She was gone.
“Whatcha thinking?” Reign nudged my shoulder with his foot later that evening. He plopped beside me by the kidney-shaped pool, taking a drag from his joint, the smoke rushing out of his nostrils in two thick streams.
Guess it was his version of an apology for what had happened in the hallway this morning.
I took a pull of my beer, dangling my feet in the lukewarm water. One look at his neck and I knew I had to own up for my part of the shit show, too.
Yes, he was an asshole, but I’d also almost killed him today. For a girl who didn’t even want to be saved.
Damn you, Texas.
“I’m thinking I have really hairy toes,” I said honestly, staring at my narrow, long feet.
Reign’s shoulders trembled with laughter. He shook his head, kicking my foot with his in the water. “Whoa, man. You do.”
There was a beat of silence. I was still seeing red every time I thought about him picking on Texas. I wasn’t even sure why. She’d already established we weren’t friends, and I’d told myself I wouldn’t touch her.
It wasn’t the first time Reign was being a yeast-infected dick to other people, but it was definitely the most persistent he had been.
“I wish I could get away with being like you.” He drew circles in the water with his toes, which, I noticed, could use a trim, too. “You’re the strong, silent type. You don’t have to run your mouth to get noticed. I need to entertain. People expect me to talk shit.”
“If this is you making an excuse for today, you better turn around and walk away before I drown your ass.” I took another pull of my beer.
We were at a birthday pool party East had dragged me to. The birthday girl, who lived just outside Sheridan, had begged us to come, both on her face and to her party. Oil lord daddy. Parents out of town. It was a frat party on steroids. Everybody brought inflatable toys and danced poolside. Music blasted through a surround system that made the earth quake. There were ice bars and shot luges.
The birthday girl swaggered around in a pink and white bikini, high heels, and a Sweet Twenty-One sash. I’d come here to get rid of some of the stress with a quick lay, but as soon as my ass went past the iron-wrought gate, I realized I’d rather sit by the pool and glare at my hairy toes than pound into some nameless, faceless chick who’d whine about it later.
The cons outweighed the pros when it came to hooking up these days.
“Aren’t you going to ask me why I did this to Goldilocks?” Reign asked.
When he gathered an answer wasn’t in the cards for him, he soldiered on.
“I did it because I knew you like Toastie. Hell, my dog knows you like Toastie, and he lives in Indiana. That’s why you went for Melanie, right? She basically looks like Toastie from behind.”
If he called her Toastie one more time, I was going to hammer him so deep into the ground he was going to reappear in China.
“Long, blonde hair. Cute, round ass.” He counted their similarities on his fingers. “You’re pretty transparent, St. Claire. Guess I just wanted to give you a taste of your own medicine.”
I sipped my beer. He was high if he thought I liked Texas. She was unbearable, other than the few times she’d made me laugh.
East plopped down to my other side, plucking the joint from between Reign’s fingers.
“Are we having a heart-to-heart? Reign, are you finally coming out?” East beamed at Reign, who slapped the back of his head, laughing.
“I was just telling him I teased Toastie because he screwed Tess.”
“Seriously?” I raised my fists to his face. Reign cowered, hunching his back with a wince.
“Shit, sorry. Old habits die hard.”
“You’ll die easily if you keep this shit up.”
“Aw, I hate it when Mommy and Daddy fight.” East took a drag, passing it back to De La Salle. “Seriously, though. That Toastie nonsense was so third grade of you, Reign. Taunt her ass one more time and I’ll personally make sure Coach knows. He’ll dump your ass faster than a shit after a laxative party.”
“I already told West I’m done messing with her,” Reign sulked. “My bad, okay? I’m going through a rough patch here.”
“So, Westie knows you’re into Tess?”
“He does now. Thanks for the spoiler.” Reign rolled his eyes.
Was that what it was about? Fucking Tess Davis?
“You’re welcome to Tess.” I finished my drink just as a freshman leaned down toward us, her tits spilling over our faces through her Baywatch Red swimsuit, offering us a tray full of shots. East took three, distributing them between us.
“Nothing’s standing in your way. Other than your ugly-ass face and shit-for-brains,” I encouraged Reign in my own backwards way.