Reason and Romance (River Valley Book 1)

by Jenn Young

“Maybe,” she said coolly, “but we’ll hate them right back.”

  They got some more beer from the awestruck kids manning the kegs. Since she hadn’t touched her first drink, she drained this one.

  “You’re now the talk of the party. Impressive.”

  The new voice at her elbow made Adrian turn. She wasn’t short, but even with the strappy sandals she had on, the blonde towered above her by a few inches.

  A bright pink blossom poked from behind the girl’s ear, but it was no less bright than the avid curiosity shining in the teakwood brown eyes. Her hair was a wavy cascade of blond curls that spilled down her almost naked back. She’d worn a turquoise halter and a floral miniskirt that showed off her long legs. The colors should have clashed, but she pulled them off with a fashionable aplomb.

  Dozens of bracelets tinkled around her wrists as she thrust one hand at Adrian. “Vaughn Mackintosh at your service,” she said.

  Her face was vaguely familiar. “You’re that girl who pulled her cell phone out when I did my little essay,” Adrian said.

  Vaughn dropped her hand. “Guilty as charged.” Instead of being intimidated by Adrian’s lack of enthusiasm, she only grinned. Even her eyes were twinkling. “Fair warning, I’m one of the school gossips.” A demure expression set in. “Some call me the school grapevine.”

  “And you call me the bitch queen.”

  “No, honey, I just call you a good piece of gossip.”

  “Oh, I’m not done yet. I’m going to misbehave.”

  Vaughn chuckled. “Then, by all means, don’t let me stop you.”

  She stepped back from Adrian with a grand, sweeping flourish. Her grin was wide and appreciative, and Adrian passed her without a second glance. She’d known too many people like Vaughn who pretended to be friendly, but once they got the wind of juicy gossip, you were out in the cold. Even now, there were still too many people who remembered Marissa Blake and who recounted her misdeeds with relish.

  Just a part of the legacy you left us, Mother …

  “I want a drink,” she told one of the guys at the kegs. “Better yet, make it two.”

  “You okay?” Travis said when she tossed the drinks back. He’d kept quiet when Vaughn had approached her, but now he was at her side. “You look weird.”

  She linked arms with him. “I’m fine. Come on, introduce me to more people.”

  The next hour seemed to blur as he took her over to his friends. They greeted her with a chorus of “Dude, that was awesome!” Only earlier that day, they’d avoided her in school.

  One of them handed her a drink. Not beer, as she’d initially thought, but the vodka felt good as it burned her throat.

  A guy approached her shyly. He had another beer in hand that she took from him. “Hey, you said you wanted me to give you drinks,” he said, and Adrian recognized him as the guy who’d blushed when she’d flirted with him over the kegs. “Um … you want to dance?”

  “Why not?” she said.

  She slithered over him. Her hands were everywhere as she practically ravaged him on the grass, and every time he tried to pull her close, she twisted out of his grip. He couldn’t have her—she was untouchable tonight. Nothing could hurt her, not even the onlookers’ increasing scrutiny and the whispers. Only Jason could hurt her, and he was gone.

  You want to know where I am, Jason? I’m at a party right now. I’m going to screw someone’s brains out, and I’ll enjoy every fucking minute of it.

  Another guy cut in, and she went with him. The music worked its magic on her, and she writhed to the beat she felt in her veins. Her fury spiraled out of control as she switched partners. All of a sudden, there seemed to be guys crowding her, trying to get their turn, but whatever, they’d all have to wait because she wasn’t going to pick just one. When she signaled for another drink, someone gave her hard liquor. Good.

  Sometime during one of the songs, she realized no one else was dancing, just her and her current partner. She’d vanquished all the other people because they were now on the sidelines and eyeing her. Oh yes, it was her show now.

  Burn baby burn.

  She slammed against Justin Latimer who’d shoved the guy away. “You should take a break, Adrian,” he said, the words echoing in and out of her consciousness. “I think you’ve had enough. Why don’t you go home?”

  “What time is it?” she said. “Never mind, I don’t want to leave. Why don’t you keep me company?” She trailed a finger down his chest.

