The Plus One (Starting From Zero Book 3) Page 5

  Maybe that was why he always tagged along. Their lovely little threesome was Drew’s masochistic way of ensuring that his best friends couldn’t be alone together, at least not all the time.

  Well played. He’d swapped out one form of torture for another. At times he wondered which was worse, imaging them having sex, or watching them flirt in front of him?

  He knew the answer. Imagining them together was always worse. And he could only hope Jessie was experiencing that same torment now.

  Judging by the way Jessie’s nostrils flared and his lips pressed together, Drew would guess he’d hit the mark.

  Revel in that image for a minute, old friend. See what it’s like to be the loser on the sidelines for once.

  Jessie recovered quickly, he’d give him that. Finally turning away from the sight of his fiancée and former flame chatting it up at the bar, he faced Drew with a smug smile.

  He’d always known Jessie was an arrogant ass, but somehow he’d been able to overlook the fact when they’d been friends. Now he couldn’t imagine how he’d lived with the guy for four years without punching that smirk off his conceited, preppy face.

  “We’ll see how long that lasts, eh?” Jessie said, not even trying to hide his disdain and mockery.

  Drew took a swig of his drink, pulling a drunken grin as if he didn’t have a care in the world. As if those words didn’t cut open the old wound that just wouldn’t heal.

  Once again the true meaning was in the subtext. Jessie didn’t think Drew was good enough for Livvy and never had. He’d hidden his thoughts well enough…right up until that last confrontation. Back in their dorm room, shortly after the karaoke incident, the proverbial shit had finally hit the fan.

  Jessie had been livid. And maybe rightfully so. He’d been an ass that night. It was the greatest mistake of his life. For nearly four years he’d kept his feelings to himself. He’d done his very best to move on, find a woman who wanted him back.

  But no one he’d dated measured up and he’d found himself in a series of meaningless sexual relationships. Not that he was complaining, necessarily. He’d had a good time. But he’d never gotten what he’d really wanted. No one had replaced Livvy as his dream girl.

  He’d never forget the sneer Jessie had worn when he’d returned to their room later that night. Drew was already humiliated. Mortified. Worse, he’d been heartbroken. He’d basically told her exactly how he felt—okay, he’d sung his feelings to a cheesy eighties song, but she’d known. He’d seen her comprehension.

  Oh sure, you were sober enough to see her dawning understanding but not together enough to stop the fucking song.

  He waved off the mocking voice. It was ancient history. He looked over at Jessie, who was wearing a smile that was eerily similar to the sneer he’d worn that night. Or maybe it wasn’t ancient history. Hell, maybe it wasn’t history at all. Here they were, on opposites sides of an invisible battleground named Olivia.

  Back then Drew had fired first. He’d found out about Jessie and Camille—that had been the catalyst for the drunken karaoke disaster. He’d been so pissed when he’d learned the truth, he’d gone out and gotten wasted on his own. By the time he’d met up with his friends he’d been convinced that he’d been wrong all along. That he was better for Livvy and that maybe, just maybe, she’d see that if he found a way to tell her.

  And yes, in hindsight he could see that singing his feelings—badly, drunkenly, and in front of a large group of people—was not the best way to express said feelings.

  But he’d done it. And then he’d had to face the consequences. Liv’s rejections followed by Jessie’s anger. Jessie had been humiliated and betrayed by Drew’s behavior. That’s what he’d said. Humiliated and betrayed. As if he was the victim in this scenario.

  Drew hadn’t been able to stand his hypocrisy any longer so he’d called him out on it, confronting him with what he’d learned about his affair with Camille.

  The asshole hadn’t even tried to deny it. He’d brushed off Drew’s anger on Livvy’s behalf. Hell, on his own behalf. He’d stepped aside so Jessie could be her freakin’ Prince Charming. The doctor and the lawyer. The homecoming king and his queen. They were the perfect couple and that’s what he’d wanted for her. Perfection. But Jessie’s expression had said it all. He wasn’t sorry. He didn’t feel regret—except maybe at having been caught. That was when Drew saw his supposed friend clearly for the very first time.

