Megan Hart: Switch

that I ran into the edge of the door frame hard enough to

leave a bruise.

"Smooth move, Ex-Lax." Kira smirked. She hadn't even

"Smooth move, Ex-Lax." Kira smirked. She hadn't even

noticed it was the man from earlier that day. "Nice to see

you can hold your tequila."

I shrugged off the sting in my shoulder and didn't reply. His

sleeve had brushed my bare arm as he passed, and the

hairs on it al the way up to the back of my neck had stood

at that brief, simple touch. A slow, tumbling rol of

sensation centered in my bely.

He lived in my building.

Chapter 03

Ishouldn't have been so surprised. I saw a lot of

Riverview Manor tenants at Miriam's shop, and in the

Morningstar Mocha, the coffee shop at the end of our

block. I ran into them in the post office and parking garage

and at the grocery store, too. Harrisburg's a smal city.

Even so, I couldn't shake the memory of those dark eyes,

that thick, dark hair. The brush of a shirtsleeve on my bare

skin. Fuck. I was horny, no two ways around it, and no

wonder. It had been ages since I'd had sex with anyone

but myself.

We had our choice of places downtown, but I wanted to

go to the Pharmacy. We took a cab since I wouldn't drive

after drinking, and the walk that was fine on a Sunday

afternoon in sweatpants would be too long to make at

night in heels…and shit-hammered.

The bar was packed, even for a Friday night. We pushed

through the crowd toward the bar, Kira leading. She

stopped abruptly and I ran into her. Someone ran into me.

Someone also grabbed my ass, but when I turned to see

who it was and possibly haul off and smack the shit out of

who it was and possibly haul off and smack the shit out of

them, al I could see was an ocean of possible culprits.

"Hey, Jack," Kira said, and I turned.

Shit . Jack had been the love of Kira's life our senior year, when he transferred in from another school. She'd plotted

and schemed for months to get him to ask her to the prom,

determined to get in his pants. It hadn't worked, so far as I

knew. I only knew that once Kira had keyed one of his

girlfriends' cars.

Kira didn't know Jack and I had fucked each other

senseless for about two months straight a few years ago. I

doubt either of us even cared anymore. But Kira would

have, so I tried to pul her away before things could get

ugly.

Besides, he wasn't alone. The woman with him had a beer

and she tipped it to her mouth, eyeing us with a smile. I

yanked Kira's elbow to pul her away.

"Ow," she said when the crowd closed behind us, cutting

off the view of him. "What did you do that for?"

"Don't cause trouble," I told her. "C'mon. Drinks."

"Don't cause trouble," I told her. "C'mon. Drinks."

"I wasn't going to cause trouble." She frowned and tossed

her hair, not caring she'd whacked some dude across the

face with it. He looked pissed. Not the way I wanted to

start the night.

"There wil be other guys here," I told her.

Kira just sniffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh,

I know that."

The Pharmacy was almost always a total sausage party—

three guys for every girl, easy, and al of them horny and

looking to hook up. Chivalry had nothing to do with them

puling out their walets and plying us with booze. It was al

about getting laid.

"Oh, look," Kira said from beside me. "Talk about

trouble."

She was right. Trouble with a capital T . I stood taler in my sexy shoes and lifted my chin, straightened my shoulders.

"Helo, Austin."

Once upon a time, Austin and I had fucked like tigers. I

was wiling to bet he stil had the scars. I did.

was wiling to bet he stil had the scars. I did.

"Paige." His hair was longer, but he had the same grin, the one that parted thighs like the Red Sea. He didn't look

surprised to see me.

Austin wore a blue-striped shirt and faded jeans that

hugged his ass just right and hung down, ragged, at the

hems. Jeans like that should be outlawed on men like

Austin. His buddy, some guy I didn't know, wore an

almost identical shirt, but with brown stripes. He didn't

look half as good.

Behind me, Kira dug her fingernails into the skin of my

elbow. It stung, and I shook her off. "How are you?"

"Good. I'm good." His eyes shifted to Kira and back to

me. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Haven't been home," I said, though home to me now was

an apartment on Front Street, not a trailer or a rented

house in Lebanon.

"Yeah. I know. Hey, Kira. I made it."

My insides froze. I glared at her, but Kira gave me her

best dumb look. "What?"

best dumb look. "What?"

She'd told him we'd be here. I knew it. I could see it on

both their faces, their conspiracy, and I wondered how

he'd convinced her to tel him. I thought about walking out,

and the only reason I didn't was because he was looking at

me. Not her.

Kira saw it, too, and she gave me a narrow-eyed glare. I

wouldn't have put it past her to have set this up purely to

see the throw down between me and Austin, but I wasn't

going to do it. I was past those days. She ralied when

Austin's friend gave her a grin. It helped that he was cute.

Not as cute as Austin, but then realy, who was? Who had

ever been?

"What're you drinking?" Austin was already puling out his

walet to pay.

I wasn't going to turn down a free drink, not even from

him. "Margarita."

"I'l take a Slow, Comfortable Screw." Kira made sure to

lean in close so he could hear her. Her lips brushed his ear.

Austin leaned away a little, not enough that Kira would

notice. But I did. He introduced us both to his friend,

Ethan, who managed to tear his gaze away from Kira's tits

long enough to nod toward me without a trace of

recognition. Wel, what had I expected him to do? Say,

"Oh, so this is Paige?"

"So what are you up to now?" Austin asked me as Kira

and Ethan eyed each other.

"I work for Kely Printing." The last time we spoke I'd stil been finishing the degree I'd started when we were

together and taking care of some rich couple's kids. I

didn't ask him what he was doing, not for work and not

here in Harrisburg. I didn't want him to think I cared.

"What about your mom?" Austin moved closer, his arm on

the bar. "She stil working for Hershey? I haven't been to

the shop for a while."

My mom owns a tiny sandwich shop she inherited from

her dad when I was in high school. I'd worked in that shop

almost my entire life, running errands as a kid then

graduating to making subs and running the cash register.

Now I only helped if she had a big order to fil and deliver,

or a party to cater.

"She stil has it. She was working for Hershey but got laid

off."

Austin nodded. "I'm working for McClaron and Sons."

I had no idea who or what McClaron and Sons was, but

the fact he was working for someone other than his dad

surprised me into a reply. "What about your dad?"

Austin shrugged, then grimaced, and only because I'd once

known him so wel it had been like knowing myself did I

catch his hesitation. "It was time I got out of that job."

"But you're doing the same thing, right? Construction?"

Kira popped into the conversation and drew both our

attentions.

"Yeah, and some other stuff," Austin said, but didn't

elaborate.

Interesting. Austin had worked for his dad's business the