Bewitched in Budapest (Xcite Romance) by Justine Elyot Read Free Book Online Page B

it,’ she said, dumping the rucksack in a corner. ‘You dirty fucker, János, I can’t believe you did this to my friend. She’s vulnerable!’
    ‘Out!’ he shouted, waving a wild arm towards the door.
    She slammed the door behind her.
    ‘I’m so sorry,’ he said. ‘So sorry about this.’ He climbed off me and sat on the side of the bed, head between his legs as if he was trying not to faint.
    I looked for words, questions, anything, but nothing would crystallise. I had gone from knowing exactly where I stood to having no idea.
    ‘Maybe it’s for the best,’ I said eventually, but it didn’t sound convincing at all. ‘Things are complicated for me. For both of us.’
    ‘A fuck is not complicated.’
    ‘Oh. Right.’ It was no more than that, of course. How could it have been?
    He sat up and reached out for me but I held back, hugging my arms around my ribcage. I felt cold all over. ‘Well, thanks for being a good friend while Jodie was away. I guess that’s, well, I guess we can’t…’
    He stared. He looked angry, maybe hurt as well. ‘Right,’ he said, standing and picking up his jeans. ‘Happy to help.’ He sounded viciously sardonic. I watched numbly as the jeans went on, then the sweater. 
    ‘Look, I didn’t mean that it wasn’t nice … I didn’t mean …’
    ‘You don’t know what you mean. You don’t know what you want. You don’t know how to live. I tell you what. When you know these things, you call me, yes?’
    Still barefoot with his hair tousled to fuck he swanned gorgeously through the door and slammed it, harder than Josie had, after him.
    I lay back down on the bed and burst into tears.
    When Jodie came in with a mug of tea, I was headachey and red-eyed, cried out and exhausted.
    ‘Oh, mate,’ she said sadly. ‘He’s a bastard. Come on. This is proper English tea; there’s a shop in Balaton that sells it.’
    ‘Do you really think that?’ I sniffed, moving painfully into a sitting position and taking the mug. ‘About János?’
    ‘He’s a player, love. Renowned, all over the length and breadth of Budapest.’
    ‘You must like him a bit, though – you were seeing him yourself.’
    ‘He’s fit. No point kicking him out of bed in the middle of a dry spell, is there?’
    ‘But you weren’t emotionally involved?’
    ‘God, no. Oh, Ruby. You’re vulnerable right now. He took advantage of that. Shit, I should have made my warning clearer. I should have known this would happen. But it’s so unlike you. I guess you’re just not yourself after the break-up with Dave.’
    ‘So,’ I said, feeling a little stronger once the tea warmed my stomach, ‘how do you know I wasn’t just after a no-strings shag?’
    Jodie’s jaw dropped. ‘Ruby! I don’t think I’ve ever heard you use the word shag before, let alone do it.’
    ‘Just because I’m quite a private person doesn’t mean I’m uptight about sex.’
    ‘Really?’
    ‘OK. I have been. I probably am. But maybe I shouldn’t be. Maybe a fling is what I need. I want to move on with my life, Jo. I think János might have been able to help me with that, whether or not he wants anything serious.’
    ‘Are you for real?’
    ‘Yes. Yes, I am. I want to, to, well, to shag János. I think it would be good for me. It would cheer me up. Is there anything wrong or bad in that?’
    ‘Of course not.’ She stared at me, shaking her head for a while. ‘Shit. I’m sorry I scared him off now. I really thought he was going to, like, break your heart.’
    ‘No chance of that,’ I said airily, though I knew this wasn’t quite accurate. ‘It’s just a bit of fun. I’m allowed fun, you know, now I’ve split with Dave.’
    ‘Good on ya, girl. If there’s one thing Big J knows about, it’s how to have fun.’
    ‘So, maybe I’ll call him.’
    ‘OK. But first, I have to tell you about what happened at Balaton! Then I need you to come down to Váci utca and help me shop for a new bag. János’ll keep. He’s