  Jessie was an entitled, selfish ass. Oh sure, he might have had his shit together. No one could deny that he had potential. Brains, charm, good looks. He had it all. But Jessie clearly thought he was God’s gift to women and that he could do whatever he pleased.

  Drew wasn’t having it. He’d made a threat—you tell Livvy or I will. Bang. The first shot was fired. Let the battle begin.

  In true Jessie style, he’d gone on the offensive, laughing humorlessly at the threat. “What, do you really think you stand a chance with her? You do, don’t you? You think that if I’m out of the picture, you’ll stand a chance.”

  Drew would never forget his former friend’s laughter. It had cut through him like a blade to the gut. For the first time it was clear how Jessie saw him. As the go-nowhere loser of the group. He drank too much, came from a poor, dysfunctional family. Worst of all, he had no ambition. Except to play music, but that didn’t amount to much in Jessie’s world.

  Which was Olivia’s world too.

  That night in that room, he’d seen it all so clearly. Of course she’d chosen Jessie. She’d seen from the very first that he was her equal in the eyes of the rest of the world. They were both overachievers, both came from “good” families with all the money and privilege that entailed.

  Jessie had been right. He’d never stood a chance.

  He pulled himself back from those thoughts. It was pointless to stew over this again. He’d lived, he’d learned. He chose to no longer pine over an emotionally unavailable woman. He’d cut Jessie and Livvy out of his life and hadn’t looked back.

  Until tonight. Until now.

  All thanks to Livvy and whatever ridiculous scheme she’d dragged him into.

  He turned to Jessie, still feigning a nonchalance he didn’t feel. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

  At Jessie’s look of irritation, he reminded his former friend. “Camille said we needed to talk. About what?”

  Jessie rolled his eyes up to the ceiling and Drew almost laughed. Almost. He’d bet his next paycheck that Jessie had been dragged here against his will to make nice. Camille wanted to slap a happy sticker on everything and there was no way she’d allow her big day to be ruined by some old, petty bullshit.

  Especially if that old, petty bullshit boiled down to the fact that he and her fiancé had gotten into a fight over a woman. A woman who wasn’t Camille.

  Camille must hate that.

  “She thinks we should all be friends.” The disgust in Jessie’s voice spoke for itself. He didn’t want to be friends with Drew any more than he wanted to friends with Jessie.

  “That sounds peachy.” Drew drained the last of his drink. This was surely a special form of torture. History was haunting him. But these days he didn’t have to take this shit.

  “Look, if you don’t like seeing me and Olivia together, I could skip the wedding.” Not laughing was a struggle. Jessie’s face turned an unattractive splotchy red. He was pissed, jealous, and humiliated at the thought of being pissed and jealous because of a loser like Drew.

  Jessie’s shrug looked forced. “Why would I mind? I’m with Camille now. We’re getting married, if you haven’t heard.”

  As far as comebacks went, it was a flop. Jessie was losing his shit. Drew couldn’t stop himself from taunting him further. “Good. Glad to hear you’re just as happy for me and Livvy as we are for you and your girl.”

  Jessie nodded but his jaw was clenched tight.

  Jesus, it must have been killing him. Jessie wasn’t a complicated sort. Once Drew saw him clearly in all h
is ugly, selfish glory, he became appallingly easy to read. Jessie wanted it all. He wanted Camille, sure, but he also wanted Livvy.

  And if he couldn’t have her then he sure as hell didn’t want Drew to have her.

  The her in question was headed back their way. Though she was slightly taller than Camille, it looked like she was forcibly being dragged back to them.

  Was it wrong that Drew derived some sick satisfaction at her discomfort?

  Maybe.

  But after all this time, none of his anger had abated. He’d loved this woman, goddamnit, and she hadn’t even given him a chance. She would never have given him a chance because he didn’t fit into her idea of the perfect man. Not like Jessie.

  He watched her gaze flit to Jessie with uncertainty as they drew near. The look she gave him was nothing short of pissed. Even after everything the three of them had gone through, she was still choosing the wrong guy.

