“Your dick should be soft by Saturday, right?” he yells again.
I raise my arm over my head extend one long middle finger into the air back at him. I can hear them laughing as I walk away.
I’m fucking done with this. I fell in love with a girl who used to be my best friend and I didn’t have the balls to do anything about it. We’re leaving for college soon. I don’t even know where she is going, that is how much we’ve grown apart. It makes my heart hurt. I want her back even if it’s for a short time. And I want more.
Chapter 5: Rhodes
Mary Lou Albright can throw a party. A DJ is cranking the best music from his setup near the pool house, a bartender is slinging drinks – yes, to high school students – near the guest house and there is a dancefloor laid out between the two and the pool. About a million twinkle lights are strung around the entire backyard and combined with the DJ’s lights and the glow from the pool this place looks like it’s on fire.
Mary Lou’s parents allow her to serve alcohol as long everyone either sleeps overnight or has their parents come pick them up. Apparently these parties are longstanding traditions in Peachberry and the cops look the other way. It also helps that her dad financially backs politicians and has a lot pull here.
The Georgia summer night is hot, even after the sun goes down, but there is a breeze that helps with the heat. Plus, when we get too hot we just dive into the pool.
My boys and I hanging out near the bar, talking football of course, when some country song comes on that causes all the girls on the dancefloor to scream.
“I love this song!” Faith shouts over the music.
Cruise by Florida Georgia Line fills the air. It’s an older song, but it still gets heavy play around here.
Turning toward the commotion on the dancefloor my eyes immediately land on Stanzy. She’s in a circle with Faith, Staley and Mary Lou, and their other friend, Jacey, but she may as well be alone because no one is looking at anyone except her. She’s fucking stunning.
A black one-piece swimsuit with the sides cut out and a plunging v-neck exposes her abs and some major cleavage. The black strip down the middle covers her belly button, but not much else. It is high cut around her hips which lets just a little of her ass cheeks peek out. Her tan, sweaty skin is glowing in the heat of the Georgia air. I clench my fists because I want so badly to walk over there and throw her over my shoulder, caveman style, and take her upstairs. “Do it,” my stupid dick twitches in agreement.
As she dances, she looks so carefree. Laughing, smiling and shaking her ass in rhythm to the beat.
“Bro, just go dance with her,” Clay tells me.
“Yeah, if you don’t, Chris is going to,” Big Easy, one of our linemen, says and nods toward the opposite side of the dancefloor where one of our classmates is practically standing on his own tongue staring at her.
“Seriously, Jess, man the fuck up,” Clay pushes harder. Being one of my closet friends, besides Stanzy and Rollie, he knows about as much about as anyone. Which includes the fact that I have a mad crush on her.
“Fuck it.”
“Fuck yeah!” Clay shouts.
“Yeah, buddy. You getch yo girl,” Big Easy says with a smile.
I walk out on the dancefloor just as Burnin’ It Down by Jason Aldean comes on. Perfect.
I walk up behind her and wrap an arm around her waist through the cut out piece of her swimsuit so my arm is flush with her skin. Pulling her into my chest she freezes for a minute, probably from the unexpected contact and hopefully not from the fact that it’s me.
Fuck, she feels good in my arms. She smells like lilacs and I’m sporting a semi almost instantly.
“Hey,” she says with a smile as she turns her head to look up at me. I can tell she’s been drinking. She’s teetering on drunk and she’s definitely more fluid with her movements than normal.
“Want to dance?” I ask as I slowly run my thumb along the ridges of her abs. I can see the goosebumps rise and cover her skin to my touch.
“We already are,” she says with a snort, which is somehow adorable coming from her.
Then she starts swaying her hips to the song in a slow, sensual movement and adorable flies out the window as sexy-as-fuck takes over. An alarm goes off in my brain. ABORT! But it’s too late. My dick is hard as a rock and screaming to be let out of my swim trunks.
No, I’m not running away this year. I was scared to ruin to our friendship because I caught feelings, but fuck, we’re not friends anymore anyway.
