He froze and gave me a strange look. “You kidding me, man? I saw someone else doing it earlier.”
“I wasn’t here, earlier. We promised the owner we wouldn’t smoke anything inside. Not even cigarettes.”
He nodded. “No problem. I get it. You want to get high with us? This shit is primo. Earl brought it from Cali.”
“No. It’s not my thing.”
He looked at Rory. “What about you?”
“Nah. I’m good.”
He shrugged. “Your loss.”
Earl introduced himself to Rory. “When are you guys planning on coming out to California to check out the hotel?”
Rory took a swig of beer and answered. “Hopefully soon.”
“You think I can be a guest on your show?” he asked.
So, that’s what this was all about. Earl was looking to get famous.
“For sure,” Rory said, always excited to talk about work. “We’ll record you giving us a tour and showing us where the paranormal activity is occurring. Hopefully, we’ll even catch something live.”
Earl grinned. “Cool. I’d love that. So, you guys going to bring all your ghost hunting equipment and shit?”
“Yeah,” Rory replied.
Earl nodded. “Sounds good. Just hide it from management. They don’t like advertising that it’s haunted. They’re funny about that. Bad publicity.”
“Good to know,” Rory said.
Bored with the conversation, and wanting to find Chloe, I told Rory I’d be back.
“Okay.”
I headed toward the kitchen, where I knew the girls had headed. On my way, I ran into several people wanting to strike up conversations – most of them hammered. By the time I made it into the kitchen, Chloe and Blair were nowhere to be seen. Tony and his boyfriend, Robert, were there, however. From the tense atmosphere in the room, it was fairly obvious that the two were fighting again.
“Hey, have either of you seen Chloe Maverick around?” I asked, praying that they wouldn’t bring me into their drama, like they sometimes did. Tony was my cousin and could sometimes be a real pain in the ass. Most of the time, he was the one in the wrong, and he hated when I sided with Robert, which happened more often than naught. I loved my cousin, but he literally acted like a diva.
Tony nodded toward the door leading outside. “They just walked out the door. I think they might be leaving for the night.”
“Really? Were they leaving because of Terry?”
“Not that I’m aware of.” He smirked. “I believe it had something to do with you being here.”
I sighed. “Really? They said that?”
“Not in so many words,” Robert said.
Tony popped an olive into his mouth. “Okay, spill it,” he said, after chewing. “What’d you do?”
He was a couple of years older then me, so he didn’t know the history I had with Chloe.
“I was a dick in school.” I walked over to the window and looked outside. The back light was on and I didn’t see any sign of the girls.
“High school?” Robert asked.
“Yeah.”
“I would have never thought that about you. You’re one of the nicest guys I know.” Robert smirked at Tony. “Sometimes it’s hard to believe you two are related.”
“Bitch, please.” Tony put his hand on his waist and glared at him. “Don’t even go there. And don’t you dare try sweet-talking my cousin. It’s not going to win brownie points with either of us. Not to mention, I’m the one who determines if you get the couch tonight.”
“I was joking. Chill out.”
“Oh, that was supposed to be funny? I didn’t laugh. Adam didn’t laugh. A joke is meant to be humorous. That definitely didn’t fall into the funny category.”
Robert rolled his eyes and they started bickering back and forth. Needing to bail, I opened the door and slipped outside.
“Hey, where you going?” called Tony.
“I’m getting some fresh air.” I closed the door behind me and headed around to the front of the house. As I rounded the corner, I overheard Chloe and Blair arguing with Terry.
Again.
I was ready to throttle that guy.
“Kiss my ass,” Terry was saying. “You two always were stuck up bitches. No wonder why Adam hated you back in high school. I bet one of you blew him just to get into this party.”
“Fuck you, loser,” Blair snapped angrily.
“How much you charging for a fuck? Let me see if I have a dollar in my wallet to cover it.” He laughed. “You can even keep the change.”
Growling in the back of my throat, I rounded the corner. Terry and Earl were standing on the front porch, smoking their pipe. Blair and Chloe stood on the sidewalk, definitely looking ready to leave.
“You,” I said, motioning toward Terry. “I want you the fuck out of here. Now.”
“Dude, those bitches started it. They were cunts from the moment we walked into the party,” Terry replied angrily.
“If asking you to keep your hands off of my ass is being a cunt, then fine. I’d rather be a cunt then a fucking pig,” Chloe snapped back.
“Don’t worry, baby. You’re both,” Terry replied.
Seconds from losing my shit, I walked up onto the porch, my fists itching to connect with Terry’s face. “I told you to leave. I’m not telling you again.”
He glared at me and was about to say something, when Earl grabbed his shoulder.
“Settle done, Cuz,” Earl warned.
Terry’s eye twitched. “Fine.” He put out his pipe and shoved it into his pocket. “This party is fucking lame anyway.” He looked at Earl. “I told you we should have went to the bar instead.”
Earl sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. He then looked at me. “Sorry. Terry’s had a long day and not thinking straight. We’ll get out of your hair.”
