My jaw drops as a much taller, much larger version of my old friend shoves his way through until he’s standing beside me. I hardly register the other guy with him, who takes my other side.
My eyes are glued to Levi, whose lower voice isn’t the only thing different about him. He’s grown a full foot, towering over the rest of us at somewhere near six and a half feet.
Levi stares down Tanner and his buddies. “Still trying to make yourself feel bigger by picking on people you’re jealous of, I see. With a new group of insecure guys to help you.”
One of the said insecure guys starts to defend himself, but Tanner takes a menacing step forward. Somehow, it doesn’t seem as menacing anymore though. The Levi I remember never would have stood up to Tanner, especially not when we’re outnumbered.
“And I see you’re still daydreaming about sucking dick and taking it up the ass.” His friends snicker but Levi only smiles like he’s totally unaffected.
“No, I don’t have to daydream about it anymore.”
“And he usually likes to be on top,” the guy beside me adds, and when I glance over at him, my eyes widen. With maybe one exception, the blond on my other side is the most good-looking dude I’ve ever seen.
“Hey!” Wyatt shoves past Tanner, Phoebe right behind him. “What’s going on out here? Oh shit! Levi?”
Levi nods. “Hey man. You comin’ from Alice’s place?”
“Alice? Yeah. That’s where you’re headed? Wait, are you a student here?”
Levi smiles and glances over my head to the hottie beside me. “I am now. Just transferred.”
“Yeah, to get his dick sucked by this pansy,” Tanner taunts.
Wyatt doesn’t even acknowledge the peanut gallery behind us. We got so used to ignoring Tanner and his groupies in high school, guess it’s still second nature to Wyatt.
“Come on!” Phoebe bounces between us. “Let’s head in! It’s freezing out here!”
Wyatt throws an arm around her. “Told you to put a jacket on, babe.” But we’re already moving, the five of us brushing right past Tanner, even as his friends continue calling insults.
The door shuts behind us, and my head reminds me it’s not done screaming at me yet.
Phoebe’s concerned face is in front of mine. “You okay, Jo Jo?”
“Was Tanner going to this party too? Are they coming in?” I glance behind me to the door.
“Kinda hope they do. I’ve been wanting to punch that guy for years,” Levi says.
“He’s not worth it,” the hottie says. “I’m Devon, Levi’s boyfriend, by the way.”
We introduce ourselves, but Devon seems to already know who we are.
Levi faces us. “Guys, I’m sorry I never got in touch after I moved. I was in a bad place then. As the years passed, it just seemed like too long had gone by to reach out. I didn’t know what to say.”
If he thinks there are hard feelings, he’s wrong. “I get it, Levi. We get it.” Levi heaves a deep breath and pulls me in for a hug.
“I’ve missed you, Jo Jo.”
“She doesn’t let anyone call her that anymore,” Phoebe teases.
“Babe, you just called her that,” Wyatt reminds her.
“Wait, Jo Jo, I mean Jordan, I thought you went to Summerside out in California. Are you still on break?”
“I’m taking the semester off.”
Devon winces. “Is it from that crash?”
“You know about that?”
“Oh yeah, we were following Beckett Steele and Griffin Perry first and now we follow you too,” Devon explains. “I skateboard too. Got Levi back into it when we met.”
“We really gotta catch up on, what is it now? Six years?” Wyatt asks.
“Seven, I think.”
Wyatt tells them, “We live across the street. You guys want to head over there? Alice’s place is so packed you can barely hear anything.”
My head definitely can’t handle going in there right now, even as the pulsing is dulling a tiny bit in the darkened stairwell.
“I should at least go up and say a quick hello,” Levi says. “Alice is a friend from my high school. Can we come over after?”
“Do we really want to deal with those guys if they’re still out there?” Phoebe reminds us.
“I’m happy to deal with them,” Levi says.
“Is he normally like this?” I ask Devon. “In middle school he wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
“Oh, he still won’t hurt a fly. But there’s something about those guys that will make any pacifist want to throw a punch or two, don’t you think?”
“I think Alice carries a taser around!” Phoebe says, already moving up the stairs. “Before we go back to our place I’m gonna see if I can borrow it.” She rubs her hands together in anticipation.
“Yeah, taser might be more my style too,” I agree with a nod. “Let’s see if anyone else has one up there.”
Fifteen minutes later, we open the door to the street, ready for a fight.
“Aw man, they left,” Levi says. “Does he go to school here? Maybe we’ll get another chance.”
“I don’t think so,” Wyatt says. “I’ve never seen him around.”
Hanging at Wyatt and Phoebe’s studio apartment with this group is the most fun I’ve had in weeks. We talk for hours, catching up on everything. Well, just about everything. I tell them about Brazen, and my friendships with Griff, Beck, and their sisters, but I don’t get into the details. It’s not the kind of thing I can graze over lightly, and after the incident with Tanner, no one’s in the mood for heavy.
When Devon and Levi head out, I can’t believe it’s already 3 AM.
“I think I’ll like being a fifth wheel better than a third wheel,” I tell them happily as we hug goodbye.
“I still have no idea how you’ve managed to stay single so long,” Levi says, kissing me on the cheek.
Am I single? My hand goes to my necklace as the door shuts behind them. I definitely don’t feel single. Beck still has me, whether he knows it or not. He might not belong to me anymore after I let him go, but I still belong to him, with him. I wonder when that will change. If it ever will.
Beck
It’s midnight my time, 3 AM her time, when she finally gets back to me. I’ve never known Jordan to stay up so late, and since she told me she’s always tired and sleeping a ton, the middle of the night text messes with my head.
Sorry just getting back now! Ran into an old friend from home and spent hours catching up. Crashing now. I’m on their couch but it’s comfy.
I’d asked her if she’d get a bed or the floor and to text me when she was going to sleep. Tossing the phone aside, I get up and pace the bedroom.
I’m wound up, knowing I won’t be able to sleep, so I head downstairs, looking for a glass of milk.
It’s not an empty kitchen though. I’m so wrapped up in my own thoughts, I don’t even process the sounds until it’s too late. Jessica Malloy, also known as Bikini Girl, is sitting on the kitchen counter while Tariq Minor pounds into her. I spin right on around, calling out, “You better sterilize that counter!”