Chapter 14 #2
Each night after practice, the boys and their teammates went to the Touchdown Tavern.
It was a popular bar frequented by college football and hockey players.
It was also the venue where a handful of boys from our football team, the Harbor Hawks, attempted to kick back.
Not everyone got in, though, even those with fake IDs.
Due to its hot clientele, the Tavern also encouraged a fair share of jersey chasers and puck bunnies, like bees to honey.
Or flies to shit, depending on your viewpoint.
I purposefully didn’t spend too much time wondering what Nix was getting up to there.
What was the point? At least he hadn’t brought anyone home since he’d rescued Courtney at Storm's party.
Did that mean he’d agreed to that truce we’d spoken about that day? Who knew? It was a complex situation. Too much had been left unsaid after the sexual shit that had gone down between us.
After school on Thursday, as planned, I met up with Molly, and we waited for Storm by the school gates. She was due to drive over after she’d finished her day at Epic Heights.
I stood hugging my elbows, half freezing to death. The weather had started to cool significantly in the afternoons, and I had no jacket.
Molly had explained that Hudson, Phoenix, and Reed were at practice and then were going to the movies with Micah.
She said the Coach had given strict instructions that the team was to stay off the booze for a couple of nights in preparation for the game on Saturday.
If they were to win, they could become contenders for the future playoffs.
Enjoy the movies. I messaged Phoenix whilst Molly was gushing over something Hudson had sent her. It was probably a dick pic, so she didn’t go into withdrawal from suffering one night away from him.
There you go again. I really needed to rein in my judgmental bitch.
I watched as the buffering icon appeared, and he replied. Will do. Enjoy your girls' night in. Please don’t let Storm fill your head with shit, and lay off the booze.
Smiling, I thumbed back. Lay off the booze? Don’t judge me based on your standards.
What does that mean?
Haven’t you been laced every night this week? I typed back.
An eye-rolling emoji appeared and then…It’s Micah’s fault.
That’s it, blame the black dude.
He’s the wild one. Anyway, Coach Samuels has threatened to bench us if we’re caught within 10 yards of a bar tonight.
My brow scrunched. How would he know?
Fucker has forced the team to activate Find my Phone.
Molly’s head lifted as I chuckled and typed. That’s a bit stalkerish.
What does a night in with the girls look like anyway?
Wouldn’t you like to know.
Nix’s message bounced right back. Will there be pillow fights and boy talk?
Smiling at the screen, I thumbed back. I doubt there will be pillow fights.
How about some girl-on-girl action?
You’ve seen way too many movies, Nix.
At least give me something to store in my wank bank.
Pervert. I thumbed in with an eyerolling emoji, feeling a sense of relief. It was the most banter I’d had out of him all week. Maybe he was feeling better about the mom situation.
You bet your ass, baby.
Deciding to answer truthfully, I texted, I imagine boys will be the main topic of discussion at Storms.
Should we all expect our ears to start burning through the movie?
Absolutely. I responded with a winking face emoji.
Ouch. Go easy on us.
And I left it at that. The icon stating he was still typing appeared, but I decided to leave him unopened.
Let him stew. I did toy with mentioning the new boy, Harrison, and how we’d exchanged numbers or texting that Cash had messaged me, but it would have reeked of desperation.
Like I was trying too hard to make him jealous or something.
I had already decided to try to drive him crazy in another way at the game on Saturday.
Phoenix Carter wouldn’t know what hit him. I was getting tired of being ignored, and so had decided to up my game.
My phone buzzed in my pocket like an angry wasp, and I hid a smile. I knew ghosting Nix would piss him off.
As Molly and I waited, Storm sent a text to apologize and say that she’d been detained but had sent Jacob to get us, the driver she had enthused about. The one I had wound Reed up about. We both sat on the sidewalk and waited. Molly told me how cheerleading was going, and I spoke about my yoga.
After another ten minutes, a black car pulled up next to the sidewalk.
I got exactly what she meant, as Molly and I exchanged looks.
Jacob was a beautiful-looking beast, but way too old and sophisticated-looking for my tastes.
He wore a black suit and looked like he belonged in a mafia movie.
