The Trouble With You

by L A Cotton

Homecoming.

  Just the very word made me nauseous.

  “I’d rather stick hot pokers in my eyes.”

  “So, you’re not going?” he asked.

  “No, I’m not going to Homecoming.” Was I?

  “Sure, you are, Sunshine. It’s a senior rite of passage, you’ve got to be there.”

  “Flick wants to go.” I folded my hands together, dropping them in my lap.

  “Flick talks a lot of sense.”

  Peeking over at him, I asked, “Are you going to Homecoming?”

  His expression darkened. “Kind of comes with the territory.”

  “Ahh, Homecoming Court, gotcha.”

  His face wrinkled with displeasure. “It’s not really my scene, but Coach likes us to give back and everyone—”

  “Hey.” I threw up my hands. “Say no more Mr. Homecoming King.”

  “No, that’ll be your brother.”

  “Step-brother,” I groaned, and Cameron laughed. The soft sound drifting over me, wrapping me up like a warm blanket. “You have a nice laugh,” I said, my eyes fluttering closed.

  “And you’re drunker than I realized. How are you getting home tonight?”

  “I think I’m going to sleep riiiight here.” I stretched my arms above my head, nestling further into the chair but then my world tilted as strong hands yanked me up.

  “Oh no you don’t,” Cameron said. “You can stay here. Asher won’t mind.”

  “Flick... I need to tell Flick.” The words came out jumbled as he kept his arm around me and guided me back toward the house.

  People called his name, called mine too, as he wound us through the sea of bodies still drinking and laughing. But it was strange. I didn’t feel like they were laughing at me. Not this time. But then, maybe all the vodka in my bloodstream was giving me a false sense of confidence. Maybe I’d already fallen asleep and this was all a dream.

  Either way, wrapped in Cameron’s arms, it wasn’t the worst place to be.

  Even if I did hate him.

  “Almost there,” he said as we hit the top stair.

  “Asher has a nice house,” I mumbled as he paused at a door. I watched through glassy eyes as Cameron dug out a key from his wallet and unlocked the door. “That isn’t creepy at all.”

  “You think I let just anyone stay in my room?” His eyes darkened, pinning me to the spot, stealing the snarky reply right off the tip of my tongue.

  His room?

  He had a room at the Bennet’s house? But why?

  Before I could ask the question, the air whooshed from my lungs as Cameron scooped me up like a baby and carried me into the room. “What the—”

  “Relax, Sunshine, you’re almost dead on your feet.”

  I was?

  Now that he mentioned it, I did feel pretty tired and drunk.

  Definitely drunk.

  My fingers curled into Cameron’s polo shirt and I breathed him in. “Hmm.” My stomach coiled tight. He smelled good, too good. Like soap with a hint of something bitter, maybe whisky or tequila. So good that when he began to lie me down on the bed, I didn’t let go of him and Cameron tumbled down on top of me. We landed with a soft thud, our bodies tangled, our faces almost touching.

  “Shit, Hailee, I’m sorry…” He pressed his hands into the mattress either side of my head to take some of his weight off me. “I didn’t mean—”

  “It’s okay.” Reaching for him, I traced his jaw. He was so gorgeous it should have been illegal. The air shifted around us as I leaned up, brushing my lips over his, once… twice… until my mouth was slanted over his and I was kissing him.

  I was kissing Cameron Chase.

  And it felt good.

  So damn good.

  Heat exploded in my stomach, rushing out to my nerve endings, making my skin tingle and my body hum. I could kiss him forever. His lips were so soft and warm, and he tasted like everything I craved and never knew I wanted.

  “Hailee—” his voice was raw.

  “No,” I whispered, peppering tiny kisses over his lips, sucking and nibbling. “No thinking.” It didn’t matter that we hated each other. Nothing mattered in this moment, except his mouth on mine.

  Looping my arm around his neck, I pulled Cameron closer, nudging my nose against his. “Fuck,” he breathed, adjusting himself over me so that we were two pieces of a puzzle slotted together. One of his hands slid to my thigh, and I hooked my leg around his hip, rubbing myself against him. Desperate to ease the ache growing deep inside me.

