She chuckles, and I pause and relish in it, then continue.
“But when he did, she turned out to be this badass chick that has him so wrapped around her black-painted finger, she didn’t even realize. Not when he stared at her like she was his world. Or fantasized kissing her just because.” I shrug, and she looks at me, gulps hard, while staring at me.
“He sounds like a pussy,” she scoffs and looks back onto the road, but I catch a flash of a smile before she does.
“He is, especially since he doesn’t even know what they are…” I let my words fade, and she drives on, jaw set and a look of struggling on her face. I let her drive in silence and sit back, focusing on the vibrant trees we pass. As the car hounds on, my friends in tow in Ty’s truck, I wonder how her friends even found this so-called hidden spring. She told me they were hiking one day and stumbled upon it. I call bullshit, but I don’t want to create any bad vibes toward them without meeting them.
I’m meeting her friends.
It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it is. Meeting them officially creates a tie between her and me, as will her bonding with Mike and Ty and my other friends. We are walking one step closer to being something. And being something with this girl is more than anything, and I will gladly jump on it. God, I’m a pussy. But she makes me feel different, better…happier. And if that makes me a pussy, well, so the hell what? As long as I can sneak a glance and catch her glancing back a few seconds later, I’ll take any fucking title.
Thirty minutes later, the sun has set and we’re among the trees, driving down a dirt path. Her Chevy Impala cruises up, and I look around in curiosity. I think swimming in November in any kind of outdoor water will result in pneumonia.
“Are you sure this hot spring is…you know, hot? Enough, at least?” I ask her as we slow down. It looks like we’re in the middle of nowhere, until the car shuts off and I hear distinct splashing and laughter and loud music.
She chuckles, directed at me. “Yes, dummy. We wouldn’t come out here if it wasn’t.”
“No need for name calling.” I smile as she rolls her eyes and swings out of the car. I follow behind and wait for my friends to hop out of the truck before following her to her friends. They’re surrounded by a raging fire, drinking and laughing and talking loudly over some rap song. So far, so good. They don’t look too fucked up.
As she walks over and talks to a girl with pink-tipped black hair wearing shorts and a black bikini, I look around aimlessly. I don’t really know what to do. I feel way out of place, more so than my friends, who have already gravitated toward the cooler full of beers and branched out to talk and mingle. Maybe I didn’t read How to Make Friends when I was younger. Or I’m latching onto what Red called them in the car.
“Joey!” I hear a girl yell before a loud splash splits into the air.
I turn to the sound and creep up to a group of guys, all staring down. I look over and feel my heart drop. The way down to the hot spring is ridiculous, maybe twenty feet long. I feel my heartbeat rise and clash as the girl pops up and directs her middle finger up at the guys, who I’m guessing pushed her. A few other people are down there, splashing and playing games of chicken. As I’m wondering how deep the spring actually is, hands nudge at my back.
I whip around and face Red, who’s laughing like a hyena. “Jesus Christ, Red! You almost gave me a damn heart attack!”
“Oh, calm down, baby.” She reaches up and taps my nose. I swat her hand away, and she laughs again. I can’t help but smile at her sudden mood change from when she was in the car. There isn’t anything for her to worry about anyway; her friends seem pretty chill. Heavily tatted and pierced, but chill nonetheless.
“Can I take you to meet some people, or are you going to scream like a little bitch again?” she asks, cocking her head to the side.
“What is with the name calling? Did I ever hurt you?” I playfully slap my chest, and she rolls her eyes. She grabs my wrist and winds us between grinding bodies and people smoking to a group of people.
“Guys, I want you to meet Noah.” She sounds nervous, and it makes me weirdly smiley. “Noah, this is Sarah, Neo, Lola, and Vince.”
“Hey.” Sarah, wearing an American-flag shirt and jeans, nods at me the same time Lola chirps, “Hi!” Lola twists her platinum blonde hair and winks at me with hazel brown eyes and moves her hips to manipulate me into checking her out. But I merely examine her outfit—a black leather crop top under a jean jacket and a short red skirt.
