Loving Bad - Loving Bad Series (Sample of Published Book)

Chapter 1 - Part 1

Taylor

I took another sip and swallowed quickly before I could spit it out. The liquid burned slightly as it slid down my throat. I had no idea what I was drinking, but it tasted awful.

Beside me, my roommate, Jordan, took a gulp of the same liquid from a red plastic cup as she swung her hips in rhythm to the music pumping through the house party. We were two very different people; she was confident and flirty, and I was nervous and shy. I took another sip of the liquid and forced it down. It was the whole point of the night, to go out and have fun.

I studied the people dancing on the makeshift dance floor in the living room. Furniture had been moved to make enough space so people could move. They were throwing their arms up in the air and singing to a song that blared through the house.

A couple of girls were dancing on a wooden coffee table that had been moved against a wall. They held my attention as they danced and flirted with some of the guys who were dancing beside the table. I wanted to be a normal college student like the rest of the students who were clearly enjoying themselves. They were getting drunk and dancing without a care in the world. In a secluded corner, I noticed a couple making out heavily. Some were just flirty, but some were clearly getting lucky tonight.

As strange as it was to say, I envied them and their carefree, reckless attitude. Wasn't that part of the whole college experience? People said that college was a whole string of bad decisions best forgotten about but, for me, it would be different. I was going to learn from my experiences here. I hadn't had a chance to make any mistakes yet, but I was going to rectify that.

When Jordan had suggested we go to the party she'd heard about, I'd felt apprehensive, but I was determined to get out and experience things. Going out to a party didn't seem like much to most people but it was a big step to me.

To say I'd led a very protected life up to this point would be an understatement. But before the memories could start to cycle through my mind, I pushed them down. I didn't want to remember the things that had showed me the ugly side of life at an early age. Not all people were bad, and I had to remember that. I couldn't paint everyone with the same brush.

I'd lived such a protected life that it had suffocated me from the inside. Now that I had more control over my life, I'd decided that I wasn't going to hide away and live in fear of what could happen; instead, I was going to embrace it.

Was a life worth living if I didn't actually live it?

I took another determined sip of the alcohol that Jordan had assured me would loosen me up. She'd said I was so tightly wound that I needed something to help, hence the red plastic cup in my hand.

There were a lot of things I'd never experienced that most of the people my same age already had. To most people, it would be unbelievable that this was my first party ever and that I'd never drank alcohol before.

When I'd first met Jordan—a week ago when I'd moved into the dorm room—I'd been as nervous as hell, but Jordan had been friendly and we'd clicked. At first she'd been incredulous when I'd first begun to tell her how innocent I really was. I didn't go into the details of why and she didn't pry. When I'd told her about my decision to change that, she'd been completely on board with showing me what I'd been missing.

I pulled the tight red miniskirt I was wearing down, since the damn thing kept creeping up and, if I weren't careful, it would show my panties. As comfortable as I was in my own skin, I wasn't comfortable wearing such a revealing outfit in front of a bunch of strangers.

I'd worn the miniskirt and tight white top that Jordan had shoved into my hands because she told me that it would go with my pale skin and platinum-blond hair. But when she'd handed me a pair of high heels, I'd drawn the line. I didn't want to spend the whole night falling over my own feet.

I'd started experimenting with makeup a year earlier, so I knew how to put on a little makeup. Jordan had shaken her head at me when she'd seen me, though.

"It's too light," she'd complained and she'd gotten her own makeup out to help.

She'd been right. Once she was done, I could see the darker makeup made my pale blue eyes stand out more, and the shade of red lipstick she'd used on my lips matched the color of the miniskirt.

My mission tonight had been to dress up like some girls my age did and to go to my first party. We had been at the party for an hour, and I was still nervous, although I had to admit the alcohol was beginning to take effect, and I could feel myself start to relax.

I glanced at Jordan, and she looked at me and smiled, raising her cup. I mirrored her action and then took another sip. My eyes began to scan the party, happy to be a bystander and just watch for the moment.

The second my eyes landed on him, I felt a shiver of awareness go right through me. There was something about him that had kept me mesmerized as I'd stared at him from across the room.

It wasn't just the fact that he was the hottest guy I'd ever laid eyes on; there was a confidence about him that made it hard to pull my eyes away. Even though I'd led a very protected life, I knew he was the bad boy that people had warned me about on more than one occasion.

His hair was black and cut neatly short. I couldn't see what color his eyes were. He wore a plain shirt with faded jeans and his clothes molded a fit body that I bet hid a six-pack. Tattoos that ended at his wrist covered one of his muscular arms. I was standing too far away to get a really good look at them.

Then I took in the piercings. Both of his ears were pierced, as well as his lip. I couldn't stop myself from wondering what it felt like to kiss a guy who had a lip ring.

Who was I kidding? I wondered what it felt like to be kissed at all. It was another area I was totally innocent in.

He was like the exact opposite of me. Where I was innocent and had no experience, it was like he wore his life experience on his body with the tattoos and piercings. You had to be pretty confident in what you wanted to have it permanently inked into your skin.

Next to him was a girl flirting with him and I couldn't help the stab of jealousy I felt. The girl was pretty, and I watched as she put her hand on his arm when he leaned closer.

When Jordan noticed who'd caught my attention, she leaned closer and said, "Don't even think about it. He'll eat you up and spit you out."

I pulled my eyes away from him to look at my friend. Her relaxed smile had been replaced with a stern expression.

"Sin Carter isn't someone you play with without knowing the rules, and you are too innocent to get caught up in that," she warned further. Sin. His name suited him.

She leaned closer.

"He has a serious reputation with women. And don't think that it's just a reputation based on rumors. I've had friends who have rotated through his bed and don't get me started on all the rumors about his past."

I knew her words were meant as a warning, but it just made me more curious about him. Despite trying to keep my attention off him after Jordan's warning, I felt my eyes drift back again to find him.

But this time his attention wasn't on the girl still flirting beside him. He was listening to what the girl was saying, but his eyes were fixed on me.

His eyes were a piercing blue that ignited a fire inside of me, and I felt myself come alive under his intense gaze as the one side of his mouth turned up in a sexy half-smile. There was a promise in his eyes of more experience than I could handle.