Craved by a Stranger (Craved Series #1)

by Hazel Kelly

  “But we used to be such a good team.”

  “More for you,” I said. “Your chances are better with me on the sidelines anyway.”

  “What are you? A lady boy? Are you taking girly pills or something?! Sick of meaningless sex?!”

  I shrugged.

  “I feel like I don’t know you anymore!”

  “It’s not that crazy,” I said. “I’m just ready for something new. Like what Lucky has, ya know? Someone to share my days with.”

  “And your nights.”

  “Ideally, yeah,” I said. “I want the kind of relationships that I hope the girls in my class will find.”

  Jin laughed. “Sammy told me today’s lesson was about sucking balls.”

  “So?”

  “I don’t think girls who do that are the same kind of girls that want serious relationships.”

  I tilted the glass down my throat and exhaled as I set it down on the table. “A guy can dream though, Jin. A guy can dream.”

  “If you find a girl like that, see if she has a sister for me.”

  “Deal,” I said, wrapping my hand around my beer and thinking that whatever I didn’t drink in the next five minutes would probably start to boil in the heat.

  “You want to come by the bar tonight?” Jin asked. “I’m doing a special happy hour to celebrate Lucky’s big news.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  He nodded.

  “That sounds like fun.”

  “Free drinks for you all night.”

  I laughed. “I thought it was a special occasion.”

  “It is.”

  “I don’t know. I’m going paddle boarding first thing tomorrow morning.”

  “Drop in for one or two,” he said, smiling.

  “Yeah, right.”

  “Please,” he said. “It would mean a lot to me.”

  “Fine.” I leaned back in my chair “But I can’t stay late. I still haven’t recovered from that terrible club you took me to last weekend.”

  “I thought you said you liked it?”

  “I did at the time,” I said. “Just not the next day and every day since.”

  “It’s cause you mix your drinks,” Jin said, eyeing the sweating beer beside my whiskey. “If you stick with whiskey all night you’ll never get a hangover.”

  I shook my head. I suspected the ratio of Coke to whiskey in Jin’s drinks was the real reason he could bounce back so well, especially since he was a whippet compared to me. But I stood nothing to gain by calling him out.

  Plus, he was right in a way. It was my fault that overdid it. And it wasn’t the only time recently that I had. But it was boredom more than anything. Life as a beach bum in Thailand was actually becoming a little too samey for me.

  Normally I treated my body like a temple… and not just cause I loved seeing other tourist’s jaws drop when they saw me working out in the oppressive heat.

  But lately I’d been getting lazy and letting Jin peer pressure me into drinking more than I should. I guess part of me hoped it might make the places we went and the people we met seem newer and more exciting.

  But it was time to rein it in and return to my default self-discipline.

  Because drinking too much was the last thing I wanted to do.

  Chapter 6: Audrey

  I continued applying my sunscreen while Megan modeled her sarong in the mirror, trying different methods of tying it and checking how much she could see through to her bikini depending on her layering strategy.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to at least put the strong sunscreen on your face?” I asked, rubbing some into my cheeks.

  “Positive,” she said, shaking her head. “I’ll never get any color with that stuff on.”

  “Maybe not, but the only color I seem to be getting without it is red,” I said, moving on to my arms.

  “You’ll be fine as long as you don’t burn so bad you peel. Then you’ll never turn brown.”

  I was way past hoping I would turn brown. In fact, my biggest hope was that I wouldn’t bring skin cancer home along with the cheap trinkets I’d be getting for everyone else. “Ya know,” I said, admiring the attractive mocha shade she’d turned with no effort, “with each passing day I’m becoming more and more convinced that you only brought me along to make you look good.”

  Megan laughed. “Why would I go to all that trouble twisting your arm when I have this sarong to make me look good?”

  “True.”

  “Not that it matters.”

  I rolled my eyes. “No shit.”

  “I said I was sorry,” she said, dropping her shoulders.

  As it turned out, instead of being a playground for young, open minded and spread legged backpackers, the resort was packed with middle aged male sex tourists looking for cheap Thai thrills. The majority of the guests we’d spotted so far were about as tempting as crusty old raisins and didn’t look much different.

  “And I forgave you,” I said. “Plus, it’s probably for the best.”

  “How do you figure?” she asked, looking at me through the mirror.

  “Well, meaningless sex with other lost and searching travelers is probably the last thing I need right now,” I said, putting one foot on the bed so I could squirt some lotion on my thigh. “And you have Max so you don’t need to be tempted.”

  “No I don’t.”

  “Right so-”

  “No,” she said. “What I mean is, I don’t have Max.”

