“Where are you going to sleep?” I ask.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m sure I can stay with Marcus in his car. And there probably won’t be any sleeping going on either.” She laughs.
Guess she has no problem hooking up with him, even though what she really wants is a commitment from Marcus.
Whatever.
I head back to my car, not surprised at all when I spot Beck pulling away from his group of friends to come talk to me.
“Are you leaving?”
“Yeah, I need to get Tori home before she pukes in the back seat of my car.” I wince.
He grimaces. “Not gonna lie, that was fuckin’ gross.”
I can’t help but laugh. Beck doesn’t curse much around me, though I know he has a mouth on him. I hear the way his friends talk—and the way he talks when he’s with them.
“It was so gross,” I agree. “She’s passed out right now.”
“You sure you can’t stay a little longer?”
Oh, I definitely want to, but I can’t leave her back there.
Can I?
“Beck!” screeches a familiar female voice.
We both turn to see—oh good lord—Monique approaching.
Beck stiffens, his entire mood shifting. “Hey.”
She comes right up to Beck, placing herself in between us as she throws her arms around him in an exuberant hug. He barely touches her as he returns it, his hands lightly patting her back before they spring away from her.
“What are you doing, talking to Addison?” Monique sends me the evil eye and I glare at her in return. “Where’s Sasha? Doesn’t she usually keep you on a tight leash?”
From the stormy expression that suddenly appears on Beck’s face, that was the wrong thing to say.
“No, she doesn’t keep me on a tight leash,” he says through clenched lips. “I can talk to whoever the fuck I want.”
“Oooh, so feisty.” Monique laughs. “I find it weird, how you two are always hanging out together, when Beck has a girlfriend. I’m sure Sasha won’t like to hear that you were in Addie’s car earlier.”
Damn it. Of all the people to see that, it had to be Monique.
“We’ve known each other a long time,” Beck says, his voice full of irritation. “Our families are friends. We were just talking.”
“Tell that to your girlfriend, who’s not here tonight.” Monique grins, and that does it.
I’m out of here.
Whirling away from the two of them, I march back to my car, checking on Tori to find she’s kind of awake, a water bottle clutched in her hand, her face pale, but at least it’s not green anymore.
“You want to leave?” I ask her.
“Yeah,” she practically groans. “I still feel awful.”
“I’ll take you home then. I don’t mind.” I’m about to shut the door, but she says something, making me pause.
“I’m sorry. I’m totally ruining your good time, huh?” Her gaze meets mine, her expression pained.
I glance over my shoulder, watching with disgust as Monique continues talking to Beck. He doesn’t even notice me. Instead, his attention is completely focused on her.
Turning back to Tori, I smile at her. “You’re not the one ruining my good time,” I say, just before I slam the door.
That’s Monique.
Oh, and Beck too.
FOUR
BECK
“What the fuck, Callahan? Why’d you pull that stunt with Addison a couple of nights ago?”
I turn to find Liam standing in front of me, his hands on his hips and a ferocious glare on his face.
He’s pissed, and I know exactly why.
But I decide to play dumb.
“What are you talking about?” I ask with a frown, scratching my temple.
It’s Monday afternoon and we’re currently taking a short break during football practice. School starts Thursday. We’re playing a scrimmage game Friday night at home, but those don’t count. They don’t even let us put a score on the board.
I hate scrimmage games. Why can’t they just let us play for real? It doesn’t have to count toward the season, but no. That’s not how we do it before the season kicks off.
Doesn’t really matter though, because I’m always keeping track of the score in my head.
“You know what I’m talking about. Saturday night at your little get-together.” The last three words are said in a snide tone, and I can tell Liam is actually put out. “You asked to talk to Addie alone and just pulled her away from our conversation, like you own her or some shit. You’ve already got a girlfriend, so stop stealing hot chicks from your friends.”
Hey, he let her go, so it’s kind of on him. Not that I tell Liam that. Instead, I shrug, trying to play it off. “I had stuff to tell her.”
“Really? Well, whatever. I’m staking my claim.” The look on Liam’s face is pure determination.
“Staking your claim?” My voice rises, and Dom chooses that moment to approach us, concern etched in his features.
The three of us have been close since freshman year. Dom and I have been best friends since middle school and we met Liam the first day of high school football practice, immediately taking him into our friend group. We’re tight. And we’ve never fought over the same girl.
Until now.
Not that I can fight over Addie. I’m still with Sasha. We were supposed to get together Sunday night after she came home from Tahoe, but she never called me to let me know she got home.
Considering I planned on breaking up with her last night, I was fucking bummed. But it’s going to happen.
Soon.
“Everything cool here, dudes?” Dom asks.
Liam doesn’t even look in his direction, completely ignoring Dom’s question. “Yeah. I’m staking my claim. I’ve been interested in Addie ever since she broke things off with Jonah. You and Addie have known each other a long time, I get that you two are friends. But I actually like her.”
The words, I like her too, hang on the tip of my tongue, just dying to get out. I part my lips, almost ready to say it when Dom interrupts.
“What’s up with Monique hanging all over you?” he asks me.
Shit.
Liam’s brows shoot up. “What the hell, bro? It’s not enough that you already have a girlfriend yet you steal Addie away from me for the rest of the night. But then you go and flirt with Monique too?”
We all know Monique flirts with every guy on this team. Every guy in our class. Pretty much every guy in the junior class too. And once she runs through all of us—which she’s real close to doing—she’ll probably check out the sophomores. Maybe even the freshmen.
Yeah, she’s that girl. The one who won’t settle down with just one guy when there are a whole bunch of others she can talk to and flirt with. I’m not slut-shaming Monique—my mama beat that out of me eons ago, as did Ava—but damn, the girl is the worst.
Doesn’t help that she’s not particularly nice either. She’s never been that nice—her ego is too big. Yeah, she’s gorgeous and she’s got a nice body, but that only gets you so far. She might’ve been trying to hang all over me Saturday night, but I was shoving her away from me as much as possible. I’m not interested in her.