Garrett shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking around, leaning in close. My eyes widened because there was no way he was going to do anything here, so close to our friends. They already thought we were too close and this would only confirm everything they’d ever thought about us.
“When we get in there… “ He stopped to clear his throat, squeezing his eyes closed, like what he was about to say something uncomfortable. “We have to act like we normally do. We have to pretend like the last few days haven’t happened. Can you do that?”
His brown eyes searched mine for an answer and I chewed my lip nervously, thinking over how I wanted to answer him. I never imagined this would all be so different. With him being so close, all I wanted to do was throw my arms around his neck and jump him. I wasn’t this person.
“I think—I think I can manage that,” I stammered out.
He let out a harsh breath and chuckled, standing up straight again. He looked up and down the road, pulling me into a loose hug. “I’m not trying to confuse you, Tyler. It’s the last thing I want to do.”
I nodded against his chest before he released me and continued walking down the street. I watched his retreating back for a few seconds before my brain caught up to me and I realized I was supposed to be following.
Forcing my feet to move, I jogged to catch up with my stepbrother. Garrett had his hands shoved in his pockets walking with an easy pace as if none of this affected him as much as it did me. I wasn’t sure how that made me feel? It was confusing. Between the sudden kiss in my bedroom to him acting so indifferent had me pulling in two different directions, and I wasn’t sure how to react. I wanted more but his sudden hot and cold was kind of pissing me off.
Approaching the house, Garrett was swarmed with guys and girls alike, giving him hugs, patting him on the back, and kissing him on the cheek. He’d always been far more popular than I was and I was okay with it.
There were certain new things I was noticing, however, like the fact that when guys like Gabriel Timmons kissed him on the cheek, that was something I wouldn’t have even thought of before. Normal guy friends didn’t do those things. How had I not noticed it before five days ago when I caught him in the shower with Toby?
My pulse picked up, and I moved away from the crowd toward the kitchen in search of a drink. It wasn’t like I was a heavy drinker, but my thoughts needed to quiet down and that was the fastest way to do that.
There was a tub filled with ice and bottles of beer and other types of drinks. I stared between a hard seltzer and the beer, debating. Sure the seltzers were trendy and loads of people were standing around drinking them, but I wanted something with flavor, not the hint of a hint of a flavor. Beer wasn’t normally my thing, but Garrett normally mixed drinks for me and I’d left him in the other room.
Grabbing a bottle I studied the label. I had no idea if what I was grabbing was any good. The standard blue and white label seemed popular enough, so I twisted off the cap and took a quick swig. It tasted awful, and a shudder racked itself through me as I swallowed. I pulled the bottle away and stared at the label again, wondering how people drank this crap.
“It’s pretty bad, right?”
I jumped at the hot breath against my ear. Turning, a sly smile and blond curls greeted me.
Toby.
“Did I startle you?” I slowly blinked in confusion as he slid into the space between me and the counter. What was happening here?
Garrett
Cassiefinallymadeherway over to me, throwing her arms around my neck and pressing a kiss to my lips. I quickly turned away because I could smell the alcohol coming off of her. It was a little early in the evening for her to be this drunk already, but she’d always been a little more wild. Plus, with things changing with Tyler, having her on me like that didn’t feel right.
“Garrett! There you are,” she slurred, tugging at one curl that fell over my forehead. She kept an arm slung around my neck and turned back to the crowd that was around us. Everyone was talking loudly over the music that pumped through the house and I wondered if maybe we shouldn’t stay.
It wasn’t like we hadn’t been to a wild party or two, but we knew when to leave before the trouble really got started. Cassie’s arm tugged down on my neck as she dipped to the side. My eyes widened and my heart hammered as I quickly caught her around her thin waist before she fell over and hurt herself. She was already tall, but the six-inch heels she had on, probably weren’t helping with balance at the moment.
Our friend Seth saw my struggle and hurried to take her off my hands. It was right then that I made a startling realization that I had a very small group of real friends and a very large group of people I’d previously hooked up with. It wasn’t something I was always proud of, but sex was easy for me and it helped make me as popular as I was.
Seth gave me an appraising look after he helped Cassie to the couch and a look that I would normally have taken him up on in the past, but not anymore. I gave him a firm head shake, and he looked almost put off by the dismissal.
That was when I noticed Tyler missing. Where in the hell had he wandered off to? It wasn’t like him to go missing at these things. He hated the crowds and often stayed glued to my side unless I needed to sneak away, but not before I’d find something to distract him long enough.
My eyes snagged on the sight through the kitchen doorway. A hand on his arm and shoulders that were bunching up to his ears clued me in that Tyler didn’t want the touch. No one should touch him, especially when it was obvious that he didn’t want it.Ididn’t want anyone else touching him.
I stomped my way to the kitchen and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw who was leaning against the counter with his fingers clasped around Tyler’s elbow. I wanted to rip his hands off of my stepbrother.
“Hands off.”
The hand that was on Tyler retracted quickly. Toby wore a smug expression that I wanted to wipe off his face. He knew he’d gotten to me, and I hated it. Blood rushed in my ears as my pulse thrummed.
“Oh, Garrett. How nice of you to join us. I was just telling your brother here how sorry I was for what happened the other day. Wasn’t I?” His eyebrows rose as he turned his attention back to Tyler.
“Uh,” Tyler started, reaching and scratching at the back of his neck. He was nervous and I could feel the tension rolling off of him. “He was talking about it, yes,” he confirmed before clearing his throat and looking around the room. The fact that he wouldn’t look at Toby spoke volumes about the direction the conversation had been heading, and I didn’t think it had anything to do with an apology.
Draping an arm over Tyler’s shoulder, I pulled him into my side. He relaxed into me instantly. I didn’t miss the way Toby’s eyebrows raised at the motion, but I didn’t care what he thought about it.
