She giggles while she’s still crying and I keep talking.
All I want is to make her feel better.
“Why won’t he believe me, Pryce? I ...”
She starts sobbing again and I hold her tight to my chest.
She calms down, I make us plates of Chinese food and lead her to the living room.
We sit on the couch and she stares at her plate with this sad little look on her face that makes it hard not to want to hold her and not to feel the urge to kick Reece's ass for making her cry.
So I try to explain.
“Abi, Reece has deeply rooted trust issues.”
“No shit!”
She interrupts me, drying her eyes with the back of her hand.
“Look, I’m not trying to make excuses for him. He was an asshole to you and I’m one hundred per cent sure that Chaz is telling him exactly that right now. But Reece has been betrayed by the people he loved the most.”
“I know, Max ...”
“That didn't help and hurt us all like a bitch. Shit, we’re still hurting about it. And we’ll talk about Max in a second. But Reece felt betrayed by his own parents, Abs. And it's not really my story to tell and I know he’d be mad if he knew that I’m telling you this but fuck his needs right now. He should've been here and listened to you instead of storming out like a little bitch.”
I take her hand and explain everything.
“What do you know about Reece's family?”
“Not much. He said that he's an only child. That his mom died a few years ago and his dad remarried and got elected for congress and now he wants to run for governor. And Reece doesn't get along with him very much, from what I gathered.”
I nod.
“Yes. His mom died four years ago, during our freshman year. Reece adored her. We all did. Susan was an angel, we were always at their house. She’d drive us to practice, bake us cookies, break up our fights. Especially between Reece and Max. Those two are so similar that they've always clashed, despite loving each other like brothers. Then one day, we came home from school, the four of us. We were actually excited because your brother had invited us to one of his legendary parties. Reece called for his mom and when he got no answer, he went to check in her room. Susan suffered with these awful migraines and if that was the case she’d be in bed. But he found her on the floor, she wasn't breathing. I called nine-one-one while Max and Reece began CPR and Chaz tried to get in touch with Reece's dad.”
Abi is listening and squeezes my hand tighter when she realises that Reece was the one who found his own mom dead.
“What was it?”
“Aneurysm. The only good thing is that she didn't suffer, she died instantly. Reece was distraught, we all were. I’ll never forget the day of the funeral. I’d never seen Reece cry before but ...”
Abi intervenes.
“You said that he was betrayed.”
“Yeah. When everybody left the reception, we all decided to stay the night to keep Reece company. We were all in his room, trying to keep him distracted with movies and video games. We got hungry and there was lots of food downstairs, so Reece and I decided to go get something to eat for all of us. That's when we heard his dad argue with Reese’s grandparents.”
Just thinking about the conversation Reece and I heard that day, breaks my heart to this day.
“His dad wanted to ship Reece to boarding school. His grandma, Susan’s mom, was against it, she thought that at a time when he was grieving, Reece needed his family and friends the most. That’s when his dad said that Reece was adopted and it was Susan that really wanted a child. He’d gone along with the adoption only because having a family would help his political career. But he didn't have time for a teenage boy. Both sets of grandparents offered to take Reece in but his dad at that point caved in and said that he would make it work. Which obviously meant leaving his son to fend for himself and only paying attention to him when he needed to parade him around during his campaigns.”
“Oh, my God, Pryce. And Reece never knew that he was adopted?”
I shake my head.
“No. His parents never told him. So he felt that he’d been lied to by the only family he’d ever known. He was angry because he couldn't even talk to his mom about it and the only parent he was left with had made it clear that he saw him as a burden, useful as an asset at best. Since that day, he’s terrified of being lied to and of being used. Then the whole thing with Emily happened and it's obvious that someone set us up.”
“And Max didn't believe you.”
I nod.
“Max and Reece have always been very close but Max is the youngest of four brothers. His dad loves to see his sons compete among each other. And you see how Reece is ...”
Abi understands exactly what I mean.
“Reece is amazing in everything he does.”
“Yeah. So Max has always gotten a kick out of beating Reece. And when Emily decided that she didn't want four boyfriends ...”
“It became a competition.”
“It did. And when things went down that night, Max made it clear that he thought that Reece had convinced us to take advantage of Emily because he couldn't bear to lose a girl to him. There was no reasoning with him. He called the cops and ... you know the rest.”
She looks at me with those huge blue eyes and I know I did the right thing by telling her what I just did.
“Pryce, do you really believe me when I say that I’ve got nothing to do with that post or any of the rumours about us?”
I cup her jaw with my hand, feeling the softness of her skin and I tell her that I do.
“I don't know what to do to make Reece see that I like you guys, I really do. And the last thing I want is to use you or hurt you. I wanted the high school experience but ... I didn't expect all this. The way people talk about things they don't even know.”
“Fuck ‘em, sweets. People will always talk and judge. The only thing that matters to me is what my friends and family think. My real friends, not some phoneys who want to feel important by hanging out with the ‘it crowd’. It just took me too long to understand that.”
