Falling for Seven

by T. A Richards Neville

  She made a huffing noise and shouldered past me to wrap her arms around her boyfriend’s neck. After a half-assed kiss, he held her away from him with a stupid smile on his face. “Didn’t expect to see me, huh?”

  “No.” She was fucking gushing. Gushing. “But you are the best surprise.”

  Well, there was one thing I’d learned about Angel. She was really easily pleased. Her ridiculous happiness made his grin grow twice as big.

  “You don’t mind that I’m here?” he asked. Sounded like uncertainty.

  “No. I love that you are here.” Angel placed her hand in his and turned to face us. “Um, we’re gonna take off,” she said. She sounded like she was asking for permission.

  “Why?” Kit pounced. “Party is just getting started. Jordan—” She said his name like they were long time acquaintances. “You like to party?”

  “Sure.” He was quick to let that be known.

  “You up for a little spin the bottle? But I warn you now, you may need to share your girl.” Kit’s grin was truly evil. What the fuck was she doing?

  Jordan looked down at Angel. Her face resembled a deer caught in headlights. He shifted on his feet, seeming to wait for her to speak first. But she didn’t, just carried on staring at him. “You wanna, babe?”

  No way. Say no. But my big, ugly selfish side wanted her to play.

  “Uh… do you want to?” she asked him pitifully. It was an obvious ‘no’ answer.

  Jordan shrugged, but then his eyes rose up to look at Kit and I saw her raise her eyebrow in a challenge. “It might be fun,” he said.

  “Oh.” Angel’s disappointment was a silent sound wave, hitting me right in the chest. How could he not see that?

  Kit was happy, though. “Okay, lovebirds, let’s take this inside.”

  <>

  We sat in a circle in the den like a bunch of fucking ten year olds. But I knew Kit, and whatever went down in this room would not be suitable for any kids. I sat with Angel in my peripheral, and Jordan next to kit who was opposite Angel. Nicky, Rixton, Dan, Katlyn, Emma, Rocco, Drift, the redhead from last night whose name was Dionne, and some girl called Bernadette made up the rest of the circle. After the most pathetic of introductions, Kit leaned over, crawling to the middle with the empty vodka bottle, giving everyone a show of her cleavage while she was at it. It looked intentional, but if she thought I cared she was far off the mark.

  She fixed her hand around the bottle neck and twisted, sending it into a spinning frenzy. I watched Angel watching the bottle with worrying eyes and sloped brows. It looked to me like dread. She didn’t want to play, any idiot could see that.

  The bottle slowed to a stop, the tip pointing right at Angel. She looked at kit who was grinning. “Angel, you go first.”

  I swear I could hear her swallowing. Her eyes shifted to Jordan briefly before she gave the bottle a less than enthusiastic spin. I think she was hoping it was too weak to result in any movement at all. The bottle stopped on Nicky and Angel looked terrified.

  “Angel,” said kit, looking far too pleased about this, “Get Nicky hard.”

  What?

  “But you have to do it here, so we can all see that it really happened.”

  “No,” Angel said automatically. “I can’t do that.”

  Kit looked at Jordan, who for once was wearing an uncomfortable expression. Oh, so he did have boundaries? That was big of him. “It’s fine,” he said.

  Kit smirked, but Katlyn was holding in a massive scowl. Her eyes and mouth were pinched so tight they could have been sewn together. Nicky, on the other hand, looked fucking ecstatic. There wasn’t a chance he was objecting to Angel getting him off for us all to see—his coach’s daughter, in front of her boyfriend. He would wear this opportunity like a gold medal, boasting about it every chance he got. The game had only just started and already there was massive tension.

  “Back out and you’re out of the game and out of the party.” Kit crossed her arms over her chest. “Don’t be such an angel, Angel.”

  My alcohol haze lifted when everyone apart from me, Jordan, and Katlyn started to chant her name like she was a local legend.

  “Angel! Angel! Angel!”

  Emma, who was sitting next to her, handed her a cup full of alcohol. Angel hesitated and then drank the whole thing. She was finding courage at the bottom of that cup and it made me want to punch Jordan’s face in. She was going to do it and he was too pussy to stop her.

