Chapter 19
NINETEEN
HARPER
“I know, I can’t get my head around it,” Phoenix rumbled, placing his head on my shoulder.
“Do you think she knows?” Micah asked, tugging off his hoodie. Underneath, he was wearing a white wife-beater. His black, muscled arms stood out against the crisp, clean color.
“No,” I said. “At least she didn’t earlier.”
I shuffled out from between Nix’s legs and moved over to the cooler to grab a bottle of water. Whenever the subject of Storm came up, my throat became dry. Fuck, I was now dating my old school nemesis's half-brother. Would that make her hate me again? A ripple of unease crawled up my neck.
“Maybe we should tell her; she has a right to know.”
“No. It needs to come from her old man,” Phoenix replied in a tight voice. I watched as a line of tension appeared on his jaw.
“Shouldn’t you be saying, our old man?” Micah pointed out unhelpfully. You could tell he had been away and had missed needling his brothers. He was like a child, daring his dog to bite him.
“Shut it dickhead,” Hudson blasted with a frown. His nerves were stretched tight.
Micah held his hands up. “What? Too soon.” Nothing had changed; Micah still craved the spotlight as being the biggest goofball and the most irritating.
“Fuck. The girl is going to freak the hell out,” Nix said as I shuffled back towards him.
“Knowing her the best, Hudson. How do you think Storm will react?” Molly questioned taking the heat off Phoenix. She was right. Hudson and Storm were probably the closest in our group of friends. Phoenix and Micah barely tolerated her, and Reed, well, that shit was just physical, or so we thought.
Speak of the devil. “How will Storm react to what?” Reed's voice called out as he appeared from behind the rocks.
After chugging some more water, I sat beside Phoenix.
Everyone exchanged a nervous glance as we waited for Storm to appear from behind him, but she didn’t.
Reed glanced over his shoulder to where we were looking, and then realization kicked in. “She’s not here, so feel free to gossip about her behind her back like a group of high school bitches,” he admonished.
The guy had a point. We all gave each other a guilty look, even though that wasn’t what we had been doing. I stretched my legs out next to Nix’s thick ones, and he placed his hand on my leg.
The moment was saved as a group of giggling girls rushed over and congratulated the star player. I recognized them as part of the Reed Prescott Fan Club. They had been standing in front of us at the game, waving a banner with his name on, much to Storm’s annoyance.
Micah rolled his eyes as we watched the group fawn over him. Reed had a killer smile. “Player of the game, my ass. Maybe the second half, where he had to work for it thanks to Nix. No offense.”
“Blow me,” Nix shot back with a grunt.
“You have to admit it, he was fast on the field,” Hudson jumped in.
Phoenix shrugged noncommittally, and Micah smirked. “Yeah, because he was so much lighter at that point in the game.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Hudson rasped.
“I bet you fifty bucks he blew his load during halftime.”
“You’re so gross, Micah.” I was pleased he hadn’t said who with, although Hudson’s next words confirmed we were all thinking the same thing. “Where is Storm?”
Reed had managed to untangle himself from the girls who wanted a selfie with him and sauntered over like the cat that got the cream. Luckily, he hadn’t heard our discussion.
Sweeping a look around the group, he then grabbed a beer from the cooler. In his other hand, he held a half-eaten cheese dog. “What are you guys harking on about?”
“We were wondering where your other half was,” I replied with a taunting look.
Reed just rolled his eyes. “She just left.”
“How was she?” Micah added with wide eyes.
“She was fine. Better than fine. Pleased about the win. Why wouldn’t she be?” Reed then shoved the rest of the wiener into his mouth and licked his fingers.
We all watched him consume his food with open mouths, and my stomach grumbled.
Reed then frowned, casting another glance around us. He took in our mixed expressions, “What?” he added with his mouth half full. “Have I got something on my face?” He clearly didn’t know what had gone down tonight, which confirmed Storm didn’t either.
I leaned my head on Nix’s shoulder, which caught Reed's attention. “Cole Smith told me he saw you two sucking-face at halftime.”
Phoenix wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “And what were you doing at halftime?”
Reed smirked into his beer. “You know I don’t kiss and tell.”
“You need to tell him?” Hudson said, stubbing the end of the joint out on a stone by his foot.
Reed moved the shit off the deck chair before flopping down into it. As he stretched his legs out, he winced. He’d taken some tough tackles on the field, more than usual, due to Phoenix not being on form.
“Tell me what?” he asked, removing a bag of chips from the grocery bag now by his feet.