“Trouble is that Reece thinks that I’m one of those phoneys.”
I pull her closer to me and promise her that Chaz and I believe her and we’ll get Reece to get it into his thick skull that someone else wants to hurt us and is using Abi to do so.
I love the way Abi feels in my arms and I can't help but voice my only concern.
“There’s only one thing I need to know, sweets. And I need you to be totally honest with me.”
“Ok.”
“Do you like all of us? I couldn't bear it if you chose like Emily did.”
Abi stares into my eyes and asks a question of her own.
“Are you guys ok with me not choosing? Because I don't wanna choose and right now, I couldn't.”
Her words make me so happy that I crush her lips with mine and when she responds to my kiss with the same passion I feel, I realise that I don't wanna kiss anyone else.
So I break the kiss and look into her eyes, trying to find the courage to ask what I want.
She squirms a little under my gaze in that adorable way of hers and asks me:
“What?”
So I say it before my courage fades away.
“Abi, will you be my girlfriend?”
She smiles and runs her small, smooth hand on my cheek.
“I like the sound of that.”
I nod.
“So you’re officially my girlfriend, sweets. We aren't hooking up or hanging out. We’re dating now. And I’ll tell those other two clowns that I asked you. They’ll be so jealous!”
She giggles and then blushes, running her hands down my arms.
“What's on your mind, pretty girl?”
“I was thinking about the other day. How you made me feel.”
I bite on her bottom lip, already excited about where our conversation is going.
“I plan to make you feel that way every
chance I get.”
And I’m not lying, I’ve been thinking about her sweet taste and her smooth skin pretty much constantly.
Especially during ‘private times’.
But Abi surprises me with a timid little smile.
“That's really cool but what about you?”
“What about me?”
I repeat confused.
“I wanna make you feel good too, Pryce.”
And just like that, all the blood migrates from my brain to my cock in a matter of fucking seconds.
It’s not just me being horny like any other eighteen year old boy on the planet, no.
It’s the way she’s looking at me and her next words.
“I need you to show me what you like, Pryce. And I confess that I'm also curious. I’ve never seen a naked man. So I was hoping you’d be the first.”
I’m barely keeping myself together and I'm not too proud to admit that my capability of coherent thoughts had gone out of the window the second she said ‘make you feel good’.
“When?”
I utter hoping to hear the one word she says next.
“Now.”
I rise from the couch and grab Abi, hoisting her on my shoulder fireman style and take her to my room.
13.
Feelings
Abi
THESE THREE BOYS HAVE got a dangerous power over my heart.
And it's been this way since the very first second I laid eyes on them.
It's as if my heart’s split in three and the only way I can feel whole is when they're with me.
This is what I think while I’m laying in Pryce’s arms, with my head on his smooth, muscular chest and his hand playfully skimming up and down my spine.
He showed me how to touch him and I got to take a good look at his boy parts.
I decided that I really like them: there's a certain symmetry to them and I touched the most velvety, smooth skin ever on his tip.
The whole thing was incredibly sexy, especially when I felt him going steel hard in my hand and he came with a soft groan.
Then he touched me in a very similar way to how Reece did earlier and I was so excited that it didn't take long to reduce me to a screaming, shuddering mess.
My thoughts are interrupted by Pryce's phone chiming with an incoming text.
“It’s Chaz. He’s back but Reece is still mad. Mad at you because he thinks that you did it and at us because we sided with you.”
I begin stressing about the situation but my boyfriend manages to calm me down.
“Reece needs time, Abi. If we insisted to keep talking to him right now, we’d only make things worse. Let me and Chaz deal with his stubborn ass. I’ll kick some sense into him as soon as he's ready. I swear.”
I kiss him softly on the lips, grateful for his strength and his quiet support.
A month ago, when the rumours started, Pryce and Chaz were just as mad as Reece and ready to ‘use me’ like they thought I’d tried to use them.
But the fact that they see how much I care about them and that they believe that it couldn't have been me spreading those rumours, makes me hopeful that Reece will see that too.
So this new hope and the warm safety of Pryce’s arms around me, lull me to sleep and I don't wake up until much later when a loud noise startles me awake.
I gasp, disoriented and then a flash of light makes me realise that the noise was thunder.
Heavy rain starts beating against the full length windows in a furious early fall storm.
I’ve always liked stormy weather, especially looking at it from a warm and safe place but my thoughts now go instantly to Chaz and to how he said that when it's humid, his hand starts throbbing with searing pain.
Pryce wakes up after a particularly loud thunder clap and checks that I’m all right.
“I’m fine. But Chaz ...”
He nods.
“Go to him. He told me how you helped him last time.”
In this moment, his concern for his friend makes me love Pryce even more than his sweet, romantic and sexy attitude did earlier.
“Are you sure?”
