Double Attraction (Gemini Taboo Romance Series Book 1) (2 page)

              “Where the fuck are my shoes?” I roared as soon as I saw my sister walk into the house. My plan was to escape before Brea got there, however, I couldn’t be fully dressed without my shoes. Something told me that she had them; little Ms. Goody-Good was always stealing my shit and leaving it in her room.

“Which shoes, Arianna?” she asked with a quiver in her voice. I knew that I was terrifying her; still, I needed to find the pair of shoes.

“The black ones!” I yelled at her from the end of the hall. “Six inches high with spikes coming down the back. Where the hell are they?”

“I don’t know,” Brea said in a hushed tone. I knew that she had an idea of where they were, and if they were in her room, I would have a conniption.

“Look in your room,” I commanded.

“Not tonight, Arianna,” Brea sighed as she shut the front door behind her. Suddenly, I noticed that she was more dressed than usual.

“Did you have a date?” I asked.

“Yes, I did,” she sighed.

“What the happened?” I asked. “Why do you look so pissed off about it?”

“It was with Gavin,” Brea said, plainly as she drifted into the kitchen. It was the rich douchebag that she had been swooning over for the past six months. Sure, he had a hot face from the photos she showed me, but I knew an asshole when I saw one.

“Why do you continue to see that guy?” I asked her as I stepped barefoot into the kitchen. “It’s because he’s rich, isn’t it?”

“No,” Brea said to me with an annoyed expression. “I like him a lot.”

“Don’t look at me like that,” I said as I pressed my hand against the refrigerator door. My sister and I appeared exactly the same; only she had our original long, auburn hair. I couldn’t take looking the same, so I started dying mine jet black the instant that I moved into her apartment.

“I’m sorry,” she said as she lifted my hand from the door so that she could pull out a jug of chilled water. “Anyway, he’ll probably never talk to me again.”

“How did things go so sour? Wasn’t he the one who asked
you
out?”

“This was our third date and I still couldn’t figure out what to talk about with him. I think we’re just in two different worlds.”

“I’m glad that you see that now,” I said. “Did you at least get a look at his cock?”

“No, Arianna,” Brea rolled her eyes again. This time I ignored it as I couldn’t believe she didn’t put out for him.

“Wait,” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You’re telling me that you went on several dates–“

“It’s been three.”

“Whatever. You’ve been on
multiple
dates with this hot fucker who you know it isn’t going to work out with, and you don’t even try to sleep with him?”

“I didn’t want to,” she replied softly.

“Liar,” I scoffed. “Of course you want to fuck him.”

“What if he doesn’t want to sleep with me? I’m the nerdy girl who works for his dad.”

“Yeah, a
hot
nerdy girl who works for his dad,” I said. Brea gave a look of hope as she took in my words. Suddenly, I knew I had given her too much slack. “You are scared of him.”

“So what if I am? After all, he
is
my boss’s son. Plus, it’s against the rules for us to even date; I could get fired.”

“Breaking the rules?” I was shocked. My sister held onto every handrail and made sure to abide all of the signs whenever she was outside. For her to go behind her boss’s back meant that this Gavin guy meant something special to her. “Maybe you and I aren’t so different.”

“Trust me, we are,” she said under her breath.

“Whatever,” I retorted. “You’re not going to have any fun if you run away from every hot guy that you meet.”

“I don’t run away,” Brea retorted. “Also, I
never
get asked out by hot guys.”

“Oh, yeah?” I knew that she needed a reminder. “What about Paul, that hot department store manager?”

“He was cute,” she smiled.

“And what happened with him? You fucked it up!”

“How did
I
mess that up, Arianna?”

“Let’s see, you make out with him for about two hours and just when he tries to go down on you, that’s when you call a cab home.”

“Why are you criticizing me?” Brea asked as she smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand.

“You need to stop letting these guys down,” I said as scan the floor for my missing pumps. “Otherwise you’re going to end up all alone in this same apartment for the rest of your life.”

