Free Stolen Desire (The Lust List: Kaidan Stone #3) by Nova Raines, Mira Bailee

school?”
    “Oh, a ton.”
    The way she says “a ton” makes me wonder, and I'm too tipsy now for social filters. “So, does that mean you and him…?”
    She cackles. “No fucking way. Not like that. I'm not his type.” The bartender hands Trish a new drink, and she takes a swig.
    I stay silent, hoping she'll say more. But she just keeps drinking.
    “So, uh, what's his type?”
    “You! You're his type. Blonde, green eyes. You look so much like Avery, it's crazy.”
    “Avery?”
    Trish opens and closes her mouth like a drunk fish. “Shit, I shouldn't have said that.” She grabs my arm and stage whispers, “Puh-lease don't tell Kaidan I mentioned her. No one talks about her anymore. Makes him ragey.”
    People splash and shout from the pool, and Trish glances at it. “Ooh. Alejandro, baby, let's take a dip before we head to the club. Come on.”
    She leaves her drink on the bar and drags Alejandro over to the pool.
    The lump in my throat grows as I order my drink and wait for it. I glance at Kaidan, laughing with his friends. I was never Peyton's doppelganger. Peyton and I both came after this Avery girl. Who is she, and what happened between her and Kaidan that makes him so ragey about her? Where is she now? A decade is a long time to still have such strong feelings about a high school girlfriend.
    Char shows up at the bar, looking positively high on life. I make myself smile. “Wellll?”
    “Matt's so amazing! A bunch of them are heading out to the mountains tomorrow morning—to a resort. He invited me to come with!”
    “You're going, right?”
    “Of course I'm going.”
    “See? I told you it was meant to be.”
    She glances back at the table where he's still sitting and gives him a wave. He grins back at her.
    “He's so nice, Hay. And so interesting. He's really passionate about acting. You can just tell. He reminds me of my mom, only less…”
    “Eccentric?”
    She laughs. “Yeah, that.” She grabs my arm and squeezes. “Do you mind if I head out early with him to grab some late dinner? I don't want to ditch you—”
    “Oh, 'dinner,' huh?”
    “Yes. Dinner. He wants to take me to this sushi bar before we hit the club.”
    “Of course not. Go. You've been with him all night, anyway. I'm happy for you.”
    She beams and gives me a hug. “Thanks. Will you be going to the club later? Apparently they're all heading over there soon… I guess whenever they get out of the pool.”
    “Not sure. I'll ask Kaidan. He never said anything about that.”
    “Okay. Well text me if you decide to come.”
    “I will. Don't worry about me. Go have fun!”
    Char goes back to get Matt, and then they leave.
    The bartender hands me my drink, and I chug it. Someone's gone inside to crank up the music, and half the party is in the pool and hot tub. I guess it's my turn.
    When I get to the edge of the pool, and I'm unzipping my dress, Kaidan's suddenly there. He wraps an arm around me from behind, and I smell his woodsy cologne as he turns me around to face him.
    He leans in to kiss me, and for the first time tonight, I get a real kiss, a sensual kiss. Longing and heat radiate through me, waking my body up. I'm breathing hard when he finally pulls away.
    “What are you doing over here?” He asks, eying my unzipped dress.
    “I'm about to get in that pool.” I pull my dress over my head, exposing my lacey bra and panties. His eyes darken with lust as he drinks me in, but then they change, and he glances around at the rest of the party.
    “You know, I kind of like having you all to myself…” he says, his voice deep, husky.
    I give him another kiss. “And you do have me all to yourself. Come swim with me.” I walk down the steps into the warm infinity pool. He smiles down at me and puts his hand on his belt to come in, but then his phone rings.
    It always rings.
    He lifts a finger and pulls his phone from his pocket to check it. Why can't he just ignore that thing for once?
    “Dammit. I have to take this.”