Falling for Seven

by T. A Richards Neville

  Katlyn stopped in front of me, spinning around. “Oh, and I saw him kiss you. But don’t worry, I won’t say anything to Kit.”

  <>

  I rode in the back, insisting Nicky ride up front despite Julian’s protests. I was squashed up against the window next to two hulking bodies in the form of Dan and Rixton. They were pure muscle and testosterone.

  Rixton leaned forward, to see around Dan. “Seven say’s you skate. That you’re good and everything.”

  “Yeah. One perk of BU.”

  “What, like hockey?” asked Dan, with a slightly raised eyebrow.

  Julian pulled a face at him in the rearview. “No, not like fucking hockey. Like figure fucking skating. Leotards and shit.”

  Nicky twisted in his seat, eyeing me up suggestively. “Nice,” he said.

  He thought he was God’s gift to women, but I’d determined he was harmless. I took anything he said lightly and with a pinch of salt. His game was to un-nerve every woman he came into contact with, but I’d spent enough time around Julian to know that all the big talk was just armor and jokes. They exposed everyone to it, it wasn’t personal. A lack of maturity, sure.

  “Yeah, I’m picturing you in a leotard.”

  Julian landed his elbow in the middle of Nicky’s stomach, making him sputter with a pained laughter.

  “You on the team?” Rixton asked. “There’s a team, isn’t there?”

  “Yeah, there’s a team, but I’m solo. Synchronization isn’t really my thing.”

  Julian steered the Range Rover along a narrow dirt path through the trees. It was pitch-dark out here, not even the natural light of the moon could penetrate. We drove out onto a clearing and Julian parked up. I got out, thankful for air and to move my legs. We’d been driving around twenty minutes, but the lack of space made it feel so much longer. I had the urge to stretch out my limbs.

  There was a bonfire already blazing, orange flames rising to meet the sky, so bright and hot I had to shield my face. I walked around it, keeping out of the way.

  We were on the lake, a mass of black silk rippling along the grassy banks. The full moon sat in its reflection like a mirror, glittering on top of the surface.

  People were already dive-bombing, disturbing the lake’s calm. I could have been the only freshman here, everyone else mixed like they’d known each other for years. I had the strong desire to bail and hit the ice rink. Luckily it wouldn’t be open.

  “Angel.” Kit pulled me into a hug. “I’ll get in if you do.”

  She was totally different from when I had last seen her. She was perky and chilled out. And I had kissed Julian—fooled around with him. There was no way I could keep that a secret. I would have to tell her, or stop hanging out with her. No, I was telling her. Tonight, I was telling her. Tonight or tomorrow. Ruining her good mood probably wasn’t such a good idea, just a selfish one.

  “I never brought my bathing suit.”

  Kit giggled, already stripping off her cut-offs and untying her halter top. She was standing in her bra and thong. The cups of her bra barely contained what was inside and in no time, we had attracted the attention of most of the party. “Let me show you how it’s done.”

  She swept up her hair into a ponytail and then out of nowhere Julian appeared behind her, picking her up off her feet and throwing her into the lake. Her arms were flailing in thin-air and her screams echoed around the tree-tops. He pulled off his own sleeveless, thermal shirt and kicked off his high-tops, following behind her in a swift dive.

  I sat on the table of a picnic bench near the bonfire. Nicky looked up from around the fire, noticing me. He took a bottle of beer from the cooler beside him and sauntered over to me. I looked for Katlyn but I couldn’t see her.

  “She’s in the water.” Nicky tipped his head in the direction of her slender frame sitting on the banks, her legs submerged under the surface. I knew the water wouldn’t be as warm as she was making it appear to be. This was Boston after all. Even the water in Cali didn’t stay warm. I was hit with a wave of nostalgia thinking about the Pacific along the golden beaches.

  I accepted a beer from Nicky. “Thanks.”

  It was just as well I never drank before this, because I was more than making up for it now.

  “Do you suffer from a social disorder, sitting here on your own?”

  “What gave it away?” I said with a faint smile.

  Music started to play out from a car stereo. Nicky and I drank our beers quietly. He leaned back, propped up on his elbow with one leg on the table bent at the knee. He lifted his beer to his lips. “Fucking Seven. He gets all the pussy.