“It’s not like
you
have a boyfriend,” she replied. I felt my body tense from her attack.

“I don’t want one! So, fuck you, bitch!”

“Stop, Arianna.”

“Stop what? Calling you a
bitch
?”

“Yes, you know that I hate that word...”

“How about
cunt
then? That seems to be a much better word to describe you these days!” I know that it was harsh, but someone needed to send my sister over the edge so that she could look at her life from a different angle. Every move she made was dictated by another person’s permission. I couldn’t imagine living such a sheltered life.

“Don’t you have some guy’s dick to suck tonight?” she snapped. Suddenly, her face changes as though remorse had come after her words– only it was a few seconds too late. “Arianna, I’m sorry.”

That was enough for me. I rushed forward and slapped her hard across the face. Then I stomped down the hallway and shoved open the door to her room. Resting on the opposite side of her bed were two, skinny black pumps. I grabbed them with my index and middle finger and rushed back to the kitchen.

“You don’t know where my shoes are?” I screamed. “
This
is why I’m so pissed off all of the time! I came here to relax and get over that the past two years with mom and all you can do is
take
the few things that I have in this world!”

“I swear, I don’t know how those–”

“Save it!” I yelled as I pushed my feet into the pumps. Then I walked to the coat closet and grabbed my black leather jacket. “Look, my jacket! I’m so thankful that my sister didn’t decide to take this from me, too.” Before she could react, I swung open the front door and slammed it behind me.

[Continued]

My heels pounded the pavement as I tried to leave my sister and her drama behind me. Brea was becoming increasingly more of a fool, and it seemed only to fuel my rage toward her. My plan was to let her simmer down in the apartment while I headed to a dive bar on the other side of town.

I never brought a purse with me to the bar because there was a high chance that it would get stolen. Instead, I shoved my keys and a wad of cash into my jacket pockets just in case I couldn’t find a guy to buy me beers for the evening. After walking a few blocks, I found the main street and hailed a cab to take me to the city.

The venue was called
Mickey’s
, and it was a notorious dive bar near the back of the stadium. Most girls in Angora Park avoided Mickey’s– which was why I liked it. There was a certain advantage to being one of the few pretty girls to stroll into a seedy bar; I got the choice of the sexiest guys.

Most of the men in Mickey’s were rugged truckers for or tattooed biker-gang members passing through town. The truckers I always passed on because they tended to smell terrible. Bikers were usually a good lay, however, I felt challenged to find the diamond in the rough. Sometimes this came in the form of a stray football player drunk after a successful game. Other times, it was a traveler who stumbled into the wrong bar.

As soon as I stepped into Mickey’s, I noticed a guy sitting at the end of the counter. Even from afar, I could tell how good-looking he was. Without hesitation, I moved toward him, and the rows of off-kilter bikers seemed to part in front of me.

When I neared halfway to the barstools, I could see what the handsome stranger looked. He had dark brown hair that waved neatly over the top of his head, tanned skin, and gorgeous hazel eyes that seemed to shift colors as he surveyed the room. He looked like he could have been the lead singer for a 90’s rock band with cool demeanor and pretty, yet bad-boy expression. I watched his hand grip onto the bottle of his beer before he tilted it into his mouth. His soft lips rested on the top of the opening of the beer, moving upward to show his sleek jaw line covered in even scruff.

I hadn’t seen him in the bar before, so I knew that I had to get in closer. With one foot in front of the other, I strutted toward my prey. First, I would try to lure him like the others, by batting my eyes and playing dumb. If that didn’t work, I’d buy him a drink to let him know that I mean business. Before I could reach him, someone grabbed my arm.

“Where are you going, babe?” asked a tall, scruffy biker with his fingers gripped onto my forearm. His name was Jesse, and I looked him up and down before turning my head away. We had fucked a few times before, and I loved his thick cock and beefy, tattooed body. Jesse was hot, but he would be my last resort.

