Loving War (3 page)

Chapter 3

TRIA

Shit. It wasn’t a dream. Kode Sterling is still in my bed, proving all my wild fantasies from the night before weren’t just incredible dreams. Even the devil sleeps, apparently.

His arms are closed around me—a parody of a lover’s embrace—and his blonde hair looks even blonder in the room full of early-morning sunshine. His evenly tanned skin, along with that hair, gives him the appearance of a laidback surfer, instead of a Sterling mogul. And that body… No man should have a body like that to match a face like his. It’s just not fair to the rest of the world.

He looks so peaceful, and if everything I remember is real, then he’s probably exhausted.

No. No. No. This can’t be happening.

Groaning internally, I rush to the bathroom to pull on my robe. After stepping over all the carnage, I quietly slip into the bathroom in search of a few answers. I gasp when I see the trashcan. One, two, three, four... five condoms? Oh damn. This is bad. So, so bad.

How do I face him now? Maybe he was too drunk to remember it was me. Surely he was.

Since I’m in a straight panic and have no idea what to say or do, I decide to shower. Maybe he’ll just leave while I’m in there. Perhaps he’ll think it was some random girl and not the object of his hatred. I have nothing in there that would tell him it was me... unless he finds my purse.

The water blasts free from the showerhead, and I stay under it, praying it cleanses me completely from the devil’s touch that I can’t seem to stop thinking about. He’s my enemy—has been for years. One night of amazingly hot sex doesn’t change that fact.

I swear it’s the longest shower I’ve ever taken, and if he’s still in my bed, I might just scream. I steady my breath, clutch my towel, and push through the door to find an empty room.

Thank God.

But what happens now?

***

TRIA

“You’re late. You are coming tonight, right?” Rain asks over the phone.

“I’m coming.”

I’m not really too thrilled about it. I’ll have to see Kode, and after waking up in a hotel with him yesterday... this could be awkward. No, awkward is too kind of a word for how this will probably play out.

“Great. How far away are you?”

I glance up at the enormous house right next to the ocean, staring at the front door that promises a night of problems, especially considering the fact that Kode’s favorite Audi is already here.

The devil awaits.

“I’m here now.”

I hang up as I take my first wary step, moving away from the safety of my car that promises to whisk me away from this certain hell. I knew I’d have to face him sooner or later.

Each step I take forces more knots to form in my stomach. By the time I make it to the door, I’m ready to double over from the weight of the dread that is festering inside me. But I’m a big girl, so I force myself to act composed and confident, and I walk in, ready to face the worst. That’s a lie; I’m not ready. But I can fake it like a pro.

Maverick is the first one I see, and he motions toward the living room. “Everyone’s in there. You’ve missed most of the fun.”

He still hates me. I can see it in his eyes. There was a time when my sister and I had… issues. I never did anything half as vicious as they thought I did, but it’s apparently not good enough. Dane is the only Sterling boy who doesn’t envision my head on a stake.

I don’t say anything. Maverick leads, I follow, and we make our way toward the living room in heavy, uncomfortable silence. I almost get sick when I see the familiar strands of sandy blonde.

Kode.

In his designer suit that fits him too damn well, he looks like royalty. It was a lot easier to not drool before I knew how good he was in bed. Now... shit. I hate this.

I feel shallow and stupid for even having this twisted attraction to him. He’s the spawn of evil, and I fucked him all too willingly because of his outer-coating. I wish he looked half as hideous on the outside as he is on the inside.

He looks up from his conversation with Dane, but he merely glances my way before returning his attention to his brother. I’m surprised by the pang of disappointment that strikes.

That’s exactly what I wanted. So why do I feel like he just slapped me in the face?

“Finally,” Rain says as she comes to hug me. “I was starting to worry that you weren’t going to make it at all. We’re not far from doing the last toast, and then we’re going to discuss Vegas for next week.”

Vegas. Crap. I forgot about Vegas. Dane’s engagement gift to Rain is a trip to Vegas with all her friends. I
really
wish I could go back in time and refuse that offer.

