“I was warming up.” Dee brushes off his defeat. “Anyway, you cheated.”
“Right.” Nix smirks, chalking his pool stick. “I beat you fair and square.”
“Whatever, man. Stop your yapping and break.”
Nix leans over the pool table and takes his sweet time positioning his pool stick. He’s doing it on purpose to get under Dee’s skin.
“Hurry up, dude!” Dee thunders impatiently.
“Will you shut the fuck up, so I can concentrate?”
Dee crosses his arms and mumbles angrily. Nix’s mirth-filled eyes land on me, and I nearly burst out laughing. He makes the shot and gets three balls into the pockets.
“Stripes,” he calls.
I invited some classmates over to my house to chill. Lori and Rebecca lounge on the sofa. Others playGrand Theft Auto, Jenga, beer pong, and UNO. Victoria’s MIA, hiding away until her face is picture perfect again. When I realized the direction Victoria, Lori, and Rebecca were headed in, I knew they were about to cause trouble. But they underestimated the fight in Cocoa. Her decking Victoria gave me a major hard-on. She’s badass and doesn’t take bullshit from anyone, me included.
I waltzed into class on Thursday and stopped dead in my tracks, taken aback by Cocoa’s natural hair. The long thick tresses flowed down her back. I sat in my chair and tried to remain aloof, but it was difficult. The sweet smell of her glossy curls tantalized my senses. It took all my self-control not to bury my face in the lustrous locks and fuck her on the desk. More than a few admiring glances turned her way. Jealousy consumed me. She ties me in knots, and I fucking hate her for it.
“Oh my God!” Rebecca yells.
I peer at her, wondering what sparked her sudden outburst. She holds out her cell phone to Lori.
“I knew she was a slut,” Lori chortles.
“Who?” Dee asks.
“That mutt, Cocoa. She’s at a party rubbing her stank ass all over some guy.” Rebecca’s face pulls into a disgusted frown.
“And her dress is totally skanky.” Lori clucks her tongue.
“For sure,” Rebecca concurs. “She looks like a diseased hooker.”
I’m in front of Rebecca in an instant, snatching the phone from her grasp.
“Hey,” she huffs in protest.
She’s with Jake, kissing the fucker while riding his thigh. Molten rage smolders through me. Dee and Nix stand beside me, gaping at the Instagram live video. I read the comments popping up.
Damn, she’s hot!
On the way.
Where are you?!
#PARTYATJAKES
I drop the phone and race to the garage. Dee and Nix are hot on my heels.
“What are you going to do?” Nix asks.
“Beat Jake blind.”
“You can’t go starting a fight at Jake’s house. We’ll be outnumbered,” Dee says.
“And likely get our asses handed to us,” Nix deadpans.
“I’m not asking either of you to go.”
