by SM Olivier
“Someone’s not looking for attention,” Golden muttered sarcastically as he stepped closer to us.
“So, Peyton, who are you screwing?” Nan asked as she noticed us standing by the adjacent light post. Leah was furiously eyeing Zane’s arm around my shoulder, but she let out a laugh when her friend goaded me.
“Ignore them,” Paxton bade me.
I imperceptibly nodded. They really weren’t worth my time. Grandpa had already laid out his intentions to Leah, and we all knew he didn’t make idle threats.
“Hey, we’re talking to you, slut,” Flossie said, slurring her words.
A few more people had joined us, people I didn’t recognize. I saw that they were wearing college T-shirts and sweatshirts. They seemed to be avidly watching for my response.
“Has Freddy texted me back?” I asked Golden since he held my phone for me. I didn’t have any pockets, and he’d volunteered to carry it for me.
Golden reached into this pocket. “He says he’s already here,” he said with a smile.
“Oh good,” I said with a smile in return. “We should go hunt him down.”
“We’re talking to you,” Leah hissed, obviously irritated that we were ignoring them.
“I think Ky expects us at the house by eight tomorrow,” I told the guys, continuing to ignore them.
The college kids laughed, obviously realizing we weren’t entertaining them, although a few of the guys had left their group and started walking towards the girls.
“Is Grandpa Delaney bringing breakfast then, or will he be down later?” Paxton asked as he pushed a strand of hair off my face.
“He asked me to call him and let him know when we got there, but knowing him, he’ll beat us there,” I said.
My grandpa was old school and still didn’t believe in cell phones. We had to call him directly at the house every time we wanted to talk to him.
“I hope he’s bringing more of those croissant sandwiches he brought last weekend,” Golden said with a small smile.
“Well, we all know how much her mommy liked being on her back, so it’s no surprise that’s her favorite place to be.” Nan took a few steps forward, ignoring the guys that had started talking to them.
“I think he said something about breakfast sandwiches, pastries, and coffee from the coffee shop in town,” I answered Golden.
“Sounds good to me.” Paxton rubbed his belly. “I’m hungry now.”
Honestly, I was too, but Paxton ate like he had a tapeworm living in him. He was constantly eating. It was incredible how skinny he was, considering how much he ate. Only Crew rivaled him with eating, but then again, he had five inches on Paxton and about fifty pounds.
“Knowing Heather, she’ll have food up there,” Zane reassured him with a smile.
“I hope she has some pizza. It’s been a while since I had pizza. Peyton’s been spoiling us with so much amazing home-cooked meals lately.” Paxton smiled down at me before kissing my forehead. “We haven’t had to order out in such a long time,”
“Seriously, how can you allow one guy to hold your hand, while another one just had their arms around you, and then he just kissed you?” Flossie asked in a disgusted tone.
“Did you guys hear anything?” I asked as I looked at the guys. They smirked at me but shook their heads. Then I looked at the college students behind me. “You?”
A handsome blond haired, blue eyed guy met my eyes as he let out a burst of laughter. “Just the wind,” he encouraged me with a wink. His friends laughed at his response.
“Just as I thought.” I shrugged as I gave him a grateful smile. “I sure hope that the bus gets here soon.”
“Me too,” he responded back as he held out his hand. “Brennan.”
I briefly shook it. “Peyton, nice to meet’cha.”
I felt a slight squeeze of my other hand, and I noticed the scowl on Crew’s face. I gave him a reassuring smile. I was just being friendly, and he had nothing to worry about. I saw the brief interest in Brennan’s eyes, but he seemed harmless.
“Your audacity knows no bounds,” Leah hissed. “Don’t you have enough men climbing in between your legs?”
“What could you have done to cause such jealousy?” Brennan asked me. “Are they not given enough attention? Is that why they feel the need to tear you down, while they wear clothing screaming of desperation and insecurity?”