Terry’s face turned red. “The fuck if I’m not thinking straight. Those bitches-”
Earl cut him off. “Enough,” he growled. “Let’s go.” He put his arm around his cousin’s shoulders and steered him down the steps toward a truck parked on the opposite side of the street.
Relieved, I stepped back down off of the porch and approached the girls. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that. I had no idea one of them had grabbed you. I would have kicked them out a lot earlier.”
Chloe lowered her eyes and looked away. “It’s fine.”
“I hate that guy. He always was a no-good, troublemaking asshole,” Blair said. She finished the rest of her drink and tossed the ice onto the grass.
“Can I make you another drink?” I asked, hoping they’d come back inside.
“We’re leaving,” Chloe answered before Blair could reply.
Damn.
I tried again. “But, you just got here. Just stay for one more.”
9
Chloe
I almost gave in but then I remembered that it was Adam Knight asking. I still didn’t fully trust him. Not to mention, I know had a headache because of Terry and his cousin.
Blair looked at me. “Just one more?”
“You can stay if you want but my head hurts,” I told her, just as Rory walked out of the house.
“I drove. Of course I’m leaving with you,” she replied, also noticing him.
I could see it in her eyes, how disappointed she was about leaving, and I felt guilty.
“Oh, damn. You two are leaving already?” Rory said, walking down the steps. “I was hoping we could talk about the trip and stuff.”
“Chloe, I could give you a ride home,” Adam offered. “If Blair wants to stick around.”
That was the last thing I wanted. Fortunately, Blair knew it too and declined.
“Thanks, anyway,” I said.
“Maybe we should get together in the next couple of days to plan out the trip?” Rory suggested.
Blair’s face lit up. “Yeah. Great idea. We should definitely do that.”
He smiled. “How about we meet at Herschel’s Di
ner? Tomorrow night?”
Blair looked at me.
I nodded. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea but we did need to get together with them to make plans.
Adam smiled. “Great. Meet you at six?”
“Sounds good.” Blair looped her arm through mine and we started walking toward her car. “Have fun tonight you, two. Just not too much fun so you don’t show tomorrow,” she called out.
“Don’t worry. We’ll be there. Drive safely,” Rory replied.
“Will do,” she replied.
When we got into the car, Blair looked at me and smiled. “I think Adam’s got a thing for you now.”
I snorted. “Please.”
“No. I’m serious. I saw the way he was staring at you. I bet he really does regret being an ass in school.”
“Maybe. I mean, he should.”
I stared out the side window as we drove away, frustrated at the twinge of pleasure in my stomach from her statement. I blamed it on the cocktail and made myself a promise that I wouldn’t drink alcohol around Adam. Especially, on the trip. The last thing I needed was to make bad decisions around him. No matter how cute or nice he was now, nothing could make up for the shit he’d done in high school.
Blair and I ended up watching a couple episodes of Black Mirror at her place, before falling asleep. Unfortunately, I dreamed about Adam. We were back in high school, only this time we were actually together. As a couple. It started out pretty good, actually. Then, I caught him cheating on me. He laughed cruelly when I confronted him. Then began insulting me, once again showing his true colors. Needless to say, when I woke up the next morning, I was angry. Which, I knew was silly, considering he hadn’t done anything in real life. But, it was obvious that my subconscious was warning me about him. Something I couldn’t ignore.
“What’s wrong?” Blair asked, noticing that I was unusually quiet on the way home to my grandmother’s place.
“Just thinking about last night.” I wasn’t about to tell her about my dream. She’d just laugh and remind me what I already knew – it was only a dream.
Her eyebrows knitted together. “You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”
“About the trip? No. As long as we don’t have to hang out with the guys too much, I’ll be fine.”
“We won’t.”
“I’m actually not thrilled about meeting up with them at Herschel’s, either. Maybe we should cancel and just do everything over the phone.”
“What? No…” she whined. “Getting together is good. You two need to move past what happened in high school. I mean, isn’t it obvious that he’s changed? He even stood up for us last night with those douchebags.”
I grudgingly agreed.
“Can’t you just forgive him and move on?”
“Yeah. That doesn’t mean I have to spend time with the guy, though,” I muttered.
“I know… but,” she sighed, “let’s just try to make the best of it.”
“Fine. For you, I will.”
She smiled. “I swear, if he starts acting like his old self, he’ll have to deal with me. Okay?”
I nodded.
She pulled up to the house. “I’ll pick you up around five-thirty.”
“Okay.”
“Do you need help with the prizes?”
“Oh, crap. That’s right.”
“I’ll carry the instant pot.”
“Thanks.”
We brought everything into the house. Grandma was at work, but I found Mackenzie in the kitchen baking cookies.
“What’s that?” she asked, as Blair set the large box down on the counter.
I told her.
“Wow, cool. You won that?”
“Along with this,” Blair held up the Kindle. She smirked. “But, that’s not the biggest surprise.”
“What do you mean?”
I told Mackenzie about the trip.
Her eyes widened. “Oh my God, that is so lit! You must be excited.”
I smiled wryly. “Kind of.”
She gave me a funny look. “You’re not thrilled? Is there a catch or something?”