Neo raises his hand. “’Sup.” He looks like the typical stoner with his long brown hair tucked under a dark beanie, wearing a leather vest and a silver chain.
And Vince just nods at me. He looks like a supreme phantom of the badass, in his Levi jeans and black shirt and cropped black hair. His muscles pop under his crossed arms, and I wonder if he did it to come off as intimidating. He just looks like an asshole, but I’m really trying not to judge, though he’s making it hard by the stare-down he’s giving me.
“Nice to meet you all,” I say honestly, minus Vince.
“Can I ask you a question?” asks Neo.
“Sure,” I say as Red spits, “No.”
Lola snickers. “Let him ask it, Red.”
“Don’t you need to pop your tiny ass on some douchebag?” Red sneers, and I momentarily wonder if they’re friends or not. But they could be the best of friends and Red just gets harsh when pissed off. I mean, she does it with me and we’re…I don’t even know, but she’s not so different with me, which kind of hurts. But I’ve learned it’s who she is.
“I do, but I was waiting for him.” Lola bats her long, fake eyelashes and tries to saunter over to me, but Red holds a hand out to my chest and growls. Quite literally. My heart soars like a bald eagle for some reason.
“Hold up, Lola. Do you want to get a black eye?” Sarah laughs as she yanks her tiny friend back, who pouts and winks at me. Again, Red growls, and my heart does a flapper dance.
Neo is laughing his skinny ass off, too entertained by the weird moment to finish asking his question.
“I think what Neo was trying to ask was…” His brown eyes swivel to my green ones, and he plays with the lip ring in the middle of his fat lower lip with a vicious smirk. “How are you still with her after—”
“Shut the fuck up, Vince,” Red snaps, and I move to hold her hand and calm her down, but she yanks it away and side-eyes me. “Can you just go away for a bit? I need to talk to my friends.” Her tone is sharp and not easy to fight with, so, with a damaged ego, I nod and walk over to the cliff.
What the hell is going on? Things were kind of going well, before Vince, the seemingly a-hole, finished Neo’s question, which doesn’t even make sense. But in his defense, he didn’t get to finish before Red stomped on it and pushed me away. I feel like an idiot somehow, even though I was just trying to know her friends.
Sighing, I look over my shoulder to the group and a fuming Red, who tries her best to keep her tone low and secretive.
“Are you guys stupid? Do you not want your—” she begins to rage, when Mike steps into my line of vision.
“That time of the month?” he asks with a smile, referring to Red.
“Fuck off.” I hit his shoulder. “And no. I don’t think so. It’s just so weird. One minute her friends and I were sort of talking and the next she commands I step away after this guy asked some question that resulted in Red blowing the hell up. And I have no idea how to react,” I rant a bit and look over at them again. They’re all glancing over at me and smirking, which sets me on edge and makes me feel self-conscious.
“Girlfriend’s friends are always assholes. It’s just a thing.” He shrugs, grabbing my attention. “Sometimes you’re lucky and you bond with them. Other times…you just miss bullseye and are caught between making friends with them, or not and coming off as a douche even when they’re the problem. It’s best to just be buddy-buddy, to appease the lady.”
“Easier said than done,” I mumble.
“Hey, sorry to interrupt.” Red sidles up to me, glancing at Mike.
“It’s okay. I was gonna get another beer anyway.” Mike holds up his empty Corona, then walks away.
“Vince here has something to say.” Red nudges her “friend” while giving me a grin.
I look to Vince and find he’s smirking at me. But it caves into a sigh when Red nudges him harder.
“About earlier, I interpreted something totally wrong. My bad, honestly.” Everything he just said sounds rehearsed and makes me uncomfortable and suspicious. I try not to side-eye Red and hound her with questions and just give him a nod.
“No problem, man,” I tell him with a forced smile.
“Now that we have that out of the way…” Red reaches down and pulls off her shirt. I lick my lips and push my hands in my jeans, admiring her lacy red lingerie. And then she unzips her jeans and kicks off her boots. And I’m panting over her in my head, and she winks at me, as if she can read my mind. And I blush. “Let’s get to jumping.”
