Last
Girl
By K.S. Thomas
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Cover Design: Najla
Qamber Designs
Content Warning: Adult language / Mature Content
When Beatrix
‘Trix’ Daley loses her twin brother Bo in a tragic accident, she inadvertently
gains his best friend, Penn, whether she wants him or not. Penn is the exact
opposite of her brother. Obnoxious. Cocky. And out to sleep with as many women
as possible. But he knows. He gets it. Because he lost Bo, too.
Penn’s been
going out of his way to piss off Trix since he was six. Twenty years later, and
getting under her skin is still his favorite pastime. And Bo’s still the only
thing that keeps them tied together. Even if he has been dead for eight years.
For better or
worse, Trix and Penn have been the constant in each other’s lives, and the line
between love and hate continues to blur at a steady rate…but Trix is the last
girl on earth a guy like Penn should fall for. So there’s no telling which side
of love and hate they’ll wind up on when all is said and done. And whether
they’ll wind up there, still together...or not.
Trix smells like Lucky Charms and her cherry
pomegranate soap. I hate when she stands this close to me. She always makes me
hungry. And not for cereal.
“You wanna talk about where you were when I
walked in here?” I know where she was. Getting sucked in by the darkness. I’ve
seen it happen often enough over the years to recognize the signs, I just can’t
figure out how to stop her from going.
“Just thinking about starting my new job
tomorrow.”
Liar.
But I’ll go along with it. For now. “Private
practice this time, right?”
She nods, and her eyes shoot straight up
again until they’re laser locked to my forehead and the work she’s doing there.
“Yeah. Dr. Patterson. He’s a plastic surgeon who specializes in reparative
surgeries. Does tons of pro-bono work helping families whose babies were born
with birth defects.”
That explains her interest in working for
him. Trix doesn’t do anything unless it’s for some cause or another.
I notice her gaze drop automatically
expecting my response. It’s funny how it happens even when she’s so clearly
fighting it.
“Sounds like your kind of doctor.”
I can feel her pressing down the small strips
of tape over my brow. Then she steps back, examining her work. “Hope so. I
interviewed with his office manager, so I haven’t actually met him yet. Kind of
nervous, actually. What if he doesn’t like me? I really need this job.”
I rest my hands on her hips, twisting them
back and forth playfully in hopes it will get her to smile.
“Come on, Trix. Not like you? How would that
even be possible?”
She arches her brow skeptically. “You don’t
like me.”
“Yeah, but that’s different.”
Her eyes widen and she throws her hands up at
me. “How exactly is that different?”
“Because.” Still, I grasp her hips again and
move her toward me, staring straight up into her teal eyes which are currently
trying to ice me to death. “I love you, so liking you isn’t necessary.”
“Yeah well, I’m not sure what you feel for me
is love. It’s more like hate that got so old and moldy it became unrecognizable
to the point it could be easily confused for love.”
I smirk.
“You sound like you’ve put some thought into
this. Are you saying that what you feel for me is nothing but old and moldy
hate?”
She presses down on my shoulders to push
herself away from me and out of the hold I keep placing on her. “Yeah. Pretty
much.” Then she busies herself cleaning up the bloody gauze and leftover
supplies from fixing up my face. She pauses briefly, a look on her face like
she’s just thought of something. “Do me a favor and don’t pick at that. I’ll
check it when I get home tomorrow and change it out if I have to. It should be
fine though. Couple of days and it’ll be well on its way to healing.”
“Thanks.” But I don’t move. I just sit here
and continue to watch her clean up. She’s back in her head, unraveling. And I
can’t stop it.
So, Penn. You're a
single, attractive guy. Let's jump right in with some of the more important
questions. When it comes to women, what are some of the qualities you're
looking for?
Trix: It's not
so much their qualities as it is their parts. If they've got double ds and a
vagina, he's pretty much interested.
Penn: Shows how
much you know. Shocking though it may seem to you, I actually do have some
standards.