***

KODE

I’m actually sweating. Dane is talking, but I can’t hear a damn word coming out of his mouth. It was supposed to be a one-night get-it-out-of-my-system fuck, and now I’m fighting incredibly hard not to look her way.

Christ. Does she have to wear such short dresses?

My eyes ride up her legs, scandalously peeling off her clothes as I think back to what she looks like in lace and nothing else. She’s oblivious to my appraisal since her attention is focused on Rain.

“So you’re still good with Vegas?” Dane asks, finally breaking through my thoughts.

“Vegas,” I murmur, smiling then frowning in a fluent motion. I should be thinking about gambling, drinking, or half-dressed women throwing themselves at me, but all I can think about is having a week where I’m just down the hall from Tria. “Vegas is good.” Vegas is going to be
so
damn bad.

When Tria’s eyes meet mine, I try to force a smile of some sort, but my lips don’t cooperate. I’m so fucking confused right now, and it’s pissing me off.

No. Tria is off-limits. It was one night of insanely hot sex. One night. I can’t go back there. I don’t want to go back there.

I break the eye contact when she does manage to force a smile. This is the woman I’ve hated for years. She’s Rain’s evil sister. I don’t care if they’ve made up. She was still a bitch to Rain, and Rain is my best friend. End of story. Tria is too good at being a bitch to stay nice for too long. She’ll fuck up with Rain, and my hatred will return.

I really fucking hope it returns.

When Tria walks away, joining Tag and Ash, I take a moment to watch her ass—every perfect curve of it. I hate her for a whole new reason right now.

Chapter 4

TRIA

So far so good. Kode and I have been in the same room with each other numerous times now since our one night of temporary insanity, and nothing terrible has happened. If he’s not ignoring me, then he takes the chance to say something snide or witty in an effort to be a dick. And I just ignore the hell out of him when he does.

Everything is back to normal.

I’m almost positive he has no clue that he slept with me. It’s relieving and irritating at the same time.

Now we’re in Vegas, and everything is running smoothly. I feel like the outcast of the group, considering how close the guys are with Rain. The rooftop party going on behind me sounds as though it has gathered more people, but I stare ahead at the city lights, ignoring everything and everyone. I just want to go home.

I wish Kade and Raya had come. I really get along with Raya.

Tag and Ash had to stay behind because they didn’t want Trip to have to travel so far. It’s not that far. They’re just overprotective parents.

“Hey,” a smooth voice says from behind me, prompting me to turn away from the railing and face him.

Yep. The party has quadrupled in size since I last paid it any attention. The rooftop pool is packed with unfamiliar faces. How does Dane Sterling draw this many people in everywhere he goes?

The guy who has demanded my attention has soft brown hair that shags a little long for my taste. He’s tall—not as tall as Kode. Though he’s attractive enough, he’s not really doing anything for me. I really wish he was.

“Hey,” I say softly, forcing a smile. At least I don’t look like the loner anymore.

“Don’t know anyone?” he asks, smiling as he grabs two champagne glasses from a passing tray.

He proffers me one of the glasses, and I willingly take it, ready to drown out as much of the next three days as possible.

“I know the two that assembled this party. You?”

He smiles as his eyes flick toward Rain. She must radiate some pheromone that draws attention from everyone.

“I know Rain Noles,” he says while turning back to me. “I’ve worked on her marketing team for a while. I asked her out a few times, but she was always unavailable—according to her. I guess she’s really unavailable now. So, what’s your name?”

So glad I’m his second option
, I think dryly. Nothing new.

It takes a great amount of willpower not to roll my eyes.

“Tria. Rain’s sister.”

His eyes grow wide with amusement, and I sigh in boredom. If I’m forced to feel alone, I’d rather feel alone in my house.

I look over to see a girl wearing a skimpy red dress and strutting up to Kode, putting her hand on his arm. He smiles down at her, and she leans in closer, using her body as a weapon of mass seduction.

Bitch.

Jealousy? No. I can’t be jealous of Kode. That’s beyond crazy.

I have to stop looking at him. I need this jerk who is still talking to me to move on so I can put my back to the party again.

All in all, I really need to get out of here.

