"He was looking at me, Vic. Come on, just accept it."

"You wish! Everyone knows that nobody beats me on the hotness level. If only you hadn't scared him away."

"You..."

Eva West pursed her lips, having no doubt that her friends would soon be asking her to decide which one of them was dressed the hottest for the party Vic was going to throw later, even though Eva had never really ever seen any difference. Both were stunning.

Standing at five feet seven with oval-shaped faces, rosy pouty lips, pert noses, luscious looking breasts, and lean bodies that tapered to wide hips, they could be taken for siblings.

Except Vic was more tanned with brunette hair, and June had a lighter complexion to match her strawberry blonde hair.

Rolling her eyes, Eva looked away from her bickering friends, planting the earpiece back into her left ear as she refocused on her tablet screen.

She nearly let out a scream when the semi-beefcake of a man on her screen -who for all the right reasons had to be out of his damn mind- reached the peak of a mountain on his motorbike and flipped himself and his motor twice in the air before landing at a steeper slope.

Adam Garcia.

Her shock soon gave way to fascination as she watched him speed down the rest of the slope. Lucky him, he looked like he'd had a lot of fun with that while she knew she this was something she would never do.

"Eva.... Eva!" She heard June's voice over the applause of the people in the YouTube video. "What the heck? What are you doing?"

Before Eva could get the chance to answer, her best friend had walked up to her and snatched her tablet from her hands. June looked at the screen for just a bit before turning an incredulous look Eva's way.

"Really, Eva? I can't believe you're still watching these extreme sports videos again."

"Told you, June. She's just so obsessed with watching them." Victoria said with a cocky humph.

"But seriously, you guys should see this." Eva said, taking her device from her friend, wanting to turn the attention from herself because she knew she was in for a hell of a censuring otherwise. "Adam Garcia is just..."

"Adam Garcia, Adam Garcia, Adam Garcia. Always him." June said dramatically. "Seriously Eva, we have better things to discuss than some guy who for some reason, obviously doesn't love his life and hence resorts to extreme sports to increase his risk of dying soon. Besides, you only found him today!"

"Extremists value their lives too." Eva retorted, bothered by the nonchalant way her friend had spoken. "They do this for the thrill it invokes. It makes them happy. It..."

She cut off her defence of people she didn't know when her friends looked at her like she'd fried her brain as the steak for the lunch they'd just eaten.

"June, am I the only one who thinks Eva needs some counselling. Jesus, she's obviously considering going into those adventures." The strawberry-blonde beauty mused with eyes wide, taking the empty spot beside Eva on the couch.

"Baby doll, you are just twenty-four years old. I don't want to be faking tears at your funeral anytime soon." The beautiful brunette said in agreement with Vic's statement, then crossed her arms on her chest. "I mean people die, you know?"

"The risk of dying from doing extreme sports has reduced drastically over the decade." Eva informed them.

Still, the thought of partaking in them made an involuntary shudder run through her. "Besides, I'm sane, you know? I just watch these videos because I think these people are crazy brave."

"Something you and I both know you'll never be in this situation." Victoria quipped smugly, and Eva scowled at her as she stood up. "Come on, you girls come along and help me decide which dress to wear to the party tonight."

As June and Vic turned to leave for the latter's room, Eva looked back at her screen and flipped up the several videos of people doing extreme sports.

Crazy people, she thought as she stood up to join her friends.

༺❀༻

Adam Garcia stared silently, holding his breath as he gauged the reaction of two of his best friends after the info Lucas had just dropped on them. Alas, the reaction he'd dreaded was what burst forth from their throat; laughter.

Thank God they were in a bar with a live band recording playing.

Cringing, Adam forced himself to take three gulps of his beer instead of delivering the punches he so badly felt like giving. Not that he could blame them.

After years of priding himself on self control in everything in his life, especially in his dealings with women, the fact that a woman had managed to rattle him was enough to make history.

A woman he'd only met once, a woman he'd only known for a few minutes, a woman he'd only kissed once.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! So you're telling me that a woman got Adam so hooked with a kiss that he's been unable to stop dreaming about her in the last four months? Inconceivable." Then another bout of laughter followed.

Raul Jefferson Rawlings. Although a terrible joker, he was always looking to make them laugh, even if most of his bad jokes were sex jokes. Tall, chocolate-skinned, muscular, a body ladies drooled over. He was a model and easily the most handsome among the four of them.

"Totally inconceivable."

That was Alfred Rawlings. Blonde, stepbrother of Raul and just as handsome and reckless. They all affectionately called him Alfredo.

In times when he and Raul collaborated to make Adam's life hell, Adam wished they did what the usual stepbrothers did; hate each other's guts.

But no; they were so close you would think they were siblings but for their contrasting skin colours.

"Okay, will you guys just cut it out? This isn't even funny. " Lucas bestowed the stepbrothers an irritated glare.

He'd always been the most rational among them, the most understanding. Although he was just as reckless when it came to the activities they all loved so much, he was more careful when it came to matters of emotions.

Losing your fiance to cancer just a week before your wedding did that to you.

Raul and Alfredo's laughter gradually eased into chuckles before dying down. Raul looked at Adam with all traces of his laughter vanished.

"But on a more serious note, really? Something like this has been going on and you only told Lucas? Dude, that hurts." He tried for a light tone, but the hurt was still in his eyes.

"He only told me last week." Lucas attempted to defend him.

"Why only you?" Raul shot back almost indignantly.

"Maybe if you guys reacted better to situations, he would've told you first."

"Guys, just knock it off." Alfredo said before it could escalate into a fight. He looked at Adam as if he'd just arrive at a realization. "That's why you insisted on accompanying Lucas to that party even though he said it wasn't necessary. You went looking for her!"

Adam cringed once again, not surprised that Alfredo had figured it out. Four months ago, he'd refused to go with Lucas to that New Year's Eve party, and hell, the man had had to beg before he'd finally conceded.

And yesterday? He'd offered without a second thought to go even though Lucas had only mentioned that it was the same party with the some of guests invited like the one four months ago.

He'd even tried to deny his reasons to himself, and only after the all too grating disappointment had settled in after he'd had a fruitless search did he admit to himself that he'd gone in search of the masked woman.

The one who'd stolen his honed control over his emotions with a single kiss.

Hell, he still remembered that kiss like it was only yesterday: the feel of her plump, erotic lips against his stunned ones, the stroking of her body against his hardening him in a searing rush of need. She'd run off right after and he hadn't seen her since.

But she was there most of the time; whenever he closed his eyes, whenever he breathed in deep. Teasing his nightmares, torturing his dreams. Even now, just thinking of her was giving him a boner. Damn it.

"Damn, she must be hot if she's got you so hot and bothered." Raul mused.

If only you knew how much.

"Either that all the legend is not only a legend after all." Alfredo supplied with hints of teasing laughter in his voice.

Then he and Raul burst out laughing again. Adam drank from his bottle and gritted his teeth.

"Anyway, " Raul said when their laughter finally died. "Noah sent me an invite to a party happening tonight. You guys wanna come?"

"Who's hosting?" Lucas asked.

"Don't know, " Raul shrugged. "But there are no restrictions on the guest list. I could really use a party tonight."

"Or you could really use an opportunity to get a fuck mate for the night." Alfredo said wryly.

"Are you going or not?" Raul asked, rolling his eyes.

"I'm in." Alfred delivered.

"I'll go." Lucas supplied.

They all turned to Adam expectantly. Adam shrugged. "Why not?"

_________________

I hope you like the follow up guys. Let me know your thoughts!

LOL(Lots of Love)
-E!