Chapter 41
Maria - 16 Years Old
FROM THE PRIVATE NOTES OF DR. ANNA MORRIS
“I’m not sure,” Daniel protested.
I hid an eye roll. Given that Daniel’s shoes were inching closer to the open bedroom door without any help from me, was proof that his reluctance was all an act. I didn’t need to beg a guy to hook up with me, but I was rapidly losing patience at his display of fake loyalty.
“C’mon, no one needs to know.” It was a stupid thing to say, considering I made sure everyone in our path got a good look at me leading a slack-jawed Daniel upstairs. The sooner we were discovered before things went further than I wanted to, the better. So I clasped his hand in mine, ensuring our fingers were tightly entwined, giving even the most disinterested bystander zero doubt about what we were about to do. Well, half do. When we’d swept by Lissa, she’d waved her phone at me with a wink.
The scene was set. I just needed that bitch to get here quickly because the loud thump of music mixed with the vodka soda I’d drunk was giving me a headache.
“We don’t have to do anything. We can just talk,” I softly coaxed him, glancing up below my long lashes.
“Okay, well, if it’s just talking…”
This time, I did roll my eyes. I trailed after him as he crossed the threshold and quickly closed the door before he changed his mind.
Show time.
He stood in the middle of the room, his gaze roaming around the space—and continuously falling on the queen bed. I bit back a sigh as I realized I would have to keep taking the lead.
I sat on the bed and crossed my legs in an exaggerated fashion. His eyes flickered down to my bare legs, a pink hue climbing his cheeks. Great, a virgin.
I gave him a coy smile and patted the bed. “Come sit down.” It was a struggle to keep my voice light and seductive—but not too obvious. All I really wanted was to cut to the chase and get to what he obviously came for.
He rubbed his hands down his jeans, his eyes still looking everywhere but at me. “I sh-shouldn’t be here,” he stammered.
I tilted my head, feigning a look of innocence. “Why?”
He licked his lips. “Because I have a girlfriend.”
I gasped, my hand going to my chest. “You do?” I breathed. I shook my head and stood, keeping my hand on my chest. Right above my exposed cleavage. “I had no idea. You’re right, we should go.”
I moved past him, my stride a little slow to give his head time to catch up to his other little head.
“Wait!”
I gave a satisfied Cheshire cat smile before dropping it and whirling. ‘What is it?” My eyes were wide-eyed and innocent.
He swallowed. His hand rubbed his wrist as his eyes traveled the length of my body. I was wearing a dark purple velvet dress with tiny straps and a low square neckline. It ended high enough that if I bent over, my ass would be out. Literally. Because I was only wearing a thong.
“I-I wouldn’t exactly call her my girlfriend,” he lied.
My brow pulled down, my hand playing with the strap of my dress. “Oh? What would you call her?”
He shrugged, his eyes down. “Just a girl I’m fooling around with.”
A familiar pang hit my chest, and the faux-sincere expression slid off my face. Even though he was referring to someone I actively hated, his words dug deep into an insecurity I continuously buried. How many times had I heard those words uttered in differing ways?
“Maria’s easy. I’m just messing around with her.”
“It’s not serious between us. She’s just a girl I bang.”
I felt a twinge of guilt for what I was about to do. No one deserved to have their relationship diminished like that, even if they were a trash human.
My phone beeped in my hand. That was the signal. Go through with this or leave? Daniel’s eyes were glued to my chest, so I knew it would only take a soft breeze to knock him down.
I took a deep breath and allowed the past to seep into the front of my mind from the dark corners I’d banished it to. I invited the pain and humiliation of my childhood to wash over me until my resolve tightened and hardened like steel.
Fuck this shit.
I strolled forward, grabbed Daniel by the collar, and kissed him. It took him half a second until he was kissing me back, his tongue forcing its way into my mouth.
I shoved him back onto the bed, and while he was still bouncing, I climbed on top of him and shoved the straps of my dress down.
“Holy shit!” His eyes were wide.
“Do you want this?” I grabbed his hand and placed it on my right tit.
His mouth hung open before his head nodded up and down like a damned bobblehead. I bent and covered his mouth with mine again. Daniel’s sweaty hands were spread out, unsure what to do or where to put them. With a frustrated groan, I placed them on my bare ass cheeks.
My mind combed through the scene we made and how we would look when the door swung open. I had to make this appear as incriminating as possible, which meant that he had to be on top to make it more believable.
I tore my mouth from his and rolled. It didn’t take long until he was on top of me, panting and sweating. I heard my phone go off again and knew I had mere seconds to make this look good.
I quickly unbuckled his jeans and shoved them down his skinny hips, along with his underwear. I hooked my legs around his waist and buried his face against my neck just as I heard the door bang open.
I humped my hips up. “Oh, Daniel,” I moaned. “Right there!”
A scream rang out behind us, and I rolled my eyes. She was so dramatic.
“Daniel! What the fuck are you doing?”
With a shocked gasp, I shoved Daniel back and glanced over his shoulder. The door was wide open, and Lissa stood in the doorway, her face red from holding back a giggle. Two guys were behind her, gawking at the scene with shared amusement. Anger and embarrassment colored my cheeks. Lissa promised me that no one else would see us.
I quickly shoved my dress up as Daniel jumped off me, covering his junk as he tried to pull up his jeans.
“Sarah! Sarah, it’s not what you think!”
I gave a snort as I smoothed down my dress. All pretense of acting like the innocent girl was gone.
Sarah glared at me, angry tears tracing down her cheeks. “You fucking bitch! You did this on purpose!”
“Did what on purpose? I didn’t force your boyfriend up here to fuck me. That was all him.”
“What?” Daniel gasped as he hurriedly buttoned his jeans. “No! She seduced me.” He moved to Sarah, his hands pleading with her to listen. I rolled my eyes and checked my nails. “Please believe me, baby.”
Her eyes swung from her boyfriend to me. I smirked and wiggled my fingers at her. With a choked sob, she covered her mouth and ran out of the room. Daniel raced after her, still yelling that it wasn’t what it looked like. This was despite the fact he already accused me of seducing him. Dumbass. Didn’t take much effort to do it, either.
Lissa doubled over, raucous laughter spilling from her lips. “Oh, my god!” she gasped, wiping her eyes. “That was priceless! I wish you let me take a video.”
I glared at her. “Because I would be on the video, you idiot.”
Lissa had tried to convince me that the best way to play this out was to film it and have the footage circulate around our social chat rooms. Then Sarah would see actual proof of the whole act. There was no way I wanted that shit out there. It would never go away and would probably end up on a porno site. I was pissed off that my best friend didn’t seem to care about ruining my life by circulating sex videos of me.
She rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t have gotten you on camera.”
She also promised not to bring anyone to the room.
“Whatever, c’mon, let’s go back to the party.”