As we continue grinding on each other, her ass to my crotch, I press my erection into her. She immediately spins around to face me and ever so slowly lowers her gaze to where my dick is straining against the fabric.
“What’s that?” she asks innocently.
“That is what you do to me all the fucking time,” I lean and whisper in her ear. Inhaling her sweet scent as I do.
“Oh,” she says too softly to hear over the music, but I can read her lips. Then a smile spreads over her face. “I’m glad he came to the party.”
I laugh and she wraps her arms around my neck. Her breath smells like something fruity, margarita maybe. I don’t drink, so I have no idea what it is, but judging from her very pink tongue that just darted out of her perfectly kissable mouth, it was something strawberry.
“You’ve been drinking?”
“Yup! Strawberry daiquiris. They’re soooo delicious.” She’s not quite slurring, but she’s definitely not sober.
“Are you staying at Lou’s?”
“Yeah, the whole volleyball always does when Lou throws a party. Along with everyone else who passes out too. You should stay with us!” She’s so excited by this idea, but I don’t want our first time hanging out together in a year to be when she’s hammered and I’m so hard I won’t be able to control myself.
“I can’t. Clay and I are staying at his house.”
“Is he the reason you never come over anymore?” she asks with a pout.
“No, he’s the reason,” I reply and point to my dick which is still hard despite my efforts to calm down.
She giggles.
“Well, if you’re looking to put him to good use, I’m game.”
Fuck. Me. Walk away, man. Not like this.
“Another night.” When you’re sober. But I don’t say that part out loud.
She makes another pouty face, but resumes dancing with me. For the next few hours we dance, swim and she drinks two more daiquiris. Being this close to her again feels like home. I knew I missed her, but it actually feels like a missing puzzle piece has been found and I’m complete again.
I’ve always needed her to be whole.
Chapter 6: Stanzy
I walk into Mr. Dowling’s English class Monday morning, snagging two desks in the back and wait for Staley. I’m glad she’s going to be in here with me. Mr. Dowling is a snooze fest and I’ll need her to pay attention when I doze off. She lives for classes like this.
I look around the room at the pictures of old men in fluffy white wigs and weird collars. They look like dogs, post-surgery, wearing the cone of shame.
“Hey,” a baritone voice cuts through my thoughts. I turn to see the desk I was saving for Staley occupied by Jessup. What the actual fuck? I didn’t expect him to be my friend all of a sudden again.
Saturday night was one thing. Thoughts of his hands all over me that night have been invading my brain. The way they were raking over my body, it was electric. Dancing with him, his hard dick pressing against me, knowing that I made that happen. I may be a virgin, but I know what that means. It means he liked what we were doing, but I had no expectation that it would be anything more than that.
I hate that we’re not friends anymore. I hate that I’m jealous of all the other girls he’s been with and touched the way he touched me Saturday. I hate that I can’t control how I feel about him anymore. I just hate all of it.
But, what did I do that caused him to abandon our friendship so abruptly? I know he�
��s a badass on the football field, hot as hell, and the girls at this school fight over him. I mean, one girl ripped out another’s hair extensions in the cafeteria last year arguing over who he would take to homecoming. He didn’t take either of them and went with his boys.
He was mine at one time. Not in the way he’s been with other girls, but his heart was mine. He’d do anything for me and I would do the same for him. We’ve had each other’s backs for as long as I can remember.
When Braeden Breckwood asked to kiss me in sixth grade I freaked out. I thought I was going to be bad at it, so Jess kissed me to prove I wasn’t. He said it was the best kiss of his life. It was his only kiss at that point, mine too, but he made me feel confident. I never ended up kissing Braeden after that.
In 4th grade Harrison Schneider told me that Santa wasn’t real, I cried for three days. Jess’ family didn’t believe in Santa and never celebrated Christmas, but he never ruined it for me. He was always excited to hear what Santa brought us and just hugged me until the tears stopped when that belief was crushed.
Freshman year, Caroline Gilroy, a senior and the resident mean girl, put gum on my chair in art class and it got stuck to my white shorts. Jess helped me clean it off so I didn’t have to walk around school with gum stuck to my ass all day.
