“Shut up,” I say, rolling my eyes, but the tips of my ears smolder under his attention. “Stop looking at me like that.”
I spend most days in spandex shorts and baggy t-shirts with volleyball, and I felt like getting dressed for once. So sue me. I won’t lie and say that the possibility of seeing Thayer here didn’t factor into my decision, which is all kinds of messed up, considering how we left things. Or rather, how he left me. Near naked. On top of his car.
“Thayer’s gonna love this,” he says, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“What?” I snap, taken aback. No one knows about us, so the off-handed comment catches me off guard along with the news that Thayer is here somewhere. I wasn’t sure he would be with the disappearing act he likes to pull.
“Nothing.” He turns to Valen, greeting her with the flick of his chin. “’Sup, Valentina?”
She gives him a bratty smile, hating that he used her full name. “Not much, Holden Cock.”
“Always so pleasant.” Holden laughs, scraping his teeth over his bottom lip. “But if you want to hold my cock, all you have to do is say the word.”
Valen shakes her head, but a smile pulls at her lips.
“Come on, let’s go see what’s up out back.”
Holden grabs my hand, pulling me through the crowd, and Valen follows, latching onto my shoulder. Holden stops in the kitchen to grab another cup, and we refill ours. Drinks in hand, we head out back where clusters of people are grouped off in various parts of the yard. To the left, an obnoxiously loud game of beer pong takes place, and to the right, tucked into the corner, sits a fire pit with only a few people. Christian, Baker, Taylor, Alexis, and Aiden. Christian and Baker exchange a look that I don’t care to decode, and the girls look annoyed that female competition is encroaching on their territory.
“Why is she here?” Taylor asks, nodding in my direction, a sense of déjà vu creeping in.
“Because she’s fucking family, and she has more of a right to be here than you ever will,” Holden shocks me—along with everyone else by the looks of it—by saying. “And if your insecure, petty ass can’t handle it, you can get the fuck out.”
No one speaks. Alexis averts her eyes, taking a sip of her drink, but I swear I see a flash of a smile. Aiden smirks, sitting back in his chair, and Taylor looks around for support, finding none. Valen, of course, is the one to break the silence by snorting out a laugh, and I elbow her side.
“Great,” Holden says, lifting his cup. “Now that that’s settled, let’s get fucked up.”
Everyone falls back into their conversations with the exception of Taylor who looks to be plotting my demise. I know Holden thinks he’s helping, but once again, he only poked the bear. I decide here and now that I’m done caring about Taylor. What is she going to do? Start another nasty rumor about me? Sling insults at me in the halls? How will I ever survive? Note the sarcasm.
Holden takes a seat around the fire between Christian and Baker, and Valen takes the remaining one next to Aiden, while I stand here still stunned, wondering what the fuck just happened.
“Hey, Blondie.”
I look to my left to see Aiden slouched back in his Adirondack chair wearing a hoodie pulled over his head with the strings tied in a bow, matching sweatpants, and white kicks. He’s so hot, he manages to make even loungewear look both stylish and expensive.
“You get all dressed up for me?” he asks, eyes roaming me head to toe, but somehow, it doesn’t come across in a salacious way.
I tilt my head, eyebrow raised. “Obviously,” I tease. Aiden is tempting, but dark, broody eyes pop into my mind, unbidden, and I know it wouldn’t be fair to lead him on when I’m hung up on someone else.
He pats his lap. “Have a seat.”
“Sorry,” I say, pushing my lips into a pout. “I’m here with my boyfriend.”
The confusion on his face morphs into amusement as I reach a hand toward Valen, and she pulls me onto her lap.
“It’s true. I’m her daddy.”
I snort out a laugh and she wiggles back into the chair, making room for me to sit in between her legs.
“I saw a porn that started like this once,” Holden says, rubbing his hands together.
“Just once?” Christian gibes.
Taylor rolls her eyes. “Pretending to be lesbians for attention. How original.”
Holden cuts her a warning glare and she throws up her manicured hands in mock surrender. “Sorry.” She shrugs in a way that says she’s not sorry at all. “Old habits die hard.”
“It’s called a joke. You should try it sometime,” I say. She’s always so busy trying to be the prettiest, the richest, the smartest, the most athletic, that I don’t think she’d know what fun was if it bit her in the ass.
She gives me a bratty smile and then averts her eyes, effectively ending the conversation. I don’t know how I was ever friends with her. I mean, we were frenemies at best, but even being friendly with Taylor seems impossible at this point.
“I think summer is officially over.” I shiver, glad for the fire. I should’ve brought a jacket.
“Drink more. It’ll warm you up,” Valen teases, guiding my cup to my mouth with the palm of her hand. Usually when we go out, one of us will limit ourselves to a drink or two if the other plans on getting drunk, but since I live right across the woods, we can both partake.
The guys fall into some conversation about basketball, and Valen rolls her eyes, completely uninterested. At first, I’m tense, still not completely at ease here, but then we all fall into conversation, and I start to loosen up. Taylor still looks put out, as if my mere presence offends her, but she doesn’t make any additional snide comments. The more I drink, the more I relax. I’m feeling warm from both the fire and the alcohol, leaning back on Valen, with my feet perched on the edge of the brick fire pit.
“Up,” Valen says, smacking the tops of my thighs. “We need more beer.”
I stand too fast and stumble a little, feeling tipsier than I thought I was. Aiden stands and his hands steady me at my waist.
“You good?” he asks quietly.
“I’m so good.” I laugh. I haven’t let my guard down like this in over a year, and it feels like a weight has started to lift from my chest. Not fully, but enough to notice. Enough to breathe a little easier.
A giggle rings out into the night air, and I look up to see Thayer standing on the balcony above us, hands braced on the ledge, staring daggers at me. A small group of people are up there with him, and a girl named Lissa whispers something into his ear, pressing her tits into the side of his arm. Lissa graduated last year, but it seems she still hasn’t given up on getting Thayer to notice her. I frown, looking away.
“Take care of her,” Valen says, pointing a threatening finger at Aiden. “I’ll be right back.”
“I need a re-up, too.” Holden stands, and the two of them walk inside together. Once they’re gone, Taylor takes the opportunity to sidle up to me, and I can tell by the look on her face that she’s way too excited about whatever bomb she’s about to drop on me.
“Since you like jokes so much, want to hear a funny one?” she asks, tilting her head to the side with a fake-innocent expression on her face.