Colton shakes his head, more amused by the streaks of mascara making their way down her cheeks and making her look like some kind of drowned rat. “It’s fine,” he laughs. “Enrique will be in tomorrow. He can deal with it then.”
She lets out a sigh of relief before striding over to the sunbed that Charlie is currently laying back on. She reaches down, dripping water all over him, and in one quick pull, tears her pool towel out from under him.
“Woah,” he laughs, throwing himself to his feet and having to adjust everything. “A simple please would have been nice.”
Jess scoffs as the rest of us watch the show. She drops back down on her sunbed, quickly and effectively stealing her spot back. “I’m done using manners with you boys. What does it get us? We all get screwed over in the end.”
Milo cringes and I search out his eyes, knowing damn well that was a stab at him, but he shrugs it off, intent to enjoy the sunny afternoon.
Harrison comes out with more drinks and as Drix and I compete over who can throw it back faster, Charlie fiddles around with his phone and connects his playlist to the sound system. Before we know it, music is pumping through the massive property and we’re all vibing and having a good time.
Charlie walks over to the opposite side of the pool and drags back a few more sunbeds so we’re not all squished on the same ones and as he turns back to face us, I get a proper glimpse at his shirt, but more importantly the letters across his chest.
DYWMTCOAEYPTYCOMF
A grin tears across my face as he catches my eyes, realizing that I know exactly what it means. A booming laugh tears out of him as everyone else just watches us with confused stares.
“What did I miss?” Hendrix questions, looking over Charlie through narrowed eyes. “Is it his shirt? What does it mean?”
I shake my head. “If you don’t know, you’re too innocent.”
“Bullshit,” she says as Colton chuckles to himself behind me, clearly having figured it out. “You know I’m not innocent. Tell me, fuckers.”
Casey laughs beside me, her eyes going wide as she puts her cocktail down, terrified of spilling it all over herself as she laughs hysterically. “Oh shit, I just got it.”
“What?” Colton snaps. “The fuck do you mean you just got it? You’re sixteen. You’re a fucking baby.”
“Fucker, I’m seventeen,” she says. “But don’t stress yourself out worrying about me. The whole innocent ship sailed a loooong time ago.”
His eyes bug out of his head as his hands tighten on my shoulders. “What? How long ago? With who?”
Casey cringes and glances around the small ground. “I mean, a while,” she says with a guilty laugh. “It was with that friend of yours, Jude, before we left. Where is he anyway? All you guys used to be glued to the hip.”
“Tell me you’re lying,” Colton begs as we all stare at her in shock. “You were hardly fourteen when you left.”
“Yeah,” she says with an embarrassed smirk. “What can I say? I wanted to get it over and done with and he was always creeping around. Besides, you were a jerk back then so I figured two birds, one stone.”
“I …. I … fuck, Casey. I don’t even know what to say to you right now.”
She places a hand to her heart. “I always thought you’d be proud. I grew up just like my big brother,” she teases. “It’s not a big deal. I know I’m not supposed to throw my twin under the bus like this but it’s nothing compared to her. Don’t get me wrong, I love her and all but that girl is a bit of a whore if you ask me. I think she’s screwed half of the East coast by now. She’s made way too many bad decisions.”
Colton shakes his head in disbelief. “You, me, and Cora are going to have a little chat this weekend. I don’t care if I have to get chains to keep both of your legs closed. You’re not fucking up your lives by getting pregnant this young.”
She gives him a blank stare. “Who are you and what have you done with my brother?”
“I’m serious, Casey. Your days of whoring around are over, especially with guys like Jude. Hold out until you find a guy you love.”
Casey leans back in her sunbed and crosses her arms over her chest, dropping her curious gaze to me. “Is that what you did? Waited until you found someone you were in love with?”
My whole world stops.
She didn’t just say that.
I freeze just as Colton goes still behind me. “I, umm … uhh, I …”
“What’s wrong?” She laughs as Spencer and Charlie watch on with shit-eating grins. “Oh, I see. You haven’t told her that yet. My bad.”