So this whole new dynamic that began Saturday, and is apparently continuing today, is thrilling and very fucking confusing.
“Hey, Jess,” I reply with a smile. “What’s up?”
“Not much. Coming to the game Friday night?” He smiles and I swoon again. Stop it! I look down at my traitor of a heart that is beating out of my chest. Of course his teeth are perfectly straight and bright white. He never even had braces. He’s just that perfect.
I glance down and his fingers are so long, so, so long. Hands are my thing. If a guy has gross, stubby hands, I’m out. Jess’ are long, clean, and basically flawless as far as hands go. They’re large and a bit rough from all the yard work he does to earn money. But they manly hands. Thoughts of those hands on me creep back in again and I can feel body heat.
“Yeah, for sure. Wouldn’t miss it. Staley and I love football Friday nights.” That isn’t a lie. High school football on Friday nights is a staple at every Georgia high school, and with a team as good ours, people come from all over to watch the boys play. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Jessup is the top-ranked recruit in the state this season.
“So, Staley is coming too?”
“Yeah, we go pretty much everywhere together. Even before we were born.” Lame ass joke, Stanzy. I mentally slap myself. Why am I so nervous? He knows you’re a twin. Just shut up.
He laughs at my stupid comment because Jessup always laughed at my stupid jokes. “Yeah, kinda hard not to in your situation.”
“Stanz, what’s up?” Staley interrupts our brief conversation. She is hovering over me and is giving me a look that says what the actual fuck? She had a front row seat to the grindfest Saturday night but is just as confused as I am that Jessup is talking to me right now.
“Hey, um, Jess was just wondering if we were going to the game Friday.”
“Duh,” Staley replies with an eye roll and heads to an open desk two in front of me.
“Was this seat saved for Staley?” Jessup asks. “I can move.”
“Don’t bother! She’d rather sit by you!” Staley shouts from her new seat. I can feel my face flush with embarrassment. Staley has her phone out and soon mine buzzes with an incoming text.
Staley: “Guess who stole my seat so he could sit by Stanz today?”
Mary Lou: “Harry Styles?”
Staley: “No, hotter.”
Mary Lou: “Hotter than Harry? That man does not exist.”
Staley: “Jessup.”
Mary Lou: “Jessup fucking Rhodes, Jessup? WHAT?!!??!?!? Yeah, he’s way hotter. I was wrong.”
Me: “Can you two stop? Class is about to start. It’s not that big of a deal.”
Mary Lou: “Fucking hell it’s not! I think I’m pregnant after watching you guys dance at my party.”
Me: “MARY LOU ELLEN ALBRIGHT!!!”
Staley: “Oh, she three named you. You’re in trouble, Lou.”
Stanzy: “He’s a friend. Now shut up.”
Mary Lou: “He used to be a friend. Now he’s a fucking 10 with a foot long dick you should ride.”
Staley: “Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!”
Stanzy: “You’re both dead to me.”
“All right! Phones away. Your Insty-Twittering or whatever can wait forty minutes. Class has begun,” Mr. Dowling announces as he enters the room.
A collective groan sounds out that Mr. Dowling proceeds to ignore.
“Senior year. Research paper. Be afraid, ladies and gentlemen, be very afraid,” Mr. Dowling tells us as he rubs his hands together like a mad scientist.
The biggest deal in all of Cathedral High School academics is the dreaded senior year English research paper. “Twenty-five pages minimum, at least fifteen cited sources, and a topic that is relevant to you and society.”
As Mr. Dowling rants and raves about the research project, which doesn’t scare me in the least. I have Staley, who could write a hundred pages in her sleep, living across the hall from me.
I sneak glances over at Jessup. His profile is divine and I’m staring so hard I zone out memorizing his features. Jessup Rhodes is the most beautiful man in the world. Caramel colored skin, Kardashian enviable lips, high-cut cheekbones and a jawline that could slice cheese. Midnight black eyelashes fan his piercing root beer colored eyes. He’s a young Shemar Moore.
