Some Way

by Tiffany Jade

  Damn girl kept distracting him while we were playing and he couldn't make a single shot. Fuck it, if he wasn't going to work, neither was I.

  I look across the table and notice Liv has left. She didn't even stick around to celebrate. Meanwhile Aaron's boys are surrounding him, clapping him on the back and celebrating like they just won the last home game of the season. He probably hasn't even noticed his girl isn't there anymore.

  I pull my phone out. Twelve text messages from the chick who's name I forgot. I really should start saving their contact info, at least long enough to get laid. You can only call a girl 'Baby' so many times before she catches on you have no idea what her name is. I send her a quick text telling her to come pick me up, thankfully remembering the address Dax had programed into the GPS on the way here.

  I wander out of the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of Jack as I walk past everyone. Taking a swig I head for the living room. Liv is sitting on the couch with her face buried in her hands. Well shit, just hand her to me why don't ya Aaron. I take another pull from the bottle and head to her.

  I throw myself down on the red sofa, about a foot away from her.

  "Fuck off, Aaron," she mumbles without looking my way. I laugh.

  "Try again, Queen."

  That's not Aaron.

  "Try again, Queen," his voice is deep and raspy, slightly slurred from drinking. I glance over, and damn he's even hotter up close. He has one arm resting on the arm of the couch, and he takes a second to place his bottle of Jack on the floor before resting his other hand in his lap.

  "Wing," it slips out as he continues to watch me. A deep laugh rolls through him.

  "What?!" he asks, clearly confused.

  "I don't know your name," I tell him. "So I've been calling you 'Wing' in my head, you know 'cause of your tattoo," I try to explain myself but I'm sure I sound stupid.

  "Oh you've been thinking of me, in your head huh," he shoots me a smirk. Fuck.

  "Shit. That's not what I meant. It's just. You. The game. Fuck, share that bottle would ya?" He starts laughing again as I stumble over my words, he reaches down to grab the bottle and takes a drink of his own before handing it to me.

  "Mhmmm, it's ok Liv, I like the thought of being inside your head." He watches me as I take a large drink to avoid saying anything else dumb. His eyebrow raises as I swallow.

  "A girl who can handle her whiskey, I like that. And it's Grayson, by the way." He keeps staring at me. I'm actually at a loss for words. That never happens. He scoots closer to me, when I give him a strange look he puts his hands up. "Just getting closer so it’s easier for us to share," he motions towards the bottle. I hand it back to him and watch as he tips his head back to drink, that jaw line though.

  "So I thought you were supposed to be good at beer pong," I say to him after a moment of silence. He grins without looking at me.

  "For some reason, I was having a hard time focusing." He turns his head to look at me, his eyes locking on mine. He holds my stare, getting his point across. I have to shake my head. I came to this party literally in sweats and somehow ended up sitting on a couch with the hottest guy I've ever seen. He probably just thinks I'm an easy target. He obviously gives off massive fuckboy vibes. And looking like that, he can definitely get whoever he wants. I tear my eyes away from him.

  "Excuses, excuses," I glance over his shoulder to watch the group of people behind us dancing. As an upbeat song begins to fade out, a chiller beat begins to play. He catches me watching and taps me on the shoulder.

  "Let's go dance," he suggests, standing up and reaching down for my hand.

  "What?" I ask. "Dance?" a small laugh escapes him as he nods his head.

  "Think of it as my consolation prize," he grabs my hand and pulls me up, leading me to where everyone has paired up to dance. As we end up in the middle of the crowd he pulls me closer to him, close, but not touching. His large hands land on my waist and he begins to guide my hips to the beat. I shouldn't be doing this, my boyfriend is right in the other room. His hands squeeze as he notices I'm not paying attention to him, I look up and catch his smirk before he spins me around and brings me up to his body. My back lands flush against the hard wall of his chest. His arms cross around my waist. He bends down close to my ear, I tense thinking he is going to kiss me, I'm not a cheater. But instead I hear his voice as he begins to sing the song playing to me.

  I can feel his warm breath as it fans over me as his husky voice whispers into my ear. The scent of Jack tinging his breath, but unlike with Aaron, I'm not turned off. The exact opposite. I can feel my whole body heating up as our bodies move together to the song.

