UNTOUCHED (Midwest Alphas) (Book 1) Read online

  “Sorry,” he says. I look him in the eyes and I see genuine remorse shining through. “I never thought it’d get this far.”

  “You never thought you’d be so desperate to fuck me, you’d stalk me all the way to Europe?” I ask.

  He laughs. “Nope. I did not.” His eyes linger on me and the smile drops from his face. “Did you ever think about going for it?”

  “Going for what?” I ask.

  “Pipes...” He raises an eyebrow. “Be honest.”

  I stare at him and bite my inner lip. “Yes,” I finally answer.

  He blinks slowly. “Did you ever want to?”

  I hold my lips together, tight and true, to keep myself from answering. Did I ever think about giving in and spending the night with Kai Casablancas? Of course I did. Every human being at Belle Academy with two X chromosomes thought about it at least once. It would have been easy, too. We live under the same roof, in a large mansion full of empty rooms to sneak into. No one would have ever known — until the day when everyone knew.

  The compartment door flies open before I’m forced to answer. I breathe a sigh of relief at Mandy and Shawn’s impeccable timing. They each sit down, their laughter and giggles filling the silent void taking shape in the room.

  “I’m going to hit the ladies’ room,” I say as I hop out of my seat. I can feel Kai’s eyes on me. He wants my answer, but I can’t in good conscious admit it to him.

  The restroom sits down the train from our compartment. I move slowly with shaking knees. The train rocks back and forth as I move, making me even more dizzy. I slide the restroom door open and slam it closed behind me.

  There’s no real space in the tiny quarters, so I close my eyes to curb the dreadful squeeze inching in around me. I inhale slowly, filling my lungs full of the musky air and keeping it there until I absolutely have to breathe again.

  Kai Casablancas. Never in my life has he ever had this much of an effect on me. I stare at myself in the mirror and notice the perfect pink rouge in my pearl-white cheeks. I bite my lip and bend over to splash water on my face.

  It all started last night. I was on the street, looking for a hook-up in Munich, but every guy I looked at had his face. At first, I thought it was just guilt over what I said to him, but it slowly dawned on me that this was something way more complicated than that. I was angry, so very angry, when he appeared on the train in front of me in Berlin with that shit-eating grin on his face. But deep down, I was fucking impressed. He was doing everything in his power to earn my body. I got so used to it over the years. Now that I’ve effectively destroyed his chances, and he’s backed off, I miss the constant attention he gave me.

  What the fuck is wrong with me?

  I look up and shake my head at myself in the mirror as I dab the water away with a paper towel.

  Why cause trouble, you stupid fucking idiot? Let it go.

  I jolt the restroom door open and nearly jump out of my skin. “Kai—” I gasp as his face fills my vision. He steps forward and places both hands on my fevered cheeks. I’m pulled in for a silent kiss, sweet and warm. His lips envelope my own and I get my first official taste of Kai Casablancas.

  He pulls away almost as quickly as it began. “I just wanted to be able to say I’ve done that,” he whispers. “I’m sorry.”

  And just like that, he turns around and disappears from my sight.

  I reach up and touch my lips. I can still feel him on me. That gentle memory of his teeth marking my bottom lip. I let them drop from my fingertips, tingling numb in the dark.

  Oh, I’m in trouble now.

  Chapter 10

  Kai

  I stare at the window as yet another damn vineyard passes us by. What the hell is it with Italy and vineyards, anyway? Everywhere I look, it’s another vineyard. Taunting me, baiting me. Looking at me with those tranquil blue eyes and those perfect, red lips.

  Fucking vineyards, man.

  The compartment door opens and Piper steps inside.

  “Did you get lost?” Mandy jokes. “You’ve been gone for like an hour.”

  She takes the seat across from me, her eyes refusing to even glance in my direction. “No, I just needed to stretch my legs awhile.”

  Translation: I’m avoiding Kai because he straight up harassed me in the bathroom.

  That was probably a mistake.

  I can see the anger behind her eyes.

  Definitely a mistake... I lick my lips and taste her lip gloss still lingering on my tongue. But it was a mistake worth making.