  Fuck. I couldn’t stand it, and nothing had happened yet. Nicky would never let me live this down. My bet and he was on delivering.

  Angel stretched up onto her knees, never once looking at Jordan, and crawled across the floor, winding up in Nicky’s lap. She smiled at him apologetically, in spite of his shit-eating grin.

  I didn’t have the stomach to watch, so I slanted a look at Jordan instead. He was a shade whiter, his green eyes darker in torment. It didn’t suit him seeing his girl in someone else’s arms, and I was glad he had to sit and watch this. He fucking deserved it. He should never have agreed to it. That was his girl, for fuck’s sake. And my pride—that had been shot to shit now. Thanks, Jordan, you giant fucking cocksucker.

  “Hi,” I heard Nicky say beside me.

  “Hi.” Angel’s voice was shaky. Nicky mistook it for want.

  “Relax,” he whispered. I saw his hand snake round her waist out the corner of my eye, and my stomach knotted into a tight fist.

  “Fuck, I’m hard just watching this,” Dan shouted like a fucking idiot. He wouldn’t be lying, either. Dan was down for anything. He was the team freak.

  The next thing, Angel and Nicky were kissing. When the fuck did that happen? Jordan’s mouth opened, hopefully in shock. He must have expected her to freak at the last minute and hurry back to her spot. Turns out, he didn’t know his girl that well.

  Angel’s hands went around Nicky’s neck and his slipped under her T-shirt. I couldn’t believe Jordan was just letting this happen. Then Nicky lifted her T-shirt from her head and flung it to the side. They were still kissing, Angel’s hair a shield around both of them, but the snap of her bra had my nostrils flaring. Jordan looked like he wanted to be sick. He looked angry, too. He had a fucking nerve.

  “Okay guys.” I heard Kit’s voice. “We get it.”

  But they didn’t stop. Nicky’s fingers were all over Angel’s skin, touching her in places that made me want to break his hands. And then I heard his whisper from behind her curtain of hair. “Can I fuck you?”

  I jumped up, Angel’s T-shirt already clutched in my fingers, and yanked her free from Nicky. “You’re leaving,” I said, hoisting her up with one arm and marching her out of the room. Marching her out the room? Who the hell was I? She was flushed from too much alcohol and everyone behind us groaned out loud, shouting obscenities at us. I ignored them all and pushed Angel into the bathroom, snatching off her bra that was hanging loose from her arms and dropped it into the bath-tub. She threw her arms up, covering her exposed breasts.

  “Oh, you won’t let me see you, but you let Nicky almost fuck you in front of everyone.” I threw her T-shirt at her and she somehow managed to grip it in her fingers.

  “I never!” She haphazardly pulled the shirt over her head, stumbling all over the place and bashed her hip against the bathroom sink. “Ouch.”

  “Go get your boyfriend to take you home.”

  “Don’t say boyfriend like that. And I’m asking Marcus to assign us new partners.”

  Her voice came out high-pitched and lacking any conviction thanks to the vodka. She was too wasted to be taken seriously. She was first out of the bathroom, stomping down the cramped hallway, elbowing anyone that dared get in her way. She kept on walking, right out the front door, and I followed her. It was hard not to notice her nipples peak at the cold air and the absence of her bra.

  I yanked her into a stationary position before she bolted. “Good,” I said. “If you don’t, I will.”

  She snapped her arm free. “I don’t g
et you!”

  “Yeah? I don’t get you either. Don’t let guys you don’t know put their fucking hands all over you. Pass the memo onto your boyfriend while you’re at it.”

  “It was your stupid game. He didn’t want to go along with it. You forced him.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath. I wiped my hand over my mouth and then I was pinning Angel to the side of Kit’s house, my palms on the brick at either side of her head. Both our chests rose and fell with heavy breaths, and she felt tiny underneath my body that was acting as a barricade. “You’re too good for them.”

  “Define them.”

  “Jordan—what just happened in there. You’re better than this.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do or what I am. I’m big enough to make my own decisions.” She ducked from under my arm, quicker than my reflex to grab for her, and she started to move backwards.