  I stopped rubbing my leg and looked at her. “What?”

  She turned towards me. “We broke up.”

  “Oh my god.” I dropped my raised leg to the floor. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I thought we would get back together,” Megan said, her eyes watering as she sat on the edge of the bed. “I didn’t think he meant it.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said. “I thought after six years…” I didn’t finish the thought.

  She shrugged. “Me too.”

  I sat down next to her. “I’m so sorry.”

  She looked down at her lap. “That’s why I was pushing this trip so hard.”

  “Cause you needed to get away, too.”

  Megan nodded.

  “Did he say why?” I asked, putting an arm around her hunched shoulders.

  “He said he was bored.”

  “Bored?”

  “But I think there was someone else,” she said, turning her head towards me.

  “What makes you think that?”

  “All the signs were there, Audrey. I’m not an idiot.” She dabbed the corners of her eyes with the turquoise sarong.

  “What signs?”

  “Okay- maybe not signs,” she said. “But I knew something was wrong. Women’s intuition or something. I don’t know.”

  I nodded.

  “Plus, it was too easy for him to leave. He must’ve had somewhere to go. He must’ve.”

  I shook my head. I’d never seen her look so shrunken and defeated.

  “He never would’ve left if he didn’t have something else lined up. He’s too lazy.”

  “I’m so sorry, Megs,” I said, deciding not to mention that he was in fact the laziest guy I’d ever met. Not that I didn’t like him. They always seemed comfortable together in a way I envied, but maybe I’d confused comfortable with happy. Maybe Megan had, too.

  “I don’t even know who I am without him,” she said. “I mean, six years, Audrey! Six! Probably my six best.”

  “I don’t know. Your 2008 was pretty good.”

  She laughed and rubbed her eyes.

  “Besides, in another six years, I’m sure you’ll feel differently.”

  “Logically I know that,” she said, resting her hands on her knees. “But it just seems like such a waste.”

  I nodded and squeezed her bare shoulder.

  “It’s just hard because I thought after all this time-” She sighed. “And after everything we’ve been through.” She shook her head. “I thought he was The One, ya know?”
>
  “Yeah.”

  “I’ve been helping him pay his student loans for fuck’s sake.” She pressed the heels of her hand into her eye sockets.

  “Shit.”

  “Am I a complete tool or what?”

  I opened my mouth to-

  “You don’t have to answer that,” she said. “I know I am.”

  “I don’t know if this is what you want to hear,” I said. “But maybe you dodged a bullet.”

  She ran her hair through her thick curls and gave them a shake. “I just don’t understand why I couldn’t see what a mooch he was before? What the hell is wrong with me?”

  I shrugged. “Love is blind.”

  “And stupid and naïve apparently.”

  “At least you learned something.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, if a guy tries to take advantage of you in the future, you might realize what’s happening before you waste your time.”

  “Maybe,” she said. “But life experience is overrated. I think I’d rather have a boyfriend.”

  “Tell me about it. I’ve been dating the biggest string of users-”

  “Losers,” she corrected.

  “Who’ve left me none the wiser or better off.”

  She nodded.

  “So as fucked up as it sounds,” I said. “I think Max did you a big favor by leaving.”

  She laughed. “I would’ve happily settled for him washing the occasional dirty dish, but I suppose you’re right.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I’m pretty sure I am. In fact, I’ve always felt much more secure in my understanding of your love life than I have my own.”

  She shook her head. “Isn’t that always the way?”

  “Thanks for telling me.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Eventually.”

  “Sorry,” she said. “It’s not like I’m thrilled about it. To be honest, I think I was in denial for a while.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “Plus, you have enough of your plate.”

  I definitely did, but it still killed me that my best friend would have a broken heart and not tell me. “Megan,” I said, turning towards her.

  “What?”

  “Can we get one thing straight right now? For the record?”

  “Yeah.”

  “There is no time I’m more eager to hear other people’s bad news than when my life is a shitstorm.”

  She laughed. “Okay.”

  “And even if my life was so amazing that your imagination would break if you could properly conceive of all my good fortune-”

  “Yeah?”

  “Don’t ever not tell me something like that again, okay?”

  She smiled. “Okay.”

  “Good.”

  “Audrey?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I know this might sound stupid-”

  I raised my eyebrows.

  “But I’m worried I don’t know how to be single anymore.”

  I shook my head. “Now you’re just being ridiculous,” I said, standing up. “You’re the most naturally flirtatious person I’ve ever met. Men fall for you everywhere we go. I’m sure the next eligible bachelor you meet will be more than happy to remind you about the joys of single-dom.”

  “I want to believe that.”

