Because, seriously, fuck that guy.
“Hi, Tanner. This is Luca Bailey. I’m calling because –“
A huff of breath blew over the line before, “Be here at six tonight.”
The line went dead after that. I pulled the phone from my ear to look at the screen, my eyes blinking several times as I processed what happened.
Apparently, Clayton had been wrong. Tanner did remember me, not just by face, but by name as well. He didn’t sound too happy to be assigned to this project with me.
That made two of us, and even though I wanted to call him back and refuse to show up at his place at the time he’d demanded, I thought better of it.
Starting a battle with him was a bad idea on its own, but to do it while having to work with him on a project I needed to ace in order to keep up my perfect GPA was just plain stupid.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to work with him, but I’d figure something out.
Pushing up to my feet, I headed toward my dorm, definitely not thinking about what I would wear to see Tanner, because it didn’t matter, right?
Right.
That’s the lie I told myself.
. . .
I arrived at the Inferno mansion a few minutes before six. Punctuality was one of my brags in life, a habit I adhered to thanks to having been raised in the South.
Being early or late was considered impolite, and even being here with time to kill awoke my mother’s admonishing voice in my head about my upbringing and manners.
Normally, I would have hung back and busied myself on my phone in order to pass the time until I was due to arrive, but I knew manners were a foreign concept in the Inferno house. I wasn’t about to extend the courtesy to Tanner when I knew he had no plans to extend the same courtesy to me.
Dressed in a pair of skinny jeans that defined the curves of my generous hips and ass, and a black pullover sweater that kept the chill out while hanging low enough to highlight the dip of my collarbones and just enough cleavage to still be modest, I ran up the large steps of the front entry and stalked toward the wooden doors.
The doorbell inside chimed as soon as I hit the button, my foot tapping with nervousness and impatience while I waited for someone to answer.
As soon as the door swung open, a man I didn’t recognize stared down at me with the scent of pot smoke wafting out from behind him. I locked eyes with him and wondered who he was. How it was possible that every man I met in this damn place was absolutely gorgeous?
I remembered from my comparative religion classes in undergrad that Satan was believed to present himself as the most beautiful man in existence. I had no doubt that was true. Tanner fit the bill perfectly. But I was beginning to learn it was also true that his demons were just as beautiful.
Taller than me by several inches, he had broad shoulders and a trim waist, the white shirt and loose jeans he wore doing nothing to hide his athletic physique. With dirty blond hair that was a mess around his face, and brown eyes flecked with gold, he glared at me as if annoyed I’d dared interrupt whatever the hell it was he was doing.
I gave him the friendliest smile I could manage.
“Hi. I’m Luca Bailey. I’m here to see Tanner. We’re working together on a-“
The guy grunted out a laugh and swung the door open wider, his body spinning on his heel to walk away without one word in response to my introduction.
Swinging out an arm, he pointed to the left, as if I should know what he was telling me, and stalked off in the opposite direction.
While he disappeared into a room on my right, music blasting from that direction interlaced with several deep voices, I hung a left, feeling hella uncomfortable wandering the mansion by myself.
I tried to ignore the way my shoulders ached with tension and my damn heart rate was jumping so high I suspected I was dangerously close to having a stroke. The last thing I wanted to do was turn a corner and walk into a room where I was neither invited nor wanted, but this was the direction the nameless guy had pointed, so I assumed Tanner had to be found in one of these large rooms.
The house was a maze as I slowly crept down a long hallway with rooms opening up on either side of me.
Traveling deeper into the heart of the home, I eventually found myself standing in a large kitchen, designer steel appliances glimmering beneath the bright inset lighting.
Over the large center island, a grouping of pendant lights hung from the ceilings, their glass shades all different colors that offset the white cabinets, black countertops and deep red-brown of the wood flooring.
All by my lonesome in the room, I turned around and returned the way I came, my eyes peeking into several rooms as I passed them, confusion clouding my thoughts because there wasn’t a single person to be found on this side of the house.
Eventually I made it back to the entry foyer and decided to head in the direction of the music, hopeful that one of the men I could hear talking from that direction would give me a better idea of where to find Tanner.
Turning a corner, I stopped in place when I found four men seated on a cluster of couches, their faces partially concealed by the heavy smoke that was lingering in the air, four sets of eyes turning in my direction as soon as I stepped closer to them.
Standing in the room was giving me a contact high.
“Uh,” I stammered, instantly recognizing two of the men as Ezra and Damon Cross. Remembering Clayton’s warning to stay the hell away from them, I turned to the guy who’d answered the door with the hope that he could give me better directions than the swing of his arm and a dismissive grunt.
“I’m looking for-“
“Who do you belong to?”
The surly voice belonged to the fourth man sitting in the room, his grey eyes giving me the once over before returning to my face. I didn’t recognize him at all and wondered if he was one of the group who lived here, or a friend who just happened to stop by.
“I’m looking for Tanner,” I said, my voice not as strong as I’d hoped it would be. “And I don’t belong-“
Doorguy spoke up in response, his eyes tiny slits, the whites bloodshot from the pot they were smoking.
“I told you where to find him.”
They all looked at each other and back to me, their brows pulling together between their eyes like I was some random idiot who had wandered into their home to disrupt their lives.
It was pissing me off.
“Actually, you didn’t. I went in the direction you pointed, but that side of the house was empty.”
Silence met me, their stares locked to my face as I fidgeted in place. I let out a heavy sigh. I needed to speak to someone who knew me.
“Is Gabriel around?”
Why was it that Gabriel could pop up at the most inconvenient times around campus, but wasn’t anywhere to be seen in the moment I actually needed him?
“You belong to Gabriel? I thought you were looking for Tanner.”
“I’m looking for…wait…okay, first, I don’t belong to anyone…” What the hell did that even mean? “And second, I’m looking for either of them.”
They all looked at each other again, a smirk stretching the lips of the guy I didn’t recognize.
Seeing that this was getting me nowhere, I asked, “What about Jase? Is he around?”
“Damn, girl. Jase too?”
This time it was Ezra who spoke up, his dark brown hair slicked back from his face.