Beauty Shot (Hope Parish Novels Book 5) Read Online Free

book. “Travis?”
    “Nothing.”
    “It’s
something. What?”
    “I just guess
I thought everything would be different here. I mean, high school is
shit, especially for someone who has smarts. This is an academic
institution, a place of higher learning, and it’s the same ol’
bullshit. I expected the people at Columbia to be…”
    “What? Above
petty garbage? People are people, Travis. It’s always about
popularity and looks and money. Those don’t change.”
    “I guess. I
don’t like the way people treat Emmie, like she’s some
kinda ugly duckling. I think she’s beautiful.”
    “Agreed. I
think she is, too.”
    Travis scowled and
buried his nose in the book, and I had to wonder if it was only how
Emmie was treated that had him riled up.
    That morning I
planned to get up early.
    Verity and Boone
were already in town. Boone had texted me the night before that
Fashion Week was kicking off today, and Verity and Minnie’s
collection was showing this afternoon at two. I wasn’t going to
miss a chance to see Boone and Verity, and, as a bonus, Brax was here
with River Pearl, who was walking the runway in their show.
    But more important,
this would give me an in with Minnie, too. She was screening my calls
and avoiding me, I was sure of it. That wasn’t going to last,
and she had to know they would invite me to attend. Of course she’d
be busy with the runway show, but I was pretty sure I could get
backstage and make my move.
    As soon as my alarm
went off, I was out of bed. Travis was buried beneath the covers. He
didn’t have a class until ten, but I had my eight o’clock
English class. I headed for the shower and turned on the water,
slipping under the spray. All of a sudden, I felt two soft hands on
my back, then molding over my butt. Without hesitation those hands
came around and curled over my junk.
    I was so surprised I
breathed in water through my nose, burning my nostrils, and started
coughing. Swinging my head around and away from the spray, I cleared
my eyes. It was Tiffany, buck-assed naked, with her hands on me.
    “Have you lost
your ever lovin’ mind?!” I bellowed, and her face went
from dreamy to alarm. “Get your hands off me!”
    She backed up, but
it was too late. I was fit to be tied. “You have no boundaries,
girl. I’m not interested in you, Tiffany. I can’t say it
any plainer than that. I’m a flesh and blood man, and I get to
decide who gets to touch me, and when, and why.”
    I wasn’t going
to waste my first time on her. All she really wanted was my body. She
knew nothing about me. “I’m not ruled by my dick, if
that’s your play. Don’t ever touch me again without
permission,” I said through clenched teeth. “If you do,
I’ll report you to the Resident Assistant. Now get the fuck
outta here.”
    She looked
off-balance and more surprised and upset than I had ever seen her.
Then she grabbed a towel and her robe and bolted out of the bathroom.
I was shaking with anger—and it took a lot to rile me up. This
kind of thing had never happened to me before.
    Girls in Suttontowne
didn’t ambush me in showers, and they didn’t take
liberties with my body or touch me when I hadn’t consented. It
was a violation, plain and simple. I had been pursued by girls, yeah.
I’ve had to handle that my whole life. And I had been cornered
a couple times in high school by aggressive girls. But here the
aggression was far more overt, and it was something I hadn’t
quite been prepared to handle. It made me feel violated. My privacy
breached.
    Back in my room,
Travis took one look at me and said, “What’s wrong?”
    I sat down on the
bed. “Tiffany snuck up on me in the shower.”
    “What? She was
in the guy’s shower? Shoot, boy. What did she do?”
    “She put her
hands on me. On all of me.”
    “Boy, howdy!
You going to report her?”
    “No. I made it
clear. Should have made it clear to her sooner, but she didn’t
get the hint, Travis.”
    “No, sir. I
don’t think she did.