Red Thorns: A Dark New Adult Romance (Thorns Duet Book 1)

Something is off.

Me.

I’m off.

Ever since Sebastian had his tongue and fingers in and all over my most sensitive part, it’s like I’m an entirely different person.

Because I want it to continue.

No. I actually want another scene like in the forest where I’ll be on the receiving end this time. Or maybe it can start like in the forest and end like just now.

I still have that bet so I can ask for it…

I frantically shake my head. What the hell is wrong with me? Is there some loose screw in there?

Instead of finally leaving me alone, Sebastian exits the locker room first, saying he’ll wait for me outside.

He leaves me panting and hornier than when he first walked in. It takes everything in me to put on jeans and throw on a shirt and my leather jacket before I go out.

The late afternoon chill assaults my sensitive skin as I head to the parking lot. Sure enough, Sebastian is waiting in front of his Tesla. With Lucy.

I hurry toward them, my cheeks about to catch fire.

Why is he talking to her? Is he telling her about how shameless her friend is and how I came all over his tongue while he ate me out…?

My thoughts trail off when I see them smiling and in a vibrant mood. Sebastian is generally very good to look at and admire, like those all-American boys who live the dream on behalf of most of the population. Not only that, but from my observations, he can be a great talker, a charmer—a trait he inherited from his senator granddaddy.

Everything about him is perfection. Like his sharp features, designer clothes, and sophisticated manner of speech that no one could ever pull off as naturally as he does.

And yet, there’s the hidden side of him, the dirty-talking, perverted, and utterly destructive side that he showed me over the past couple of days. A side that I keep gravitating toward despite myself.

Lucy, just like everyone else, is in awe of the perfection he showcases to the world. The star image, the background, and the power his family holds. But I’m infuriatingly attracted to the other side of the coin. The dark, shadowed one.

And that’s dangerous.

Because it might lure me in and never let go.

Why couldn’t I be like Lucy and everyone else and just focus on his shallow existence?

More importantly, why couldn’t he be shallow?

Because even his body language right now is relaxed, his arms at either side of him, his shoulders at ease, and his features welcoming. He’s making my best friend feel comfortable more with his body than with his words.

Just what power does he have to make her fall for his charms like that?

And you. You forgot about yourself, Nao.

I shoo that tiny voice away as I slide to my best friend’s side and grab her by the arm. “Hey, Luce. Sorry I made you wait.”

“It’s okay. Sebastian told me you have plans.”

“No, we don’t.”

“Yes, we do.” Sebastian winks at Lucy. “Does she always play hard to get?”

“Uh…yeah, sort of.” My friend’s eyes shine with joy at being included. He made her feel like her opinion matters. As if he already figured out that shyness is her weakness and he’d get brownie points by being friendly.

“Ah. I knew I’d have my hands full with this one.” He nudges her shoulder with his. “Give me some pointers, would you?”

“She’ll give you pointers on how to get the hell out of here.” I jerk my head toward his car. “Leave.”

“Not without you. I want a proper date.”

“And I’m not giving it to you.”

“Nao…” Lucy clutches me by the wrist and whispers, “You don’t have to be so aggressive.”

If she knew what happened over the weekend and just a few minutes ago when Reina, of all people, could’ve walked in on us, she wouldn’t be saying that.

Sebastian lifts a shoulder. “If you don’t come with me, I’ll just stay here.”

“Suit yourself. I hope you freeze to death.”

“Cruel.” He twists his lips into a pitiful look. “Lucy, can you help convince her? In return, I will tell you about when she lost her mask while her leg was over my—”

I slam my hand over his mouth, cutting off whatever nonsense he was about to say. God damn him. He’d really tell her about what just happened, wouldn’t he?

This guy has absolutely no shame.

His larger hand engulfs mine and slowly removes it. “Does this mean you’re coming?”

“Fine.” As if I have a choice.