“Okaaaaay,” I say awkwardly, getting up and grabbing another cocktail while looking anywhere but at Colton. We’re not ready for that. Not even in the slightest. We might feel it, but there’s no way those words are ready to be spoken out loud. Just … no. “I think it’s time for another drink.”
“Good idea,” Colton grumbles, walking over and snatching a beer off the table before striding back and dropping down onto my sunbed. I keep my distance, the unspoken emotions between us too strong to deal with.
Colton zones me out and focuses very intently on Charlie while ignoring his sister as though she’s not even there. I butt into Spencer and Hendrix’s conversation, but truth be told, I haven’t heard a single word that’s been said.
I lean on the back of Drix’s sunbed—just as Colton had done to mine earlier—and I find myself staring at him, watching his movements, and the way his eyes light up when he laughs with his friends. I take note of the small things, like how he unknowingly scratches his nail over the label on his beer bottle, and how every few minutes, he looks back to make sure I’m still here and doing alright.
He really does love me. At least, I think he does. It feels too real for him not to.
“Hey,” Drix says, snapping in my face. “Earth to Ocean. Where the hell are you? I’ve been having a full conversation with you and you haven’t heard a word I’ve been saying.”
My gaze sweeps down to her and I laugh. “Sorry, I’m a little distracted.”
“Yeah, no shit,” she grumbles. “You could be watching that guy take a shit and you’d still be mesmerized.”
My face scrunches in disgust. “Please don’t put that image in my head. We’re too new. We couldn’t withstand that.”
“Bullshit,” Spencer says. “You two could withstand anything.”
I meet his eyes and I see his deep honesty and while a statement like that generally wouldn’t mean too much, for me and Colton, it means the world, especially considering the kind of shit we’ve already fought our way through. I mean, if he’s willing to still remain by my side after watching me nearly murder a man, then I’d dare say that we’re in it for the long haul.
“Anyway,” Drix cuts in. “What I was saying was that I think we should set our parents up on a blind date. You know, maybe not even a date, just a ‘chance’ encounter.”
I look out at the pool and really think about it. “You know, I don’t think that’s such a bad idea. She’s still really hurting over Dad, but that might just be the little spark she needs to get back out there. They’d totally be cute together.”
“Who’s getting together?” Charlie questions from the other side of our group, raising his chin and making a point of being far too nosey for his own good.
I grin back at him while he eyes Drix beside me. “You and Drix,” I tell him, watching as his brows shoot straight up.
Drix sucks in a strangled gasp beside me but it cuts off as Charlie focuses his heavy stare on her. His eyes drop over her body, hungrily taking it in and making a point of liking what he sees. His voice lowers, deeper than I’ve ever heard it before. “I’m down if you are.”
Drix squirms beside me and clenches her thighs while roaming her eyes over every inch of his skin, just as he had done to her. She shrugs a shoulder, acting impartial while every ounce of her body is screaming with desperation. “Yeah, I guess I’m down.”
Charlie grins and leans back onto his
hands, watching her like she’s his last meal that’s going to be savored with every last bite being thoroughly enjoyed. Her cheeks flush and she lifts her cocktail to her lips, needing something to keep herself busy so that she doesn’t bound across the pool and throw herself at him.
Charlie laughs but their moment is cut short by Jess attempting to climb onto Milo’s lap. “Please, baby. Just give me one more chance. I promise I won't try and push a relationship. We can just keep hanging out like we’ve been doing. Maybe the feelings will grow with time or … I don’t know. Did I do something wrong? Just help me understand. I don’t want to lose you.”
Panic slices across Milo’s face as he attempts to push her off him but she’s had too much to drink and has clearly lost all sense of what’s socially acceptable. She keeps trying, refusing to be pushed away.
Milo’s panicked gaze flashes to me with a universal sign for help and I rise to my feet, taking a step towards them and placing myself right beside Colton. “Jess, come on. Maybe now isn’t the time. Why don’t you guys meet up tomorrow in private and you can talk there without an audience?”
