“Okay, okay, I get it,” I acquiesced. “I officially fucked with you.”
“Sure did,” Jocelyn winked. “But that’s okay. I fucked with you, too.”
She was taunting me as she always did, because she knew I felt guilty about this subject. Growing up, Jason was my best friend. His house was my second home, and his little sister should’ve been off limits. Of course, I could argue it wasshewho ledmeinto her darkened basement that night, to forever change our relationship from friendship into something else. But I was the older one. And she was younger…. inexperienced. In fact, she was a virgin.
And she was still a virgin when we emerged, sweaty and disheveled, an hour later. Technically, anyway. Although we’d doneeverythingelse.
And maybe, I realized, that’s why she kept tormenting me about it.
“Hey! I FOUND it!”
Bishop popped up from the little cabin below, holding something proudly in one hand. He took a long pull from the elaborate silver and glass flask, then passed it to Jocelyn.
“What is it?” she asked, after taking a pull of her own.
“Brandy.”
She drank again, almost immediately. “Fuck. It’s delicious!”
“It better be, it’s over a hundred years old.”
My friend watched her proudly, until Jocelyn’s expression of pure shock caused him to laugh.
“Where in the world did you get hundred year-old anything?” she swore.
Bishop grinned, pointing into the night.
“Oh baby, you haven’t seenanythingyet.”
~ 4 ~
JOCELYN
The night got more and more surreal, with each passing moment. Maybe it was pulling up and tying off to the immaculate dock, or the shiny black luxury sedan that was waiting for us when we got there. Kayden started the engine remotely as Bishop opened the door for me, and a few moments later we were rolling across a lush, deserted isle.
“And you’re really stayinghere?” I reiterated. “The whole week?”
The guys said nothing as we rolled through the darkness, the only sound being the crunch of gravel beneath the tires. In the complete absence of light, it was impossible to tell how big or small the island was. But it was very,verydark.
“You know, if I didn’t know you both since I was ten, I’d think you were kidnapping me.”
“Who says we’re not?” joked Bishop.
“Yeah, well, I hope you’re not looking to collect a ransom,” I smiled, screwing my ass into the warm, comfortable leather of the back seat. “Not a good one, at least.”
Landscape lighting eventually illuminated the road on both sides, making it look like a runway. It spilled us out into the courtyard of a sleek, modern mansion — well-lit from the inside and out — nestled into a cove of immaculate landscaping. Thebuilding was all glass and cement and marble, with cutting edge finishes and a breathtaking view of the mountains from all sides. As the car rolled to a stop, I was so totally in awe I didn’t realize the door had been opened for me.
“You coming?” smirked Bishop, extending his hand.
I nearly broke my neck looking in all directions at once. The place was shrouded and secluded; wholly surrounded by nature. Whoever had built this place, they valued privacy first and foremost.
Kayden led us to a set of massive front doors, produced a keycard, and held it up to a rectangle of smoky black glass. A digital touchpad appeared, and he punched in a series of numbers with practiced fingers.
The doors didn’t just swing open, they actuallyretracted, folding into themselves like accordions. Moving past them, I stepped into the gaping, well-lit foyer.
“Holy shit, guys,” I swore dramatically. “What a dump.”
There was more glass, more marble, more of everything. Slate floors and natural stone walls screamed toward a high-flung ceiling, set with such beautiful wooden inlay that it melded seamlessly, as if by nature. There was even a fountain in the middle of the foyer, flowing noiselessly yet serenely into a circular, crystal clear pool.