First Taste (The Lust List: Devon Stone #1) by Mira Bailee Page A

lurches me back to reality as Devon drops my feet into it with a splash. I shriek with surprise but immediately realize the throbbing in my feet is subsiding, and my shock turns into giggles. “You did not just do that!”
    He smiles back. “I figured that would help. Here, so you don’t feel as ridiculous.”
    Devon places his flip-flops next to my sandals and hitches up the legs of his jeans. Ladies and gentlemen, we have calves—muscular, tanned calves.
    He plunges his own feet in, and now his wet, left leg is right up against my right. I’m trying to keep from running my toes along his ankle, but it’s tempting.
    Devon leans back with his arms outstretched to hold his weight. A cruel move as his muscles tense, stretching out the sleeve of his shirt.
    “So…” I need a distraction. “I—uh—got my friend Maddie a job working the party too. She’s my roommate and really great. Pretty. Smart.”
    “I’m just going to stop you there.”
    I clamp my mouth shut. What did I do?
    “I was asking about you,” he says with this casual tone. His directness sends a shiver up my arms and through my chest. “Come here.”
    Where? I’m already here. He sits up straighter, puts his arm around me, and pulls me in closer. This is the best invitation I’ve ever received. Even better than that one time in fourth grade when Cara Summers—the coolest girl in my class—asked me to come to her Spring Break sleepover. Granted, as much as I felt out of place back then—with all the fancy, preteen magazines and my lack of coordination with a hair curler—it was nothing compared to the out-of-body experience I am currently having.
    I swear I’m melting under his touch, but I refuse to move. Number Three has pulled me into his grasp. He can keep me forever. This close to him, even his scent has me drunk with lust. I’m almost paralyzed.
    He gives me a little shake. “Oh, Olivia. If we’re going to be friends, you’re going to have to open up…”
    Open what?
    “But it’s all right. You working here, and us seeing each other, you’ll loosen right up to my charming ways.”
    I’m sure I will…
    But—“Why are you being nice to me now?” I ask. He has to be up to something.
    “Oh right. I’ve been kind of a dick, haven’t I?”
    “Kind of.” I slap a hand over my mouth. “Sorry.”
    He lets out a laugh, a real live laugh. “She speaks the truth. I can appreciate that. And I’m sorry. My mind’s been elsewhere. I’ve been trying to…” He trails off, distracting me by sliding his foot under mine, leaving my leg to rest right on top of his.
    What had he been saying? Oh right. “Trying to what? You’ve been acting strange.”
    He almost cuts me off again. “Don’t worry about it. Tell me where you grew up.”
    I’ve never experienced so many mixed signals before. His leg touching mine. His sudden interest in us being friends. His refusal to talk about himself. And his blunt rudeness when I ask him anything. I’m being yanked around like a tug-o-war rope.
    “I… I grew up here.” I say, wanting to keep the conversation going but unsure what to make of Devon’s behavior.
    “Right in my backyard? See, you are full of surprises.”
    I laugh out loud, grateful for the ease that washes over me. So what if he doesn’t want to tell me his life story? Why would he? And the longer it takes for him to open up to me, the more time I get to spend with him. I can’t complain about that.
    “I was born and raised here—in California.” I giggle again. Keep yourself under control. “We moved a bit. But I came here after for college and didn’t leave.”
    “UCLA?”
    “Cal State.”
    He nods quietly. It’s my turn to ask him something, so I say the first thing that comes to mind. “So what’s it like being a twin?” Ugh. How lame.
    “I don’t want to talk about my brother. What about you? Family? Siblings?”
    “I don’t want to talk about my brother either.”
    He smiles. “Glad to see we have