissed me,” I felt my face flush just thinking about it. I could still hear Mikey’s gruff voice telling me he’d fuck my mouth. I looked at my sister noticing her mouth was agape.

  “Well don’t stop there,” she said swallowing as she leaned her elbows on the table resting her chin in her hands giving me her full attention as I continued with my sorted tale.

  “It just sort of escalated from there we started telling one another what we would like to do to the other. I mean they were just words, but hearing him say them knowing he was just as affected by them, it turned me on. I could hear the control slip from his voice as he started to pant. I couldn’t help myself.”

  “Oh my God!” Adrianna said covering her mouth with one hand. “You didn’t?”

  “I did,” I groaned. “But he did too!” Silence is such an awkward thing, especially after you’ve just admitted to masturbating while on the phone with your childhood crush.

  “Adrianna say something,” I begged.

  “I don’t know what to say…,” she said honestly causing me to groan in response. Maybe coming here was a bad idea. I mean, did I really expect her to have any answers for me she had her own shit track record with men. I think the Pastore girls were destined for failed relationships it seemed to be the one thing we excelled at serial dating at its finest.

  “Okay, so what happened afterward?” she said trying her hardest to make sense of my predicament.

  “I ended the call and threw my phone across the room,” I said obviously. What did she suggest I do?

  “You just ended the call? You didn’t say anything?” She asked incredulously

  “What should I have said? Was it as good for you as it was for me?” I rolled my eyes at the ridiculousness of the situation.

  “Okay, but you spoke to him today, right?”

  This coffee was delicious. I took another sip.

  “Nikki!”

  “What?” I asked innocently. She made it sound as if there was a handbook for the aftermath of phone sex and I was the only person who hadn’t read the fucking thing.

  “Avoidance isn’t the answer,” she scolded.

  “Okay, oh wise one tell me what’s the answer then?” Go ahead, I’m listening A give it your best shot. She bit her lip as she contemplated. Yeah, I thought so.

  “Let me ask you, where does Rico fit into this whole thing?”

  “He doesn’t,” I sighed. “I think for the time being I should break things off with him. It’s not fair to him. We’ve been struggling for a bit and this isn’t making matters any better. When I’m with Rico all I can think about is Mikey. I’m fighting with him left and right. I don’t even remember the last time we had sex. He tried to the other night, and I lost my shit. “

  “So, you’re going to break up with Rico to pursue Mikey?”

  “No, I didn’t say that I’m not pursuing anyone. I’m just trying to figure this unattainable attraction thing out and put a fucking leash on it,” I sighed heavily and met my sister’s worried gaze. “I know getting involved with Mikey isn’t an option or even a good idea to consider. I’m not looking to play with fire really, I’m not it’s just that I am worried I crossed a line and I can’t go back. “What will happen if this fucks up our friendship? You said yourself the day of his mom’s funeral that he needs a friend. I’m his friend. I don’t want to jeopardize that because as much as he needs a friend I’m starting to think I do too.”

  “Then you need to talk to him. Friends cross lines everyday mistakes are made, relationships are tested, but you can fix it. The longer you wait to talk to him the harder it will be,” she reached across the table and laid her hand over mine reassuringly.

  I took a deep breath, knowing that she was right. It was time to face the music. It was time to face Mikey. I reached for my phone powering it on for the first time today. It took a moment for all the text messages and voicemails that I had missed to load up, most of them from Mikey. I didn’t even look at the texts or listen to the voice mails. I just drafted a text to him quickly.

  Me: Can we meet up to talk?

  I tapped send biting my lip nervously as I waited for him to respond. Adrianna’s eyes met mine her gaze comforting and reassuring. I wondered if I was too late if being a coward had already caused damage to whatever it was that Mikey and I shared.

  Mikey: Good to know you’re alive. Where are you?

  Chapter Twelve

  I was in the middle of explaining what was expected of my newly hired staff wh
en I spotted Anthony. I watched from the corner of my eye as he walked over to Victor and spoke in hushed tones so that whatever it was they were discussing could only be heard by them. I looked at the group of people in front of me hanging on my every word. I smiled at them for the first time since I had started my little lecture, explaining that my ass was on the line as well as theirs wasn’t easy. I didn’t like being in charge of anything let alone fifty people who I just met and I most definitely didn’t like relying on them to execute a successful grand opening.

