“Are you okay, babe?” Becky asks him, coming up to us.
“I’m fine.”
She spins around to face me. Her crystal blue eyes hard and she fists her hands like she plans on hitting me. “What the hell is wrong with you?” she demands.
“Stop,” Austin says, coming to stand between us. Becky turns back around to face Deke, and Austin turns toward me. Her green eyes are void of any emotion. “Do what you need to do,” she says.
Deke’s head snaps up to look at the back of her head.
“What do you mean?” I ask, my heart pounding in my chest from Deke’s words.
Let’s give them a show.
He’s right once again. She would go to Bryan and do just that. And it would drive me mad. More than I already am. “Austin …”
“Exactly what I said,” she interrupts me. “Tomorrow night at the party. Do what you need to do, Cole.” She leans up and softly kisses me on the lips. I don’t move or kiss her back. Then she walks off with Becky right behind her. Deke and I turn to watch them walk down the hall.
He comes to stand beside me and sighs. “She’s gonna eat you alive, man.”
“FUCK!” I turn and punch my locker.
_______________
I stand in the kitchen of Kellan’s parents’ house with my back against the countertop. My arms crossed over my chest and a pissed-off look on my face.
Austin’s words have continued to swim in my mind since yesterday.
Do what you need to do.
What kind of bullshit is that?
She’s fucking with my head. She does it so well.
Was that her way of telling me to fuck Kaitlin? If so, it’s a trap. No woman willingly tells a man to fuck another woman. No matter what the circumstances are. Or was that her way of telling me to choose her and withdraw from the group?
“Here. You’re gonna need it,” Deke says, handing me his Solo cup.
“No.” I don’t drink at parties unless it’s at my house. That was a rule I made after I lost three friends. I’m not going to let Kellan force me to go against that. He’s already forcing me to do enough.
“Hello, boys,” Kellan says, joining us.
Bennett ignores him as he drinks from a Solo cup.
Deke throws him a glare. I watch the entrance to the kitchen, waiting for either Kaitlin or Austin to walk in. At this point, I’m not sure who I want to see less.
“I’d choose Becky.”
“What?” I snap, looking over at Deke.
He ignores my harsh tone. But no one can miss the cut on his bottom lip from my fist yesterday.
“Becky was so mad when I told her about your dare. She was afraid the same thing would happen to me. And I never made her think that I would choose her. But that’s why I was so pissed at Kellan.” He takes a quick sip of his drink. “Because the moment I heard you read the dare, I knew I’d pick her over the group.” He looks me in the eyes. “It’s okay to choose her, Cole. This group will come to an end soon. After graduation, they’ll go their separate ways, but where will Austin go? Will you willingly leave her?” He shakes his head as if he already knows my answer.
“You make it sound like I love her,” I growl.
“Don’t you?”
“No,” I snap. She’s supposed to fall in love with me. I’m the one who is supposed to have all the control and ruin her. Not the other way around. I’ve seen what loving someone can do to another person. And it’s pathetic.
He just smiles.
“Fuck you, Deke.”
“Showtime,” Kellan says, getting our attention. He rubs his hands together excitedly, and my eyes follow where his are. Kaitlin just walked into the kitchen. She has her red hair down. She’s wearing a tight pair of blue jeans and a black top. A big smile on her face.
She does absolutely nothing for me.
She turns around and holds out her right hand, and my eyes widen when I see Bryan take it in his.
“What the fuck?” Kellan snaps.
They walk toward us, and he picks up a Solo cup and pours her a drink. He lifts his eyes to mine. “Boys.” He nods and then pulls her out of the kitchen.
Deke tries to hide his chuckle but fails. “Well, that changes things,” he says happily.
“Absolutely not,” Kellan snaps. “He still has to fuck her.”
“That’s not gonna happen. She’s obviously back with Bryan,” Bennett says, shaking his head.
“That was his dare.” Kellan growls. “He fucks her or he’s out.”
“What is he supposed to do?” Bennett asks. “Rape her?”
“If that’s what he has to do,” Kellan says with a nod.
“Absolutely not!” I snap.
“What the fuck, man?” Shane demands. “What is wrong with you?”
He lets out a growl of frustration. “Then you’re out.” He looks at me.
I raise my hands. “Then I’m out.”
Deke smiles at me, and he knows why I just stepped away. It had nothing to do with Kaitlin. And everything to do with Austin.
Fuck! She’s gotten to me.
“No,” Bennett says, pushing off the opposite counter. “You’re not going anywhere, Cole.”
Kellan opens his mouth to argue, but something behind me gets his attention. I turn around to see Austin and Becky walking toward us. She looks like she just walked off a runway in Milan. Her hair curled and down. Her green eyes lined with black. Her lips painted red. And she wears a red fucking dress that makes me weak in the knees. It’s low cut in the front, showcasing her perfect tits. She smiles at me, and everyone parts for them as if they’re fucking royalty.
“Desire” by Meg Myers begins to play over the speakers of the house, and her smile widens like she knows a secret.
“Fuck this shit.” I hear Kellan hiss, but I ignore him.
She comes up to me, and I reach out for her. My hand wraps around her thin waist and I pull her to me.
“I didn’t do it,” I tell her, needing her to know. I wouldn’t have done it anyway. I was just trying to buy time to get out of it, but I couldn’t figure it out. I couldn’t do it because I couldn’t picture her being with anyone else. And I don’t want anyone else.
This woman is as twisted as I am. She is as broken as me. Together, we are two fucked-up people living in a world where you’re supposed to be perfect. She’s not up to pretending, and I’m not up for faking.
“I know,” she whispers against my lips.
I search her eyes, and they sparkle. Just like every other time she has gone toe to toe with me. I love that look on her.
“You’re up to something,” I say.
Her eyes drop to my chest as her hands run down it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says, licking her red lips. I want them wrapped around my cock.
I grip her chin and lift it, so she has to look up at me. “You had something to do with Kaitlin and Bryan.” I’m reaching, but what else can explain what just happened. And the look in her eyes. I’ve underestimated her too much. But I don’t anymore.
She smiles. “I dare you to prove it.”
AUSTIN
He stares down at me. Those gorgeous blue eyes searching mine. He pulls away, takes my hand, and drags me out of the kitchen. I bite my lip to keep from laughing at his urgency. He pulls me into a room and slams the door shut.