I laughed at the sentiments I was just thinking. If he truly knew them, he would realize how very right he was. There had to be a reason why Leah, Nan, and Flossie continued to tear other girls down, and not just me, while they flaunted as much of their skin as often as possible.
“It’s obvious she stole one of their boyfriends.” A gorgeous blonde stepped up behind Brennan. She gave me a broad, friendly smile. “Maybe not a current boyfriend, an ex…these boys look too smart to lay in the viper's nest for too long.”
Golden guffawed while Paxton started hooting with exaggerated laughter.
“I would say it changes when you get to college.” The blonde girl grimaced at me. “Unfortunately, the petty jealously follows some of those girls. Hi, my name is Brenda, Brennan’s twin.”
I smiled and took her preferred hand. “Nice to meet you, too.”
“No one is jealous of that whore,” Leah screeched.
“Open your mouth one more time,” Crew finally growled as he took a menacing step forward.
Well, I guess our game of pretending they’re not there was over. I had only seen Crew this angry one other time. He was formidable and scary when he got that look in his eyes.
“What’cha gonna do, Crew?” Leah smiled smugly. “You gonna hit a girl?”
I’d had enough. To even imply Crew would hit a girl was preposterous and misleading. I saw how some of the college guys stepped closer to the girls, despite the fact Crew was taller and larger than them. I commended their protective instincts, but it wasn’t needed and only fattened the false narrative most of this town fed on when it came to the Fairchild boys.
“Dear sister,” I smiled sweetly. “You better control yourself and your lap dogs, or I will let Grandpa know you haven’t taken his warning to heart. You know for a fact Crew would never hit a female. Unlike the guys you like to associate with. Did you ever pay your friend for tackling me like you asked him to? I heard a blow job was in the payment arrangement, too. Did you make good on that as well, or were you too busy blowing our cousin in the men’s locker room?”
I heard the shocked gasps, the sounds of disgust, and stunned laughter around me and knew I had made my point. Especially after I saw Leah’s hand ball up in a fist. She was practically snarling at me.
“I thought Gary was like your second or third cousin, isn’t that like legal?” Flossie frowned in confusion. Flossie was probably the densest one in their little girl group. Honestly, I believed she had one too many bleach treatments, and the fumes had killed off some much-needed brain cells.
“Shut up,” Leah hissed at her, and Flossie immediately pouted like a beaten puppy.
“Who are you calling a lap dog?” Nan hissed as she took a step forward. Clearly, she was trying to divert the attention from her…Queen.
“Come now, Kasey with a K,” Golden said drolly. “We all know that you can’t do or say anything without Leah telling you to.”
“Oh yeah?” Nan continued to move forward. “Did she tell me to do this?” she reared her hand back.
I quickly intercepted it before it could connect with Golden’s face. I twisted her wrist back at an awkward angle. She yelped in pain. I smiled at her coldly as she started to beg me to let her go. I looked up and noticed some of the college guys had stepped forward to block Leah and Flossie from interfering.
“Tell Golden you’re sorry for trying to hit him,” I said through clenched teeth.
“I’m sorry,” she said as tears rolled down her face. Huh, she caved a lot faster than I thought she would. I thought for sure she would’ve fought it for at least a little while.
“If I ever see you try to attack one of my guys again, I’ll break this hand,” I bit out at her before I pushed her down on the ground. “That goes for all of you.” I pointed a threatening finger towards Flossie and Leah.
Everyone stood there in stunned silence. I didn’t think anyone had expected me to act so quickly and violently. I didn’t mind taking their verbal abuse, but there was no way I was going to allow them to attack any of the guys.
Brenda let out a peal of laughter. “You go, girl.”
I gave her a crooked smile. My blood still boiling.
“Damn, lady,” Golden drawled in my ear. “That was seriously sexy. I have a boner from just watching you take care of business.
I let out a surprised laugh and looked at him from under my lashes. “Behave GAG.” I smirked.
“If I don’t, will you spank me?” He had a dark, lust-filled look in his eyes.