  “Okay, let’s break,” I said, automatically greeted by a bunch of mumbled sighs of relief. They were probably just as tired and drained as I was. I had started to hate the sound of my own voice an hour ago, so I could just imagine how they felt.

  “There’s not much more we need to go over today, so we’ll meet back here in an hour,” I continued as they all stood stretching their limbs. I watched for a beat as they scurried away happy for the break before turning my attention back to Anthony and Victor who were huddled in a corner. They were talking very animatedly. Anthony’s hands moved with every word he uttered and Victor was pointing his finger at his chest with his reply. By the looks of it, whatever they were discussing had both of them heated.

  I needed to talk to Anthony and wanted to do it before Nikki got here. She had finally reached out to me and we agreed that she would meet me here so that when I was done coaching the staff we could talk. Twelve hours ago, I would’ve been all for talking about what had happened between us, but that was before I had overheard Rico’s conversation. This phone sex thing with Nikki instantly took the back seat after that and I didn’t like it one bit. Fuck, since the moment I met him mostly because he was the guy in Nikki’s life and I wanted her to myself but also because he rubbed me the wrong way. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was something about him that I didn’t trust. I told myself it was in my head and that my head was all fucked up because of my attraction to Nikki. If Victor didn’t see there was something wrong with Rico then I was just acting out of purely selfish reasons, but after overhearing him I was certain that my gut feeling was spot on and I didn’t have a fucking clue what to do now. I didn’t know if I should tell someone what I had heard or if I should try to figure out what he was up to on my own. I knew one thing though Nikki was in jeopardy of having her heart crushed when this shit with Rico surfaced.

  I walked over to Anthony and Victor their conversation coming to an immediate halt once they saw me.

  “Excuse me,” I cleared my throat, focusing my eyes directly on Anthony. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”

  “I’m kind of in the middle of something, Mike,” Anthony said, keeping his eyes on Victor as he spoke to me.

  “No, we’re done here,” Victor said his tone grave. He patted me on the back before walking away from us. Anthony cursed under his breath as he ran his fingers angrily through his hair.

  “I need fucking air,” he said angrily as he headed for the door. I looked up at the sound booth that was on the second level overlooking the entire club. Rico had his headphones on and appeared to actually be checking the equipment. I didn’t want him to think I was onto him figuring that I’d be able to obtain more information if he didn’t feel the need to cover his tracks.

  I followed Anthony outside watched as he slammed his fist into the palm of his other hand, debating whether I should even talk to him. It might not be such a bad idea to inquire about anger management classes for him. Maybe I’d enroll him as an early birthday present. He turned around abruptly and for a moment, I thought he could hear my thoughts. His cold gaze settled on me and I felt myself shrink under his angered scrutiny.

  “What is it Mike?” he barked.

  “If now isn’t a good time…,” I started, but he cut me off much like the cut me down to size in one glance.

  “Just say what you want to say,” he demanded.

  “Alright, fine,” I crossed my arms over my chest. “What do you know about Rico?”

  He rolled his eyes. What? It was just a question.

  “Are you fucking kidding me? I told you to leave it alone Mike. No good can come from you getting involved with Nikki.”

  “It’s not about that,” I said defensively. “Look, either you give me the answers I need or I find them some other way.”

  “Then what is it about?” he said evenly as he crossed his arms over his chest matching my stance.

  “I don’t like him plain and simple. I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him and he is the one person working this Grand Opening that I have no control over. Now I’m asking you what the fuck his deal is because it’s my ass on the line when it comes to this club,” I said with as much authority as my voice could muster. It was a valid excuse albeit a lie, but still, it sounded good.

  He studied me for a moment, probably trying to figure out if I was lying or not.

  “I told you whatever I knew. Maybe this is a conversation you should have with Nikki.” He said calmly.

  “I can’t,” I said quickly, too quickly.

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “Why?”

  “How did she meet him?” I said, avoiding the question.

  “How the hell should I know?” he said losing his patience with the conversation.

  “Humor me, please. Just think back and try to remember.”

