Anae’s at the bonfire.
I wasn’t going to go, anyway, but now I’m definitely not. After getting that bullshit write-up, I wouldn’t be able to keep my mouth shut, and I don’t need to confront her and make things even worse.
My gaze flickers to the clock. Closing time approaches, thank God.
I close the app so I don’t accidentally like anything, then I slide my phone into the back pocket of my jeans and start doing all my closing work so I can get the hell out of here and go home.
Chapter six
Dare
I watch the fire flicker against the midnight sky as I empty another beer bottle and toss it at some drunk girl lying on the beach a few feet away.
Her startled gaze jumps to me.
“Grab me another one.”
She tries to sit up to go do my bidding, but before she can get to her knees, Anae walks over. “I got it.”
The girl sinks back into the sand.
Anae drops onto the beach beside me, passing me a cold beer. “Are you sulking?”
“I am not sulking,” I say shortly, grabbing the bottle and popping the cap off with my teeth.
“I wish you wouldn’t do that. You’re going to break a tooth.”
“Fuck off,” I say, but flatly and without malice.
“Aw, baby.” She adjusts the strap of her Versace swimsuit so her tits look better, then she gets on her hands and knees and crawls over to me.
Her intention is to entice me with the view of her cleavage, but I don’t even look.
Undeterred, she climbs to her knees behind me and pushes her tits against my back, looping her arms around my neck. “Don’t be too annoyed your new toy didn’t show up. I told you, she’s slippery. I would’ve been stunned if even you succeeded on the first attempt. You’ll get her next time.”
“I did not fail,” I say, barely biting back how much she’s fucking annoying me.
“Of course not.”
Her tone pisses me off. I shrug my shoulders to get her off me.
Anae sighs, but moves off me and sits down on the beach beside me. Glancing over, she says, “Want to work out some of that frustration?”
I take a sip of my beer and meet her gaze coolly. “Not with you.”
It stings, but she tries to hide it. Anae considers it an amateur move to get hurt by anything. “I didn’t say with me.” She fans out her fingers and admires her nails. “I just got a new manicure today and you play too rough. Some other bitch can do the hard work, I’ll just coordinate.” Her gaze flickers to the nearly unconscious girl I told to get me a beer. “What about her?”
I shake my head. “I don’t need a blowjob. I need your phone.”
“My phone?” She doesn’t know why I want it, but she grabs her clutch and pulls it out, anyway.
I take it once she’s put in her pass code, then I open her messages and start a new one. She has Aubrey’s number saved even though I’m sure she has never used it. I figured she would. When it comes to a vendetta, Anae always does her homework.
I haven’t had time to do mine, so I didn’t have her number yet. Luckily, I’m good at memorizing shit, so I repeat it a few times in my head so I can transfer it to my own phone in a minute.
“What are you doing?” Anae asks curiously, lying on her side on the beach and peering over my arm to see what I’m up to on her phone.
I don’t answer her.
I know Anae’s text patterns, so I emulate them as best I can. “Good call staying home tonight,” I type out with a kissy emoji after the text. “And here I thought you were a dumb bitch,” I type, then press send.
It only takes a few seconds for Aubrey to text back, “Who is this?”
I glance at Anae. What would she say? Something that makes her feel superior and puts Aubrey down.
“The main attraction,” I type back. “No side bitches needed.” I press send, then without giving Aubrey a chance to respond, I add, “Stay the FUCK away from my boyfriend if you know what’s good for you.”
I fucked up ending with a period at the end of that sentence—Anae doesn’t use them—but I don’t think Aubrey knows her well enough to know that.
“Anae?” she guesses.
My lips tug up. At least she knows I’m coming for her if she knows it’s my girlfriend who should feel threatened.
“Someone get this bitch a trophy,” I type back, since that’s the sort of thing Anae would say.
“Look, I’m not interested in your boyfriend,” Aubrey texts back.
Ouch.
She’s probably lying, though. She thinks she’s talking to Anae.
She continues typing, “I have no desire to go to war with you. I don’t have the time or the interest. Dare invited me out tonight. I said no. Then he literally trapped me until I changed my answer. I lied so he’d leave me alone, but I had no intention of following through. I’m not interested in being anyone’s side anything. I am not your problem. If you have a problem with anyone, it’s him.”