“Somewhere far from you,” I sighed as I lifted his fingers from my arm and flicked them to his side.

“Are you sure?” he laughed as his arms flexed from beneath his cut off black denim shirt. “I can fuck you all night long like last Friday. Throw you around like the hot little bitch that you are.”

“Not interested,” I said while walking away. I heard a group of guys laughing in back of me as I found my way to the bar. I learned a long time ago that it was important for me to be aggressive toward these men; otherwise they try to take advantage.

I sat on the seat next to the handsome stranger at the end of the bar. As there were a few available barstools between him and the next person, he immediately took notice of me.

“What’ll ya have?” asked the bartender.

“Light beer, please,” I said as I swiveled myself toward the diamond in the rough sitting just inches away from me. I could smell the sweet scent of his leather jacket filling my senses. “Hi, there.”

“Hello,” he replied, as he looked me in the eyes. This was the wrong start. I decided to change the direction of his gaze by slowly peeling off my jacket to reveal my tight fitting ribbed tank top. His eyes drifted toward my cleavage for a moment, and I knew that I had been successful.

“I haven’t seen you here before,” I said as my beer made its way to the countertop. I grabbed the bottle and felt the icy condensation tingle against my hand.

“It’s my first time,” he said. “It’s a pretty cool place.”

“You should come by more often,” I said as I rested my hand on his thigh. Most of the guys in the bar would have paid for my drink the instant I touched them, and then offered to take me back to a hotel room. Instead, he looked at my hand for a brief moment before pretending that it wasn’t there. “So, what brings you to Angora Park?”

“Staying with my brother,” he replied.

“You’re a talkative one,” I say with a tone of defensiveness.

“Sorry, I’m just trying to be a fly on the wall tonight,” he replied before lifting the beer back to his lips.

“This isn’t the place for that,” I said as I slid my hand off of him. “Maybe you’d be better off at one of the family-friendly chain restaurants with a bar in the center.”

“I think I’m fine right here,” he said. “Those other bars don’t seem to be much fun.”

“So, are you looking to have some fun tonight then?”

“I’m looking to be left alone.”

“Every guy here comes here to drink and get laid.”

“Are you sure that
every
guy here wants that?”

“Yes,” I protested. “And they all want to go home with me.”

“I bet.”

“You know,” I sighed. “I could be talking to any of these assholes out here.”

“Then why don’t you?” he said while looking me in the eyes. I couldn’t tell him the truth that he was one of the most beautiful men that I had ever seen. Even though he was a complete asshole, I still found myself oddly drawn to him.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Maybe we started off on the wrong foot. My name is Arianna Rhodes.”

“So we’re giving last names, too?” he smiled.

“Yes, sir,” I said. “How else am I going to get to know you?”

“Hello then, Arianna,” he said. “I’m Rhett Crawford.” Then he held out his hand, and we shook. I tired to lock my eyes to his, but he looked away too quickly.

“So, Rhett,” I said after taking another swig of my beer. “How long are you in town for?”

“Not sure,” he said. “I might be here to stay if things work out well for my bike shop.”

“Bike shop? Are you in one of these gangs out here?”

“No, nothing like that,” he said. “I drink from time to time, but other than that, I like to keep my nose clean.”

“So why do you build motorcycles?”

“I’ve always loved them,” he explained. “My older brother would take me out on his when I was a kid. That’s why I moved out here, to stay with him for a bit while worked on opening a shop.”

“So you’re staying with your brother tonight?” I asked, hoping that Rhett would say that he had a hotel somewhere.

“Yep,” he replied to my dismay. “So what time does your brother usually go to bed?” Rhett stopped sipping his beer to shoot me a disapproving look before turning back to his drink.

“Well, I can see that you don’t want to talk right now,” I said as I looked over at Rhett, who continued to sip his beer quietly. “Take care, asshole.”