Free Bloodlust by Alex Duval Page A

his muscles tensed. He couldn’t get in the tub. He couldn’t sit two feet away from Brad and Sienna making out. He’d done his best to forget Sienna’s kiss after he’d driven her home from the last party, and to remember that she and Brad were together. But that didn’t mean he wanted a front-row seat for their groping.
    Brad moved his lips from Sienna’s mouth to her shoulder, turning her head a little in the bubbling water, and revealing not Sienna’s face, but the face of Lauren Gissinger, a girl in Jason’s physics class.
    Not Sienna. Relief spun through Jason’s body. It wasn’t Sienna making out with Brad.
    Then he realized exactly what he was seeing. Not Sienna. Jason’s relief quickly turned to shock, then bewilderment. Brad was cheating on Sienna.

 

    Seven
     
    J ason’s mind was a jumble of emotions. Confusion—Brad didn’t seem like the kind of guy to cheat so openly. Anger—on Sienna’s behalf. And frustration on his own—here he was trying so hard to keep away from Sienna because she was Brad’s girlfriend, and Brad didn’t even care enough to be faithful. What kind of an idiot cheated on a girl like Sienna?
    Then Jason told himself that maybe Brad had had a bit too much to drink, and maybe, since he was supposed to be a friend, he should go and attempt to save Brad from himself—before Sienna happened upon the spectacle in the hot tub.
    Reluctantly he strode over to the hot tub and tapped Brad on the shoulder. “Hey, Brad. Are you sure you know what you’re doing, man? Sienna’s definitely at this party somewhere,” he warned.
    Brad looked up, startled. “Er, yeah, it’s okay. I know what I’m doing,” he said in a slightly bemused kind of way.
    Jason shrugged. “Well, it’s your funeral,” he said. He figured there wasn’t anything more he could do.
    Lauren stood up, droplets of water sliding down her body. “Maybe I should, um, go somewhere else,” she offered. But she looked kind of spaced out, as if she wasn’t really sure what was going on.
    Brad gently pulled her down onto his lap. “You’re fine, right where you are,” he told her. His eyes met Jason’s. “But you might want to go someplace else,” he said pointedly.
    Jason abruptly got up to go.
    “And, hey—don’t worry, dude!” Brad called after him. A grin broke across his face. “Sienna’s just as bad. It’s all cool.” He twisted Lauren’s long, dark hair around his hand and used it to pull her face closer to his. Then he turned away from Jason and kissed her.
    “Let’s go,” Adam said as Jason came back to join him.
    Jason nodded briefly, and they turned and walked away. “Bet you wish you’d had your camera on for that special moment,” he muttered to Adam as they circled round to the aft deck.
    “No. Not dramatic enough,” Adam joked as they approached the bar. “Wait!” he exclaimed suddenly. “They’ve got better stuff downstairs. Let’s go there instead!” He veered in front of Jason, but it was too late: Jason had already seen.
    Sienna and Kyle, the diver from the swim team, were sitting on one of the leather couches near the bar, performing a little show of their own. And it was definitely Sienna, this time—Jason had a great view of her as she lifted her body to move onto Kyle’s lap, pulling him closer. Jason couldn’t look away as Kyle slid his hands down over her ass while she traced the shape of his top lip with her finger.
    “Jason!” The sound of Adam’s voice broke the spell. Jason blinked, then headed directly to the bar. The confusion and frustration he’d felt with Brad had turned to ice in his veins. He didn’t know whether to be mad at himself for trying to defend Sienna, or mad at her for totally not deserving it.
    “I think there’s a poker game going on in the master stateroom. We should check it out,” Adam said, talking at warp speed. “These rich boys need to be relieved of some cash.” He mock winced. “Oops, sorry, I keep forgetting