sarcastically, like he just proposed an all-time dumbass, award-winning suggestion that I knew he would.
“Yeah, right…let me race over and try that so she can tell me to piss off for the hundredth time.”
He spits out another chuckle like this is funny. “Well, have you actually ever tried…I mean really tried?”
“What?!” The question floors me. “Of course I have. Did you not see me at the Halloween party? She went ballistic as soon as I said a word and I won’t even go into the ‘go to hell’ look she gives me in class. Seriously, have you ever seen someone that can give a look that damn hateful.” I sigh, looking at the roaring blaze. “It’s pretty hot, actually,” I quip back to myself more so, raising my brows and cocking my head to the side as I conjure up her glare. Oh yeah, that is pretty hot.
Judd shakes his head and laughs. “Yeah, pissed off looks pretty good on some girls, but a lot of good that’ll do you. You should talk to her…like actually talk to her and maybe try listening instead of trying to glamour her with your quick wit and endless sarcasm.”
Snickering at his evaluation of our run-ins, I notice the women making it back towards the fire armed with packages of hotdogs and the fixings for an old-fashion Boy Scout camp fire.
Watching her, a strange sense of dread creeps over me. I’m unsure of what to expect if we actually do talk. She has every right not to trust me; I wouldn’t trust me if I were her.
“I’ll try,” I pause, studying her face from afar as she walks closer. Damn, was she always this beautiful? “But if she tears me a new one, expect me to drag your sex-addicted ass out of bed to kick it.”
“Oh shit…I’m not agreeing to that, because I’m sure she’ll eat you alive,” Judd jokes and I grin, leaning my head back against my clasped hands.
“That she will.” I smile, but on the inside I’m dying.
Not even Judd knows the whole story. I already betrayed her faith in me; I won’t do it again. It was an act on impulse, but nonetheless, I screwed her over in one single minute, then my brother did the rest.
The rest of the evening carries on pretty smooth with the group in a sort of division; Abby, Piper and their hunks on one side and Alyssa, Judd, me and Skylar on the other. Thankfully, my brother is a no show.
So far the main topic across the fire has been football and makeup. I stay out of both subjects, tormented by playing with Skylar’s thigh and gritting my teeth every time that jerk-off touches Piper’s leg. Her comfort level with his grubby hands bothers me even more, but I’m not sure why. After what I saw this summer, I’m confident she is over any phobias she had with men. That’s bittersweet for me. I in no way want her tortured for the rest of her life, but I thought I was the key to fixing it; she made me feel like I was anyway.
“I’m heading in, unless…” Skylar stands beside me, flirtatiously running her foot over my thigh.
I glance past her, not quite bothered by her public aggression, but curious. Piper stands swiftly, mumbling something to the others before jetting off across the parking lot. She doesn’t once look back or look in my direction, but the way her arms swing at her sides and her feet stomp into the ground as if Mother Nature just pissed her the hell off, tells me that something is definitely under her skin. Dipping my face into a frown, I take a quick look at her “stud”. A bit of anger festers inside of me with the thought that he did something inappropriate or without permission. I’ve sat here all night with them in perfect sight, and although I kept my focus away from her as much as possible, I don’t see how he could have gotten something like that past me.
“Soooo…” Skylar draws out in a questioning tone as if she just asked me something, only I haven’t a clue what.
“Huh?”
“Do you want company?”
I stand up in front of her as everyone else starts to
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