God, when he did he become a man? I feel like I’ve missed a century not just a year.
He’s so muscular. The scrawny boy I used to try to tackle in the park is long gone. He turned fifteen and bam! He’s all chest, shoulders and abs with an ass like a small globe that fills out his pants. Ugh. He’s perfect.
Those chocolate eyes that would be red from crying when he’d sneak into my room are now deep and mysterious. There are secrets in there that I’m not privy to anymore. So many things I don’t know about him. For one, I don’t know who he lost his virginity to. There are three girls that all claim to be his first. A pang of jealously hits me straight in the gut. He used to tell me who he was crushing on and it never bothered me. Now the thought pisses me right off. Thinking of Jessup in bed with someone else makes me feel ill. He was always in my bed. Snuggling with me. He was mine until he wasn’t.
“That’s all for today,” Mr. Dowling concludes just as the bell chimes. I’ve been staring at Jessup’s face for almost a solid forty minutes. Holy shit.
“So, am I up to your standards?” he asks as we gather our books. “Better or worse than you remember?”
“Excuse me?”
“Well, you were staring the whole class? Like what you see or not?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I pause. My heart racing with my lie. “I was sleeping with my eyes open. Dowling is boring and I need more coffee.” Jesus, you suck at lying.
“You’re still a shitty liar, Stanz,” he says with a smirk. The corner of his lip turning up just a titch like it did when he used to tease me.
“She does that,” Staley jumps to my rescue. “It’s fucking creepy.”
“Interesting. I never knew that about you,” Jessup pauses in thought. “Think I could learn more about your weird sleeping habits over dinner?”
I freeze. Can’t move, can’t speak, can’t function. Goodbye confident, self-assured woman, hello drooling infant who can’t speak.
“She’d love to. Saturday works for her. Pick her up at our house at six. She has a ten o’clock curfew. Okay, bye,” Staley rambles and grabs me by the arm, yanking me from my desk and shoving me into the hallway. Jessup just sits there, confused I’m sure.
“What the shit was that?” Staley is clearly annoyed with me.
“I have no idea.”
“You drool over him for forty minutes, then he asks y
ou out and you don’t even answer him? Since when are you afraid of guys?”
“Since guys are now Jessup Rhodes. I knew Jessup ‘pre-puberty’ Rhodes. Our conversations were mostly about football, comic books, the Atlanta Falcons and ice cream.” And some other deep Rhodes family secrets that aren’t mine to share even though I think most suspect some things aren’t right in that house.
“Annnnd?” She holds out her arms to the sides as if to say what else?
“Fudge sticks! I have no idea!” I wail and throw my head back for dramatic effect. “Dating isn’t my thing. That’s your thing.”
We turn to walk down the hallway toward our next class. A few of our classmates say hello as we pass, but I’m too busy thinking about Jessup to reply.
“What about Bentley? And, you went to homecoming with Colin last year and went on a date with Parker last spring.” Staley keeps spouting off my limited dating resume like it’s going to calm me down.
“Yeah, and remember how that ended? I kneed Parker in the balls.”
“Well he was a complete asshole for trying to feel you up before the movie even started.”
“Yeah, he deserved to have his nuts crushed. I didn’t even get popcorn before he went all pervy.”
“For sure,” she agrees. “But this is Jessup, the kid we grew up with. It won’t be the same.”
“Wrong. Although he’s probably too much of a gentleman to be a Parker, he’s definitely not the Jessup we knew. You saw him Saturday night. Did that look like Jess to you?”
“Yeah, no. Lou was right. That was so fucking hot. He has rhythm and those hips. Jesus.”
“Right? And ever since Saturday I’m seeing penises everywhere. The clouds? Penis shaped. Everywhere I go people seem to be eating bananas. Mama had a cucumber in the fridge and I couldn’t even look at it. And, I even thought I saw a penis on the side of a bus. Do you know what it was? It was an ad for cologne and the bottle just happens to look like a dick when turned on its side. I’m going penis crazy!”
Completion (Cambria University Series Book 3) Page 5