We trotted over, and he was polite and professional as he opened the back door of the grand-looking Bentley.
He was probably all muscle and nothing else.
In the back of the car, Molly and I caught up about Nix’s situation, although it felt like the dude behind the wheel was listening.
She explained that Phoenix hadn’t said much to Hudson, but that the meeting with his mother had gone as expected.
Molly said that Hudson had also given the big guy space to sort his shit out.
We all knew that if you pushed Phoenix before he was ready to talk, he’d build an even bigger barrier. A bit like me, I suppose.
Eventually, we arrived at Storm’s house.
I didn’t understand why I felt so nervous, like a lamb entering the lion’s den.
It’s not like I hadn’t been in the Summer’s mansion before.
Storm and I had also agreed to a truce, and so I couldn’t blame the usual dread I felt in her company.
Maybe it was because I had never been on a girl’s sleepover before?
I didn’t know what to expect: Twinkies and pillow fights, as Nix had mentioned, or face packs and nails?
After we got to the house, we were chaperoned upstairs by the snobby butler dude, Mitchell, or something. He’d explained that Storm was expecting us and was in her room.
The Queen Bee’s bedroom door was open, and Molly gave me a smile of reassurance before she knocked twice.
And. Nothing.
Casting me a puzzled look, Molly leaned in through the opening and knocked again, calling out.
I felt a slight tremor in my chest at the thought of the unexpected.
My agreeing to come was all part of my promise to Molly to try to make things work with Storm.
That wouldn’t have been so difficult had my envy of her stunning house not been so painful.
“Storm?” Molly repeated, pushing the door wider and walking into the room. She motioned for me to follow, but it felt like my feet had grown roots. Those nervous knots started to twist again.
A loud clattering noise brought our eyes towards a closed door on the left-hand side of the bedroom.
“Storm?” Molly called out cheerfully as she walked over towards the sound.
“I’ll be right out. Just take it easy and make yourselves at home,” Storm shouted, her voice slightly distorted through solid wood.
“Bathroom?” I mouthed, pointing towards the door.
Molly nodded with a grin and moved back into the middle of the room.
Releasing the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding, Molly smiled, taking in how stiff I was.
“Relax. She doesn’t bite.”
With significant effort, I did just that. Considering what I’d been through in my life, visiting Mayor Summer’s only child’s bedroom should be a cakewalk.
We stopped staring at the door where Storm was doing who knew what. A random thought of Storm on the toilet flashed into my mind. Bathrooms were funny things, as we all needed them. They put people on an even keel.
Taking a deep breath, I glanced around.
It appeared Storm had an entire suite to herself.
The bedroom section we were standing in was tastefully decorated and contained a luxurious four-poster bed.
It was huge, and I wondered how good it would feel to lie on and stretch out.
I had a double bed at home, but it wasn’t anywhere near as big as Storm's.
Shiny, traditional-style nightstands sat on either side of it.
They had matching lamps and assorted face creams on the surface, and from the glass of water and phone charger, I noted Storm must have slept on the right side of the bed.
Interesting, as I slept on the left-hand side. Even in sleep, we were opposites.
The rest of the bedroom had the usual bits of furniture. My eyes widened at a quaint seating area situated by the window, wondering how nice it would be to sit there and gaze out at the rolling gardens.
There were several pictures on the walls, all sketches of the human body, and I could see a sound system next to the large, mounted TV. A few items of clothing were strewn across a dresser in the corner, but apart from that, the place was quite tidy.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” Molly said as she sat on Storm’s perfectly made mattress. The comforter didn’t even wrinkle. I nodded and continued to take in the space as Molly took out her cell.
Moving around the room, it felt like I was walking on a cloud.
The thick carpet was pale gray, and then everything else was white.
And I mean everything, even the bedding and curtains were white.
I had half expected Storm’s bedroom to be pink and full of fluffy shit, but there wasn’t one stuffed animal anywhere.
I managed to stop the looming roll of my eyes as I spied a large picture of Storm on the wall.
It was one of those glamorous shots. She was staring into the camera and posing in her school cheer uniform.
The ex-cheer captain looked stunning and could easily be a fashion model.
Beneath the image was a large corkboard with numerous photographs and notices pinned to it.