“There’s a place a few miles down where we can hop back off the river. There's supposed to be a parking lot,” Brandon told the cameraman. “Can you meet us there with the bus?”
“Yeah, sure. Can’t take the camera on the water anyway,” he said, turning off his camera for once and heading back towards the trail. I watched him go, feeling relieved. Yet weirdly anxious as well. I watched the cameraman walk away until I couldn’t see him at all.
12
Two hours later and we were hanging around the pickup areastillwaiting for the cameraman to show up with the bus. He was taking his sweet ass time. He should have been at the pickup stop before we even arrived in the floats. Instead, we’d been here an hour, wondering where he was at.
Ava was having a good time though, so I didn’t feel too agitated waiting. My bandmates had stayed true to their word, being friendly but nottoofriendly. They’d just roped her into a Marco Polo game and she was wandering around with her eyes closed, arms out, yelling “Marco”. A small collection of “Polo” screamed out as the guys shifted around in the water.
“Cas, come help me with this,” Brandon said, tugging the cooler towards the shore. They’d decided to skip the ice so we could keep our phones, shoes, and clothes in there along with the beers.
I glided over to him underwater, breathing in the freshwater before popping up and grabbing the other end of the cooler. Brandon eyed me strangely.
“You never take a breath when you come up,” he commented. I shrugged in response. There was no reason to explain myself. It wasn’t as if a normal person would entertain me being nonhuman and just as I expected, he let it go. Everyone always did.
We lifted the cooler from the water and carried it up the shore into the small gravel parking area where the bus should have already been. When I turned to head back to Ava, Brandon spoke up.
“Ava is cool,” he said and I sighed, turning around to face him.
“This plan to ask her to tour with us is stupid. I’m not letting that happen.”
“And just why the hell not? We all get what we want, right?” Brandon was already aggravated, his body tensing. I peeled my shirt from my skin and shrugged. I didn’t feel like explaining myself.
“Fuck, we just want to keep touring! We’re about to hit it big. What were all those years of hard work for when you just quit right when it’s starting to happen for us?” He asked.
“My goals were never the same as yours.”
“What the hell does that even mean?” He asked, his eyes slipping behind me towards the river. It meant that all I had wanted was Ava to notice me as something other than her old stepbrother and friend, but now things were nearly perfect. I didn’t need to keep doing anything else except take care of her. I wasn’t going to explain that to him though. It wouldn’t sound sane to a human man.
Brandon stepped a little closer to me, a fake smile stretching over his face.
“How about, if you don’t agree, I’ll seduce her,” he threatened. A laugh burst out of me.
“Sure, go for it,” I replied. Brandon frowned, clearly unhappy with my reaction. His eyes slid over my shoulder and he sucked his lip in his mouth. “You’re gay, Brandon. I’m well aware you and Matthias are together.”
“What doyouknow? Sexuality is fluid and Ava, well, she’s a lovely girl, isn’t she?” He didn’t stand a chance with Ava and if he did…no. There was no competition for me because I removed all the contenders. Still, his words screwed into my skull.
“No,” I said, shaking my head, not wanting to believe it. Except, I couldn’t imagine anyone not being attracted to her. I shouldn’t have left her alone with the other band members. I began to turn around and go back but Brandon wasn’t finished yet.
“Okay, how about I tell her what you’re really like. An asshole, asadist,” he said.
“Oh please,” I huffed in amusement.
“Everyone will say the same thing. That was a pretty little bite you left on her. You get off hurting her too?” He pushed up into my face with a wicked gleam in his eyes. “She’s got a nice body. Big tits and a fat ass. Does she have a tight little pussy too?” I was momentarily shocked at the length he was going to piss me off.
“Shut the fuck up,” I warned, barely holding on to my rage. It was just beneath the surface and he kept saying the wrong things.
“Maybe we’ll offer the full band experience. The guys and me taking turns—” My fist smashed into his jaw, making pain burst in my hand. I relished it. He fell to the ground, completely caught off guard. A bark of pain burst from his mouth and the sound made my eyes nearly roll in the back of my head.
I wanted more of it.
“Get up,” I growled but he was already doing it. Brandon pulled his hands up like an amateur boxer. He gritted his teeth and threw a punch. It caught me on the shoulder as I slid to the side. I didn’t waste time, shooting my own fist at his center. He cried out, clutching his side and I shuddered in delight.More.
He was still clutching his stomach when I pushed on his shoulder. He spun slightly and I slammed my fist into his lower back. When my punch pressed into his body and he cried out, louder than before, my muscles tightened as a rush of satisfaction ignited me.
I swept his leg and shoved him. He fell to his knees, wincing.
“Ava ismine.”