  A flush set in his cheeks. “Where’s Travis? He gave you a ride, right?”

  She couldn’t help but smile at his discomfort. “Mm. You want to give me a ride?” Just to make sure he didn’t misinterpret her meaning, she leaned against his shoulder.

  He cleared his throat. “I’ll drop you off at home. Come on.”

  She almost collapsed when she tried to take a step. Such a gentleman. Why hadn’t Jason been one? He’d promised that they wouldn’t break up, just because she was stuck in the desert. No, he’d just dumped her for another girl. What the hell had she ever seen in him anyway? Was her judgment really that flawed? It was a frightening thought. Three years with the same guy, and she’d never suspected he was capable of cheating.

  “Whoa!” Justin said, holding her up. “Lean on me.”

  He scooped up her shoes and escorted her personally. It was a good thing because her legs were like rubber. It was as if the music had fueled her dancing, but now that someone had changed the tune, it wasn’t the same anymore. She closed her eyes and clung to him as he half-dragged and half-walked her.

  Travis materialized out of the crowd. “Dude! I can take her home.”

  Justin frowned. “Are you sure? How much have you had to drink?”

  “Only a few beers. And maybe some of that hard liquor they were passing out like candy. I can’t remember.”

  Justin shook his head and flagged down someone behind Adrian. “Stay right where you are, both of you.” He disengaged himself from her and hurried off.

  Grant Darlington closed in, presumably to watch them during Justin’s absence. For such a tall and muscular guy, he could move like a ghost because she hadn’t heard him approach. Come to think of it, she’d never even heard him speak in class.

  He was speaking now. “You should be more careful, Adrian.”

  It was a speech so surprising that she stared at him. She’d never gotten the impression that he gave a damn about her. He was the quietest of Alex’s lieutenants and, as she stared into those coolly implacable ice blue eyes, perhaps the most intimidating.

  “Oh, I know what I’m doing,” she said.

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Grant muttered. “Heads up. They’re coming.”

  Justin returned with people. Quentin was hanging onto Alex’s shoulder, stumbling and laughing. Alex was far quieter, but he didn’t seem drunk. Mandy was nowhere to be seen, and Adrian nursed the irrational hope that she’d somehow tripped into a dumpster.

  “Look at the shape she’s in,” Justin whispered, but she could still hear him. “We’ve got to get her home. Someone has to drive Cates too.”

  Quentin just laughed. “She can come home with me anytime.”

  Grant rolled his eyes. “Fuck off, Q. Someone has to drive you too. You’re wasted.”

  A sullen Bri Latimer attached herself to the group. The smile she wore could only be described as a sneer. “Why do we have to worry about Cates?” she said. “Just let one of his loser friends take care of him.”

  Travis’s blue eyes opened wide. “Hey! I don’t like you!”

  Grant cut in before Bri could fire back a retort. “Never mind,” he said brusquely. “I’ll take Cates, but someone has to drive his car. Justin, you do it and I’ll drop you off after. Quentin, you can go with Bri—”

  “I’ll help Bri out,” Vaughn Mackintosh said. She had seemingly popped out of nowhere. “Don’t worry about Quentin or his car. We’ll get him home.” Her smiling gaze fell upon Adrian. “Alex, why don’t you take Adrian home?
You guys live together.”

  There was such mischief in her eyes that Adrian stirred uneasily. Someone should be protesting this plan because she didn’t want to go home with Alex.

  Alex shrugged. “Yeah, I’ll take her. Let’s go.”

  It was actually Justin who helped her to Alex’s car. He put a hand on the back of her head to make sure she didn’t hit her head while getting in. He put on the seatbelt for her, and if Bri hadn’t dragged him off, he might even have climbed inside the car.

  “You’ve got yourself an admirer,” Alex murmured as he started the engine. “How many drinks did you have anyway?”

  She closed her eyes against the street lights. “Does it matter?”

  “I didn’t think you were the drinking type.”

  “Why?”

  She had her eyes closed, but she could still hear the smile in his voice. “I had the distinct impression you were a prude, Adrian.”

