Free Denying The Bad Boy (Tattooed and Pierced #2) by Jenika Snow Page A

but when Darcy had seen her clothes she made a scoffing noise and shook her
head. She had all but dragged Mary back into her room and rummaged through her
closet until she found a dress thrust in the back of her closet. It was a
black, tight little thing, one that she had only worn once to a dinner with
Lance. She should have burned the damn thing, but she had spent too much money
on it, and well, it was a beautiful dress. Made from French silk with
practically no back and formfitting enough that it actually looked like she had
a figure, Mary had worked all summer just to buy it. Maybe not the best way to
spend her money since she only wore it once and it was now associated with her
ex, a guy she never wanted to think about again, but she told herself she’d
wear it again. Yeah, that had never happened, until tonight she supposed. It
seemed too fancy for going to a nightclub, but Darcy assured her one could
never be overdressed, especially to this particular place, one that was known
by everyone, but where only a select few could get in. But lucky for them Darcy
knew the bouncer.
    Yay for them. Insert sarcasm.
    Mary was still a bit hesitant on going, but all it
took for that uncertainty to vanish was looking at Darcy and the sad expression
she carried when she thought no one was looking.
    Darcy planned on meeting her at the club at eight,
so that gave Mary a little over an hour to tutor Alex, and then swing back home
to get ready before heading out. So now here she was, staring at Alex’s house,
feeling all kinds of anxiety and anticipation, which was dumb because she had done
this type of thing a hundred different times. This was no different. He was no different, and she needed to
remember that. She grabbed her bag that was filled with several books she had
checked out from the library on Human Sexuality. Figuring they would start from
the beginning since she had no idea what he even absorbed in the class, if
anything at all, she made her way up to the front door. Bringing her knuckles
down on the door three times she dropped her hand but instantly clasped them
together in front of her.
    Several long moments passed, and she lifted her hand
to knock on the door again. She knew someone was home because the sound of loud laughter, and a football game on the television
playing in the background came right through the door. She had sent Alex a text
earlier today telling him she’d be here at six, so he should be expecting her. Seconds
later the door flew open.
    “What the fu—” Adam stopped midsentence and stared
at her. He lifted his hand that wasn’t holding the edge of the doorframe and
ran it over the top of his head, further disheveling the strands. “Oh, sorry ‘bout that, Mary.” He looked over his shoulder
toward the stairs and then turned back to her. “I thought you were someone
else. Come on in.” He moved out of the way, and she stepped inside. The house
smelled funky, like sweat, old gym socks, and something stale.
    “I’m here to tutor Alex.” She turned around to face
him. Adam shut the door and glanced at the stairs again.
    “Oh, okay. He’s upstairs primping.”
    Primping? “Excuse me?” Adam grinned and shook his head.
    “He’s getting all pretty for his date tonight.”
Something twisted in her stomach at Adam’s words.
    “Oh, well I wouldn’t know anything about that. I’m
just here to help him with his class.”
    Adam was staring at her strangely, and she hoped her
sudden and irrational disappointment was written across her face. Before
anything else was said the sound of heavy footsteps descending the stairs
filled her ears. Adam grumbled something under his breath and headed back into
the living room. Mary turned around and watched Alex making his way toward her.
He wore a pair of loose fitting distressed jeans and a button down shirt. The
sleeves were rolled up his forearms, showing off the muscular, tanned flesh,
and the first two buttons at the collar of his shirt were undone.