  “What’s with all the damn vineyards?” she mutters as she stares out the window.

  I smile. Maybe it’s a mistake worth making twice.

  “So, we need to address the elephant in the room.”

  I flinch a glance over at Shawn and his booming voice. “What elephant?” I ask.

  “I don’t want things to get awkward, okay?” he continues. “We’re all going to be in some pretty close quarters for the next few days. We should eliminate any and all doubt.” Piper stares across the compartment at him, her eyes flicking in my direction once. He takes a quick breath. “Mandy and I did it last night and it was pretty much the best thing ever.”

  “Yeah, we know,” Piper assures him.

  “We were there,” I add, remembering the impressive bout of constant moaning for nearly an hour before Piper showed up.

  “I know…” Shawn says. “I just wanted to formally announce it.”

  Mandy shakes her head. “How sweet…” she says with a half smile. She and Piper exchange a roll of the eyes and I don’t blame them for one second.

  “And I wanted to say that it’ll probably happen again, so if you two could bunk up again tonight, that’d be great.” He nudges my arm and nods at Piper.

  She and I lock eyes. “Shawn—” I say. “I don’t think that’s—”

  “Sure,” Piper interrupts. “Why not?” Her voice is as flat as her straight hair. “Go nuts, you two.” She raises one foot onto her seat and rests her chin on her knee as she resumes staring out the window.

  The bright yellow Italian sun makes her eyes shine like water diamonds and I can’t bring myself to turn away from her. When I finally do, I notice Mandy staring at me, her eyes bouncing back and forth between the two of us. To her credit, she says nothing, but I’ve never known anyone better at reading subtle social cues than Mandy Black. She’s probably figured out that something happened during that brief moment when I snuck out after Piper left the compartment.

  Shawn, on the other hand…

  “Maybe we can find a hot and loose Italian girl for you in Roma,” he smirks at me. “It shouldn’t be too difficult for you with that hot man bod of yours.”

  “Once again, Shawn, your appreciation for my hot man body is entirely unwelcome,” I say.

  “Yet completely factual.” Shawn looks at Mandy. “Am I right, though?”

  She looks at me and gives a devious smile. “I’ve definitely had worse,” she says.

  “And it doesn’t bother me at all that you’ve banged my best friend,” he says to Mandy. “Just don’t do it again and we’ll be cool.”

  “Oh, I’ll try and restrain myself,” Mandy jokes, “but from the looks of it, I think the two of you boys are more likely to get it on than the two of us again. No offense, Kai.”

  “None taken.”

  Shawn nods. “I’ve always said that I’m constantly one subtle wink away from being down on my knees for Kai Casablancas—”

  “You have never said that,” I argue.

  “Settle one thing for us, Mandy,” Shawn continues. “Who’s bigger?”

  Piper scoffs quietly.

  “I don’t think either of you could handle the answer to that question,” Mandy teases after a glance at Piper.

  I chew on my lip as I watch the girls exchange looks at one another. I’m not nearly as adept at reading faces as Mandy is, but one thing is certain…

  Mandy is protecting Piper.

  “Yeah, don’t answe
r that…” I say to Mandy. I glance back at Piper and she catches me watching her.

  “I’m going to get a drink,” Piper says as she suddenly plants both feet on the floor. She moves through the compartment and slides the door open and closed again before any of us can say another word.

  Mandy’s eyes instantly stab at me. She quickly flashes a warm smile at Shawn. “Hey, Shawn,” she says. “Would you go with her and grab me a soda?” She uses a sweet voice and has no problem seducing Shawn with it.

  “Of course, babe,” he says. He stands up and looks back at me. “Want anything?”

  “No,” I answer.

  “Cool.” He follows Piper out of the compartment.

  The door is barely even closed before Mandy starts in on me. “What did you do?” she bites.

  “I didn’t do anything—”

  “Kai…” She speaks through her teeth. “What did you do?”

  I sigh and cross my arms over my chest. “I kissed her. Okay?”

  She stares at me through the narrow slits of her eyelids. “Why?”

  “Why? What do you mean why?” I ask. “You may not be aware of this, Mandy, but kissing is a common sign of affection towards someone you are physically attracted to.”