I don’t want him to feel neglected but he nods and I climb out of bed, put on Pryce's t-shirt and go straight to the bathroom downstairs to get some painkillers for Chaz.
Chaz
I’VE BEEN THINKING of Abi as my angel, since that night when she slept in my arms after massaging my sore hand.
And when I hear a soft knock on my door, and I hope to see her on the other side, I’m not disappointed.
She has the tub of my pills and a glass of water in her hands and she hands me both quietly.
She looks innocent and sexy at the same time with her long blonde hair flowing down her back like a sheet of shiny silk and only Pryce's t-shirt on, leaving her shapely legs exposed.
I take the meds and the water gratefully and after I swallow the pills, she asks me if she can stay.
“Can I sleep by your side, Chaz?”
I smile and nod, moving aside and moving the covers on my bed to let her in.
The storm is raging outside and my hand has started to throb painfully, Abi quietly takes it between her small hands and begins massaging my knuckles and fingers like she did last time.
Her gentle touch soothes the pain and looking at her gorgeous face definitely beats looking down at the bottom of a glass of whiskey.
We don't talk much and she doesn't ask about Reece. Pryce probably told her what I said in my text.
I know how hard it is for my brother to trust anyone and I understand him completely.
I’ve been having the same issues for a long time too, after my parents lied to me and used me like a money making client rather than treating me like their son.
They never made decisions with my best interests at heart but with the amount of money I could bring into their pockets in mind.
This is why when I was sixteen, after the car accident that ended my popstar career, I got emancipated and kicked them out of my house and of my life.
I know they're trying to do the same thing with my little sister, taking her to one audition after the other.
She's only twelve and she has to do what our parents say but I make sure to talk to her every week and I make it clear that if things become too much, she has somewhere to go and someone in her corner.
And I suspect that Abi and I have this in common: we never had a parent or a sibling to turn to in times of need.
Alex was probably too young and trying to fend for himself and for the few things he let slip over the two years we attended BHPA together, his father was absent at best, controlling when things got harder.
“Thank you, angel. My hand feels better.”
I wrap my arms around her and kiss her softly on the lips, noticing how her eyes are beginning to close and her breathing is becoming more relaxed as she falls asleep.
I must fall asleep too and I rest until I dream that I’m in that limo, with the groupies and this time, after they get dropped off and I drain the bottle of Jack I took from backstage, when the car crashes, I see the driver swerve trying to avoid something in the middle of the road and that tree getting closer and closer.
But when my eyes flutter open with a gasp, I’m not in the usual cold sweat panic.
And it's because she's there, sleeping peacefully next to me, making me feel safe and grounded.
Normally, whenever I wake up from that nightmare, which is most nights, I’d get up and take more painkillers and drink more booze to numb the pain and to calm my erratic heartbeat.
This time, I slip quietly out of bed and grab that pad, the one where I wrote those verses the last time Abi slept in my bed.
I write some more words:
Her beautiful soul
Her big loving heart
Not even my flaws
Will keep us apart
She loves like she lives
She doesn’t hold back
Her innocent kiss
I’ll never f
orget.
I put the notepad away and I return to her side.
My last thought before I fall asleep again, is that Abi is light and innocence and my brothers and I need to be careful not to let our darkness taint her.
We didn't do what we were accused of but we all have our own demons: I struggle with addiction.
I’ve been aware of it for a while, since I made it big as a guitarist, I coped with the stress of stardom by indulging in booze and pills.
And when it all ended, I kept doing it to take the edge off, to forget that I was a failure.
And that night, the fateful night of Prom, I was so drunk and high that I passed out.
I remember nothing about it but I know that I didn't touch Emily and I believe my brothers when they say that they didn't either.
Reece and Pryce have been keeping people at arm’s length and they've been using the wild partying and the meaningless hookups as a shield to avoid letting people too close to them.
Reece for fear of being betrayed and Pryce because he gets stressed around people.
His father sees him as a failure waiting to happen.
Nothing is good enough, no trophy, no achievement will ever be acknowledged until he gets drafted for the Dallas Cowboys and beats his dad's records.
We’re all lonely in our own ways and we recognised this darkness in each other early on, that's why we stuck together.
I can sense the same loneliness in Abi but she didn't let it affect her the same way we did.
And as I drift back to sleep, I realise that I’m falling for this sweet, brave girl and that I’ll protect her.
Even if it's from Reece or from myself.
Abi
I SPEND THE WHOLE SATURDAY with Chaz and Pryce: they are sweet and funny and they take me out and about LA to do all the touristy things that I’ve never done.
I was born in LA but since I was six, I’ve never really lived here.
When we get home, Chaz lights his grill and they cook the biggest steaks I’ve ever seen.
We watch movies and cuddle all evening and I’m grateful for their quiet, affectionate company.
Beverly Hills Prep Academy The Complete Boxset : A Light Bully Romance Page 45