  “So believe it,” I said. “And sit up and stop feeling sorry for yourself. It’s not helping your cause.”

  Megan looked up, taken aback by the sudden change in my tone, but I couldn’t allow her to sulk. She was supposed to be having a good time, and now that I understood how badly she needed to, I wasn’t going to cohost a pity party.

  “Besides,” I said. “You’re not even really single. You never will be.” I checked that the sunscreen was properly closed and dropped it in the beach bag. “After all, I’m never going to break up with you. Ever.”

  Megan forced a smile and took a deep breath.

  “You’re stuck with me, and you promised me a good time,” I said, stuffing two folded towels in the bag. “And we didn’t come all this way to feel sorry for ourselves. We can do that at home.”

  Megan laughed.

  “I’m sure there are some sad, flabby people on the beach who can lift our spirits and give us some healthy perspective.”

  “Same as yesterday then?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I’ll meet you on the beach in five.”

  Megan left to get two Cuba Libres while I finished packing the beach bag, double checking that I’d remembered the portable speaker, my iPod, some bottled water, and my sketchbook.

  Then I pulled my flowy cover up over my head, lifted the bag onto my shoulder, and left, closing the heavy teak door behind me.

  And once again, I passed several Buddha statues in various meditating poses, smiled at the fresh faced Thais standing at the front desk underneath an enormous picture of King Adulyadej, and walked out into the scorching heat with my head held high.

  Chapter 7: Jack

  There’s no silence like being alone in the ocean. It’s almost like a white noise that’s only otherwise available through meditation. Not that I’d ever meditated a day in my life, but that’s how I imagined it would be.

  The only sounds were the occasional yelp of a seagull overhead, the wind sailing past my ears, the subtle splash of water over the edge of my paddleboard, and the occasional squeak of my feet against its surface.

  I took a deep breath and let the salty wind clear the haziness from my head. I should’ve gone home earlier from the party last night, but a few of Jin’s cousins were in town and between the food and the drinks, it was hard to pull myself away.

  The important thing was that I managed to get up and get out here. I knew I would feel better for it. Being far away was one thing, but feeling far away was what always gave me the best perspective.

  In the distance, I could see the beach was alive with tourists eager to catch the sun before it became unbearable. Meanwhile, locals dragged their jet skis to the water’s edge so they would be ready to drag groups of Thai kids back and forth behind them on giant inflatable bananas as soon as their parents were ready to start hitting the rum and reaching in their pockets.

  But I could only see those things because I knew this strip of beach so well. Anyone else wouldn’t be able to differentiate it from any other beach with a shit load of colored umbrellas.

  Sometimes when I spent my mornings out here, I liked to pretend the beach was full of American girls- maybe a few Scandanavians, too- all looking forward to my arrival, desperate to have a roll in the sand with me. Of course, the sand was too hot for that. I’d have to take them back to my place to oblige, and once we worked up an appetite, I’d have to run downstairs to 7-11 and get toasted cheese sandwiches and iced teas so they would have the strength to go at it again in the cruel heat.

  Unfortunately, I knew better. Once I reached the beach, I wouldn’t be greeted by sexy Westerners with accents that made me feel at home. Instead, I’d be greeted by fat Germans, who wouldn’t know proper beach chair etiquette if it was sign posted in their native tongue, and Thai families that didn’t know me from Adam.

  But something about the bright sun on my back and the sparkling, slow waves made me feel optimistic, like today was the day my luck might change.

  And it couldn’t happen at a better time because I was getting pretty backed up. If I didn’t stick my dick in something soon, I was going to go crazy. It had been weeks since I’d gotten laid and even though it was a purely self-inflicted situation, that didn’t mean I was happy with it.

  In fact, I’d almost given into Nina’s advances last night which just shows how bad I needed to get some. Because although her persistence was admirable and her tits were substantial compared to the average Thai’s, she was Jin’s head bartender, and that would be shitting where I eat in a way I wasn’t prepared to.

  Plus, even though Jin wouldn’t admit it, I knew he had a crush on her.

  Of course, that had no effect what
soever on the filth that was coming out of her mouth last night. At one point, she pressed an ice cube against the back of my neck and suggested I celebrate Lucky’s marriage by letting her marry her mouth to my dick. She even went so far as to say she could show me things in the bedroom that I’d never imagined.

  And there was no denying she’d piqued my interest. How could I not be curious? But I didn’t want to have kinky Bangkok sex with Nina. I wanted to have some vanilla sex with a girl who wouldn’t dream of sticking anything besides a dick in her vagina… though I’d make an exception for a vibrator since I was looking for a girl who liked sex as much as I did.