  “Put a fucking lid on it, Kai,” she warns. “Piper doesn’t need this right now.”

  “How about we let Piper speak for herself on what she needs, hmm?”

  “I mean it, Kai. The last thing she needs is her stepbrother trying to get in her pants to win some bet.”

  “It wasn’t like that…” I stare out the window, but turn back to her when I put it together. “Wait — what do you mean? What’s wrong with Piper?”

  She sits back. “Nothing is wrong with Piper, but she’s got a full plate.”

  “Mandy, what’s going on?”

  “Don’t worry about it, Kai. The only thing you should be worried about is me beating the hell out of you if you try something like that again.”

  I open my mouth to argue some more, but the door slides open and Piper steps back inside. As she passes in front of us, Mandy mimes a “Got it?” expression at me. I nod in understanding and sit back in my chair as Shawn follows her in. I usually don’t make it a habit to buckle under verbal threats, but when Mandy Black says she’ll beat the hell out of you, she means it. Hell, I’ve seen it.

  “For you…” Shawn presents a cold can of soda to her.

  Mandy smiles up at him. “Thank you,” she coos. She glares at me as she pops the top open.

  He holds an extra can out for me. “I got you one anyway. Enjoy, asshole.”

  I take it from him. “Thanks, douche.” Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Piper grinning before she herself takes a sip of her drink. I look out the window with her and shake my head. “Another damn vineyard?” I mutter.

  She looks at me once before pulling out her phone.

  Chapter 11

  Piper

  If I don’t get as far away from Kai Casablancas as possible, I’m going to do something I will regret.

  We arrive in Rome long after nightfall. The eager city lights greet us with warm intentions with streets full of tourists and enthusiastic locals looking to bleed them dry. I clutch my itinerary to my chest, knowing full well what the city holds for me in the night. I focus on it instead of what I’m too tempted to think about.

  I burst into our hotel room and toss my bags onto the nearest bed. Mandy follows me inside with an eyebrow raised. “Penny for your thoughts?” she asks as she closes the door.

  I zip open my suitcase and pull out some fresh clothes. “I have to go out,” I say. “I have to go out and find a man because if I don’t get a good, hard dicking soon, I’m going to fucking lose it.”

  She plops down on the bed in front of me. “Man, Kai has really messed you up—”

  “It has nothing to do with Kai.”

  “He told me about the kiss, Piper,” she admits. “Let’s not play here.”

  I pause and stare down at her. “He told you?” I ask.

  “Well, he needed a little persuasion first, but yeah. He told me.”

  I continue pulling clothing from my bag. “You don’t have to persuade anyone, Mandy. The kiss wasn’t entirely unwelcome.”

  “Then why did I just spend ten hours in a train car watching you pretend he doesn’t exist?” she asks.

  “Fair question,” I say. “And the answer is probably why I plan on getting far, far away from him tonight.” I take a black top and a tight, black skirt and wander into the bathroom to look for a full-length mirror. What is it with hotels in Europe not having full-length mirrors? Luckily, this room has one attached to the back of the bathroom door.

  “Well, you two bunking together is officially out,” she says. “It’ll break Shawn’s little heart, but he can deal with blue balls for the rest of the trip.”

  “No, it’s fine.” I pull my shirt off and toss it to the floor. “I don’t plan on coming back to the hotel tonight, so you two go ahead.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Oh, yeah.” I slip the new shirt on and pull it down. It gives just the slightest amount of bare midriff, exactly the look I’m going for. I grab the skirt next. “I can’t trust myself to come back and be alone with him.”

  “Well, if something changes, let me know, okay?” she says. “I’ll kick Shawn out in a heartbeat.”

  I push my jeans to the floor and slip into the skirt. “Thank you. I guess this means you’re not coming with?”

  She scoffs. “I don’t even know how you have the energy for it tonight, to be honest. That was the longest train ride ever.”

  “Oh, I have a lot of pent-up energy just begging to be released…” I look at her and smile. “We were both looking forward to this a week ago…”

  “I know…” she says. “But I don’t really know where this thing with Shawn is going. I don’t want to mess it up too early, you know?”