Jumping?
“Into the springs, idiot.” She pushes Vince out of the way, and I notice him ogling after her as he walks away. I make fists and glare at him, ready to punch that freaking smug expression off his face. “Calm down, Rocky,” she teases in my ear, reaching for my clutched hands.
“But…” I begin, then sigh and look at her staring at my lips. I smirk and push my hands through her hair, cupping the back of her neck. She plays with her lip ring with her tongue as I feel multiple eyes on me. “Let’s jump, okay?”
“I suggested it first,” she says, and I pull away, rolling my eyes.
I reach down and pull off my gray t-shirt. Her eyes not so subtly fall onto my chest and fall down and down as I slowly pull down my jeans. I hear a few whistles and woots from passing girls, but they all run away when Red growls at them. Is this going to be a thing? Because, if so, I can definitely get used to it, to her claiming me. I chuckle as I take off my shoes and socks, leaving them in a pile next to other clothes.
When I stand and face her, she’s biting her lip and her eyes have darkened. My skin tingles with goosebumps that definitely aren’t a result of the cool temperature. Her stare is fixed and ravenous. I walk up to her and tip her head back using my index finger. She sucks in a breath as I curve my finger down her neck, then lean down and whisper against her lips, “Are you going to stare at me all night…or are we going to jump?” I mock her from earlier in the car when she was mocking me.
Realizing this, her eyes dim, and she pushes me away. “Fuck you, prep.”
“Anytime.” I walk over to her, biting my lip. “Anyplace.”
She begins to reply when Lola yells out a battle call and winks at me over her shoulder. She murmurs a long list of curses before grabbing my hand and walking us over to the cliff. Pushing people away, we stand at the front, and suddenly I’m very aware that I don’t know how deep it is. What if it’s shallow in a majority of the water, and only the jumpers know where the deep area is, and I break my neck and die?
“What? Pissing your pants, prep?” Red whispers in my ear. I can feel her smirk without looking at her.
I look at her, and she is indeed smirking, with an unknown emotion crossing her mesmerizing blue eyes. What did she just say? I frown at her teasing me and tug on her hand, pulling her and me off the cliff. The wind rushes up, too fast and too hard. My ears pop, and I hear her scream out jubilantly before we smack into the water. Laughter and the loud rap song fades out as we sink and idle in the clear water.
My limbs feel like jelly and my movements slow as I look for her. A few seconds later, I find her swimming toward me with the biggest, most beautiful smile. I have to kiss her, and I have to do it now. I swim over to her, the stars and moon above staring down at me, and I grab her face and kiss her with everything I have. My lungs are squeezing and my body is fizzing with so many emotions.
But all I can do is kiss her and feel her lips part and just know she is sighing in contentment. I smile against her lips and she does too, and my heart soars and races and beats…all for her, because of her. I pull her closer, and our bodies turn and turn and trace through the water. We are one and I never want to let go. Ever.
But my lungs being the bitches they are scream at me, and we’re forced to swim to the surface. My ears pop, and I gasp for a large grab of air. My lungs fill joyfully, and I ruin their party by kissing her again. Deeply and openly, I kiss my beautiful Red, who I have admittedly fallen so damn deep and hard for. I’m cupping her face under the stars and galaxy and people shouting after us when three words pop up in my head, and I scream it in the form of our shared laughter and her squeals as I spin us around in the water…
I love you.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Will practice ever ease up?” I huff out as I hobble back into the living room. It’s the next day after the cliff, and I just got finished up with football practice. We have a football game in a week, so Coach has been pushing us hard today. He desperately wants us to continue our winning streak, but that’ll be difficult to do if we can barely walk.
“Never.” Mike grins as we head to our lockers. I roll my eyes but gingerly pull off my soaked gray muscle tank top. “So,” he says and glances at me with a knowing smile. “You and Red…”
My throat clenches.
I love you. My thought from yesterday circles in my head at the thought of her.
