Unfiltered & Undressed (The Unfiltered Series) by Payge Galvin, Meg Chance Read Free Book Online

waking her so she wouldn’t have to sleep there all night, or at least tucking a blanket around her—things that might, in some small way, make up for letting her down again. Instead, I went to my room and collapsed on the bed, not bothering to strip out of my clothes.
    I shouldn’t have stayed out. I should have been thinking about Tess and my obligations, and how I would be better from now on. Not driving around all night thinking about Lauren—the girl with the hot temper and the coffee-colored eyes. The one who made me question my own sanity, and my vows not to mess around with anyone once I’d decided to come home—back to Tess.
    But somehow I couldn’t stop picturing Lauren stretched out on top of the bar at The Dunes with all that smooth skin of hers bared for me, or again today, while she’d floated on top of the water at the pool as I’d had my hand on her back. I wanted to see what she had under that ugly one-piece swimsuit of hers. I wanted to bury myself inside of her, and forget all about bills and work and commitments I should never have made in the first place.
    Jesus, fuck! She was exactly the wrong kind of girl to be thinking about. The kind that would get me into all kinds of trouble if I let her.
    I crammed my fists in my eyes and let out a heavy sigh. This wasn’t the way I’d planned my life. Sometimes life sucked.
    I’d done the right thing when I’d told Lauren I couldn’t give her lessons any more. Even if I didn’t have Tess at home, what kind of instructor would I be if I couldn’t even concentrate on the kids in my class because all I was thinking about was her? Worse, what if, next time, I couldn’t contain myself and ended up with a serious hard-on? That would just make me look like some kind of deviant in a class full of kids.
    I had to get the brown-eyed girl out of my head and wrap my brain around the way things had to be. I wasn’t going to have her. Hell, I didn’t even deserve her. I had to focus on Tess and sorting shit out at home.
    Getting up, I went back to the couch and brushed aside the silken strands of sun-streaked hair that hung in Tess’s face. I shook her awake gently. “Sorry I didn’t call.”

Chapter 7
    LAUREN
    Emerson came out of her bedroom, securing a simple silver hoop in her ear, but the hoops were the only simple things she had on. “Okay, for real? You’ve been moping around all day. You’re not really gonna stay here all by yourself tonight, are you? Get your ass up and come out with us.”
    “I’m just not up to it tonight. Besides,” I said, casting a meaningful glance at my worn sweatpants. “I’m not exactly dressed for…well, for anything.” Em, on the other hand, would easily blend in with the rest of the crowd at The Dunes, in her body-hugging neon pink dress and strappy heels.
    “Mm-hmm.” She assessed me with a skeptical eye. “I see that. You got this whole bag lady vibe goin’ on. What up with that? I think a night out is exactly what you need.”
    “I’m just tired, that’s all.”
    Em rolled her eyes. “You’re so fucking lame I can’t even stand it.”
    “Whatever,” I threw back at her, because the eye roll was a dead giveaway. She so wasn’t mad at me. “You love me and you know it. Besides, I’ll try to do better, I swear.”
    Her mood buoyed at my promise, and she squeezed my hands tightly. “Good, because Lucas has a roommate. And he’s hot. And now you owe me, so you know what that means.” She raised her perfectly tweezed brows at me.
    Perfect , I thought, realizing I’d just roped myself into a double date of some kind. Em was always setting me up with the friends of guys she was either hooking up with, or trying to hook up with. Worked out great for her, but for me it was nothing short of painful. Most of them were nice enough, maybe even on the boring side. But occasionally, some douchebag couldn’t imagine there was a girl on this planet who wasn’t falling all over herself to jump into bed