  As the music fades into a new beat, we both stop moving, frozen in place in the middle of a dancing crowd.

  My head is turned, looking over my shoulder his eyes bore into mine, and his plump lips are dangerously close. He glances down at mine and I can't help but bite on my bottom lip as he watches. His eyes become hooded and his arms tighten around me. He slowly starts moving in.

  Bzzz Bzzz Bzzz

  The vibration of his phone in his pocket snaps us both out of our trance. I jump back out of his arms.

  "Oh my God," I smooth the hair that has escaped from my ponytail, back off of my face. He wipes his hand down his face then he reaches into his pocket to grab his phone.

  "Fuck," he mutters. "My ride is here," he looks over at me. I just nod my head. What the hell was I doing? I have a boyfriend and I'm in here grinding up on some other man. This is not me. I need to get home. I step back as he takes a step closer to me. He slides his phone back in his pocket. He reaches out, like he wants to shake my hand. I tentatively hand it to him. He raises it to his lips and kisses my knuckles. "I'll see you around Queen," he smirks at me as he raises an eyebrow. Dropping my hand he disappears. And I'm left in the middle of the dance floor.

  Walking outside I take a deep breath of the cool air. What the fuck was that? I went to talk to her to spit my game and ended up almost kissing her in the middle of a dance floor. I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts of how much I actually enjoyed the feeling of my arms wrapped around her. I just need to get laid. That'll get me back to normal.

  I glance up as a horn sounds on the road. Pic girl is stopped a few feet away, waving her arms at me through the windshield. I head for her. A sigh escapes me as I slide into the passenger seat of her car.

  "About time, baby," she croons over to me as she pulls away. Her hand lands on my thigh. I glance over at her and shoot her a quick smile.

  "I'm worth the wait," I tell her as she begins to move her hand closer to my zipper. She blinks quickly as my words hit her. She knows it’s true. I study her profile as she takes us to her apartment. She's cute. Blonde hair, big lips, toned body, decent ass. She has a shit ton of makeup on her face, great that's going to get all over my clothes.

  As I watch her the thoughts roll in that Liv puts her to shame. Her natural beauty, chilling in joggers with not a stitch of makeup on her face. I close my eyes as she takes me over. Her hazel eyes, hooded with lust, staring at me over her shoulder. Her lips, pink, damp, and slightly parted, begging to be kissed. Her curves, hugged by the thin fabric of her sweats, I could feel the heat radiating off her body as I touched her. Her dark hair in disarray as her ponytail lets go of pieces of hair, framing her face and giving me a glimpse of what waking up next to her after, WHAT THE FUCK!

  I open my eyes and shake my head again. Nope. Why do I know what color her eyes are?! I need to stay the hell away from this chick, she's trouble. She's feelings. She's real. She's relationship. I don't do that shit.

  Not anymore.

  Pic girl pulls up into a parking garage and smirks at me as she parks.

  "You ready?" she asks me as she opens her car door. I just nod my head and get out to follow her. She lets us into her apartment. As soon as I walk in I feel something rub up against my legs. Glancing down I see a black cat wrapped around my legs. Great, I better move quick before my allergies kick my ass. I turn as she
shuts the door. I grab her and lift her up, wrapping her legs around my waist she begins to attack my neck. Not even in the mood to find a bed I just take her over to the black couch a few feet away. This will get Liv out of my head.

  I throw myself down onto my bed as the room begins to spin. I drank way too much. I groan as the spinning continues even after I've laid down. My phone starts to vibrate in the pocket of my hoodie. Pulling it out I have to squint at the brightness of the lit up screen.

  1 New Message

  Aaron: Baaaaaabe wer u go

  I set my phone back down, I can't deal with him right now. But seconds later my phone buzzes again.

  1 New Message

  Jenna: Girl! Did you go home? We are worried about you!

  Having to continue squinting to see the letters I quickly reply to let her know I’m home safe before setting my phone down again. I hear it continue to buzz but ignore it. Closing my eyes I roll over and begin to toss and turn on the bed.

