Page 3 of Tasting Innocence

Chapter One

Doesshe enjoy watching me squirm? Is she aware of her affect on me, or is she absolutely clueless? I’ve never taken her to be a naive girl. She’s smarter than most people I know, so she has to know what she’s doing to me.

Violet unties the knot at her hip, and drops the see-through piece of fabric on the lounge chair, leaving her in only a bright green bikini that leaves little to the imagination. When her eyes flicker up, they clash with mine, and I swear I see a tiny twinkle of amusement there.

As she walks past me and toward the pool, I pull my sunglasses down from my head and cover my eyes. I have got to do better, especially with so many eyes around. Someone’s bound to catch me checking out my best friend’s little sister.

“I saw you,” Ronan says, sitting in the chair next to me.

“Shut up and fuck off,” I say simply.

He laughs. “It could’ve been anybody, though. You’re pretty obvious.”

“It can’t just be me. Violet and her friends are definitely gaining the attention from every guy here.” Ronan arches a brow. “Okay, every guy who isn’t gay.”

While we were still at the cabins for Christmas break, I learned that Vi and Ronan weren’t together in the way I thought, and found out that Ronan wasn’t as straight as everyone thought either. He and Renzo have been a happy couple since then.

“Has she said anything to you?” he questions, squirting some sunscreen in his hand.

“Nope. Nothing.”

“It’s been months since the time at the cabins though. I’ve seen y’all off on your own a few times. Nothing? She hasn’t asked why you kissed her?”

I sit up and look around, making sure nobody, especially Renzo, is around to hear. “No, and keep your voice down. Plus, it wasn’t like a kiss kiss. I barely touched her cheek with my lips.”

“Yeah, but you’ve known her her whole life basically, and never kissed her before. It raises flags.”

“I was drunk-ish. She’s probably just chalking it up to that.”

“Well, I still say if you’re planning on doing anything, you need to tell Renzo before he finds out.”

“He’s not gonna be okay with it either way. It’s fine. I have a ton of girls I can get with.”

“Where are those tons of girls?” he asks, looking around my backyard.

“It wasn’t supposed to be a party. I only invited my closest friends, and Vi asked if her friends could come.”

He smiles. “Okay.”

“I’m serious. I can get any girl I want.”

His eyes move over my head, and based on how his smile drops, I already know it’s Violet. Great.

“Good for you, Dex,” Vi says in a saccharine sweet voice, like she’s talking to a toddler. She retrieves her sunglasses from her chair and slips them on, grinning at me. “Maybe you’ll get to second base soon.”

“I’ve been to…” I stop myself. “Okay. Funny.”

She leaves, getting into the pool, where a majority of the people are.

“Nice,” Ronan quips.

“Shut up. Way to warn me.”

“She just walked through the door from your house. Nobody told you to talk so loud.”

In the months since Ro has been with Renzo, we’ve actually become pretty close. He’s the only one who knows about my...affection for Vi. Granted, he used it against me when I found out about him and Renzo, and said he wouldn’t tell my best friend that I was wanting his little sister as long as I didn’t out him to anybody.

“You either need to talk to Zo, tell him how you feel, then talk to Violet and see if this goes anywhere, or let it go and find someone else. You’re right. You can get anyone you want. You’re rich, popular, and decent looking, I guess.”

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