The Rebel of Raleigh High (Raleigh Rebels #1) - Callie Hart Page 0,52
with amused eyes as they tiptoe toward the pool. They all have wet hair, which makes it seem as though this isn’t their first dip into the water. Halliday’s expression tenses when our eyes meet, but Zen’s on the other hand…There’s something fucking wrong with that girl. She doesn’t seem to be getting it, and I don’t know of many more ways to tell her to fuck off without getting really hostile. She bounces on the balls of her feet when she sees me, covering her mouth with her hand as she leans over to whisper excitedly in Kacey's ear, and I swallow down a groan. Kacey's eyes cut to find me, and she arches an assessing eyebrow—she seems to be considering something. Zen clasps her hands in front of her chest, doing little hops from one foot to the other, her mouth stretched wide, bearing her teeth as she clearly says, “Pleeeeeeeeeeease?”
Kacey sighs, rolling her eyes at Zen, but she nods all the same. Zen squeals like she just got something she desperately wanted for Christmas. Halliday dumps her towel on the tiles by the side of the pool—she’s wearing a pink bikini and doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that I’m here to witness it. But then, why would she? She’s strutted around the stage at the Rock half naked, her tits hanging out of her doctored Raleigh High cheerleader uniform. One guy sitting by a pool isn’t going to faze her now.
The other girls shed their towels, all of them wearing a scant, tiny swimsuit or bikini of some description. Zen makes a point of bending over, ass facing me, making sure I get a good look at her as she stoops to fiddle with the ankle straps of her sandals, taking her time to unfasten them. She’s shit out of luck, though. I’m not interested, and I’m not looking. I go back to lying down on the lounger, my eyes firmly fixed on the stars overhead.
A series of loud splashes, along with girlish, high pitched squeals, signal that they’ve jumped into the water. Still, I don’t look.
The door opens again, and Jake's voice carries on the fresh, autumnal air. “You girls better be naked,” he calls. “My dick could break concrete right now.”
Gross. I don’t wanna think about Jake’s boner, or what nightmarish catastrophe is about to take place in that pool. Gradually pulling myself up into a seating position, I’m about to get to my feet when Jake sidles past me wearing board shorts and slumps down on the lounger next to mine. He holds out a beer to me, grinning from ear to ear. “Saw you out of the window there. Looked like you needed this.”
I don’t want the beer. I specifically don’t want it because he brought it out for me, but I can’t be an asshole. Not if I want to put all of these moving pieces into place and get what I want out of this fucked up situation. The glass is beaded with condensation, cool in my hands. The night’s growing colder, and it feels as though it’s going to start raining any second now, but the beer’s still somehow refreshing. I press the beveled rim to my mouth and allow the golden liquid to pour down the back of my throat, raising my eyebrows at the guy sitting across from me.
“There are some shorts inside for you if you want them, man. Leon has a thousand pairs. He doesn’t mind us borrowing his shit at these things. Mind you, from what I heard earlier, both Zen and Halliday wouldn’t mind if you jumped into the pool sans shorts.”
“I’m actually gonna head home in a beat.” I’m firm. My tone brooks no arguments. Not that Jake pays any attention to that.
“Ahh, come on, Moretti. The pool’s a right of passage. It’s gotta be done.”
I pull on the beer again, draining half the bottle in one swift move. I could drain the whole thing right now and get the fuck out of here if I wanted to, but Jacob would probably see it as a slight against him. I need to draw this out at least a few more minutes before I get to my feet. “Sorry, man. I’m just not feelin’ it. I got shit I have to take care of, anyway.”
“Let me guess,” Jake says, wagging the neck of his beer at me conspiratorially. “You can’t swim, and you don’t wanna embarrass yourself.”