  “Oh, there’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

  Such as the fact that Jason had dumped her. Or that she was the daughter of a woman who’d cheated on her husband and left her kids to fend for themselves. Or that she was so, so desperately lonely she couldn’t stand it anymore.

  Jason had helped with that loneliness part, though. He’d held her close and sometimes when they had sex, she could lose herself. No more feeling, no more thinking. She could just let everything go, so caught up was she in the fevered sensations between them. But that hadn’t always happened every time. She’d had to fake enthusiasm, so he wouldn’t get his feelings hurt, but in the last few weeks before she’d left for Arizona, she hadn’t been in the mood.

  “You never really let me touch you. I had to beg you for sex! That’s just not normal, Adrian. You don’t make me feel like a guy.”

  Her jaw tightened. Oh, she could just imagine him cozying up to Stephanie Frost and calling her sweetheart. They were probably in bed right now, this very minute, laughing about how they’d put one over her. Jesus, her old school probably pitied her. They’d left many online comments for her, but she hadn’t been able to read them.

  “Like what?” Alex said.

  His voice startled her out of her reverie. “Excuse me?”

  Now that she had her eyes open, she could sense his sideways glance. “You said I didn’t know a lot about you,” he clarified.

  The car stopped at a red light, and Adrian studied him covertly under her lashes. Was he actually trying to attempt a conversation?

  “I know you can dance,” he continued, apparently not bothered by her silence. “And I know you like Nazis.”

  That last comment made her laugh. “Not true.”

  Still smiling, she half-closed her eyes. Some of the tension had gone out of her shoulders. If she wasn’t mistaken, he’d just made a joke.

  He really was gorgeous. It was too bad that he was—

  Alex stepped on the accelerator, and Adrian dug her nails into her palms. Wasn’t that what had teased her consciousness all night long? Even now she was partly tense because she was in the car with him. Hadn’t she tried to stay away from him at the party? Hadn’t she finally given in and approached him? And hadn’t she tried to flirt with him?

  No, she was wrong. She had to be.

  “Alex?” she said suddenly.

  “Yeah?”

  It was as if the next few seconds had slowed down because, even though she knew what she was going to do, she couldn’t stop herself.

  What are you doing, Adrian? No, oh no.

  She leaned over and put her hand on his knee. Alex shot her an unfathomable look, one she couldn’t read, before returning his gaze to the road. With a boldness partly fueled by anger and alcohol, she gently slid her hand up from his knee to his thigh where she let it rest.

  “You’re drunk. And on my side of the car,” he said.

  She didn’t remove her hand. “Then kick me out.”

  “Don’t tempt me.”

  His voice was curt, but instead of tucking her tail between her legs, Adrian stared at him, not bothering to be covert about it. He had watched her the whole time she’d danced with Justin, hadn’t he? And he’d smiled at her. Maybe she was a little inexperienced because she’d had only one major relationship, but she didn’t think she was stupid.

  “You find me attractive,” she said bluntly.

  It was a heady thought, one she hadn’t really let herself examine before. She’d been with Jason, and she’d honored that to the best of her abilities, but now that she was free of him—unshackled of him—she could think.

  “Is that a question or a statement, Adrian? Is this even a conversation you really want to have with me right now?”

  If that wasn’t a yes, she didn’t know what was.

  She undid her seatbelt and moved closer to him. There wasn’t much room in the car, but she held onto his headrest, so that her mouth brushed his earlobe.

  “It’s just the truth, Alex,” she whispered.

  His aftershave teased her senses. It wasn’t the same one Jason used, and that was good. Emboldened, she ran her fingers across Alex’s cheekbones, dipping along his chin and jawline.

  So different …

  He caught her wrist. “Stop it, Adrian.”

  She sat back on her heels. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about what Mandy thinks.”

  “We have an on-and-off relationship, so we’re not really a couple, but you have a boyfriend, don’t you? Or am I wrong?”

  He was still driving, but just for one or two seconds, he turned his head. Those disconcerting green eyes saw too much. She wasn’t about to explain the breakup and what had prompted it. Alex hadn’t liked Jason—oh yes, she’d realized that—and he wouldn’t offer any sympathy. What’s worse, she would look pathetic.