“Have fun, Nao.” Lucy hugs me, skips ahead, then squeals behind Sebastian’s back and mouths, “FaceTime later.”

I roll my eyes as she disappears in the direction of her car.

“I like the way she calls you Nao. It’s cute.”

“Only Lucy and my mom are allowed to call me that.”

“I’ll add myself to the short list then, Nao.”

My cheeks heat at the sound of my nickname coming out of his mouth. Since when did it make me hot? Clearing my throat, I blurt, “What if I find a nickname for you, too?”

“My family calls me by my full name. My uncle calls me Rascal. You can call me Bastian or Seb like everyone on campus.”

“I prefer your uncle’s version.”

“Why am I not surprised, Tsundere?”

“Stop calling me that.”

“But you are.” He strokes the pads of his fingers over my cheek. “My own Tsundere.”

I try to pull back, but he loops his hand around my nape, keeping me caged in place as he continues his ministrations on my face.

“How do you know that word, anyway?” I try to elbow him, but he anticipates it and twists his body out of the way, grinning.

“I used to watch a lot of anime.”

“Otaku,” I mutter.

“I know what that means, and since you do, too, then you’re a geek as well. What’s your favorite anime?”

“I…don’t have one.”

“Mine is Hunter X Hunter.”

“The manga is better.”

“Aha. So you prefer manga. Noted. Let’s buy you some and fuck on top of them.”

It takes everything in me not to crack a smile at the tone of his voice. “Does everything need to be about sex with you?”

“Eighty percent of the time. I’m trying to free your dormant fantasies, after all.”

“I…I don’t have fantasies.”

He lowers his head, surprising the hell out of me as he stares straight into my eyes with his imploring ones. “The stuttering just proved you do. I knew you were special.”

With him being so close, the only thing I can breathe is his fragrance and hot breaths. His mouth is inches away from mine, his lips slightly parting—

Goddamn it. Stop ogling his lips.

Just when I’m about to pull away from him, an annoying voice filters in our direction. “If it isn’t Naomi.”

I push Sebastian away as Brianna, Reina, and a few others from their exclusive club saunter by us.

Damn it. Damn it.

The last thing I want is to be seen in Sebastian’s company by this band of thieves. They’ll never let me live it down and will make a whole big case about how he’s out of my league and blah, blah, blah.

“Rei,” Sebastian greets her with ease. But at least he’s not trying to touch me.

She raises her brows at me. “You aim big.”

“Don’t you have some people to torture or make their lives miserable?”

She smiles. “Maybe.”

“Yours included, Naomi,” Brianna screeches.

“Go take a hike, Bee.”

“It’s Bree!”

Reina inches toward me and whispers so only I can hear her, “Careful what you get yourself into. You never know what happens in dark corners.”

My breath hitches as she saunters away, followed by her clique.

Oh my God.

Did she see? No. It’s not possible. It was only the two of us in the forest. But maybe I was so caught up in the role that I didn’t notice what the hell was going on around me.

I stare at Sebastian. “Did you tell her?”

“Tell her what?”

“Never mind.”

While they’re somewhat close, Sebastian and Reina aren’t so close that they’d sit around and tell each other their perverted fantasies.

My perverted fantasies.

“This is your idea of a date?” I stare at our surroundings.

It’s the forest, again.

Sebastian drove us to a hidden big rock at a nook at the base of a hill. It’s near the place where he chased me over the weekend.

The late afternoon sun casts rosy and orange hues all around us and in the distance.

I should be apprehensive, maybe even terrified, but being back here is once again filling me with that sense of relief I felt when he walked into the locker room earlier.

We grabbed some McDonald’s on the way and we have the boxes between us on the rock as we eat.

Sebastian nearly finishes his double burger in a few bites while I take my time.

He lifts a shoulder. “I assume that if I took you to a restaurant, you wouldn’t be comfortable.”

“Your restaurant of choice is The Grill where everyone kisses your ass. Of course, I wouldn’t be comfortable there.”

