Aggro - CoraLee June Page 0,58

tips of his feet in the water. He wore dark jeans that were wet. His shirt was gone, and my eyes trailed over the dips and grooves of his abs.

“Chase? What are you doing?” I asked. A guy to our right picked up a petite blonde and threw her in the ocean with a laugh, splashing us both. Chase didn’t answer me, and it wasn’t until I saw him lift his hand up to his mouth and inhale from the joint perched between his thumb and index finger that I realized he was high.

“Just enjoying the night, Breezy.”

“How could you throw a party?” I asked before sitting beside him. “Why haven’t you called me?” I noted an empty bottle of whiskey on the other side of him and worried he was cross fading. He’d be puking on the sand soon.

“I don’t want to talk to you, Breezy. Why don’t you put that mouth to use, hmm? I know you’re fascinated with blow jobs. I’ll let you suck my cock if you’d like,” he teased before lifting the joint back to his lips. Fury and embarrassment flooded me. This wasn’t Chase. I reached up and grabbed the joint from his hand, burning myself in the process. He groaned in annoyance, but I put it out on the wet sand and glared at him.

“Chase, I know you’re hurting, but—”

“I’m not hurting. I’m not...anything right now. I’m definitely not a good guy.”

I shook my head. I needed backup. “Where is Celeste?”

“Probably somewhere crying.”

“Why is she crying? Chase?” I asked. He started laughing, his lips parted as a humorless chuckle made his body shake. Fucking hell.

“I hurt her. I hurt everyone in the end,” Chase replied.

I didn’t like Celeste, but with the way Chase was acting, I was worried. Besides, maybe she could help convince Chase to go inside and sleep off his drunken high. She was a bitch, but she cared about him. “Stay right here, okay?” I told him before standing up. He just waved his hand.

I got up and started looking around for Celeste. More people had showed up since my chat with Chase, and the crowded beach was becoming difficult to navigate. Teens carrying YETI coolers with ice and beer set up by the bonfire. The guy playing guitar was now making out with someone, and the music was thumping.

A topless girl ran into the water, passing me with a giggle as four guys chased after her. Another girl from my math class was puking on the sand. I asked a couple of people if they’d seen Celeste, but none of them had, so I marched up the path to the house.

I had to step over a passed out dude on the deck, and when I went in through the back door, I saw Celeste sitting at the kitchen table, crying. “Celeste?” I asked.

Her luscious hair was covering her face, and her body was shaking with the sobs escaping her lips. “Go away,” she cried out.

I approached her like you would a wild animal—cautiously. “Celeste? What’s wrong? I just saw Chase…”

At the mention of Chase, Celeste looked up at me, and I nearly gasped at what I saw. Her mascara was running down her face. Her eyes were red, and the red lipstick she wore had smeared in the corner. But that wasn’t what concerned me. No, it was the angry red marks shaped like fingers around her neck. It looked painful. “Did Chase do that to you?” I asked gently.

“H-He didn’t mean to,” she rushed out. “And stop looking at me with pity. You of all people should not be pitying me.” Celeste was practically spitting her words. What the hell was that supposed to mean?

“What happened?” I asked. I didn’t like her tone, but I was trying to understand.

“He’s just mad lately. Hurting. He’s obsessed. It’s nothing I can’t handle. He just gets rough sometimes.”

I pulled out my cell phone. I would need more help. I wanted to shut this party down and figure out what was going on with Chase. This was unacceptable. And although everything inside of me was screaming for me to waltz right back out the front door and let them figure it out for themselves, this wasn’t safe. I needed to get this party shut down. I clicked Kai’s name on my phone before even thinking of it. Calling him was instinctual. He answered on the first ring.

“You okay?”

“I need you,” I said softly. Celeste rolled her eyes and then went back to