Trix: Name one.
Penn: Alright.
Here's one. They have to know how to match their damn socks.
Trix: Jackass.
Now, now you two.
Let's keep this friendly, shall we? Alright, so maybe we should approach this
from another angle. Why did your last relationship end, Penn?
Penn (glances at
Trix) : What? You didn't want to jump in on this one?
She shrugs.
Penn: My last
relationship, if you can even call it that, ended because she was a psycho who
liked to watch me in my sleep.
I feel ya, Penn. No
one likes the psycho-stalker types. Next question, lets see...okay, now that we
know what you're not into, lets talk about you. What would you say is your
greatest quality?
Penn: My
loyalty. Which some might find ironic, but the people I care about, they know
I've always got their backs.
I'm sure that's
something your friends really appreciate knowing about you. One last question
before it's Trix's turn.
Penn: Shoot.
What is in your
refrigerator right now?
Penn: Um,
probably some water bottles, a half empty jug of OJ and a box of Pizza from
Julian's. We don't tend to do a lot of grocery shopping at the house.
Trix, you're up.
Since it's pretty apparent the two of you have a rather close, albeit rocky,
relationship, what would you say is your biggest pet peeve when it comes to
living with Penn?
Trix: You mean
other than him leaving the toilet seat up? I don't know. There's the way he
drinks and eats everything straight out of the containers. Or, the way he
insists on walking around naked...yeah, I know, like what's my problem, right?!
Well, you try talking to him about day to day stuff while his junk is hanging
out. It's not all that easy.
No, I imagine it
wouldn't be. Although, I'm not sure I'd be complaining about it. Anyway, moving
right along. What would you say is your greatest accomplishment to date?
Trix: I don't
know that I would call it an accomplishment, but what I'm most proud of is the
work I've been able to do through Doctors Without Borders. It just means so
much to me to be able to go out and do what I was trained to do in places where
help is so lacking and so desperately needed.
That's really
admirable, Trix.
Trix: Thank you.
Wow, that was some
serious stuff, let's lighten things up a bit. What would you say is your all
time favorite movie.
Trix: Practical
Magic. I could watch that movie over and over again.
Penn: No shit.
Trix: You love
that movie and you know it.
Penn:I do NOT
love that movie and YOU know it.
Trix: Then why
do you have it memorized?
Penn: Oh, I
don't know. Maybe because you've made me watch it a hundred million times.
Trix: Be
serious, Penn. I can't make you do anything you don't secretly want to.
Well, I get the
feeling you two are getting derailed here again, so I'm going to close the
interview with my last question for Trix. What is on your nightstand at this very
moment?
Trix: On my
nightstand? That would be my lamp and a framed picture of my brother,Bo, Penn
and myself, taken when we were kids shortly after we started school together.
Where it all began.
Penn: You have
no idea...
Dog Lover who
likes her pastries full of cream and sugar….oh…and I write some ;-)
Aside from being
an author, I am also a mom to a beautiful 5 year old little girl. I tell
everyone I named her after my great-grandmother (because that’s the mature
answer), but really, I named her after my favorite princess – just so happens I
got lucky and they had the same name…If I wasn’t a writer, I would work on a
horse ranch – I’m an animal lover (in addition to dogs, horses are at the top
of my list). I wear flip-flops pretty much everywhere I go. I would rather stay
awake until 5 am than get up at 5 am (years of bar tending have left their
mark), if I can, I’m going to the beach AND I will always be nice to people who
bring me chocolate…or coffee…if you bring me both, I’ll probably love you forever.A
gypsy at heart, I write the way I live, following the story wherever it may
lead, always ready to start the next one. This is clearly reflected in my body
of work which to date includes everything from Children’s Lit to Thrillers.
I happily reside
in sunny Florida (for now) and always enjoy hearing from fellow readers!!
Thanks so much for hosting my new release!! ~ K
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