“So it’s true,” whispered William, taking another sip.
“What?” frowned Tiff.
“That you’re together.”
“No . . . no,” I rushed to say. My mouth spoke before I could think about the implications of that answer.
“All right, I’m getting something to drink,” he slurred, shaking the now-empty bottle.
“Will, you’ve had a lot to drink.” I tried to stop him, but he didn’t seem to want to listen to me.
“Thank you. For us, too, huh,” yelled Tiffany, before he walked away. Tiffany wasn’t the queen of tact and diplomacy, but I wouldn’t have expected such coldness toward William.
“What is it, June?”
I shrugged it off. “I don’t like seeing him like this.”
“Do you know what got into him?” she asked.
I shook my head.
“You know, June, I stopped for a while before coming here. I watched you two from a distance.”
“What do you mean?”
“From the outside, you look great together. I thought so even when I saw you at school. But then when I look at you in the eye, it isn’t what you want.”
My attention drifted to Tiffany’s lips, then to William going back into the house.
I didn’t even know what I want. That was the problem.
“I’d just like him to not feel like this because of me.” I was confused. A lethal mess lodged itself in my head, and it manifested all around us when James walked into the backyard with other guys.
And if it wasn’t for their noise, I wouldn’t’ve even noticed them. Gray spots, dull colors. James was the only color that stood out. Maybe it was his tousled hair, his permanently red lips, or his six-two height.
He was only wearing a pair of tracksuit pants. He was shirtless, chewing gum, and holding a baseball bat on his shoulder. He looked at Tiffany, then his magnetic mouth curved into a cocky smirk even before he looked at me. I couldn’t stand the way he looked at me. Maybe that was why I always attacked him before he attacked me; it was a form of self-defense.
“Are you guys gonna break windows to steal clothes since you always need them?”
“Break windows? You’re always violent, White. Listen, I have the balls and the bat.”
Judging by how quickly he responded to my joke, I got the vibe that he’d expected my jab at him.
“Gross, Hunter.”
“In the sense that we hit twice. I’m talking about baseball. Naughty girls—” he hinted, pointing at the small white ball the guy next to him was holding.
“Yeah, sure, we—” Tiffany answered, giving him a look. She was ordering him to piss off, but he didn’t look like he was going to move.
He lifted a corner of his mouth and sized me up from head to toe. His jaw clenched every time that he pressed the gum between his teeth while his midnight-blue eyes were glued to me.
“Jamie! We’re right here!”
That was enough to distract him.
I recognized Sammy’s voice. She was at the edge of the pool surrounded by an indefinite number of girls who looked like they’d just walked out of a modeling agency.
I didn’t envy their perfect physiques, but when James walked over to them and my gaze reveled in his toned and muscular back, I realized how useless everything was. That was his place. What had gotten into my head?