He smiles. “If it were any other girl, they’d be fussing about how I don’t want to be seen in public with them.”

“I’m not other girls and I don’t care about the public.”

“You prefer being alone.”

He didn’t voice it as a question, as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking about. This part of him is scary, and I want to escape as far as I can from it, and yet, my feet won’t take me anywhere.

I’m glued in place, muttering, “Sort of.”

“To read manga?”

“I…don’t do that.”

“Do you hoard them?” The amusement in his tone pisses me off.

“Yeah, and masturbate with them. Happy now?”

“No. Now that you put the image in my head, I need the details. Or a demonstration. Both are acceptable.”

“In your dreams. Besides, it’s all digital now. No one buys physical manga anymore.”

“The geeks do.”

“I’m…not a geek.”

“Oh, sorry. An otaku.”

“Screw you.”

“Believe me, there’s nothing else I’d rather do. But we have to balance things out for that twenty percent non-sex part. Or maybe I should reduce it to ten percent. What do you think?”

“I think you have sex problems.”

“I’m a healthy twenty-one-year-old male in his prime and that comes with a strong sex drive. And it’s my mission to make you feel that it’s all normal. Natural. Chemical.”

“What if I don’t want normal?”

He finishes his burger, eyes shining with mischief. “Then I can show you abnormal.”

“That’s…not what I meant, you pervert.”

“I was thinking about different positions. Where did your head go, pervert?”

My cheeks flame and I stuff a few French fries in my mouth to stop from incriminating myself further.

Sebastian runs the tip of his fingers over my cheek. “You have a cute blush.”

“I told you, I’m not cute!”

“Easy, Tsundere.”

“So now what? We’re just going to sit here while you annoy me?”

“I annoy you?”

“That’s news…because?”

“You don’t know me, Nao.”

“I know you’re a rich kid from a rich family with political shit going on. Oh, and you’re the star quarterback nobody shuts up about and keeps shoving down everyone’s throat—mine included, by the way. Does that sum it up?”

“Not even close. You just described the image I project, which is so similar to your metallic Goth, satanic follower image. Does it express who you are on the inside?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why do you think mine does?”

Because I want it to. Because I’m still holding on to the hope that he’ll indeed turn out to be shallow. Yet the more time I spend with him, the more I’m certain the opposite is true.

After chewing a bite of my burger, I choose my words carefully. “No, I don’t. I believe everyone has layers they hide from the outside world.”

“Precisely. Just like how we’re both hiding how much we enjoyed that chase and everything that happened after.”

“Sebastian…”

“It’s a layer that you refuse to acknowledge because you’re ashamed of it.”

“You’re…not?”

“No. It’s who I am and there’s nothing to change about it.”

“But you’re hiding it, too.”

“Not because I’m ashamed.”

“Then why?”

“To play the social game. But I don’t have to with you, because we’re compatible.”

I snort. “How many girls have fallen for that?”

“None, because I’ve never found one compatible enough to say it to.”

“Then keep searching.”

“Why would I when you’re right in front of me?”

“I’m not one of your toys, Sebastian.”

“No, you’re more. If it were anyone else, they would’ve screamed bloody murder the night I asked you to run, but you played along, fought and clawed.”

“Anyone in my position would’ve done that.”

“Not while having fuck-me eyes.” He reaches a hand out and wraps it around my nape.

My breath hitches as I swallow the bite of food stuck in the back of my throat. My pulse speeds out of control and it’s like I’m falling into a different state of mind from merely a gesture.

Not just any gesture.

His hand around my throat—tempting, hovering, threatening.

The thought that he could cut off my breathing in a fraction of a second keeps me on the edge in a frighteningly exciting way.

“And they certainly don’t feel so fucking good when I attempt to choke them.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying we’re similar, Nao, you and I. And I’ll make you embrace it even if it’s the last thing I do.”