  “This isn’t over,” I shouted after her.

  She spun around, her hair whipping across her face. She swiped at the wild strands. “Guess what? It never even started.”

  Jordan flung the door open behind me, strolling leisurely down the stairs. “What’s going on?” he said, not moving remotely quick enough to fix the mess he had created.

  “Just take her home,” I snapped. I had to hand it to him, he looked contrite. “She’s drunk.”

  <>

  I stayed outside and texted Kristina to say I’d be home in an hour. Walking home would sober me up, and I needed to get my shit together. It wasn’t one of my better ideas, but I couldn’t stay here and driving wasn’t an option. Angel and Jordan had vanished into the distance and it didn’t take long for kit to come out, wondering why I’d ditched the party.

  “That was intense,” she said, fitting into a small space on the steps next to me.

  “It was fucking weird,” I corrected her. “He just handed her over like it was nothing.”

  “It’s not like we haven’t done that before.”

  “That’s different.”

  “Uh-huh.” Kit leaned on her knees, sighing up into the sky.

  “Listen, I gotta jet. You got something for me before I go?” I always put my foot in my mouth with Kit, and her grim smile was not something I wanted to see when I closed my eyes tonight. I hooked my arm around her neck and pulled her close, playfully, until she cracked and smiled. I bent down and grazed my lips over hers. Her mouth opened up for me and I settled in-between her lips. I broke the kiss easily, but Kit’s fingers lingered on mine, a gentle squeeze pulling me back. But that shit wasn’t going to work tonight.

  “ C’ya at the game.” I loosened my hand from hers and shoved them deep into the belly of my pockets, hunching my shoulders against the chilly night. The temperature was cool and I sped up into a jog to get home quicker, seeing as I had thought it was a good idea to leave my jacket at home.

  The television glowed in the dark living room when I got home, and Kristina lay with her back to it, her hands cupped under her head, snoring softly. Affection still gnawed at my gut when I saw her like this. It was easy to imagine that we were the same Julian and Kristina as two years ago. The two of us against the whole world. But that had collapsed, with only a year of fucking the same girl under my belt. At the time, I was stupid enough to think I was in love, and when I found out she’d slept with someone else, the walls of my perfect relationship crumbled right before my eyes. I’d bypassed all of kit’s advances before then, but as soon as Kristina and I split, kit was fair game.

  Even though I never dreamed I’d see the day, I couldn’t stay mad at Kristina forever, and soon enough we were working on getting back together. Let’s just say it didn’t work out and now she’s eight weeks pregnant with the guy’s baby she fucked me over again for. He’s locked up, serving a five year sentence for assault, so I’d say she picked wrong. But it still wasn’t enough to hate her. We just weren’t supposed to happen.

  I didn’t want to wake her, but I couldn’t leave her on the firm, cold leather all night. I gently shook her shoulder until she stirred from my touch.

  “Julian?” Her voice was gravelly from the disturbance and she twisted her head, her eyes narrowing from the grainy light of the TV.

  “I’ll walk you home,” I said. “I can’t have you sleeping on my sofa.”

  She wiped her eyes and I helped her into a sitting position. “What time is it?”

  “Late. Come on.”

  She stood up, making the small movement with great effort. She wasn’t showing yet, but she’d told me how tired she was all the time. “You don’t have to walk me,” she said, grabbing her purse and keys from the small table. “I’m right across the street.” She smiled. “I think I got it.”

  I tailed her outside and followed her up the stairs to her apartment. She slid her key in the lock and opened the door.

  “Thanks for watching Taj,” I said. “Mom had to pull a double.”

  She downplayed her huge favor, just like she always did. “I was home anyway. Did you have a good night?”

  I smiled, but it lay crooked on my face. “I’m in no rush to party again.”

  “Really? That bad, huh?”

  “Worse.”

  “I won’t ask. Are you still cool for Monday?” her eyes regarded me carefully, like I Might change my mind and suddenly say no.

  “Sure. What time did you want to leave?”

  “I have to be there at one, so, twelve-thirty?”