  I followed Nicky’s line of vision. Julian picked Kit up out of the water and threw her over his shoulder, landing her in a splash. They looked so natural together—a ready-made couple. They always found their way back to each other. Same way I kept finding my way back to Jordan. Didn’t matter how lost I got, he was always my end route.

  Julian shook the water from his hair and waded through the lake. He snatched up his top and sneakers from the grass and grabbed a beer from one of the coolers. He shifted out of view and then came back a few minutes later wearing a pair of dark-green sweatpants with the team’s logo printed in orange, and a snug white V-neck shirt.

  He gave Nicky a shove to make more room on the table and then fastened his gaze onto me. He drank slowly from the rim of his beer and I looked away, avoiding the snare of his trap again so soon.

  Nicky stood up on the table and jumped to the floor. It was a wonder the ground didn’t shake under the size of him.

  “Where you going?” Julian asked.

  “Katlyn just went into the forest. I’ll be back.”

  “Is she okay in there?” I asked Julian.

  Nicky ran into the shadows, dissolving into the trees.

  Julian had his bottle tipped at his lips and I could see his smirk underneath it. “She won’t be when Nicky gets in there. He’s like a fucking animal back in his habitat. The forest is exactly where that beast belongs.”

  Well, I walked right into that one.

  He arched his eyebrow. “You wanna go shake down some trees?”

  “I’m good,” I said, ending all roads to that conversation.

  The song switched to ‘All my friends’, and my body automatically swayed to the mellow beat, my lips catching onto the tune. I was a sucker for a good song, always working it into some semblance of a routine in my head that I could use for skating.

  I knew Julian was watching me without having to turn around. He finished his beer in one long drink and climbed down from the table. He held out his hand to me and I looked into his palm, torn between taking it and slapping it away.

  It could have been the blissful high from the song, or my one-beer-buzz, but whatever was driving me, I placed my hand in his. I stepped down onto the bench and he helped me to the ground. His fingers tightened around mine and his arm came around my waist. I let him draw me in, and my head fall to his chest. We moved in sync to the rhythm of the song, his body hard against my softness. The flat of his hand moved down to the curve of my bottom and I kept my arm draped over his, my hand on his shoulder. I felt his lips move against my hair and I reared back to see his face. He was miming along to the song lyrics, a sexy smirk darkening his eyes.

  You didn’t call me…

  The end of his serenade curved up into a question, but I pressed my head against his chest and closed my eyes, smiling against his T-shirt. He smelled good, he felt good. How had I not truly noticed him before?

  Because he wasn’t like this before. He was hostile and arrogant. Obnoxious…

  “Do you regret what we did?” He asked me, his voice low. We kept moving, our slow dance nearing its end.

  I sighed, my face hidden. “Yes.” A singular beat of reconsideration. “No. But it didn’t mean anything either.”

  “Hey, Jules.” Kit tapped Julian on the shoulder and I pulled away from him too fast. Julian’s arm was strong around my waist, though, and he stop
ped me bolting.

  “What’s up, Kit?”

  “You mind taking me home real quick?” She was still in her bra and thong and that didn’t go unnoticed by Julian. His eyes dropped to her dripping wet cleavage and her see-through bra. Her hair was out, plastered to her back.

  “I drove the boys and Angel here, you can’t get someone else to take you?”

  “I left my cell and my mom’s supposed to be calling me.”

  An unspoken bond passed between them and Julian sighed. “Fine. Put some clothes on and I’ll meet you at my car. I don’t want you drenching out my seats.”

  “They’re leather,” said kit.

  “Just get some clothes on.”

  I understood Julian not wanting to get in the car with Kit while she was in her underwear looking like a lingerie model who had just won the wet T-shirt contest. I suspected they had done that a few times before and he knew from experience that he’d never make it back to the party.

  “I won’t be long,” he said, his hand slipping from my waist. “You just gonna hang with Dan and Rixton?”

  “Ah, now there’s an offer.” He grinned and then fished his car keys out of his pocket.