All the tension from moments earlier was quickly forgotten as I stared into his golden gaze. I bit my lip, intrigued by the new side he was letting me see. “Hmm, maybe.” I smiled coyly at him.
He rolled his bottom lip across his teeth, and I swore my belly lit with a fire I felt all the way to my core.
“Bus is here!” Paxton called cheerfully, giving me and Golden a scrutinizing look, breaking our silent staring contest.
●
I was questioning my decision to come here less than an hour later. Especially once I realized how huge the party was. There were people all over, both inside and overflowing outside. Music blared from the back patio. People in various stages of undress were in the natural-looking heated pool and hot tub.
On the expansive lawn, unique drinking games were in progress. There was a take a shot, slip and slide game of kickball going on. Two other inflatable slip and slides were set up, side-by-side. It looked like teams of four were doing a relay race involving drinking the liquid in the cup, flipping it over, and then running to the slide. Then they’d dive across to the other side, where they took another drink, flipped the cup, and yelled for their next teammate. Also going on were the usual beer pong tournaments; that and so much more.
The football team saw Crew and Zane and immediately asked them to go play pool with them. The two had been reluctant to leave my side, but I insisted they go hang out with the team for a while. I felt it was vital that they bonded with their teammates.
I knew they used to sit with them at lunch from time to time and hang out with them before they met me, but that hadn’t happened since school started. I didn’t want people to think I was keeping them from their friends, or should I say, teammates. It was important that the team realized the guys hadn’t abandoned them, especially if they were going to continue winning games. They needed that bonding time to build trust.
Golden had left me with Paxton, promising to return with pizza and drinks. We watched as he weaved through the crowd, then Paxton and I wandered over to the outdoor party games. Within seconds, no less than four girls were trying to get Paxton’s attention. They barely seemed to care that Paxton had an arm around my shoulders, and they immediately started to flirt with him. He told them several times he was taken, but they ignored him.
He gave me an apologetic look. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.
I reached up to cradle his face. “It’s okay,” I murmured back to him.
“Pax, want to take a little walk?” One of the girls winked at him as she glared at me. She trailed a finger across her cleavage. “Do you remember when we—”
“Buzz off,” Freddy insisted as he stepped up to us. His hair was wet, like he had been swimming. “Come on Pax and Peyton. We’re up next.”
Some of the girls left without hesitation. I guessed Freddy could almost be as intimidating as Crew if you didn’t know him. Physically, he was huge. Personally, he was like a teddy bear, bordering on female-like tendencies, such as gossiping, his love for chocolate…like all the time, and his obsession for reality shows like Real Housewives.
A few of the girls glared at him and made no move to leave, so I turned my back on them and Paxton followed.
“Up next for what?” I asked Freddy, mystified.
He pointed to the flip cup, slip and slide. “Heather says she’ll play if you play.” A note of pleading was in his eyes as he indicated the inflatables.
I was about to tell him I really wasn’t participating in any of their festivities when Heather came up. She was a pretty girl, even though her nose was slightly prominent. Her long dark hair was loose, and her dark eyes were heavily made up without looking trashy. She had on a gold halter top bikini, with a matching sarong wrapped around her narrow waist.
“Peyton!” she cried out happily, obviously slightly tipsy as she embraced me. “I’m so happy to see you! Let’s play flip cup!”
I looked up at Paxton, and he gave me a smile and a shrug. “It’s up to you.”
“Oh, hey, Pax,” Heather gushed. “Let’s play.” She stepped forward and grabbed the edge of his shirt. “You know…” She looked over at me with a mischievous smile. “You have to be one lucky girl to have captured Playboy Paxton’s attention for this long.”
I watched in shock as she ripped his shirt up over his head. “He never would have given me the time of day.”
“Heather,” Paxton said, slightly embarrassed as he attempted to reach for his shirt.
If it were any other girl, I think I would have put her in her place, but somehow I knew Heather didn’t really want Paxton; she just wanted to make him feel uncomfortable.