  “They aren’t together that long,” he offered before pausing. “About a year or so, I think they met at a club he was working at one night. “

  “That’s all he does? I mean he’s just a disc jockey, he doesn’t have any other job?” I asked curiously.

  “As far as I know,” he sighed. “Look, Mike, I don’t keep tabs on Nikki’s boyfriend. When she started dating him, I checked him out. He didn’t have a record or anything like that. He’s arrogant and thinks who the fuck he is but he treats Nikki good. She seems happy enough, so leave it alone.”

  “You sure about that?” I asked before shaking my head. “Forget I even asked,” he was useless to me. A black car pulled up to the curb causing both of us to turn around and see who it was.

  “Fucking great,” Anthony mumbled recognizing the car. The passenger door opened and Nikki climbed out. I looked back at Anthony watching as he struggled with some sort of internal war. He clenched his fists at his side as he started for the car, walking around to the driver’s side. Nikki closed the door and turned around watching as Anthony walked to the driver door. She took two steps backward never taking her eyes off Anthony. He tapped his hand on the roof of the car and Nikki opened her mouth to speak, but must’ve decided against it because as quickly as she opened it she closed it just the same.

  “Roll down your window,” Anthony demanded, bending down so he could look in the tinted windows. “Open the damn window, Adrianna.”

  After I figured out this shit with Rico, I was going to uncover what the fuck was going on between those two. She must’ve rolled the window down because he wasn’t throwing a tantrum. His body was still bent, and he was talking softly. Nikki looked at me distracting me from trying to listen in on Anthony and Adrianna’s conversation.

  “I never want to be like them,” she surmised, sadly tearing her eyes away from me to look back at the car. “I wish they’d get their shit together.”

  “Yeah,” I said having no idea what the fuck else to say since I had no clue what she was talking about.

  She turned around and stood directly in front of me chewing on her bottom lip nervously. Her brown hair was pulled back from her face in a messy bun that sat high on the top of her head. She had miles of hair. I wanted to take the pins out and let her hair fall down around her face. If I couldn’t have it sprawled out over my pillow, at least I could run my fingers through it if it was down. I must’ve frowned because she touched the corner of my mouth with her finger.

  “What’s the matter?” she whispered.

  I opened my mouth to answer, but Anthony shouted, breaking my train of thought. Adrianna’s car peeled away
from the curb, tires screeching along the pavement, leaving Anthony standing in the street watching her car drive away from him.

  Nikki glanced at Anthony over her shoulder shaking her head unhappily before looking back at me. “Ignore them. It happens at least once a week.”

  I looked at Anthony for another minute actually feeling sorry for him before I focused my attention back to Nikki. Christ, she was beautiful like really naturally beautiful. She wasn’t wearing any makeup and was dressed casually there was nothing artificial about her which made her beauty even more appealing. She cast her eyes downward breaking eye contact with me. I noticed the difference in her at that moment. She was lacking the confidence that she always seemed to exuberate making her appear vulnerable. A foreign feeling crept inside of me an ache I had never known before tore through me as I realized that I had a hand in stripping her of her confidence. My stupid actions chipped away, robbing Nikki of one of her most endearing characteristics. She peered up at me for a moment, probably hoping I’d break the ice.

  “There’s a coffee shop across the street why don’t we go grab a cup of coffee and talk,” I suggested. I didn’t want to bring her into the club to have this conversation because Rico was there. My jaw clenched just thinking of him and the fucking picture he painted for me when he told me about his morning rendezvous with my girl. The idea of his hands on her made me want to throttle him.

  “Okay,” she said turning around without glancing at me. Great. I hope the coffee shop served Sambuca with their espresso. I’d order a double.

  We sat across from one another in silence. I sipped my cappuccino while Mikey downed two shots of espresso. This was just as painfully awkward as I imagined it would be. I watched as he nervously tapped his foot against the tile floor his eyes roamed the coffee shop staring at anything but me. He had called me relentlessly throughout the day and now here I was sitting in front of him and he had nothing to say. I pushed my mug away from me grabbing his attention as the saucer screeched along the old table. I lifted my eyes to meet him and looked at him expectantly.