Kiss List (Book I of the List Series)

Chapter 23 - Sam Part II

Sam Queen was lying on a weight-lifting bench. It appeared that the girls had threaded the legs of the bench through his hand-cuffed arms so that his hands were trapped underneath the bench while he lay on top of it. His ankles were duct taped to the opposite legs of the bench. His shirt looked like it had been torn apart by wild animals – or, more accurately, demons – and lay discarded atop a rack of free weights. His shorts were neatly folded beside the rack as well so the only clothing he wore was a pair of boxer briefs and his beer goggles. It would not be accurate to say he was otherwise entirely exposed, however. Whipped cream had been spread across his chest and abs like someone had prepared him as a course for desert. A bowl of strawberries lay nearby.

I tried valiantly but couldn't hold it in. The image of the ultra-cocky baseball stud being garnished like a pie by the group of girls was too much. I burst out laughing.

Sam jolted on the bench. "Who's there?" he asked in a somewhat terrified voice. "Who is that?"

"Relax," I said. "It's me, Sadie."

Sam lay back on the bench and groaned. "Just perfect," he said. "Could you at least let me go please? These girls are insane."

I unsuccessfully tried to stifle a giggle as I walked over to him and pulled his goggles off. "It's a good look for you, Sam," I teased. I took out the keys Missy had given me to the handcuffs. "Now let's get you out of here so we can help David."

"That figures," Sam said.

"What's that?" I asked absentmindedly as I tried the first key. No luck, it must be the second.

"That you just came to help me so you could get David free," Sam said. "If David hadn't been taken as well you would have left me here and let those nutcases undress me and play with me like I was some sort of frickin Ken doll. Do you know what they did to me? Don't let the fact I still have boxer briefs on fool you. El Diablo is very thorough. Very, very thorough. Thank goodness David is in trouble so I can get a bit of help as well."

The second key slipped out of my fingers. I scrounged around for it on the ground.

"Don't be like that, Sam," I said. "I want to help both of you. I just meant that you have the clue to getting David help and that's the next step." My fingers circled in around the key. I picked it up and stuffed it into the lock.

"Only if I tell you what the clue is," Sam said.

I froze. "Of course you'll tell me," I said. "Why wouldn't you?"

"It's always David this, Dylan that," Sam whined. "How come you never care about me? Why should I help David out anyway? He hasn't exactly been nice to me."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "I do care about you, Sam," I said. "Every bit as much as I care about David. Dylan is my boyfriend so that's different, but I care about you as a friend."

Sam was quiet. "Just get me out of here," he finally said.

I paused. "Well are you going to tell me where David is if I let you go?" I asked.

"Maybe," Sam said. "Or maybe I'll wait a while to give those Churchill guys a little more time with him. It'd serve him right."

I slowly took the key back out of the lock. "Sam, this is serious," I said. "I need you to tell me where David is. He could be getting badly hazed right now."

"And if I don't?" Sam asked. "What are you going to do? Leave me here? That's exactly what I'm talking about. You like David more than me."

"Sam," I said, "you matter too but I have to make sure you're going to tell me where David is. I need to get you both out of this situation, not just one of you."