  My thoughts quickly turn to Grayson. I can't help it. The warmth and weight of his arms wrapped around me, as dangerous as I knew he was, his arms had made me feel safe. I had never felt that with Aaron. He had squeezed me closer to him and I had fit against him perfectly. Like our bodies were made to be together. His eyes had gazed into mine like he knew all of my secrets. My body starts to heat up as the image of him staring at my lips crosses my mind.

  "Ugh!" I groan out loud as I make myself stand. The room spins as I get up way too quick. I need a shower. I slowly make my way into the bathroom, hoping the water can help clear my thoughts.

  “Oooooh Liiiiiiiivvviiiiiii," Jenna's sing song voice interrupts my super clean shower thoughts.

  Shut up...

  I hear the door open and close as she enters the bathroom. "Damn girl, how long you been in here?" she asks, noticing the steaminess.

  "Awhile," I answer truthfully, finally turning off the water and stepping out. She hands me a towel and as I wrap it around myself I catch the smirk on her face.

  "What?" I ask her as I reach around her for my bottle of lotion.

  "I saw you dancing with him," she tells me, the smirk never leaving her face. Fuck.

  "With who?" I ask, trying to sound innocent.

  "With who my ass," she laughs. "That sexy twin who couldn't stop staring at you during the game." He was staring at me?

  "Oh. Grayson." I begin to rub the lotion on my legs, purposely not looking her in the eye.

  "Oh, GrAySoN," she repeats. "Dude, what happened?!"

  "Nothing happened, he lost, we danced, he left, I left. End of story." She didn't need to know I had been seconds away from cheating on Aaron, and honestly finding it hard to care.

  "Mhmmm," she murmurs. "Well, as much as I enjoyed watching you actually have some fun, be careful okay? I bumped into three girls who said they've hooked up with him since the boys moved here, a whopping two weeks ago. And his brother is just as bad. He's not a wine and dine, he's a fuck and chuck," she nudges me when I don't answer. "Okay?!"

  "Yeah yeah, I know," I answer her. I do know. "I didn't even get his number, I bet we don't even see them again."

  I walk out of the bathroom and into my room. I throw on my white CK sports bra and some pink velvet shorts and jump into bed. Jenna joins me, cuddling up next to me.

  "You probably will, the one they kept calling 'D' made friends with Aaron and Max after you left."

  "Fuck," I can't help but curse at the thought of him being around our group.

  "Just stay away from him babe, you don't need that," Jenna turns and pushes her back up against me, falling asleep in seconds.

  "Yeah... I don't need that," I whisper to myself.

  As soon as her snores start up I push her off of me and head for the door. I just couldn't get into it so luckily I was still fully dressed, didn't have to rummage around to find my clothes and risk waking her up and dealing with the awkward lying about calling her sometime. She'd enjoyed herself, I made sure of that at least.

  Shutting the door quietly behind me, I head out of the apartment complex. Hitting the sidewalk, I squint down the street light lit road, trying to orient myself, or at least find a sign to tell me where I am. Noticing a gas station I pull out my phone and head for it. Hitting Dax's contact number I hold the phone up to my ear.

  "Sup bro?" he answers, his voice heavy with sleep.

  "I need a ride," I tell him, giving him the best directions I can.

  "Be right there." I can hear him stumbling around-- probably trying to pull his clothes back on, some girl whispering something to him in the background. "Give me ten," he hangs up as I enter the gas station. Grabbing a couple bottles of water I head up to pay, chatting with the older guy running the register for a few before heading outside to wait for D.

  "How was your night?" Dax asks as I get into the truck. I hand him one of the water bottles and he greedily chugs it as he waits for my answer.

  "Alright," I reply shortly, taking a drink myself. He glances over at me.

  "What happened to your 'sure thing'?"

  "It was still a sure thing, I just wasn't into it," I shrug and look out the window.

  "Wasn't into it?! Who are you and where is my brother?!" D cracks up as he pulls into the hotel we've been staying at. I was surprised at how close pic girl's apartment had been.

  "Right here headass, I'm allowed to not be in the mood sometimes," getting angry, I step out of the truck and slam the door behind me.

  "This wouldn't have anything to do with Aaron's girl would it?" D shoots me a knowing look as he catches up to me. "I saw you dancing with her."