  I nod. “I get it.”

  “Don’t let that stop you from having all the fun in the damn world though.”

  “Oh, it won’t. Believe me.”

  A knock strikes the door and Mandy hops off the bed to answer it. She pulls the door open and Shawn and Kai are standing in the hallway. I see Kai’s face in the mirror, his eyes gazing down my body as Shawn speaks.

  “You ladies hungry?” he asks. “There’s gotta be some good food around. It’s Italy, after all.”

  Mandy peaks at me over her shoulder. “You in?” she asks.

  My stomach growls. “Sure,” I say. I need all the fuel I can get for tonight.

  She turns back to the boys. “Give us a few minutes to get ready. We’ll meet you downstairs.”

  Kai’s eyes linger on me as she closes the door. My heart jolts in my chest. Every time I close my eyes, I see his dark gaze staring down at me in that train bathroom. I lick my lips. His flavor has faded from them now, but I can still feel him…

  Nope. Knock it off, Piper.

  I shake my head and reach for my make-up bag.

  ***

  It’s late but the restaurant still breathes life by the time we get there. The four of us sit around a small table at the adorable outdoor cafe on the corner, just down the street from our hotel. I smile at my surroundings, loving the local flavor wafting off every living thing. I make a mental note to buy myself a motorized scooter someday and laugh at a street magician down the road.

  When I finally look back at the table, I catch Kai staring at me. “What?” I bite, feeling myself balanced on the outer rims of self-consciousness.

  “I didn’t say anything,” he answers.

  “What are you thinking then?”

  He raises an eyebrow. “Nothing.”

  I look away as that smug look in eyes starts to take hold of his face. “So…” I look at Mandy sitting next to me and Shawn across the table. “How are we enjoying our trip so far?”

  Shawn rips into a stick of bread. “Oh, man!” he chews. “I fucking love Europe.”

&
nbsp; “Yeah, it’s not too bad,” Mandy agrees. “I can’t believe it’s almost over though. It feels like we just got here.”

  “We did just get here,” I point out. “It’s only been like three days.”

  “That’s all?” she asks.

  “It’s scary what can change in so little time,” Kai adds with his eyes on me, obviously hinting at something more.

  Oh, what could you possibly mean, dearest stepbrother?

  “Yeah,” I say instead. I instinctively lick my lips. He notices.

  “No kidding,” Shawn says. He stares across the table at Mandy. “It may sound corny, I feel like my dreams are coming true.”

  Mandy smirks at him and shakes her head. “You’re not going to propose, are you?”

  “Why?” he asks. “I’m already getting free milk.”

  Kai chuckles and looks at his empty plate. “Stay classy, Shawn,” he jokes.

  “Don’t sit there and act innocent, Kai,” Shawn says. He quickly points around the entire table. “In fact, not a single one of us should be casting stones.”

  “No one’s casting stones,” Kai says as he raises his glass. “I’m happy for you — and your dreams.”

  Mandy grips her own glass and lifts it between us all. “To chasing dreams,” she toasts.

  My lips curl. Contrary to Kai’s beliefs, I would much rather live a life of dreams than fit into a little box. “To chasing dreams,” I say as I raise my glass.

  Kai meets my eyes across the table. I can see his thoughts working quickly behind the steady pounding of the vein on his forehead. He sees me as a much different person now, a far cry from the girl he thought he pursued to Europe. He used to look at me with wide eyes, almost as if I were some mythical creature lost in the depths of his imagination. Now, he looks at me with knowing eyes, full of honesty and lust. I’m not sure which one I prefer more.

  “To chasing dreams,” he repeats with a whisper. The four of us clink our glasses together and take a drink.

  His words vibrate down my spine, igniting all of my desires. I take another quick sip, hoping it will cool me off, but it does very little. I lick my trembling lips and watch as his eyes linger on them again. He’s thinking about that kiss, just like I am. He wants it again and so do I. I flashback to his body, water pouring off of him by the pool back home. His tight, white shorts fusing to his skin, revealing the perfect outline of his thick—