  It felt like I had been sitting on my own for a lifetime after Julian’s Range Rover pulled away, and then Katlyn and Nicky broke free from the trees. Katlyn led Nicky toward me and then sent him to get drinks.

  “He works fast, but man is he thorough.” Katlyn scanned the faces at the clearing. “Where’d Kit go?”

  “With Julian. He took her to go pick up her cell. Her mom is gonna call her or something.”

  “Oh, right. I wouldn’t expect them back any time soon, then.”

  “I wasn’t.”

  Nicky came back empty-handed and with a joint hanging from his lips. He sucked deeply, smoke billowing out around the blunt and his mouth. He had to squint his eyes against the thick and creamy cloud. He toked at his own leisure and then passed it to Katlyn. “Leave some for Angel.”

  “Obviously.” She took a few hits and then handed it to me. I looked down at it with disdain.

  “Let me guess,” said Nicky. “You don’t smoke?”

  “No. I’m in training, I shouldn’t even be drinking.”

  Kaitlyn jabbed the joint farther in my face. “Come on, Angel. I dare you.” She smirked, her eyebrows wiggling.

  “You know what happened last time someone said that to her.” Nicky’s laughing turned into a grunt when kit planted her foot into his thigh. “Shut the fuck up, idiot.”

  I looked at her in apology.

  “It’s fine. It was forever ago. Just take the damn joint, would you?”

  I extended my fingers like I was ready to grip a needle filled with Hepatitis C. I reluctantly took a drag, my lips on the very rim. I inhaled, nearly sucking back the roach, and coughed up an explosion of smoke, raw against my throat. Katlyn and Nicky doubled up with laughter.

  “Oh, man. You are holding it like a cigarette. Here.” Katlyn adjusted the joint in-between my thumb and forefinger. I had another go. “That’s better,” she said. “I bet this is the worst thing you’ve ever done, huh?”

  I passed Nicky the joint. I felt floaty. Really freakin’ floaty. “Yeah,” I mumbled. I couldn’t speak as loud as I wanted to. My reflexes were too relaxed. I giggled, my whole body lifting with a weightless, alien sensation. I was in a hazy bubble and everything was just great.

  No problems here.

  It was amazing how quickly all the things I’d been worrying over diminished into non-existence. Maybe I should have been getting high all along.

  Two games of beer pong later and I had discarded of my jacket and was immersed in some sort of weird dance, my arms wafting all over the place. Katlyn raised my arm, my hand in hers and we danced together to a Justin Bieber song. I felt Nicky settle in behind me when Katlyn declared that she had to go pee in the trees.

  “I definitely would have,” he said, his lips pressed against my ear. I shivered from his hot breath, and wiggled out of his hands when they cradled my hips. “I’m not surprised Seven has turned into a pussy. He won the lottery when you came along. Sexy little Spanish piece. I never knew O’Hara had it in him. Bet you are a freak in the sheets.”

  I blinked. I was either really stoned, or Jordan was here. I gave my focus more time to come together.

  Yep. Jordan was here, and coming this way.

  “Actually,” I slurred, full of beer, and pushed Nicky out of the way. “I don’t care what you or Julian think. I have someone and he is way better than all of the guys here.” I poked him in the chest, stumbling forward. “Including you.”

  Nicky’s sly smile grew. “Seven know this?”

  “Yep.”

  Nicky advanced on me, his hands sliding over the back of my thighs. I wanted to be more forceful with him, but I was moving and retaliating at the pace of a slug. He looped his finger through the strap of my tank top and let it slap against my skin. “You up for giving me another peak of what’s under there?”

  “Yeah, right.”

  Katlyn ran up behind Nicky and jumped onto his back, reaching round to kiss him. “I’d say it’s time for some skinny-dipping.”

  Nicky grabbed her leg and readjusted her so he was carrying her from the front, her legs wrapped around his torso. “That’s why I love you, babe.”

  I slapped him on the arm, laughing. “You’re funny.”

  And then he no longer mattered, because Jordan was here.

  <>

  Jordan steadied me by my forearm while I struggled to get out of my sweats. “I’m not so sure this is a good idea. She’ll probably drown.”

  “Pish-tosh,” I said. I was tangled at my ankles, and if it wasn’t for his hold on me I’d have been in the lake already.