  "What happened to Becky, why were you stalking me instead of getting yours?" I pull the key card out of my wallet to enter the side door of the hotel and we head for the elevator. Stepping in, Dax pushes the button for our floor and glares at me.

  "Who do you think kept Aaron out of the room so you could feel all up on his girl?" Well shit. I sheepishly look over at D.

  "Sorry bro," I apologize, he gives me a weird look.

  "Whatever, keep it in your pants with that one. I made friends with them and we need friends right now, especially friends that know the ins and outs here. We are hanging out with them all at the beach in a couple of hours.” We enter our room and D heads over to his bed. "Did you hear me?" he asks. I nod.

  Great, I had just decided she was the one girl I needed to stay away from and Dax decides to go make besties with her dumbass boyfriend.

  "Ya bro, sure." I head into the bathroom to jump in the shower.

  As the water hits my skin my thoughts start to clear. Fuck this weird shit, I still want her. I just need to get with her and get her out of my system. It'll be just like every other girl I've hooked up, a little bit of lust, work it off, problem solved. Get her douchebag boyfriend out of the way, she doesn't need him anyway. Shit she will probably end up being grateful. Eventually. This will work. It has to work.

  Chapter 3

  "Babe, get your lazy ass up!" I groan as the blanket is ripped off of the top of my body. "Oh hey there!" I feel a warm body wrap around me.

  "What are you doing Aaron?" I ask as I try to open my eyes, the sunlight pouring through the room makes me shoot up.

  "Shit, I'm late for class!" I jump over Aaron's body, glancing over I see Jenna woke up at some time and headed for her own bed.

  "Just skip today," Aaron says as he sits up and starts scrolling through his phone on the edge of my bed. "They probably locked the lecture hall door already anyway, your class started fifteen minutes ago." I groan again as I see the time, he's right. Luckily, I haven't missed this class too many times so hopefully this time won't be too big of a deal, even though finals are coming up.

  "Why are you here?" I ask Aaron as I calm down and sit next to him on the bed.

  "Well, I came to tell you we are going to the beach today, but seeing you in that sports bra and those booty shorts, I think we could make other plans," his hand lands on my thigh and begins rubbing. I slap his ha
nd.

  "Don't be pervy so early," I tell him standing up and heading to my dresser to pick a bikini. I feel his hands land on my waist as he comes up behind me.

  "But baby, you're so hot," he plants a kiss on my shoulder. I turn in his arms and give him a hug. I need to get over this whole infatuation with Grayson, I have a good boyfriend. Sure he has his flaws, but he's here for me. As I look up at Aaron, he smiles at me and bends down to kiss my lips. Are there sparks? No. But we have history. So I kiss him back for a moment.

  "Ew! Get a room!" Jenna's voice makes us break apart.

  "Uh, I'm in my room!" I tell her, laughing as I move out of Aaron's arms and grab a pillow off my bed to throw at her. Aaron starts laughing as the pillow fight ensues.

  "Okay, okay girls! Get your swimsuits, let’s go!" He plants a quick kiss on my cheek, "I'll be out in the car waiting for you guys, hurry up!" He heads out and I turn back to my dresser to gather my things.

  "Feeling better today?" Jenna asks from across the hall, she's digging around picking out a suit too.

  "I guess," I answer her, pulling out my favorite red two piece. "Maybe I do just need to be content with how things are, and quit thinking I need fireworks and fairytales." I grab my beach bag and shove a towel, some sunscreen and a few extra hair ties into it, I run into the bathroom to change into my suit, then throw on some cut off shorts and a tank top on top of it. I throw my hair up into a messy bun then brush my teeth and decide to add a light gloss to my lips. Stepping into my slides I head for Jenna's room. She's ready to go too.

  "Fireworks and fairytales will come girl, but not with who you are thinking of right now." She wraps her arm around my shoulders as we head for the door. "But until Fairytale Man shows, let's go have some fun!" I smile at her as we head out, we both start laughing as we see Aaron and Max jamming out with the top down in Aaron's yellow Camaro. Jenna and I jump into the backseats, Aaron glances over his shoulder and winks at me. I smile back. Maybe a relaxing beach day is exactly what I need.