Chapter 24

SETH

^EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO, AGED SEVENTEEN^

Her dark curls bounced on her hips as she danced, her body swaying so seductively to Beyoncé’s “Naughty Girl” that there was no mistaking her unspoken message.

Seth’s teammates were salivating as they watched the two girls dancing on the crowded dance floor.

They were complete opposites in appearance and personalities, but somehow, they were the best of friends. And that was the trouble.

They had met each other on the first day at their new school the year before.

It was hard to believe that the two girls would have anything in common, much less become inseparable.

Tereza spent more time at their house than she did at her own, being part of their family on most occasions, and even went to dinner with them to celebrate their mom’s promotion.

But things had been changing lately, and Seth wasn’t as comfortable with Sarah’s friendship with Terry.

“How the hell do you stay so cool with those two in your house ~all the time~?” Austin was the more vocal of their group, never hesitating when things needed to be said.

He was also more radical in his appearance with his long hair, nose ring, and torn jeans. The girls went crazy when he flashed that lopsided grin and gave his trademark wink.

Seth just shook his head as he kept his eyes on the makeshift dance floor. He hadn’t wanted to be at the party at his teammate’s home, but Sarah had wanted to come.

Michael's house was filled with other seniors in varying degrees of inebriation, Sarah and Seth included. They had reason to celebrate.

Their baseball team had won the state championship, and the cheerleading squad had reached the semi-finals in the national competition.

It was also the second-to-last week before the summer break, so everyone was on a high.

The flip of black curls caught his attention again and he followed the movement to where they swayed against the curvy backside of his sister’s best friend.

He spent many hours in the batting cages because he preferred to leave the house when Tereza came over.

He found her attitude too overbearing, and she often overshadowed the quieter Sarah. And it irritated him that he was attracted to her, even though he tried to deny it.

He’d even dated her archenemy to put space between them. He had started introducing his friends to her so that she would not be at the house as much while she dated them.

He couldn’t understand why their interest in Tereza Pellegrini annoyed him tonight.

She slid her hands down her bare thighs and ran them back up to tease the hem of her denim miniskirt before framing the juncture of her hips.

She let them caress the expanse of skin her tied-up shirt revealed. When they cupped her large breasts, she looked up and their eyes met.

He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat as his body responded instantly.

He could hear previous conversations with Sarah when she had asked him not to fall for Terry, and he had tried so hard to ignore the pounding in his heart and the heaviness in his loins.

He turned to the kitchen and quickly drank a glass of beer, blinking at the dizziness of the buzz it caused. He took a second cup and went to the deck through the back door.

He had been to Michael’s place often enough to know where to find a quiet spot, even if the music was loud enough to seep into the backyard.

Seth made himself comfortable on the stairs of the deck and sipped his beer. The early summer evening was mild, and the stars shone brightly against the night sky’s darkness.

He heard the door open but didn’t bother to look back to see who had come out. He was sitting low enough to be missed unless they were looking for him.

“Here you are.” His breath hitched at the sound of the voice he had been trying to avoid all night. The air crackled as she sat down next to him.

“What are you doing out here?” He wished she would go back inside.

She smiled up at him, her brown eyes gleaming through her lashes as she laid her head against his arm. She reached across and drank some of his beer.

“I figured you might have come to see the stars.”

He licked his lips as the scent of her shampoo wafted up to him. Terry put her hand on his thigh and lightly stroked his knee. He cleared his throat as he felt his manhood respond.

He put his hand over hers and lifted it off his leg. “I don’t think this is a good idea, Terry.”

“Why not? We would make a dynamic pair.”

“Terry—” She pulled his face around to her and kissed him, pulling his bottom lip between her teeth and sucking it. He gasped as he felt the pull of desire tighten his stomach.

She cupped his growing erection and he moaned, and she took this as his acceptance of her seduction.

She broke the kiss long enough to kneel on the step beneath him and unzip his jeans.

With a practiced smile, she leaned forward and placed a kiss on the exposed skin above his briefs before pulling his underwear down to expose his raging member.

Terry bit her bottom lip as she looked at him, her eyes bright with lust.

Without looking away she wrapped her hand around his length and closed her mouth over his tip, making him cry out as she sucked softly.

He felt the vibration of her moan through his body as she took him deeper into her mouth.

Seth closed his eyes as her tongue licked the sensitive head, and he found his hand tangling in her hair as she continued to suck and lick him, her movements becoming faster.

His eyes flew open as she pulled away from him, expertly rolled a condom onto his member, and then straddled his lap and slid onto his length.

His hands clutched at her hips as she rocked on him, her hands holding onto his shoulders for balance.

Her bouncing became frenzied as she neared her orgasm, and when her body clenched around him, Seth felt himself release his essence into the condom.

She dropped her head onto his shoulder, breathing hard as they both tried to gain control.

“I’ve known that you’ve wanted me for a while now, Seth, so why deny us both?” she whispered into his ear.

“Because you’re bad news, Tereza.” She sat up to look at him in surprise.

“What? Do you think I haven’t heard the rumors about you? Or that I haven’t done some investigation to find out if they’re true?”

“So what was this all about?” He could see the anger burning in her eyes.

He smirked as he put his forehead against her own, his lips nearly touching hers as he said softly, “Have you ever heard of a teenage boy who turned down a free blowjob?”

Her angry response was drowned out by the sound of Sarah’s shocked gasp which was quickly followed by the slam of the kitchen door.

She scrambled from his lap, pulled her skirt straight, and glared at him. “This isn’t finished, Seth Marshall.”

“I didn’t think it was, Terry Pellegrini.”