His spanking threat set my body on fire. He then strutted away with a sly comment aimed at Storm. “If my brother’s dick falls off. We’ll be having words.”
She flipped him off before turning her attention to me and Molly.
“Does drama just naturally follow you two around?” Storm grumbled once all the guys were in the pool.
We all stood in a line in awe as we watched the men now acting like little boys in the water, splashing around, laughing, and shooting the shit. Hudson was inspecting Reed’s back with a toothy grin, and Michael Dexter was keeping Phoenix away from Cash and Josh.
“Are you going to tell me what happened?”
Molly and I turned to Storm, but Verity spoke first. “It was just how it looked, Storm. The boys were fighting over Harper.”
“Wow, that must be a first,” she blurted back, not realising how rude she sounded until Molly shot her a dark look. “Oh, sorry. No offense.”
I rolled my eyes and then smiled at her aghast expression. “None taken.”
I lowered myself onto the lounger and grabbed my sunscreen.
And then we all got comfortable and indulged ourselves in some much-needed girl talk. The main subjects were about bathing suits and whether we agreed that Crocs were back in fashion. And we didn’t mention boys and their stupid ways once, until Verity asked. “What’s wrong with Reed’s dick?”
NINE
HARPER
And I waswasted.
But it was a good wasted. I could still string a sentence together without slavering, but my body had that floaty sensation, a mild euphoria.
Phoenix was right, I couldn’t take my liquor, but I wasn’t anywhere close to the hurling stage. I didn’t feel sick, moody, or teary—just contented, and like a normal teenage girl for once.
Once the guys came back from the pool, Molly had managed to get Hudson to chill the fuck out and allow me to do what kids my age did. It wasn’t as if I were drinking unsupervised; there were still some grown-ups there. Mayor Summers had introduced himself at one point and didn’t appear bothered that we were all underage. He just told us to go steady.
As the party carried on into the evening, most of the adults had left, leaving a sea of college students and a handful of high schoolers. Storm was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Reed; Molly said something about seeing them heading towards the maze.
After around an hour of dope-ass beats thumping into the air, the DJ had toned down the music to something more subtle, reading the room. A BBQ had supplied those guests left with much-needed sustenance, and everyone was feeling more relaxed.
The sun was gradually going down, though it still highlighted parts of the neatly trimmed boxwood hedging of the maze. And of course it would, if Storm was in there, why wouldn’t the sun follow her?
There had been no further altercations with Phoenix and Cash, but the atmosphere between them was still tense.
After spending some time in the pool, those of us left were sprawled out by the loungers, drinking and playing truth or dare. At least, the girls were; the boys were talking about the best Christmas movie. I had to go with Phoenix on that one: Die Hard. Molly wasn’t in agreement, stating that it wasn’t a Christmas movie and chose Santa Claus. Lame. I found it amusing that Hudson agreed with her. He was such a liar. His girl had Hudson’s balls in her purse, and everyone knew it.
That sense of normality was welcomed. I felt confident and not out of place in our group. I had even stripped back down to my bikini until it became cooler. Hudson had passed me his football jersey until Phoenix came back from another trip to the bar and told me to take it off. Nix then removed the black hoodie he’d pulled on over his wife-beater and passed it to me. It made me feel warm even before I’d tugged it on, like I was his girl or something. I knew the alcohol was partly to blame for that.
Hudson had taken his jersey back with a knowing smirk, to which Nix had given him the finger. Hud was the only one sober. He was driving and would never drive drunk. Especially considering that was how Molly’s mother had been killed. Molly had indulged herself with a couple of beers and a shot of tequila. It was the first time I had ever seen her tipsy. And like everything else, Molly even did drunk, cute.
As I had tugged on Phoenix’s hoodie, I inhaled his scent. Wow, he smelled good. I was still buzzing from his jealous behavior, having had time to dissect that with Molly and Verity once Storm had gone off with Reed.
“Do you think you’ll ever have kids?” Molly suddenly asked with a glazed expression.
“Are we still playing the game, or are you asking for real?”
“For real,” she said.
I shrugged, smiling as Hudson shifted behind her, clearly uncomfortable.
“Probably,” I replied, focusing anywhere but Phoenix.
“OK, baby. I think you’ve had enough,” Hudson grimaced, gently plucking the half-empty beer from her fingers and placing it on the table with the suncreams. Molly was sitting between his muscled thighs with her legs outstretched. My grin widened as she shot him the stink-eye over her shoulder.