“No,” she snaps. “I’m sick of not having any answers. I need to know what I did to fuck up because it’s driving me insane. One minute we’re good and the next thing I know, he’s pulling away. I just need … I don’t even know what I need but I know I need it.”
Colton raises his hand to my waist and I find myself clutching onto it as Milo meets my eyes. My heart breaks for him seeing the uneasiness building within him. He's lost and doesn’t know how to play this and then all of a sudden, defeat claims him.
“Jess, get off me,” he says, giving her a slightly harder shove than necessary and flying to his feet. He stares down at her in a panic and the words come rushing out of him before he gets the chance to stop himself. “I’m gay. I don’t fucking like you. I like dudes. I always have. You and I were just some twisted experiment.”
Oh, fuck.
Shocked gasps sound around the group as Jess stares up at him with wide eyes and then as if realizing what the fuck he just said, his eyes go wide with fear and I see the exact second he decides to run.
“Milo stop,” I demand, throwing myself in front of him. I reach out and grab hold of him, refusing to let him run. He's been hiding in the closet for too long. It's finally time that he embraces who he is. “Don’t run from this. Stand up and face it. There’s nothing for you to be scared of—not in front of these guys. They’ll have your back just like I do.”
His eyes flash over my head to the group sitting behind me and he instantly starts shaking his head. “I can’t,” he says. “If word got out …”
“It won’t,” I promise him. “You know these guys. They’re the good kind.”
“I …” he lets out a heavy sigh and squeezes my hand. “You really think so?”
“Well, you’ve kinda already said it so there’s really no going back now. Just own what you said and be your true self, and then maybe you can take Jess aside and apologize for that bullshit because if you don’t, you and I are going to have words, that was mean.”
His hands begin to shake as the nerves spread throughout him. “Okay,” he finally says. “You’re right. I can’t keep this bottled up anymore.” He pulls me aside and I turn to face the group, keeping myself right beside him and not allowing him the chance to back down. He's strong enough. He can do this.
The look on his face is terrifying. The self-doubt and fear of the unknown shining so fucking bright it nearly cripples me, but he raises his chin and takes a hesitant step towards them.
Milo glances around our small group, watching the way they all sit up straighter in dead silence waiting to hear what he’s about to say, all except Jess who looks nothing short of broken. “So, I, uhh … didn’t mean to just blurt it out like that but, yeah …” He looks back to Jess with his heart on his sleeve. “I’m really sorry Jess. I think you’re one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever had the pleasure of getting to know, but I’m gay. I’ve always been gay, and that night at the party, I was trying to cover it up. People had been whispering about me for weeks, assuming they knew but didn’t have the proof, and when you kissed me …”
“You used me.”
Milo’s gaze drops to the ground. “Yeah, I did,” he whispers, “and I’m so fucking ashamed about that, but then things kept happening between us and for a short minute, I thought maybe I was bi because, girl, damn … you knew what you were doing. You’re a fucking rocket in the sack and that tongue. Fuck, baby. You’re a man’s dream come true.”
“Just not yours.”
Milo shakes his head as Colton’s questioning gaze meets my eyes, realizing that I knew this all along and didn’t say a word.
Jess lets out a heavy sigh as her eyes begin to fill with tears. Drix scurries over and squishes herself beside Jess, holding her tight, just as a best friend should. She looks up at Milo with a fierce stare. “That’s really low of you, Milo. I get that you weren’t ready to come out and tell people yet. This world isn’t exactly accepting of gay people, but using her like that … it’s fucking wrong.”
“I know,” he says, “Which is exactly why I cut things off with her. She doesn’t deserve that and I could see that she was starting to have real feelings for me. I couldn’t morally let it go on. I’ve been so far locked in the closet that the thought of coming out has made me physically sick, and believe me when I say that in this world, it’s safer to pretend to be straight than to be who I really am.”
Jess looks down at her lap. “It’s fine,” she whispers. “I should have known. No straight man has the right to be that manscaped. You’re practically a work of art down there.”