“Come on, Playboy, let’s play!” She skipped off with his shirt after running her long, manicured fingers down his washboard abs.
“I guess we’re playing.” I laughed at Paxton’s bemused expression. I saw Freddy frowning between Heather’s retreating back and Paxton. “Don’t worry, F,” I reassured him. “She’ll see your worth soon enough.”
Golden had a habit of calling people by just their first initial. It was the first time I realized he was rubbing off on me.
“I hope so,” he muttered as we walked towards the slip and slide. “I’ve had a crush on her since ninth grade, and she friend-zoned me when I joined the team.”
“Ignore her,” Paxton told him pragmatically. “Stop jumping when she says to jump. Pay attention to the other girls without being sleazy. She’ll come around.”
“Oh, yeah?” I teased Paxton as I put an arm around his waist. “Are you speaking from experience?” He ducked his head, his lock of hair falling in his eyes, giving me answer enough. I laughed. “I don’t remember you doing that to me.”
I couldn’t really imagine Paxton being a playboy. It just didn’t fit with the man I knew. I could see where his lighthearted joking manner was really a persona he had invented. His mask could easily charm many girls. I had seen it the first day I met him. It had drawn me to him. It wasn’t until the layers were peeled back that I was genuinely attracted to him.
“That’s different. You’re different. We’re different,” Paxton said with a smirk. “I knew you were my soulmate when we met. I didn’t have any time for any of those games.”
I laughed as Freddy looked between us. I knew he was dying to know who I was going out with. He never outright asked, shockingly, but he asked enough questions for me to realize he was just as curious as most of the people in our school. I was always with one of the guys, and we were all openly affectionate—save Crew; he was still slightly reserved with it all.
“Good,” I told him. “Because I would have never chased ya.”
“Exactly.” Paxton smirked. He seemed to relax now that I hadn’t become jealous when I saw the girls arrive.
“I’m not sure your plan is gonna work.” Freddy frowned once more, just as one of the college boys picked Heather up and started running around in circles and spanking her rear. Her loud giggles filled the air.
“Let me down, Hoss!” Heather insisted. “I have a game to play.”
“When did Heather start talking to you again?” Pax
ton asked Freddy meaningfully.
“When I−” Freddy’s eyes widened. “Oh, I see! When Peyton and I became friends.”
“Some girls don’t realize what they want until they see someone else with it.” Paxton smirked. “And if someone a little more threatening comes along and wants it? It only makes it more desirable.”
“I’m not threatening.” I frowned, although I agreed with the rest of his observations. Madison was like that. She enjoyed the chase. She would never be interested in a guy that seemed too…eager.
Paxton grinned at me before dropping a kiss on my nose. “It’s so cute that you don’t realize how beautiful and desirable you are.”
“Whatever,” I mumbled as we walked over to Heather.
“It’s our turn,” Heather cried out, regaining her feet once more. The college boy ran off after another girl. “We got winners!”
There were cheers from one of the tables, and groans from another.
“Can I get in on this?” Golden asked as he came up from behind us. He handed me a plate of pizza and a bottle of water before giving Paxton his.
“Sure.” Heather shrugged. “Hey, Bingo? Get another player and another cup.”
One of the older guys scowled at her. “It’s Binergar.”
She gave him a broad smile. “That’s what I said, Bingo.”
He shrugged, probably knowing it was a losing battle before he called another teammate over.
“Teams are ready?” a guy asked as he stepped forward. He was wearing a referee shirt, whistle, black speedos, and sunglasses−despite it being dark out.
“Eww gross, Zach.” Heather made a retching noise. “A banana hammock, really?!”
The guy gave her a wide smile before he placed his hands behind his head and did a slow circular rotation of his hips. “Gotta let the ladies know what they're working with.”
I looked down at his clearly defined package, and honestly, I wasn’t impressed. Something about him immediately rubbed me wrong. Unlike his sister, he seemed… overinflated. He struck me as the type of person that bragged about his mommy and daddy's wealth all the time.