Blair and I looked at each other and laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“You tell her. I have to get going. I need to get my nails done,” Blair said, looking at her fingertips.
“Okay.”
“What are you wearing tonight?” she asked.
I snorted. “Nothing fancy. Why, are you planning on dressing up for Rory Pooh?”
Blair looked embarrassed. “No. I was just thinking that I should probably do some laundry, too. Anyway, T-T-Y-L.”
“Yeah.”
Once Blair was gone, Mackenzie started grilling me about the trip. I told her why I wasn’t excited about going.
She snorted. “Ah. Now that doesn’t surprise me. Is he related to Batty Mattie?”
“No.” I leaned against the counter and let out sigh of frustration. “Blair thinks I should just forgive and forget. I seriously don’t know if I can do that.”
The oven timer went off. “Then don’t. Just, ignore him and enjoy the trip. You don’t owe the guy anything.”
She was right. He wasn’t even paying for the weekend. Ransom was. I told her about him singing at the fundraiser.
Her jaw dropped. “Damn. I wish I wouldn’t have had to work. That must have been so cool.”
“It was.”
“I bet everyone just went crazy when he took the stage.”
“Pretty much.” I yawned. “I’m going upstairs to take a shower.”
“Okay.”
“Who are the cookies for?”
“Anyone. I was craving chocolate and all we had were the chips.” She pulled out two trays of cookies. “It was either eat half the bag or make something with them. I decided on cookies, so I could nibble on some of the dough too.”
“Good choice.”
She smiled grimly. “Not really. Now I have a stomach ache and the cookies don’t even sound good.”
I laughed and headed out of the kitchen. “They sound good to me. I’ll be down after my shower.”
I heard her mention that Chase was stopping by.
“Make sure he doesn’t eat all of those cookies,” I called out.
“I’ll try!”
10
Adam
I ended up staying up late, drinking more than I should have, and listening to Tony rant about Robert after he left. They’d gotten into another heated argument over something trivial. It was getting so old.
Dragging myself out of bed, I headed to the bathroom for some Tylenol to take the edge off. When I flipped on the light switch, I found Rory passed out in the tub.
“Dude, what are you doing?”
Groaning, he blinked against the bright light and sat up. I noticed that he had filled the tub with pillows, to try and make it more comfortable. From the pain etched across his face, it hadn’t helped.
“I let this chick take my bed last night. She was too drunk to drive,” he replied.
“That was noble of you. You knock off a piece?”
He yawned. “Nope.”
I raised my eyebrow.
“Dude, she was fucking hammered. Plus, she’s not my type. Anyway, I’m kind of hoping Blair and I might hook-up.”
I snorted. “Good luck with that.”
He gave me a cocky grin. “I don’t need it. She already wants me. That’s why they’re agreeing to go to California.”
“Oh, that’s why, huh? It had nothing to do with a free trip. Right.” I looked closer at his face and saw the bags under his eyes. “You look rough. Why didn’t you crash on the sofa?”
He rubbed his eye. “I tried. The chick was snoring so loud, I could hear it in the living room. Thus, the bathroom. She sounded just like Gil.”
Gil was his uncle. He’d stayed overnight once, keeping us all up because of his thunderous snores. It had been both irritating and comical.
“Your back must be killing you,” I replied as he sl
owly stood up.
“Yeah. You could say that.” He winced and swore as he stepped out of the tub.
“Welcome to my world. Why didn’t you blow up the airbed?”
His eyebrows shot up. “We have one?”
“Yeah. A brand new one in a box. It’s never even been used.”
“Figures.” He unzipped his jeans and started taking a piss.
I left the bathroom and headed to the kitchen, where I found Tony pacing and on the phone. He had on one of his sparkly pink robes and fluffy slippers. When he noticed me, he put his hand. “I’m on hold with the police.”
I stared at him in shock. “What? Why?”
“Someone spray-painted obscene words and drawings all over the garage.”
I frowned. “You’re kidding? What’d they write?”
“A bunch of shit. Go look.”
I slipped my shoes on and walked out of the house. When I got to the garage, my blood began to boil. Someone had spray-painted the words “faggots” and “cunts” on the door. There were also drawings of naked stick figures engaging in various sexual acts.
“Very fucking mature,” I muttered turning to look toward the street. We lived in an area of old houses that were mostly rented out by college kids. This was the first time we’d had shit like this happen, however.
I blamed Terry.
He was a racist homophobic asshole and had been pissed when he left last night. He also had a habit of calling women “cunts”.
Rory met me outside and swore when he saw the garage door. “What the fuck, man?”
“I know.”
“Someone at the party do this?”
“I think so. In fact, I’m betting it was Terry.”
“But, Earl wants to be on the web show. I doubt he’d let him pull this shit.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
Rory ran a hand threw his hair. “I wonder if anyone saw anything.”
“Hopefully, the police will find fingerprints on something.” I looked around the driveway and the lawn, to see if there was anything the culprits had left behind. From what I could tell, there wasn’t anything related to the vandalism. I did see a couple of plastic red cups left on the grass, near the front door. I walked over and picked them up.
The Prize: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance (Diamond Lake Romance Book 3) Page 5