  In that moment he wanted to make her pay just as badly as Jessie. Not because she was a selfish prick like her ex but because she’d rejected him. Was still rejecting him every time she looked his way with that irritated gaze. As if it was his fault she was in this mess. No, it had nothing to do with him. The only reason she was here was because she’d used his former feelings for her to make Jessie jealous.

  Time for payback.

  He could expose her lie and leave her to face the embarrassment. But no. That didn’t sit right. The idea of her squirming under the critical eye of Camille made him twitch. Besides, that would only prove to Jessie that she was still into him, which was exactly what Jessie wanted.

  There was no way he’d give the selfish ass anything he wanted.

  Camille started talking the moment they were in earshot. “So,” she called out. “Did you two kiss and make up?”

  He saw Livvy flinch at the other girl’s gauche remark.

  “Sure did.” Jessie spared him a withering glance before turning back to his fiancée with that slick, slimy smile of his.

  So Jessie wanted Camille to think they were hunkey-dory? Cool. He could do that. Livvy reached his side and he felt her stiffen when he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Anger shot through him. Fuck, they’d been friends for years, they’d always touched like this. Did she think he was so smitten with her that he couldn’t control himself?

  Camille was beaming at them, waiting for him to chime in. He looked from Livvy to Jessie and back again. “Yeah, we had a good talk. In fact, Jessie was just thanking me. Without me, you guys might never have gotten together.”

  Camille blanched and Jessie’s face turned to a cold, expressionless mask.

  He leaned forward and gave Camille a wink. “At least, not officially. Am I right?”

  She stared at him with wide eyes and a partially open mouth. For the first time since they’d met freshman year, Camille was speechless.

  Bonus.

  He looked down to see Livvy’s expression, fully expecting to see a blush of embarrassment or maybe a flicker of residual anger at the reminder of the way Jessie cheated on her. But she was looking up at him with…confusion.

  Ah fuck. The pieces fell into place with a click. She didn’t know that he’d been the reason Jessie confessed. What, had she really thought that douchebag had told her about Camille out of the goodness of his heart? That he’d seen the errors of his ways and wanted to come clean?

  He sighed as Livvy steeled her expression and forced a smile in Jessie’s direction. Yeah, that’s exactly how he’d sold it. Somehow Jessie had managed to come out of that situation covered in shit but smelling like roses.

  No wonder Drew had never stood a chance against him.

  Camille recovered quickly, threading her arm around Jessie’s. “Okay, well. That’s what we came for.” She seemed to be dragging him as well—holy shit, that girl was buff. She had to work with a trainer. Although, Jessie didn’t seem to be fighting as hard as Livvy; he was allowing himself to be dragged along behind her like a real life ball and chain.

  “We’re going to be an old married couple soon,” Camille joked awkwardly as they backed away. “We go to bed early these days.” She stroked Jessie’s hair in a familiar gesture as she gave him a swooning look, as if being an old married couple was the bee’s knees.

  Livvy was stiff as a board against his side. He tried to ignore the pang of sympathy. Shit, she didn’t deserve his pity. But even as he thought it, he felt his grip tighten in camaraderie.

  Fuck.

  Camille stopped suddenly, her face lighting up. “Oh, I almost forgot. We’ll see you next Friday, right?”

  She was looking to Livvy as if for confirmation.

  “Friday?” he muttered. What the hell was Friday?

  “The bach party,” Livvy said to him with forced enthusiasm. To Camille she replied, “Of course. I wouldn’t miss it.”

  Bach party? What the hell was that?

  Camille gave him a wide-eyed look of excitement that was so manic it made his head hurt. “Bach parties are the latest thing. It’s a combined bachelor and bachelorette party.” She beamed at him, showing all her teeth. “It’s co-ed. Fun, right?”

  Fun. Sure. He couldn’t bring himself to nod in agreement but he didn’t run screaming in the other direction so he considered it a diplomatic win.

  “You’re coming, too, right?” she asked.

  His first instinct was to say, “Hell to the no,” but he stopped himself. He’d come this far with the whole “we’re dating” thing and the fact that Livvy had said “I” instead of “we” made his decision for him. “We can’t wait.”