  Cameron’s eyes shuttered, his Adam’s apple bobbing against his throat. But then he dipped his head, pressing a kiss to the hollow of my neck, sucking the sensitive skin between his teeth. I cried out, running my hands down his chest to the hem of his t-shirt. I needed to feel him. To touch him. I wanted to paint my fingers over every inch of his smooth skin.

  He rocked into me, making us both groan. “Cameron, more…” I gasped. “I need more—” Something was building inside me, a firestorm sweeping through my belly and rushing to my core. My mouth sought his again, kissing him fervently.

  But I quickly realized Cameron wasn’t kissing me back. He was as still as a statue, the harshness of his breaths the only sound filling the silence. I pressed my mouth to his again just to be sure he wasn’t kissing me back.

  “Cameron.” I eased back to look at him. “What’s wrong?”

  “We can’t.” His voice sounded funny, but he wanted this. I knew he did. It was right there in his eyes as they watched me. His hardness pressed into me, teasing me. Tempting me with all the things I wanted and shouldn’t.

  I leaned back in kissing him once more, needing him to kiss me back. “Hailee.” He broke away, staring down at me, his expression cold now. “Stop—”

  Stop.

  I blinked up at him, certain I’d misheard him. Because he couldn’t possibly want to stop, not when it felt so good.

  “We have to stop,” he repeated the words, sending my stomach into a freefall.

  That wasn’t right. He was supposed to want more. To crave me the way I craved him.

  Yet he’d said the word and now it hung between us like a glacier, cold and unforgiving.

  I jerked away, flattening myself against the mattress, turning my head to the side to avoid his apologetic gaze. He let out a heavy sigh. “You should get some sleep. I’ll find Flick and let her know you’re up here.”

  Eyes screwed shut, tears burning my throat, I waited for him to leave.

  I’d kissed Cameron. I’d practically offered myself up to him and he hadn’t wanted me back. Rejection burned through me like acid until I felt nauseous.

  About to tell him to go, to leave me alone, I felt the bed dip and he leaned over me, pressing a kiss to my head. “Goodnight, Hailee,” he whispered, and then he was gone.

  I grabbed a pillow and buried my face into it, letting myself drown in my mortification until I finally drifted off to sleep.

  Sometime later, on the periphery of my dreams, I felt the bed dip beside me. “Cameron?” I mumbled barely awake.

  “No, it’s me.”

  “Flick?” My eyes searched the darkness, ignoring the giant pit in my stomach.

  “Go back to sleep, Hails; it’s late.”

  “Are you okay?” She sounded kind of funny.

  “I’m fine,” she sniffled, sliding underneath the covers. “Go to sleep.”

  “Night, Flick.”

  “Night, Hails.”

  But as the tug of sleep pulled me under, I was almost certain I heard my best friend crying.

  Cameron

  After a restless night sleeping on Asher’s couch, I finally dragged myself up and went into the kitchen, where I found him cleaning up the mess.

  “Did something happen between you and Felicity?” I came right out with it.

  “Happen?” He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Like what?”

  “Did you sleep with her?”

  “No, I didn’t sleep with her. Why, did she say something?” H
e continued bagging up all the empty cups and bottles. Sometimes I wondered which he loved more; the party or the morning after, because I’d never seen a guy clean the way Ash did.

  “No, but I saw her, and she looked upset.” She hadn’t wanted to talk about it, and I knew Asher had developed a weird interest in her. But from the deep frown etched across his face, maybe I’d jumped the gun.

  “And you naturally think I had something to do with that?” His eyes widened with disbelief. “Cheers for the vote of confidence.”

  I helped myself to a glass of water and leaned back against the counter. “I just thought... forget it.”

  “Those girls have you all twisted up in knots. I saw you carrying Hailee up to your room, and I wasn’t the only one.” He gave me a pointed look. “I hope you know what you’re doing?”

  “She was drunk, and they had no way of getting home. What was I supposed to do? Leave her to sleep outside?”