  “Pish-tosh?” Jordan crouched down, his legs in a wide-V, wearing only a black pair of boxer briefs, and pulled my sweats free, tossing them aside. His eyes slid up my bare legs and lingered on my white panties. They weren’t the nicest in the pack, but they were free of holes and tears. He re-adjusted his junk in front of everyone and then stood up.

  Katlyn was with Nicky a few feet farther along the lakeside, her arms crossed over her bare chest. Jordan kept up a steady stream of glances in her direction, feasting on the display of side-boob. It was enough to release the weight into the pit of my stomach. Jordan hadn’t just brought himself tonight, he had brought all the usual feelings of never feeling good enough with him. No amount of alcohol could cover it up, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t keep trying.

  “This is as far as I go,” I said, circling my hand in front of my tank top and underwear. “I’m redeeming my reputation.”

  “Where the fuck are Kit and Seven?” Nicky said to no one in particular.

  “Doing exactly that. Fucking.” Dan said it serious enough, but my stomach rolled with the reality check. It wasn’t lost on me that they had been gone most of the night. “They were never coming back,” Dan went on.

  My buzz was steadily being killed off. Desperately wishing he would shut up, I took a step forward, threw out both my arms and pushed him into the lake. He came up to the surface quickly, wiping a hand down his face.

  “Aw, fuck no, you didn’t.” He hoisted his body up to the edge and grabbed my ankle. I couldn’t fight it. I dropped like a ton of bricks and he pulled me in, my ass sliding along the grass. I was laughing hysterically, unable to grab a breath. I didn’t get too far under when I was pulled back up, the pressure so tight on my arm it felt like my skin was burning.

  “Easy, tiger.” Dan lifted me out of the lake and dropped me onto the bank with my legs still in the cold water. I swiped at the wet droplets sitting on his cropped hair. He ducked, and then sent a wave of water at me. My teeth were starting to chatter as I kicked out at him.

  Nicky got into the water and Katlyn waded near the edge. Jordan settled onto the ground beside me, the side of his leg touching mine, but there was an unending distance between us. It was strange, I was no longer his
and he was no longer mine, but he felt like mine. And he was here for me after Kit—like Kit always did—persuaded him to come tonight.

  “Here’s Seven now,” said Nicky.

  I turned my head and saw the Range Rover taillights go out. Kit got out the passenger side and then the next thing she was under Julian’s arm, holding onto his fingers over her shoulder.

  “She’s definitely been fucked.” Nicky was nodding his head, a smirk pointed my way.

  Was he saying that to piss me off? Julian could do what he wanted. I’d never put any claim on him. The guy I wanted was here, next to me, metaphorical divide or not. If the people I was with wanted fireworks, they wouldn’t get them off me.

  17: Julian

  SOMEONE WAS SITTING next to Angel, his skin siding up to hers. Rage burned at my temples, but not at them—at Kit.

  “Is he here because of you?”

  I only just felt her shrug. “I ran into him, and asked him along. I knew Angel would want him here.” Her tone was flat, edging away from any wrongdoing.

  “You thought she’d want him here after what happened at Sigma?”

  “Nothing happened. He swears it.”

  “Okay.” I took the defeat. I didn’t want to fucking talk to Kit anymore, and she’d only bring up the bet if I kept on pushing it.

  Nicky jumped out of the lake, his dick dangling everywhere. By the time we got to the lake, the vodka bottle Nicky had brought back with him couldn’t get into my grasp quick enough. I gulped it, aware of Dan creeping between Angels legs from in the water. He smiled, his head getting nearer her underwear. I wasn’t even sure she knew, she looked out of it, too invested in Jordan, and we all knew he wouldn’t speak up.

  Move, Angel!

  “What’s up, Seven? It’s not like we’ve never shared before.”

  “Keep your fucking mouth shut.” I was fired up, my short-fuse now aimed solely at Dan.

  Kit’s fingers splayed across my chest. “Baby, calm down.”

  “I’m calm,” I said, shaking her off. This was her fault. She brought him here. The vodka bottle made it’s his way back to my lips and I took a few deep pulls, before passing it to Nicky.