Toxic Secrets by Jill Patten Page A

I sneered, using my two fingers in a quotes gesture.
    He let out a bellowing laugh. “You took me serious? Ah man, I was just kidding with you, Sweet Cheeks,” he admitted playfully. I felt a tinge of disappointment flow through me. “I don’t fuck my friends, but, then again, most of my friends are guys. Girls usually don’t want to be my friend. They just want a good fuck… and a few other things,” he said, mumbling the last part, making it nearly inaudible.
    Hearing his man-whore confession was both gross and a turn-on all at the same time. Thinking of the diseases he possibly contracted was appalling, but the way he moved on the dance floor, combined with an air of sexual experience, had the heat rising in my private regions. My body was already betraying me, and I hadn’t even consumed the first drop of alcohol.
    “Um… wow! Um… I don’t even know how to respond to that.” I was lost for words, my emotions in a tormented battle with each other. He had given me every indication of being sexually attracted to me, and then he declared he was only interested in my friendship? I felt so confused.
    Not knowing what else to say, I told everyone bottoms up. Without looking at them, I swiftly licked my salt, chasing it with the potent liquor then the lime. I choked the repulsive liquid down as gracefully as possible without drawing any unwanted attention. The need to cough and sputter was there, but I kept swallowing, trying to force it down as saliva formed in my mouth. I could feel the liquor slowly burn into my stomach and welcomed the feeling, hoping it would wash away the mixed emotions I was having. Not wanting to attach myself to anyone, I was eccentrically drawn to Jaxon like a moth to a flame. I didn’t really want him to show any interest in me, but I would be a liar if I said I wasn’t slightly hurt when he announced he only wanted to be my buddy. The conflict of interest within reinforced the need to screw my head back on right, and I made the rational decision to reciprocate the feelings. After all, he was going back to California in a few weeks, so a relationship wasn’t in the stars for us anyway.
    I forced a smile as everyone followed and took their shot. Kendra opened the bottle to pour another round, but Jaxon placed his hand over the top of his glass. “No more for me. I don’t drink hard liquor. I only took the shot for the toast and now will just grab myself a beer.”
    I threw back the shot Kendra had just poured for me, keeping my eyes on Jaxon as he walked away to fetch his beer. Not sure how I didn’t notice before, but he had the most impeccably round butt that filled his jeans to perfection, the kind of ass your hand was itching to squeeze.
    “See something you like?” I jerked my eyes away as Kendra startled me out of my reverie.
    “No, I was having the stupid stares. I wasn’t looking at anything in particular,” I lied.
    “Whatever! You know you can’t fool me.”
    “Kendra, it’s not like that. You heard him. He is only interested in being my friend.”
    “Yeah, but that’s not saying how you feel about him.”
    Our conversation abruptly ended as Jaxon came walking back to us with a bottle of water in hand. I was silently thanking him for the interruption.
    “I thought you were getting a beer,” Kendra queried.
    Jaxon shrugged his shoulders. “I changed my mind.”
    Holding my glass up to Kendra, I motioned for her to fill my glass up again. “Hey, lightweight, you better slow down before you make yourself sick,” Reed chuckled.
    “One more after this, I promise. I’ve never been drunk, and I don’t plan on tonight being my first time.” I thought I heard Jaxon murmur ‘that’s a shame,’ but feeling the onslaught of a buzz, I couldn’t be sure.
    After two shots, Reed cut himself off, saying somebody had to be the responsible one to drive us home tonight.
    Kendra poured us two more shots, the last one barely going down because we were laughing so hard.