  “Before all this shit with Thatcher, that’s exactly what you would have done. Hell, you probably would’ve have done a lot worse too.” Rubbing a hand over my head and down the back of my neck, I released a heavy sigh. But Asher wasn’t done. “You like her, don’t you?”

  “I—”

  “Advil.” Jase stalked into the room and I swallowed my words. “I need Advil.”

  “Yeah sure, man. You know where they are.” Asher shot me a look that told me this conversation wasn’t over.

  “Who’d you end up with last night?” he asked Jase, who knocked back two pills and chugged a glass of water before sinking into one of the stools.

  “Kayla, or Kylie, or fuck if I can remember.”

  “No way, I thought she had her eye on Cam?” Asher smirked at me and I flipped him off behind our friend’s back.

  Jase shrugged, none the wiser. “She wasn’t complaining when I had my dick in her mouth.”

  “So, hmm,” I cleared my throat. “You should probably know, Hailee and Felicity are asleep upstairs.”

  “What the fuck?” He stiffened, his mood turning blacker than a thundercloud. “I said invite them to the party, not invite them for a fucking sleepover.”

  “Hailee was drunk, right, Cam?”

  “Yeah. I put her in my room.”

  Jase’s eyes narrowed to deadly slits. “Your room?”

  “Chill, it’s not like that.” I schooled my expression. “But I didn’t know what else to do with her.”

  “And Felicity’s up there too?”

  I nodded, sure I’d caught a hitch in his voice when he said her name. “Did you say something to her?”

  “Who?” He frowned.

  “Felicity.”

  Jase reared back, his eyes wide. “What the fuck would I say to her?”

  “I don’t know, she seemed upset about something. I thought maybe Asher had—”

  “Again, thanks for that,” Asher added as he moved around the kitchen wiping the counters, whistling some tune far too upbeat for this time in the morning.

  “No, I didn’t say anything to her. I was too busy bending Kayla over your mom and dad’s bed.” He grinned at Asher, and the blood drained from his face.

  “Tell me you didn’t? Not again, man. You promised—”

  “Relax.” He chuckled darkly. “I used one of the guest rooms.”

  “She still up there?”

  “What do you think?”

  “Hit ‘em and quit ‘em, baby.” Asher thrust his hips up slapping the air. When I rolled my eyes, he added, “You should try it sometime, Cam, or else Miley might get the wrong impression, thinking you’re looking for something more than the little arrangement you’ve got going on. Speaking of the lovely Miley, I didn’t see her last night?”

  “Fuck off,” I mouthed.

  Just then, the sound of female voices floated into the room.

  “Someone get rid of her, please,” Jase grumbled but it was too late. Hailee and Felicity appeared in the doorway.

  “Hmm, hey.” She wouldn't meet my eyes and I knew she remembered. Fuck. I’d been hoping she was too drunk to remember.

  “Ladies, come in, take a seat, breakfast will be served in…” Asher rubbed his jaw. “I don’t suppose either of you want to make breakfast?”

  Hailee climbed onto one of the stools, burying her face in her arm.

  “Felicity?” Asher grinned at her.

  “Ugh,” she grumbled, her weary gaze flicking over to Jase. He sat rigid, doing nothing to hide his displeasure at the girls interrupting our morning routine.

  “Fine.” Felicity rubbed her hands together. “What have you got?”

  “I think there are eggs, bacon, stuff to make pancakes.” He beckoned her over to the refrigerator and the two of them set to work. It was weird. We’d never done this before. We always went out to eat, and I couldn’t remember a time we’d ever included girls in our morning-after ritual.

  “I’ll be outside. I need some air,” Jase disappeared out of the back door leaving the four of us. I reached over the counter, prodding Hailee’s arm.

  “Are you alive?” I whispered, and she peeked up at me. “Barely.”

  “Coffee?”

  Giving a little shake of her head, she mouthed, “Water.”

  “Water it is.” I grabbed her a bottle of water, careful not to get in the way of Felicity and Asher as they laid out all the ingredients; her barking orders at him, enjoying it far too much if the sparkle in her eye was anything to go by.

  “Here.” Sliding the bottle toward Hailee, I also threw her a box of Advil.

