Shredded by Tracy Wolff Read Free Book Online Page B

in.
    “Fine, I’ll go. Only because I want to see the movie. Not because I want to spend time with Z.”
    “Of course not.”
    “I’m serious. I’m not going to fuck him to keep him off the slopes, so if that’s what you’re thinking—”
    “It’s not. I swear. In fact, I’m pretty much counting on you not fucking him. I—”
    “Hey, are you two about done with your secret little exchange?” Z asks as he walks up to us, followed closely by Cam and Ash.
    “No secrets,” Luc tells him. “I was just convincing Ophelia to eat and catch the movie with us.”
    Z’s brows nearly touch his hairline as he turns to me. “Oh, yeah?”
    I like that he’s surprised, though I have no idea why. “Yeah.”
    He stares at me for long seconds, those cool blue eyes of his so intense that it takes every ounce of willpower I have to hold his gaze. But if I learned anything in the years I spent hanging on the streets, it’s that guys like this don’t respect girls who back down. So I don’t. Instead, I lift my chin and wait for him to speak first.
    I expect a sexual innuendo, maybe an advance. Instead, when he finally does speak, all he says is, “Cool.” Then he brushes past me and heads for the parking lot without a backward glance.
    I watch him go.
    So much for fending off advances. Looks like he got the message yesterday after all. I breathe a sigh of relief—or at least that’s what I tell myself it is—as I follow him and the others to the car.
    I’m in the bathroom at the movie theater washing my hands after eating entirely too much popcorn when Cam walks in, the restroom door bouncing against the wall as she pushes through it.
    “Hey,” I say, smiling at her in the mirror.
    She doesn’t smile back.
    In fact, she ignores me completely—just as she ignores the stalls lining the back wall of the bathroom. Instead, she walks to the sink next to mine and starts washing her hands just as I turn to dry mine.
    Silence echoes off the cool tile walls, and though it makes me uncomfortable, I’m not going to be the one to break it. I already tried that—both in here and at the table where she spent most of the evening playing I-can’t-see-or-hear-Ophelia—and I’m done. Sure, it’d be nice to have a friend here in Siberia, and last night I thought that she might be that friend, but hey, whatever. No skin off my nose if she wants to pull that whole I’m-a-bitch-who-hates-you-for-no-reason routine. She’s not the first to throw it at me and probably won’t be the last.
    I toss the paper towel into the trash basket and head for the exit without saying another word to her. But just as my hand closes around the door handle, she says, “You’re nothing to him. You know that, right?”
    For a second I think about just continuing to walk. But if I do, this thing is going to grow by epic proportions. She’ll think I am interested in Z, which will just lead to more drama. And if there’s one thing I do not need more of in my life, it’s drama. The last year has given me morethan enough of it, thank you very much.
    “Why should I care?” I finally say, turning around to face her. “He’s nothing to me .”
    She snorts. “Yeah, right. I’ve heard that before.”
    “I’m sure you have. But that doesn’t make it any less true coming from me. I’m not interested in Z.”
    “You sure about that?”
    “Yeah. Pretty sure. He’s not exactly my type.”
    Cam laughs at that. “If there’s one thing hanging around with Z has proven to me through the years, it’s that he’s every woman’s type.”
    “Even yours?”
    She stiffens, looks away. “No. Not mine. We’re just friends.”
    “You sure about that?” I deliberately echo the question she had just posed to me.
    “Yeah. Pretty sure. He’s not my type, either.” This time when she looks at me, her scowl has been replaced by a genuine smile. “I think I might actually be starting to like you.”
    I raise my brows at her. “Is that such a