  “No problem.”

  “You sure you don’t mind?”

  “I wouldn’t have agreed if I minded. Anyway, you need someone there with you for this kinda shit, right? Might as well be me.”

  She breezily sucker punched me in the arm and I felt the urge to run before she had me saying things I didn’t really mean. “You’re the best, you know that?”

  “Turns out, I do.”

  “Goodnight, Julian.”

  “Night, Kris.” I waited till the door was fully closed before taking the steps back down two at a time. My mom’s silver Ford was pulling up on the curb. I grabbed her car door while she rummaged around on the floor, searching for her purse. It was like a fucking sack, I didn’t know how she ever managed to misplace it.

  “Thanks, baby.” She got out, tossing her purse up onto her shoulder. “Have I caught you red handed?” She raised one eyebrow in question to me leaving Kristina’s.

  “I walked her home. I’m taking her to her antenatal appointment on Monday. She’s meeting her midwife.”

  I saw my mom’s shoulders slump on a sigh as she pushed open our front door. She dropped her purse onto the kitchen table and crossed her arms over her chest. “You think that’s a good idea?”

  “Yeah, mom. I owe her.”

  “Are you sure it’s not your baby? You’re very hands on.” Anyone else’s mom might have screamed that question, but not mine. She’d seen too much in thirty six years to bat an eyelash at my ex knocked up with possibly her eldest son’s kid.”

  “It’s not mine,” I said on the end of a smile. “How was work?”

  She had just pulled a twelve hour shift at Remy’s insurance company, one of two jobs. Tomorrow she would go to the clinic until it was time to pick up Taj, my little brother from school, and then back to Remy’s.

  “It was work. Need I say more? Gary is on my back constantly.” It was 10:45 and she had work again at seven in the morning, but she was reaching in the fridge for her bottle of wine.

  “Get me one,” I said, pulling out a chair to sit.

  She popped the cap on a Bud for me with the bottle opener and poured herself a full glass of wine. We sat across from each other and she arched her back from the chair, rolling her neck. “God, I’m so tired. Haven’t we won the lottery yet?”

  “We’d need to play first. I could always ask Pat for more hours at the garage, out of season.”

  “You will not,” my mom sad, matter-of-fact. “College comes first. Besides, I’ll reap all the benefits when you go pro and get me
and Taj out of this dump and into some big-ass condo by the ocean.”

  “You need to tell Gary to back off,” I said, changing the subject. He was her boss and he was crushing on her like a fucking hormonal teenager. He took his shit out on her whenever she showed disinterest or dared mention other men in front of him. He was that kid in the playground that pulled the hair of the girl he secretly liked, but didn’t have the balls to say it. Except this wasn’t school, he was balding and he was a grown man in his place of business. I hated the asshole.

  “He’s harmless,” she said after a sip of wine.

  “He needs to get his dick wet and maybe he’ll calm down.” My mom’s laughter filled the kitchen. It was a good thing Taj couldn’t hear us.

  “It won’t be from me,” she said, catching a breath, and I smiled. I liked it when she laughed. The infectious sound made me believe for a couple minutes that her shitty life wasn’t as bad as it looked.

  5: Angel

  EVERYTHING HAD SPIRALLED horriblyout of control. I was so happy to see Jordan and the fact that he had showed up unannounced. He didn’t do things like that. Not for me, anyway. And never at all if he had planned to spend that time with his friends, to which I was never invited. I shouldn’t feel too bad, though. None of the girlfriends got invites. It was like a big gay club only Jordan and the guys had exclusivity to. But here he was, standing in Kit’s garden. His dark-brown hair and green eyes, along with his long, lean body were all my dreams in one six-two package. I wasn’t even mad that he wanted to stay. I just wanted to be with him, be near him—touch him. I acted like it didn’t bother me when he agreed to play their game—agreed to the chance of kissing another girl—agreed to me kissing another guy. But there we were, for once with the same crowd, side by side, and he was crushing me again. How many times could I put myself through these games with him? And just like every other time, it was different for him. He never lost. He never felt the pain that I felt at the thought him with someone else.