Chapter 6 #2
She squeezed my arm as we came to stand by a poser table close to where a bar had been set up.
There was also a DJ at the bottom of the steps into the garden who appeared to be setting up his equipment.
I wondered if he would replace the Mozart vibe with more upbeat tunes once all the posh people got shit faced.
I grinned at an image of the old couple standing at the next table, going wild and throwing people into the pool.
As I scanned the crowds, I saw a few more students whom I recognized, and then my eyes landed on our hostess. Storm Summers.
I nodded my head at Hudson and Molly, and they turned to where I had motioned.
“There she is,” I said with a twist of my lips.
“Play nice,” Molly warned. I did the Scout's Honor sign with my fingers. I wasn’t a bitch on a normal day, but Storm had tormented me for an entire year of high school. That shit didn’t go away overnight.
She was wearing a white floral playsuit and what appeared to be a blue bikini beneath it.
Her sun hat was huge, hiding part of her face, but I knew it was her.
She was standing beneath a blossom tree, surrounded by a group of men who wore pants and shirts and appeared important.
Mayor Summers was standing next to her, looking uber smug. He was a big man, like Phoenix.
“What would you ladies like to drink?” Hudson said, turning to check his cell.
After shooting off a text, he pushed his phone into the pocket of his shorts. “Baby?”
Molly looked up at him with such love in her eyes, and I felt another twinge of envy. Would a boy ever look at me that way?
“Is everything OK?” she asked, motioning towards the pocket where he’d placed his cell.
“Yeah. It was just Reed, bitching that he can’t get parked.
” So, Reed was coming. Of course, he was.
He would have been Storm’s number one guest. I wondered if that meant Phoenix would be with him.
I felt a twinge of excitement at the thought of him seeing me so scantily dressed.
Reed’s comment at the table about me dressing like a teenage boy hadn’t gone unforgotten.
So, I’d gone all out. There was no way I looked like a boy in that get-up. Phoenix had to notice me now.
I was always so buttoned up compared to the other girls I’d seen Nix with. And he’d never seen me in a bikini. I usually wore bathing suits with long sleeves and shorts when I was swimming. I hoped he liked what he saw.
“So, drinks?” Hud repeated as he cleared his throat.
“Oh, just a Coke, please.” Molly didn’t drink much.
“Would I be pushing it if I asked for a rum and Coke?” I said with a sugary smile at Hudson.
His eyes narrowed, and then he surprised me by saying. “Why not. One can’t hurt. And it will take the edge off.”
“The edge off what?”
“Your anxiety.” So, he’d noticed. “You don’t need to be. You look hot. If I’m allowed to say that?”
My blush must have covered my entire face as I basked in his compliment. “Thanks, Hudson.”
Molly placed her beach-style bag next to the table, and I dropped my backpack next to it. I had only brought sun cream and a towel; Mols had a spare change of clothes as well as all the essentials.
“OK, so, a rum and Coke and a Coke. And sip it, Harper. I don’t want you half-baked when Nix arrives.” So, Phoenix was coming.
We watched as he sauntered away with his hands in his pockets, attracting loads of attention from a group of girls.
Sip it, the cheeky fucker. Hypocrisy was a funny thing; our house was full of it, as all my brothers weren’t old enough to drink either. Didn’t stop them indulging themselves, though. That’s double standards for you.
“Why doesn’t he want you half-baked in front of Phoenix?”
Shrugging, I replied. “Probably because he’ll have a meltdown. He thinks I’m too young to drink and that I can’t hold my liquor.”
“Why would he think that? I’ve never seen you overindulge.”
“I did at Nash’s party last year. I didn’t realize until I got back into the house,” I explained, remembering that night vividly. Hudson had almost choked Xander Creed for hitting on Molly. Well, that and allegedly selling Micah dodgy drugs.
“What happened?”
“Phoenix was carrying me to my room, and I threw up down his back.”
“Oh dear.”
I watched Molly as she lowered the sunglasses from her head onto her nose.
“Yep, and you know he’s a tidy freak. Anyway, any gossip you’d like to share?” I knew she would have seen the way my face lit up when Hudson confirmed Phoenix was on his way.
“Not really. I’m a bit out of the loop.”
Yep, that’s because you spend way too much time with your boyfriend.
“Well, I could gossip about Storm and how lucky she is, but as I’m on my best behavior, I’ll be good.”
Storm was now speaking to her father. I had seen Mayor Summers a few times at school functions.
He was a good-looking man. Tall, with broad shoulders and black hair, like his daughters.