***

KODE

“Who’s that guy talking to Tria?” I growl, staring at the shaggy haired idiot who’s practically drooling as Tria’s eyes move to the city once again.

“I dunno,” Maverick says, distracted as he watches the ass on a girl wearing a bikini.

“You and I need to find somewhere a little more private to talk,” the girl hanging on my arm says.

It was funny at first; now it’s annoying. I can only be nice for so long before I act like a dick. I’ve reached my limit.

“Or you could go find someone who wants to
talk
to you.”

She leans back and gives me a glare that promises she believes I’ve lost my mind. “Excuse me?”

“I have no excuse for you,” I quip, walking away from her and Maverick on my way toward the bar.

I need more to drink. Tria’s ass in her trademark short dress is about to drive me crazy.

“Corona,” I say to the bartender, moving my eyes back over to Tria as she smiles up at the loser who can’t seem to stop looking toward Rain every five seconds.

Surely Tria realizes this guy is a tool.

“Kode Sterling,” a familiar voice purrs.

Fucking Courtney Hughes—Kade Colton’s ex-girlfriend. Should have known she’d crash this party. This girl is always driving someone to the brink of madness, and not in a good way.

“Not now, Court. I’ve got something on my mind.”

Tria starts laughing at whatever the douche has said, and my teeth grind together as his hand slides up to touch her shoulder. It shouldn’t piss me off, but my blood feels like lava as it pumps through my veins at a furious pace.

“Where are you—”

Before Courtney can finish, I walk toward Tria and the jerk, trying to think of something clever to say. I’ll need a good entry line to make this seem... less like I’ve lost my motherfucking mind.

Tria lets him take her hand, moving toward the pool with him, and something inside me finally snaps. Seeing her touching him is the final straw, and reality checks out as fury drives me on.

I don’t stop or even make an attempt to show any rationality. With barely any exerted effort, I shove her into the pool with one hand, while using my other to turn my beer up for a much needed sip.

I hear the gasp, the splash, and the scream, but I don’t turn around as I casually keep striding, pretending as though nothing just happened. I make it two more steps before Rain is pummeling my arm with her fists. She looks like the energizer bunny on cocaine right now. It actually forces a laugh out of me.

But quickly my eyes widen, and I narrowly dodge her attempt to knee my balls. She always goes for the fucking jewels shot. I’m losing my edge, because she almost got me.

“Why the hell did you do that?” she barks.

A few snickers erupt, drawing my attention. I glance over my shoulder, and nausea strikes me in the form of the bitch called… I don’t know what it’s called, but everyone is looking at Tria as she walks out of the pool, her pale blue dress now almost see-through. And it’s really pissing me off to the point my jaw ticks.

No fucking bra.

The thin material clings to her as Dane walks over and hands her his suit jacket, and she takes it quickly before wrapping it around her. Several whistles emerge, and I fight real damn hard not to go put my fist through something—or someone.

I really didn’t think this through. Now everyone has had an eyeful of the girl I didn’t want anyone looking at. It was supposed to make everyone point and laugh, embarrass the hell out of her, and send her to her room to pout. It was
not
supposed to draw every fucking guy’s attention.

“Are you listening to me?” Rain harps, slapping me on the arm.

Her pathetic assault doesn’t even register pain, but I finally curse as I turn back toward her, barely even managing to tear my eyes away from Tria.

“What?” I growl.

She narrows her eyes threateningly, and points her small little finger at me like it’s supposed to be intimidating. “Go apologize. Tria is already on edge anytime she’s around any of you. I swore to her you’d all start treating her better, and here you are pushing her into the pool for no damn reason. She hasn’t said or done anything to you!”

No, she hasn’t. That’s the fucking problem.

I know I’m not imagining the things we did, the sounds she made, or the fact her walls clenched around me countless times. My mouth has touched every part of her body, yet she has gone on as though that night never existed. Does she even know it was me?

She’d better fucking know it was me.

“I’ll go apologize,” I say tightly, planning on getting some answers as well.

That damn girl has my head all screwed up, and I need things to be right again. It doesn’t make sense. None of this.

“Where’d Tria go?” I ask Corbin. Dane might chew me out right now, so I’d rather avoid him for a while.