  So she leaned over and trailed a line of kisses along his earlobe, his cheek, and his jawline. It was the only thing she could think of, and then it was the only thing. His aftershave enveloped her senses and she breathed in the scent of him.

  I’m just drunk, that’s all. There’s no harm in it, no harm …

  Suddenly desperate for more, she tugged on his shirt. It had been so long since she’d actually touched someone and meant it. The last few times with Jason, she’d pretended because it was always so much easier that way. But this? There was no pretense with Alex.

  She couldn’t pull his shirt off, but her fingers played across his abs. Again, so different from Jason that she marveled anew. Her lips found Alex’s earlobe and then just the side of his mouth, as he turned his head away. He shrugged her off, but since he was driving, he couldn’t push her away entirely.

  “This isn’t a game you want to play, Adrian.”

  “Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”

  “We’re family.”

  “Bullshit!”

  His smile was almost like an explosion in the darkness. “Not yet, but my mother’s going to marry your father.”

  He does have a point, her conscience whispered. A good one.

  For a brief, shining moment she saw her father’s image in her mind’s eye. What would he say if he knew what she was doing now? Actually, he wouldn’t say anything because he would just have a heart attack on the spot. He probably suspected she’d had sex with Jason, but he had never, ever brought up the subject.

  Frowning, she retreated to her side of the car. She thought she heard Alex sigh in relief, but when she shot a swift glance at him, he had his eyes on the road.

  They didn’t speak until he pulled into the driveway. All lights were off, so everyone including the adults must have gone to bed.

  Alex got out of the car while Adrian fumbled for her forgotten shoes. Justin had put them somewhere, but damned if she could find them. She was still looking for them when Alex came around to her side and opened the door.

  “Come on,” he said.

  He grabbed her shoes and wrapped his arm around her waist. She leaned on him as she stumbled into the house.

  Her bedroom was clo
ser, so he stopped by her door and disengaged himself. “Why don’t you hit the shower? You take the one here, and I’ll take the one upstairs. Pop some aspirin when you’re done. It’ll help with the hangover in the morning.”

  She groped at the wall, inching her way to the bathroom. It was, luckily, right next to her bedroom. He was gone before she even made it to the shower.

  The bathroom lights were harsh, and she winced and threw up a hand. Then the coldness set in so deep that she was shaking by the time she untied her halter. Had she just tried to … what the hell had she tried to do with Alex?

  Her fingers clumsy, she let the halter fall to the floor. She undressed and stepped into the shower. The hot water pounded on her naked back and pounded the misery out of her. She reached mechanically for the shampoo bottle. It was slippery in her fingers, and she clutched it to her breasts like a trophy. What was the use?

  She slid down to the shower floor and rested her head on her knees. The tears didn’t come, but that was nothing new. Ever since she was little, she’d always had a hard time crying. Yet another part of the legacy her mother had left her.

  Maybe that was the cruelest thing Jason had done. He’d hurt her and made her lose control, and that, more than anything, she couldn’t forgive. She’d shed tears for him, back in that grocery store parking lot. Oh, Jason had played it well: he’d claimed to love her.

  Liar! If you loved me, you wouldn’t leave me!

  She didn’t know who she screamed it at. Jason, her mother, her father … they were all the same, weren’t they? Her skin pruned under the incessant assault of hot water, but her heart was empty and cold. When the water cooled, she finally got up, using the wall as her guide. After she’d finished washing and scrubbing, she stepped outside the shower. She toweled herself off and rubbed her hair dry.

  When she stared at the mirror, her eyes were feverish and bright. She looked as if someone had slapped her. Those eyes belonged to a stranger: sad and lonely. Was this what Alex had seen? Was it the reason he’d turned her down?

  She breathed in and out deeply. Then she scrubbed her face free of all makeup and used her toothbrush. Her mouth still felt cottony, so she used some mint-flavored mouthwash. Remembering Alex’s advice, she downed some aspirin that she found in the cabinet. She put her bathrobe on, gathered her clothes, and left.