I wondered where her mother was. I’d heard gossip that Storm’s mom and dad had almost split a few times.
That didn’t surprise me; divorce was rife in Newport.
Most of the kids in my school were from broken homes.
From what I had heard, Dominic Summers was wild in his heyday.
He used to attend our school but had done well for himself.
I imagined that’s why he sent Storm there instead of one of the private schools across the state.
My thoughts darted to Storm and the fact that she was struggling at college.
Whether that was academically or socially, I had no clue.
Stop being a jealous bitch.
I knew I needed to park my resentment. Fresh slate, remember!
“I wonder when Phoenix will get here,” Molly said, glancing towards the bar where Hudson was.
“I’m not sure. God, why am I so nervous?”
She patted my arm. “They’re good nerves, and he could appear at any second, so you need to get your kit off as soon as possible. Let him see what he’s missing.” Get your kit off was a new one on me, but I took it to mean undress.
“I thought you decided to stop being the matchmaker,” I reminded her as I chewed my thumb.
She batted my hand down from my mouth and was about to speak when she was interrupted.
“Molly Miller without her jailor, now that I thought I’d never see,” Cash Ryan’s deep voice said, appearing beside us in all his mouth-watering glory. We both smiled.
“Back up, dickhead,” Hudson said as he appeared behind Cash like an apparition with our drinks. He placed them on the table in front of us.
The guys acknowledged each other. “Looking good, dawg,” Cash said as he and Hudson bumped fists in greeting. He then turned to look down at me and whistled, causing my cheeks to heat.
“And, little Harper Radcliffe, all grown up.”
“Cash Ryan, ex pussy hound of Harbor Heights, all grown up too,” I snarked with a grin.
“Ah, don’t be like that. I missed you at the party last week.”
I lifted my glass from the table and took a sip, watching him coyly over the rim. “Yeah, sorry. I was cramming for a test.”
“What on?” he questioned as Hudson moved around to the other side of Molly.
“Physics.”
Cash placed his beer beside my glass and clasped a hand against his broad chest. He was around the same height as Hudson with his athletic, bronzed body.
As I said, Cash Ryan had been Mr. Golden Boy and used to date the most popular girl, Tate Parker: a bigger, meaner girl than Storm.
I wondered how life in France was treating her.
Horribly, I hoped. Cash didn’t look like he was pining for her.
But then they’d been on and off for years, so I’d been told.
I had always thought he was cute. He had a six-pack that would make any girl drool, but it wasn’t as defined as Phoenix’s.
“The test went OK. I now have to write a paper on electricity and magnetism,” I added.
“You’re shitting me?” Cash said as he patted his chest. “I’m an expert when it comes to magnetism.” He then folded his arms, making his biceps bulge.
“Of course you are,” Hudson grunted, shaking his head.
With a would I lie to you, look, Cash grinned. “If you ever need a tutor, baby, look no further.”
I rolled my eyes as he winked. The boy leaked charm from every pore.
Hudson and Cash then started talking about the NFL and the Rhode Island Patriots' recent win, and thoughts of Phoenix arriving with Reed popped back into my head. It could have been worse; he could have come with a girl on his arm.
Get Phoenix out of your head; it’s time to have some fun, minus the complications.
After around ten minutes of fun banter, we had finished our drinks. It had gotten busy being stood so close to the bar, and I asked Molly if she wanted to paddle. She still wasn’t the best of swimmers.
I was side-eying Cash as he said. “Can I get you girls another drink?”
“We were thinking of a dip in the pool, weren’t we, Harper?” Molly said, nudging my arm.
“Want me to come in with you?” he said protectively.
Hudson had saved Molly from drowning that day Storm had pushed her into the pool at school.
He was so overprotective of her and quite possessive, even though they had been together for ages.
Most people on our side of Newport knew they were an item.
I loved watching him in action. You looked or spoke to Molly the wrong way, and he had words.
You touched her the wrong way, and he pulled your arms off and beat you with them.
“The boys and I have some lounge chairs saved in the corner, if you guys want to join us? Then we could all go in?”
“We’d love to,” Molly beamed, looking up at Hudson, who just grunted into his beer.
“Follow me,” Cash said, waving his arm towards the top corner of the pool area. I could see Josh Sanderson and his sister, Verity. She was in my grade at school.
“Take my hand, the steps are a bit slippery,” Cash explained, threading his fingers through mine.
“You’re such a charmer,” Hudson snarked, putting his arm around Molly’s shoulders and moving past us.
I fell into step beside Cash.