the motherfucker.
Ha…maybe that’s why I’m such a great lay.
Collectively, their sympathetic gazes traveled to Bee—as if they also knew she’d be the one.
“How do you know the mother of your children will even be skinny?” Lou argued with a tilt of her head. “When you saw a picture of Eliza, you couldn’t stop drooling, and she’d never be caught dead wearing a double zero.”
I’d been flicking ash on the ground, so my gaze slowly lifted and zeroed in on Bee. Just in case anyone still had their doubts. “Because I know.” Although I’d staked my claim, there was still a part of me resisting the urge to give in. “If Eliza is interested, tell her to give me a call,” I added while holding Bee’s gaze. “A lot of powerful men have outside children.”
Unable to take the hurt flickering in her eyes, I hopped the rail, and even though it felt like I was running away, I didn’t turn back.
I walked until I found a lone bench surrounded by tall hedges and a thousand fucking rose bushes. I wasn’t sure how long I sat there with my head hanging between my shoulders before I heard a voice.
“You sure as shit know how to make an exit,” Vaughn drawled.
Lifting my head and seeing how close he stood, I realized he’d snuck up on me. A thick cloud of smoke flowed through my nostrils when I sighed. All I’d wanted was some time alone, but with friends like mine, that was too much to fucking ask. Usually, I was the one doing the meddling. Now I understood just how fucking annoying that must be.
“Are you seriously over here pouting, man?”
“It’s called brooding,” I argued. “You wouldn’t know anything about that. You’re not hot enough.”
“That’s not what your mother said last night.” The moment he popped a squat next to me, I pressed the lit end of my cigarette into the back of his hand. “Fuck!” He yelped like a little bitch. After inspecting the burn mark on his hand he glared at me. “What the fuck, dude? Recognize a joke?”
Shrugging, I flicked the butt away and immediately reached for another. “Wrong mom to joke about, bro.”
“Jesus, you’re such a fucking mama’s boy.” I didn’t respond, so he watched me light up with a frown before saying, “I thought you quit?”
Wordlessly, I unbuttoned my dress shirt enough to rip the damn patch I wore from my chest. I felt like an idiot for even trying. I couldn’t quit smoking any more than I could quit her.
Fuck it.
“What the hell is going on with you?” Vaughn prodded.
“Why do you care?”
Frankly, I found his nagging ironic since his problems were ten times more fucked up than mine. I guess the quarterback enjoyed throwing stones too.
“I don’t fucking know… maybe because I’m your best fucking friend? Is that a good enough reason for you, asshole?”
“A friend would have told me when my cousin started fucking my girlfriend behind my back.”
If he was surprised by my statement, it didn’t show. It’s been five years, but it still felt like it happened five damn days ago. “And that’s exactly why I didn’t tell you, bro. That was family shit, so I stayed out of it. Besides, I seriously doubt they ever fucked.”
“Just as I expected… copping out like a pussy.”
“Okay. What would you have done?”
“Pray you never have to find out.” This pain was one I wouldn’t wish on anyone, not even my worst enemy. Ironically, she happened to be the girl who caused it all.
“You have to shake this funk, man. You came back, and you’ve been given a second chance, but instead of making things right with Bee, you’re sulking in some fucking bushes. Yet I’m the pussy?”
“I didn’t come back for her.”
“But she’s the reason you stayed.”
“I’m not sure I had much choice in that, either. Where the hell would I have gone?”
“That’s kind of my point. Up until yesterday, the girl you’ve been in love with since you were twelve was ready to marry someone else, and I bet it never once crossed your mind to leave Blackwood Keep.”
No, it hadn’t.
Like a chump, I knew I’d rather be in pain every day watching her belong to someone else than never seeing her again. And wasn’t that just fucking backward as hell?
They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Well, Bee had wrecked me a thousand times over, and I was still weak as hell for that girl.
My summer love, my ice queen.
She fucking