Corbin snickers while motioning to the rooftop elevator.

“She just headed down. Some guy went with her to make sure she made it to her room safely.”

I’m going to have a brain aneurism.

“What guy?” I snarl, and he tilts his head, confused or amused—I’m not sure which.

“I don’t know him. Why?”

Sucking in a painful breath, I manage to rein in my temper long enough to get through this asinine conversation. “Rain is making me apologize, and I don’t want too many people that know me to witness it.”

It’s a shitty lie, but he buys it, shrugging as I walk toward the elevator. I stab the button over and over until the doors open, and then I press the button for her floor just as furiously.

How can she just walk off with
some
guy?

The elevator takes its sweet time descending, but after an excruciating twenty seconds, the doors finally open to Tria’s floor. I’m glad no one asked me why I didn’t need to know her room number. I didn’t think about that posing questions.

I only asked the flirty desk clerk what room Tria was in because I wanted to make sure to avoid that room. That’s it. I had no intentions of using such knowledge for any other reason. Nope. No other reason at all.

My palms start sweating like I’m a nervous kid at a middle-school dance the second I reach her door, and I loosen my tie while nervously clearing my throat. Like a fucking idiot, I lean my ear against the door and listen for voices.

It’s quiet, though. No sounds at all.

After shrugging off the unprecedented nerves, I finally summon the necessary courage to knock. The sound of feet shuffling toward the door catches my attention, and then I hear more silence before a few muttered curses behind the door.

I probably should have covered the peephole.

“Go away,” she says.

“I came to apologize. Open the door.” I can’t help but give her my best grin, even though the effect probably isn’t as strong through the distorting lens of the peephole.

“You don’t need me to open the door for that.”

Shit. Why did I get myself into this mess?

“Just open the door. Rain will come down here any minute to find out if we’re—”

The door swings open, and I swallow the rest of my words when Tria stands before me in nothing but a towel. Her wet hair is hanging down in sexy locks, letting trickles of the chlorine water ride the swells of her breasts and gather in her cleavage.

My jaw goes slack, my eyes become transfixed, and all my blood drains south.

“I really don’t give a damn if Rain comes down here. You wanted her attention, apparently. Now you have it. Glad I could play your pawn.”

Her bitter words snap me out of my trance, and I look up to meet her eyes again. My eyes narrow as I force my way into the room, trying not to enjoy the way she stumbles backwards when I get too close.

When the door shuts, her eyes look at it like she’s plotting her escape.

“I wasn’t trying to get Rain’s attention. You were pissing me off.”

Her eyebrows go up in surprise, and then she gives me the sexiest glare I’ve ever seen, even though I’m sure it is supposed to be warding me off instead of enticing me.

“I wasn’t doing a damn thing to you. I’ve stayed out of the way since we got here, just like I always do.”

I take another step forward, and she quickly takes one backward to compensate for the reduced distance, expanding it once again.

“You were talking to some douche, laughing with him, and letting him touch you.”

She stares at me for a moment—lost, I think. Then she laughs humorlessly while shaking her head and turning her back on me.

“I can’t believe this. You’ve acted like we didn’t spend a night together since you left my hotel room, and
now
you’re pissed because someone else is interested?”

She turns back to face me, clearly amused by the fact I’m making an ass out of myself.

“Don’t kid yourself, Tria. That prick couldn’t keep his eyes off Rain. You were just going to be the consolation prize.”

Her amusement falls, and I silently curse myself when all the life falls from her face.

Her voice is soft and tired when she finally speaks to me, her gaze on the floor now. “Go, Kode. I wasn’t planning on being his consolation prize. And I’m sure as hell not going to be yours while I’m sober.”

Yep. I’m going to strangle her. And then I’m chopping my dick off for being such a pain in the ass.

“So now you merely fucked me because you were drunk? That’s what you’re saying? Because you knew my name, and you asked me to fuck you like I hated you. And you sure as hell had no problem with begging for more each time I—”

“Are you going to recap every detail?” she groans, her face red and her eyes screwing shut as she turns away again.

“I was starting to wonder if you even remembered, since you’ve treated me as though I don’t exist.”