Read Online Catch Me by Claire Contreras - Free Book Online Page A

eyebrows playfully and I laugh. “You ladies wanna sit down?”
    “Sure,” I shrug.
    “Bee needs a drink, Sky!” Nina booms. “Like … yesterday. She’s really uptight if she doesn’t have one.”
    I gape at her. “I am so not uptight!”
    I’m really not. And I had wine earlier; I just refuse to tell her that so that she won’t make fun of me. Nina has this thing: wine is for old people, beer is for frat people, cool people drink tequila. I so do not drink tequila.
    We sink into the low couches in the VIP section and I ask the waitress for a vodka tonic, hoping that’ll ease Nina’s pestering.
    “Good girl,” she says brightly and proceeds to drape one of her legs over Skylar’s lap.
    Oh my God. She’s going to flash everybody. I close my eyes and scoot closer to her, pulling down her dress a little.
    “You see? Uptight,” she says with a laugh.
    “Oh, I’m sorry. Are you purposely flashing your vagina?” I ask incredulously.
    She groans and lowers her leg, shifting in her seat. “Anyway, Bee, Sky is the playwright I was telling you about …”
    I nod, not knowing what the heck she’s talking about, but playing along for her benefit. I completely understand now, though, why she’s all over him. He’s one of her “opportunities.” I wish my cousin would be a little bit harder to get sometimes. It’s not that she’s slutty, like Hendrix pegs her to be, but she definitely takes what she has and uses it. Skylar gets up and walks away, saying something I don’t catch.
    “You know he’s totally into you, right?” I ask her as we watch him leave.
    “Yeah, but he’s just a friend.”
    “Yeah, right.”
    “I swear! I haven’t fucked him and I don’t plan on it,” she says, seemingly annoyed that I would think she was.
    “Is he married?” I ask. She has a thing for married or taken men. That is her downfall and that’s the one thing we always argue about. As much as I love her, it’s so wrong that she does it and I cannot get over it. It’s a subject that makes me uneasy.
    “Nope. Live-in girlfriend,” she says.
    “And you’re not fucking him?” I ask curiously. “That’s … new.”
    She exhales. “I choose wisely. Sky and I would never work. He’s too emotional for me.”
    I nod, now thinking we’re hanging out with a psychotic emo guy, but say nothing about it. I scan over the VIP area again and see a couple of familiar faces: models, actors. My eyes stop when I reach the group of guys we previously saw and this time I feel my blood drain from my body. It happens quickly; the blood drains and rises, causing my heart to sputter rapidly and my breath to hitch.
    “What? What happened?” Nina asks, her voice alarmed. “You’re fucking killing me, Bee.”
    I register her words and let go of the grip I have on her arm. “Sorry,” I say, but my eyes are still on the guy looking at me. With the dim lighting I can’t see their real color, I can’t see the richness of them or the waves they have, but I can feel the intensity and the heat they let out as they pin me.
    “You know him?” Nina asks.
    I nod, still looking. “His name is Nick. I met him the other day.”
    Nick, seemingly reading my lips, smiles. It’s a very slow and sensual smile that takes over his face. It’s not really a heartwarming smile, even though it does warm parts of my body.
    “He’s looking at you like he wants to eat you,” Nina comments.
    My heart is still pumping at a ridiculous pace, and for some reason, I cannot look away. I can’t even play it cool and pretend I didn’t see him or that I’m not completely attracted to him.
    “Your drink,” Skylar says, stepping in front of me and blocking my view of Nick, and I’m oddly thankful for this.
    “Thank you!”
    “No problem.” He sits down closely beside me, his thighs touching mine, as he takes a sip of his own drink. He leans in to speak so that I can hear him. “So, you were living in LA before you moved here? That must be an …