Colton shakes his head in disbelief. “You, me, and Cora are going to have a little chat this weekend. I don’t care if I have to get chains to keep both of your legs closed. You’re not fucking up your lives by getting pregnant this young.”
She gives him a blank stare. “Who are you and what have you done with my brother?”
“I’m serious, Casey. Your days of whoring around are over, especially with guys like Jude. Hold out until you find a guy you love.”
Casey leans back in her sunbed and crosses her arms over her chest, dropping her curious gaze to me. “Is that what you did? Waited until you found someone you were in love with?”
My whole world stops.
She didn’t just say that.
I freeze just as Colton goes still behind me. “I, umm … uhh, I …”
“What’s wrong?” She laughs as Spencer and Charlie watch on with shit-eating grins. “Oh, I see. You haven’t told her that yet. My bad.”
“Okaaaaay,” I say awkwardly, getting up and grabbing another cocktail while looking anywhere but at Colton. We’re not ready for that. Not even in the slightest. We might feel it, but there’s no way those words are ready to be spoken out loud. Just … no. “I think it’s time for another drink.”
“Good idea,” Colton grumbles, walking over and snatching a beer off the table before striding back and dropping down onto my sunbed. I keep my distance, the unspoken emotions between us too strong to deal with.
Colton zones me out and focuses very intently on Charlie while ignoring his sister as though she’s not even there. I butt into Spencer and Hendrix’s conversation, but truth be told, I haven’t heard a single word that’s been said.
I lean on the back of Drix’s sunbed—just as Colton had done to mine earlier—and I find myself staring at him, watching his movements, and the way his eyes light up when he laughs with his friends. I take note of the small things, like how he unknowingly scratches his nail over the label on his beer bottle, and how every few minutes, he looks back to make sure I’m still here and doing alright.
He really does love me. At least, I think he does. It feels too real for him not to.
“Hey,” Drix says, snapping in my face. “Earth to Ocean. Where the hell are you? I’ve been having a full conversation with you and you haven’t heard a word I’ve been saying.”
My gaze sweeps down to her and I laugh. “Sorry, I’m a little distracted.”
“Yeah, no shit,” she grumbles. “You could be watching that guy take a shit and you’d still be mesmerized.”
My face scrunches in disgust. “Please don’t put that image in my head. We’re too new. We couldn’t withstand that.”
“Bullshit,” Spencer says. “You two could withstand anything.”
I meet his eyes and I see his deep honesty and while a statement like that generally wouldn’t mean too much, for me and Colton, it means the world, especially considering the kind of shit we’ve already fought our way through. I mean, if he’s willing to still remain by my side after watching me nearly murder a man, then I’d dare say that we’re in it for the long haul.
“Anyway,” Drix cuts in. “What I was saying was that I think we should set our parents up on a blind date. You know, maybe not even a date, just a ‘chance’ encounter.”
I look out at the pool and really think about it. “You know, I don’t think that’s such a bad idea. She’s still really hurting over Dad, but that might just be the little spark she needs to get back out there. They’d totally be cute together.”
“Who’s getting together?” Charlie questions from the other side of our group, raising his chin and making a point of being far too nosey for his own good.
I grin back at him while he eyes Drix beside me. “You and Drix,” I tell him, watching as his brows shoot straight up.
Drix sucks in a strangled gasp beside me but it cuts off as Charlie focuses his heavy stare on her. His eyes drop over her body, hungrily taking it in and making a point of liking what he sees. His voice lowers, deeper than I’ve ever heard it before. “I’m down if you are.”
Drix squirms beside me and clenches her thighs while roaming her eyes over every inch of his skin, just as he had done to her. She shrugs a shoulder, acting impartial while every ounce of her body is screaming with desperation. “Yeah, I guess I’m down.”
Charlie grins and leans back onto his hands, watching her like she’s his last meal that’s going to be savored with every last bite being thoroughly enjoyed. Her cheeks flush and she lifts her cocktail to her lips, needing something to keep herself busy so that she doesn’t bound across the pool and throw herself at him.
Charlie laughs but their moment is cut short by Jess attempting to climb onto Milo’s lap. “Please, baby. Just give me one more chance. I promise I won't try and push a relationship. We can just keep hanging out like we’ve been doing. Maybe the feelings will grow with time or … I don’t know. Did I do something wrong? Just help me understand. I don’t want to lose you.”
Panic slices across Milo’s face as he attempts to push her off him but she’s had too much to drink and has clearly lost all sense of what’s socially acceptable. She keeps trying, refusing to be pushed away.
Milo’s panicked gaze flashes to me with a universal sign for help and I rise to my feet, taking a step towards them and placing myself right beside Colton. “Jess, come on. Maybe now isn’t the time. Why don’t you guys meet up tomorrow in private and you can talk there without an audience?”
“No,” she snaps. “I’m sick of not having any answers. I need to know what I did to fuck up because it’s driving me insane. One minute we’re good and the next thing I know, he’s pulling away. I just need … I don’t even know what I need but I know I need it.”
Colton raises his hand to my waist and I find myself clutching onto it as Milo meets my eyes. My heart breaks for him seeing the uneasiness building within him. He's lost and doesn’t know how to play this and then all of a sudden, defeat claims him.
“Jess, get off me,” he says, giving her a slightly harder shove than necessary and flying to his feet. He stares down at her in a panic and the words come rushing out of him before he gets the chance to stop himself. “I’m gay. I don’t fucking like you. I like dudes. I always have. You and I were just some twisted experiment.”
Oh, fuck.
Shocked gasps sound around the group as Jess stares up at him with wide eyes and then as if realizing what the fuck he just said, his eyes go wide with fear and I see the exact second he decides to run.
“Milo stop,” I demand, throwing myself in front of him. I reach out and grab hold of him, refusing to let him run. He's been hiding in the closet for too long. It's finally time that he embraces who he is. “Don’t run from this. Stand up and face it. There’s nothing for you to be scared of—not in front of these guys. They’ll have your back just like I do.”
His eyes flash over my head to the group sitting behind me and he instantly starts shaking his head. “I can’t,” he says. “If word got out …”