“What about us?” I ask him in my calmest voice. I still can’t believe I had that thought. I don’t regret it or anything; it just surprised the hell out of me. I’ve never loved someone before, and it’s scary as shit.
He chuckles. “You guys seemed to have a great time last night. Are you guys, like, serious or anything?”
“Why? Thought you had a chance with her?” I tease, and he tosses his stinky shirt at me. I smirk and throw it back in his face, but he only laughs and dumps it in his gym bag.
“Nah, but you guys look like you’re getting pretty heavy,” he says.
I pause as I’m pulling off my sweatpants. I love you…the words echo, but I find myself shaking my head. “Not anything like that. But we have been doing great so far. I don’t want to ruin it by saying or doing something stupid, you know?” A buzz floats in the air from somewhere in my gym bag. I fish out my phone as he speaks.
“If she freaks out, then there’s no point in a relationship at all,” he says earnestly. “Plus, I haven’t seen her this happy in a long while. Not after…” He pauses, and I flick my eyes up at him from my phone. He’s looking down at the floor, and I wait for him to continue. But he doesn’t.
“After what?” I ask him, then look back down at my phone.
There’s a text from my mother asking about my studies. I delete it. Neither she nor my father deserves to check up on me after throwing me in this place. I’m still pretty pissed off about it.
When I look back at him, he’s smiling forcibly. “Nothing. I didn’t mean anything.” He pauses and lets out a breath. “We should hit the showers, you especially. You smell like the sewer shit on you.”
I punch his arm as he passes me. “Fuck off,” I jest and glance at my phone. “And I’ll be right behind you. I’m gonna ask what Red’s up to later.”
After he leaves, I text Red.
Noah: How do you feel about grabbing a bite at the diner?
She doesn’t respond after a few seconds, so I leave my phone in the locker and jog to the showers.
After two hours of no reply, I decide to follow up as I’m studying with Rachel for a chemistry test this week.
Noah: Dinner then?
No response after a little over three hours.
My next text is when I’m playing a video game with Ty and Mike and a few other guys.
Noah: Hey, are you okay? You’re not responding. Just let me know. Please.
Thirty minutes later when I’m working on a project for the art club, I text her again.
Noah: Red? Are you okay?
And then, a few ho
urs later past midnight when I’m climbing in bed.
Noah: red?
***
A week. Red has been gone for an entire week. Days have passed and no word from her, my resolve has crumbled to nothing, and my concern has grown an unfathomable amount. I call and text and leave voicemail after voicemail, but she ignores them all. I often think of what could have possibly made her act like that, flee without an explanation.
Whatever is going on with her, I hope she is okay. I just wish she’d let me help her. Be there for her. Whatever it is makes me wonder. Why does she always leave me?
The little bell above the door chimes as I walk into Joe’s Diner.
“The usual?” Majesty asks from behind the cashier. She wields a look I’ve been encountering every day Red’s been MIA—sympathy.
“Yeah,” I answer around an exhausted smile. I’m just coming from a football practice, and I’m sore from head to toe. I’ll be joining the guys at a local gym they visit a few times a week, but I promised to meet them there. “Have you…?” I trail off, taking my seat on the red stool at the countertop.
“No, I’m sorry.” Her eyes drop to the counter she’s wiping with a rag. My heart sinks a little more each time she says that. I’ve been coming here for a week, asking for updates on Red, but I just get the same answer each time. I thought since they were best friends, Red would have at least told her where she was going or why she left—but no. She left everyone in the dark. It hurts even more because she didn’t even leave me one shred of light.
Majesty’s kind of my solace, apart from working out and painting, this past week.
“It’s all right.” I take the mug of black coffee she pushes toward me.
“It isn’t, though.” Her brown eyes search mine. “You have bags under your eyes. She’ll come back around. You shouldn’t stress yourself out.”
“How do you know?” I run my hands over my hair. I want to rip it out from all the frustration packed under my skin. I end up cupping the mug and staring at a coffee stain on the counter.
Red: Burning Desire (Spectrum Series Book 7) Page 22
