My cheeks are hot. “Can you blame me?” I ask weakly.
“No, I can’t. He’s fire.” She laughs and steps toward me, curling her arm through mine. “Should we walk over there?”
“Oh, hell no.” I furiously shake my head. “I’m fine right here.”
“You just need more liquid courage,” Emma says, before she drains the rest of her White Claw. “Let’s grab another one.”
“If you say so.”
Doesn’t matter the amount of liquid courage I consume tonight, I probably won’t get a chance to talk with Beck. Not that I should. He’s taken.
Even if Sasha’s not here, I have no business talking to him—flirting with him.
Thinking about him as something more.
No business whatsoever.
TWO
BECK
I’d been weirdly nervous since the moment I showed up at Bayshore, hoping like hell Addison Douglas would show up. My friends convinced me to “host” this weekend’s party at Bayshore, telling me they knew a bunch of people would show if I were the one inviting them.
Which I did. I invited everyone I could think of and I also sent out a mass invite on my private story on Snap and IG. It worked. There are a lot of people here tonight already and I’m sure more are still coming. The only one who wasn’t able to make it?
My own damn girlfriend.
I get that she’s facing a lot of life changes, and unexpected opportunities are coming at her continuously. Like meeting up with her new roommates at Lake Tahoe for the weekend. One of the girl’s families vacations there every year in a giant cabin, and they invited the roommates in order to come meet one another. There are four of them total, which means that Sasha has three new friends I won’t really know, and it’s…
Weird.
I let my gaze wander around the guys standing at the fire, all of them my friends. Members of the football team. Guys I’ve known a long time, and trust with my whole heart. There’s Liam, who’s interested in a girl that’s here tonight, though he won’t reveal exactly who she is.
My best friend Dominic is totally hot for Tori, the girl currently lugging a cheap-ass bottle of vodka around with her like it’s her pet. Marcus is chilling with us, though he’s got his eye out for his side-piece, Monique.
Ugh, Monique. She’s always trying to be someone’s side-piece. She’s tried to get with me multiple times, but I’ve never been interested. She has no loyalty to anyone.
Sighing, I take a sip from my beer, my gaze snagging, yet again, on Addison. Addie.
Adds.
My middle school crush—hell, I’ve always had a little crush on her since I was twelve, but she always friend-zoned my ass, which I never understood. When it came to me and what I thought was my obvious interest in her, the girl was clueless. Or maybe I was really freakin’ bad at dropping hints that I was totally into her.
Not sure what it was, but we could never get on the same page, much to my regret.
The beginning of my junior year, I got together with Sasha, and Addie found a boyfriend too, that weenie Jonah who’s in the band and thinks he’s some drum playing rock star.
Gimme a break.
I heard Addie broke it off with him right after school ended. I never found out the reason why, and it’s not like I can ask around and find out. People might get suspicious, considering Sasha and I are still together.
Draining the rest of my beer, I go grab another one, Sasha on my mind, as usual. But not in a good way. Things are tense between us. We haven’t been getting along lately, and I blame it on her life changing so much. She’s leaving soon, and what does that mean for me? For us? I sound like a selfish ass, but I really don’t want a long-distance relationship, especially during my senior year of high school.
I also don’t think I want to be in a relationship with Sasha any longer. I haven’t wanted to be with her for a while, since prom. She got so drunk on the night that was supposed to be our first time, there was no way I could have sex with her. Not when she was half passed out in the hotel room we were staying in. Instead, I put her to bed, still wearing her dress, and went to Dom’s hotel room, where we partied and I got fucking wasted.
The drunker I got, all I could think about was seeing Addie at the dance that night, beautiful in a sky-blue dress that sparkled in the light. She wore her hair up, showing off her pretty neck, and I wished I could’ve been the one who danced with her. Instead, it was Jonah’s arms that were around her as they swayed to the music. The way he looked at her. How she smiled up at him.
It about killed me.
Because I was a gentleman and wouldn’t take advantage of her in her trashed state, Sasha got pissed. We’ve been at odds ever since, though you’d never guess it, considering the public persona we’ve been putting on. Her graduation night, we were all smiles out on the football field, my arms around her, her beaming in her cap and gown. The minute the photo ops were done, she ditched me for a “seniors only” party at a house someone rented for the night on the lake.
There was a rumor I heard that she kissed someone else that night, but she denied it to my face emphatically.
Whatever. I almost don’t care if she kissed someone else. It would give me the perfect excuse to end it with her, once and for all.
My gaze wanders to Addie yet again, who’s laughing at something Tori said before she takes a big sip from her White Claw can. Her long legs look sexy as hell in those leggings she’s wearing.
Everything about her is sexy as hell.
Addie showing up tonight with her best friends changed my mood. I wonder if she’ll talk to me.
I wonder if I can get her alone.
I hang with my friends and all we can focus on is the upcoming football season. We’re finally good, on top of our game, since we’re seniors, and after a decent season last year, we’re ready to dominate this fall. I offer my opinions while sipping my beer, not wanting to get too drunk tonight. Nothing good comes from that. My parents know I’m here, and they know what we do up at Bayshore. I’m their fourth kid, and all of my siblings did the same thing before me, so they’re not completely clueless. As long as I’m safe and don’t do anything stupid, they’re okay with it.
Well, I don’t know if they’re actually okay with it, but they prefer that I’m honest with them versus sneaking around and lying to them.
I keep it real with my parents, for the most part. Ava is the sneakiest one of the bunch, though honestly, from what I remember, Autumn was sneaking around a lot with Ash back when they were in high school too. I was just a kid and didn’t really care. Jake’s been pretty straightforward, I think. So maybe it’s more of a girl thing?
I don’t know. I’ve always been open and honest with my parents, especially my mom. We’re close. But I’m close to my dad too.
People would probably make fun of me if they knew how close. Or they’d be blown away by how much I tell them, though I don’t care.
It works for us.
More and more people show up as the night goes on. A few of them bring alcohol, but Dom has a solid connection. Some guy he works with just turned twenty-one and I gave him some cash, and he hooked us up with a decent variety.