  “Thanks.” Hailee uncapped the bottle and popped two pills, washing them down in one. “I think I need to remember my limits.”

  “It’s okay to let loose every now and again.”

  “If I recall, you were sober.” Her eyes held an unspoken meaning and I felt sucker-punched.

  Brushing her off, I said, “I had a couple of beers. Coach doesn’t like us—”

  “Stop, please stop.” She held up her hand, burying her face again. “It hurts.” Her words were mumbled.

  “You sure you know what you’re doing?” I asked Asher. He had a flour handprint on his face and another on his t-shirt.

  “You’re supposed to whisk the batter, not wear it,” Felicity said looking over from the pan. The smoky scent of bacon wafted over to me and my stomach grumbled.

  “I’ll be back. Try not to kill each other.” I shot Asher an amused grin and he flipped me off over Felicity’s shoulder as she tried to show him how to whisk correctly.

  Outside, Jase was sitting in one of the patio chairs. “She’s annoying as fuck.”

  “Who, Hailee?”

  “No, Felicity,” he grunted.

  “I don’t know, she’s not that bad.”

  Jase levelled me with a hard look. “Why are they even here?”

  “Because you told Asher to invite them to the party…”

  “Whatever. I just don’t want her thinking this means something.”

  “Why would Felicity think—”

  “Hailee, jackass. Keep up.”

  “You’re in a delightful mood this morning.”

  “I’m just sick of this shit with Thatcher. Him finding out about Hailee was the worst thing that could have happened. Now I have to pretend to actually give a shit about her.”

  “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think she’s going to get the wrong idea any time soon.”

  Hailee wasn’t like most girls. She didn’t see signs that weren’t there. If anything, the years of back and forth with Jason had hardened her. Now she was wary of others; always questioning people’s motives. In fact, they were far more alike than either of them realized. Except where Jason’s cool exterior had rubbed off on her, she’d failed to make so much as a dent in his tough shell.

  “Rivals Week.” His voice was flat. “I usually live for this shit, but something’s different this year.”

  He didn’t need to tell me. I’d felt it ever since we walked into school on the first day of th
e semester. Maybe it was our impending final season as Raiders, the expectation of bringing home State. Or maybe it was the distance growing between us as our lives started to take different paths. I wanted college. I wanted a college career playing football. But I didn’t want it the way Jase did. And over the summer, as the days until senior year had crept closer, the pit in my stomach had grown and grown until I felt pulled in two.

  Part of me was still Cameron Chase, number fourteen, star wide receiver for the Rixon Raiders, waiting for the nod from a Division One team. But the other part didn’t know who he was anymore. He was scared of the unknown; of what his family’s future looked like if he left. And the two parts of me no longer married up.

  “At least they’re coming to our backyard. We don’t have to worry about them pulling any stunts at their place on game night.”

  A couple of years back, in our sophomore year and Jason’s first year as first string QB, we’d drawn the Eagles at their place. It was a dog fight; both teams battling it out for the win. Tensions were high and tempers frayed. Jase had got into it with two of their defensive ends after they kept playing dirty—repeatedly holding him and trying to grab his face mask—and an all-out brawl had happened on the field.

  Jase clenched his fist against his thigh, his leg tapping against the patio. “I want to destroy him. I want to—”

  “Breakfast is served.” Asher’s voice pierced the air and Jase shoved out of his chair, stalking inside.

  He was losing it. But Rivals Week was always a big week on our calendar. Coach Hasson had already warned us to stay out of East this coming week, a warning we all knew had filtered down from Principal Finnigan. That didn’t mean Thatcher and his guys wouldn’t come at us though, and now he knew about Hailee, there was every likelihood she would be at the top of his shit list.

  I went back inside, the scene of Asher and Jase eating breakfast with Hailee and Felicity, without trying to kill each other, was one of the weirdest things I’d ever witnessed.

  “Dude, you need to try the bacon. The girl knows how to cook.” Asher grabbed another piece off the plate and shoved it into his mouth, grinning over at Felicity.

  “Must you be such a pig?” She scolded him and he actually blushed. Asher Bennet’s cheeks turned beet red.