  Some of his true feelings must have come through despite his mediocre attempt to be pleasant. Camille’s smile faltered a bit and Jessie’s nostrils flared, but once again Camille barreled through the awkward situation with a chipper grin. “Great. We’ll see you then.”

  He made the mistake of looking down at Livvy as Camille was talking. Chirping, really. Jesus, that girl had a high-pitched voice.

  His chest constricted despite his brain’s reminder that he was not to feel sorry for her. That was easier said than done when her eyes were filled with barely concealed pain and her full lips were pressed together as though she was holding back tears.

  Anyone else might have been fooled by her enthusiastic tone and her forced smile but Drew knew her too well. She was suffering.

  Shit.

  Jessie and Camille were still watching them as if mesmerized by the sight of them together. As if hell had just frozen over because the great and powerful Olivia had deigned to date him.

  That only made what he had to do that much more obvious. Without stopping to think it through, he used the arm around her to guide her into him and lifted his other hand to tilt her chin up.

  He saw a flicker of confusion in her eyes before he closed the distance between them and kissed the hell out of her.

  Chapter Four

  Olivia’s brain failed her. All she could do was hold on for dear life as Drew’s lips moved over hers with a firm command that made her knees weak.

  His mouth was hot and tasted of whiskey. His arm tightened around her upper back and she found herself pressed against him. Or maybe she was pressing against him. His lips were hard and insistent, and she parted for him like it was the most natural thing in the world.

  Heat pooled in her lower belly as his tongue slipped inside and touched hers. Everything grew hot, her skin too sensitive.

  And then it was over. He raised his head after the brief kiss. Too brief. Far, far too brief.

  Wait, what was she thinking? He shouldn’t have been kissing her at all. It should never have happened in the first place.

  Her senses started to return as he pulled his head back further and met her gaze.

  She was clinging to him. Literally. Her hands were clenching his T-shirt as the tide of a sexual awareness threatened to drown her. Jesus, who knew Drew could kiss like that?

  Everyone, probably. She’d always known he was hot, and sexy, and far too charming
for his own good. She’d assumed that was how he got all the girls in college. But now she knew.

  All those girls had experienced his kisses. She couldn’t blame them for coming back for more. Hell, she was half tempted to beg him to continue. She might have if his eyes weren’t filled with so much…something. She couldn’t begin to name all the emotions she saw there. Anger, lust, amusement…surprise. Maybe he hadn’t realized the kiss would be like that either. Maybe it wasn’t like that with all the other girls….

  Her dazed train of thought was rudely interrupted by Camille’s shrill giggle. “Wow. I always knew you two belonged together.”

  What? Wait. What?! She turned to face a grinning Camille and Jessie. Oh shit, Jessie. He looked stricken, like she’d just smacked him across the face.

  Oh shit. Oh hell. Oh…awesome.

  There was no denying it. Despite the nagging guilt, the weird feeling that she’d just been caught cheating—which was ridiculous, she knew that—there was a little, undeniable flicker of satisfaction.

  Take that, asshole.

  The look on Jessie’s face was far from friendly. Livvy rather hated herself for it, but she loved that look. She loved the fact that he looked like he’d eaten something rotten.

  It wasn’t like she wanted him back. Of course she didn’t. He’d made his choice and she’d accepted that. But there was no denying that it felt good to know that he still cared, at least somewhat.

  When she looked back up at Drew she saw that the haze of emotions was gone. His gray eyes were cold and blank.

  She shivered despite the fact that it was hot outside and even hotter in the club. Maybe it was the sudden drop in her body’s temperature from scalding heat to frigid cold in the span of a heartbeat, thanks to Drew.

  He’d always been moody. Unpredictable to everyone…except her. But now even she was flummoxed by him. What the hell had that kiss meant? Why had he done it?

  One side of his mouth turned up in sardonic amusement and his gaze mocked her. To Jessie and Camille it probably looked like they were gazing longingly into one another’s eyes but up close, he was taunting her.