“Hey,” Charlie snaps, throwing himself to his feet. “There’s nothing wrong with a bit of manscaping. I’ll have you know that my junk looks like a fucking treat.”
Drix raises her chin. “Prove it.”
Charlie’s brow arches as his hands fall to the front of his shorts and within the blink of an eye, his dick is out and gently waving around, showing off every inch of manscaped skin.
“Fuck me,” Colton groans, standing up and looking anywhere but at Charlie’s dick. He walks over to Milo and pulls him in for a tight hug. He claps him on the back and a warm smile spreads across my face. “You’re all good, man. Your secret is safe with me. That couldn’t have been easy.”
Milo pulls back and gives him a grateful nod. “Thanks.”
“I got to say, I feel a shitload better about the bullshit with you dating my girl before I got to her now. It finally makes sense why you didn’t put up a fight when I stole her away.”
Milo laughs. “Yeah, I wasn’t about to stand between that shit. I have a feeling you would have taken me out if I kept her from you.”
Colton’s eyes flash down to mine and sparkle with mirth. “You’re damn right.”
Spencer moves in next and gives Milo a hug and within seconds, everyone is surrounding him—even Jess—and promising that not a word will be said until he’s ready to share it with the rest of the world.
Chapter 18
I roll Colton’s sweatpants over at my hips, keeping them in place so they quit falling down to my ankles. I have no idea what happened to mine after our fuck-fest last weekend, but they’re gone. Like, gone gone, not just hiding in the laundry somewhere, but freaking gone. I was too preoccupied with the mind-blowing dick I was getting to realize that when he tore them off me, they must have been thrown or shredded or … I don’t fucking know. Either way, I need a new pair because Colton’s just won’t do. My hips are far too small to pull this off for much longer.
I lean over the counter as the party rages around me. I don’t know how our little poolside chill session turned into a huge party but somehow it did and I wouldn't have it any other way.
After Milo finally came out of his closet—well, halfway out—the mood accelerated and everyone was ready to party. Though that could have had a little something to do with the cocktails w
e were sucking down way too fast for our own good.
Charlie made one call and nearly the whole senior class from Bellevue Springs Academy was here and when Drix did the same, the sausage fest suddenly had an equal share of buns to go around.
Charlie and Drix haven’t stopped flirting with each other since I put the idea in their heads and now that I see it, I like it. The two of them would be perfect together. Charlie needs a strong girl like Drix to even out his bullshit. Hell, he just needs someone who could put up with him, and Drix is perfect for that. Not to mention, they’re both sexy as fuck. They’re a perfect match.
There’s nothing better than sitting back and watching two people come together and now that the idea is in my head, I’m intent on making it work between them. Charlie and Drix together would be like a sonic boom. Fucking perfect.
I lean over the kitchen counter, watching the party around us. When all the girls from BSP showed up, Cora came wandering out of her bedroom as though the party was her idea in the first place and after rolling my eyes for the hundredth time, I gave up caring. Casey can deal with her, she’s not my problem.
I pick at the grapes on the counter, watching Milo as he dances across the party. I've never seen him so energetic before and that’s saying a lot when it comes to Milo. He’s always the life of the party but now, it’s like Milo on crack. A massive weight has fallen off his shoulders and while he’s still keeping his secret from the rest of the world, around our friends, he can finally be himself and nothing will ever make me so fucking happy.
The lights are dimmed and the vibe in the room is enough to have me forgetting all the shit going on in my life. Nic who? Widows who? Except for Sebastian, of course. He somehow managed to weasel his way back in. Even though I’ll always question if I can trust anything he says to me, I’m glad to have him back in my life where he belongs.
My hips sway against the counter as I get lost in the music. Two warm hands claim my waist and their familiarity has me pressing my ass back and rubbing against the front of Colton’s pants. I feel his cock hardening against my ass as his fingers tighten on my waist.
Barbie B*tch: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Rejects Paradise Book 3) Page 17