That was before I laid eyes on her.
“You want in on this, Sam?”
My friend, Lucas, hands me a lit stub. I accept it without thanks, declaring my bad mood to the world with a couple of savage tokes. Unlike Lola, I prefer to savor the burn of weed and nicotine instead of exhaling it fast like it’s a bad word on a priest’s tongue. I enjoy the way it fills up every space in my lungs, because nothing else in my life will ever feel this whole.
“María! Hey, María!”
A loud voice rises above the crowds. Some prick named Troy Davis with a jaw made for the football field is pushing through the party with a clear destination.
Her.
Yes, her. Because “Lola” isn’t the name she trades under on American soil. “Lola” gets left behind the minute she crosses the border to disguise the fact that her daddy heads up one of the biggest drug cartels in Mexico. I’m pretty sure her clique of virgin suicides would find themselves a new ass to kiss if they knew she was a bona fide cartel princess.
But I know… Let’s just say I have connections, no matter how hard my senator stepdaddy tries to keep them from me.
“She’s so damn fuckable.” Lucas follows my gaze. “Word on the street is her V-card is as good as her credit rating. You should totally hit it, bro. You’ve crushed more fucking cherries than the campus juice bar.”
“Are you still here?” I say lightly, pretending to flick the stub at his chest.
“Hey! Watch the Ralph, would ya?” He jumps back, brushing imaginary ash from his designer shirt.
“I’m sure Daddy will buy you a new one.”
Lucas’s stepfather is a big-shot politician in Washington too. We both have bank accounts that reflect the need for us to stay the hell out of the headlines.
Troy’s all up in Lola’s face now, but it’s my chest that’s burning.
“Who ordered the jock entrees?” Lucas tracks my gaze again. “Should I call security?”
“Security” is a cute word for the two heavies my stepfather insists on me keeping around. Senator Sanders’s history of making enemies has created a claustrophobic existence for all his kids.
“Not yet.” I crack open another bottle of Bud. My sixth. My head is starting to buzz, but it’s doing jack for the thing I want it to dull the most.
“Suit yourself.” Lucas shrugs and starts chatting up some cute blonde. He knows there’s no point in arguing with me. Besides, Rutgers’s star quarterback is about to get his ass handed to him by yours truly. I just saw him slip a tab of something extra special into Lola’s Bacardi and Coke when she turned to talk to her friend. I caught the crests of the smirks on his teammates’ mouths. If I’m not mistaken, Lola Carrera’s precious V-card is about to be spanked and shredded all over my apartment.
The slow burn in my chest ignites, bursting into a dull red flame.
Obsession is a loaded gun, and tonight my patience is dead and bleeding.
No one, I repeat no one, gets to suck or fuck that body, other than me.
Chapter Two
Sam
I sense the brunette while she’s still circling, but I’m not quick enough to dodge the swoop.
“Hey, Sam,” she chirps, crinkling her eyes at me. “Cool party, huh?”
“Thanks,” I murmur, keeping my gaze fixed on Lola. The roofie Troy slipped her must be out-of-this-world phenomenal. She’s already swaying in her heels.
“Wanna give me a guided tour?”
Oh, Jesus… I fake a smile. She’s pretty, but there’s only one woman who makes my dick so hard it’s agony.
“Maybe later,” I lie. Troy has taken Lola’s arm and he’s guiding her toward the open glass staircase. By the time they reach the first floor, she’s all over the place—her long, dark hair messing up her face as her head flops sideways onto his shoulder; her dress riding up to expose more tan skin.
“Okay, well, make sure you come find me later…” Brunette trails off as I push past her like the devil himself is hot on the heels of my Amiri check sneakers. Meanwhile, Lola’s friends are waving her off with catcalls from below, looking as dickmatized by Troy Davis as she appears to be.
“Have fun, María!”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”
Choke on those grins, you stupid bitches. She’s a fucking Carrera… Don’t they know she’s smarter than that?
She shouldn’t even be at my party. Her brother would never allow it, not if he knew my real last name was Sanders instead of Colton. I took my mother’s maiden name the day I enrolled at Rutgers. Lola and I are both here under false pretenses to protect us from the war that’s raging up and down the East Coast.
There’s an invisible line drawn down the middle of this campus. It’s the same line that divides New Jersey and New York, her family from mine, truth and lies… Me from her. We stay the fuck away from each other, or people die.
Santi is more than happy to enforce the rules for his baby sister, but he’s not around right now and I get the feeling she had a little something to do with that. She’s fighting for her freedom, just as much as I am, and that makes her fucking irresistible.
I move toward the stairs, fire and ice surging through my veins.
Protect her.
Reject her.
This contradiction will be the death of me.
“Nice party, Colton.”
Troy’s crew try to block my access. A single savage look from me and they’re like sliding doors at the mall.
“It’d be even better without the dickhead parade showing up.”
“Aw, you serious?” They clutch at their chests, all offended, like I just gang-banged their moms.
Fucking idiots.
“Get the hell out of my apartment.”
“Or what?”
“Or you won’t be playing football for the rest of the season.” I meet each of their guilty gazes