Molly and I exchanged a look.
“Let me guess, it’s about Storm? What did she do now?” Reed asked, his brow creasing further as he narrowed his eyes at us. His expression suggested he was annoyed. Like she needed his protection. Reed acted like we were the mean girls, when that wasn’t the case.
Nix scratched his jaw. “It’s not really about Storm, but it does include her.” His reply was cryptic.
Opening the bag, Reed lifted a handful of chips to his mouth. “OK. So, spill it. She’s got a family emergency, and so we won’t see her tonight. So, rant away.”
There was an intake of breath. “What do you mean?” Molly asked.
“Her dad messaged her, saying she couldn’t come to the party as she was needed at home. She said it sounded serious.”
No doubt, so Mr. Summers could break the news before she found out from a third party.
I turned to look at Nix, our expressions mirroring each other. And then his phone went off, and he slid it out of his jeans.
“What does it say?” The tense atmosphere was broken by one of the jocks shouting, “Heads up.” A ball then landed in the middle of our circle, spraying sand everywhere.
Michael Dexter jogged over, looking sheepish. “Sorry, guys, my bad.”
“Take it down the beach, Dexter, or the hospital can remove it from your colon,” Hudson threatened, helping to pat the sand off Molly’s white dress.
Nix explained the message was from his brother. “He’s just saying they got home OK.”
“Will you still see him?”
“I don’t really know what to do with that right now.”
“Will you two stop whispering and share the fucking wealth?” Reed said crossly. “What about Storm?” He clearly thought we just wanted to bitch and moan about her.
And with a prolonged exhale, Phoenix told him what he had missed.
Reed was shocked, but he remained silent, asking the same questions the others had.
Once everyone was in the know, we all sat in silence, listening to the sounds of the other party-goers, and I started to feel tired.
And then, that silence was broken as a thought occurred to Micah.
He turned to Phoenix. “It’s a good job you never fucked her,” Micah pointed out, his face suddenly aghast. This got him the death stare from Reed and a snort from Hudson.
Molly looked as uncomfortable as I felt.
I hadn’t even thought about that. “Did you ever almost?” he added.
Nix was unfazed. “Nope. Not in the slightest. I never saw her like that, and she was too busy throwing herself at Hudson.” He winced at his own words before glancing over at Reed. “Sorry, man. No offense.”
“None taken,” his brother replied, screwing up the empty chips packet. It was now common knowledge that Storm’s interest in Hudson had only been to make Reed jealous. And it had worked. The rumour that she’d slept with Hudson was also self-fabricated.
Nix cleared his throat, sliding his hand back and forth over my leg.
Reed finished the rest of his beer, belched, and then slid his cell out.
“I still can’t believe it. Your head must be a mess. First, you find your mom and meet your half-brother. And now you have a dad and a half-sister who have been living under our noses for years. You should be on Oprah.”
“Oprah? Where are we, the nineties?” Hudson barked with a laugh.
“You know what I mean. It’s almost unreal.”
Nix raised his head. He had been silent for a while. I grabbed one of his hands and squeezed it.
“I know. When Harper showed me the photo, I wasn’t so sure, but I see it now.”
Reed lowered his bottle to the sand and turned to me. “Photo? What photo?”
Leaning across and grabbing my backpack, I withdrew the picture of Dominic Summers, around the same age as Nix now, and handed it around.
“Fuck me, man. Dead ringer,” Micah blurted as he took the image off Molly and Hudson. He then passed it to Reed.
“It’s not a very realistic shot, though.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, puzzled as he handed it back.
“Summer’s is being awarded the Butkus Award. After tonight's performance, there’s more chance of monkeys flying out of my ass than Nix getting a shot at that.”
“Fuck off,” Nix grunted, rolling his shoulders. Even though he had given them the reason he’d been out of sorts on the field, they wouldn’t let him forget that anytime soon.
“Well, whilst we’re sharing observations. I thought you looked alike at Storm’s party. When you were talking in the kitchen.” Hudson said, repositioning his girl between his thighs. “As in you and Summers. I mean, before you threatened to smash Cash’s face in.”
“Really?” Molly asked at the same time Nix said, “What the fuck are you on about?”
“Phoenix,” I chided, squeezing his leg.
“Sorry,” he apologized, managing to rein in his temper before he added in a calmer voice, “And you never said anything?” His expression was now razor-sharp.
Hudson shrugged with a bored expression. “It was just an observation.”
Nix bristled, cracking his neck from side to side. “You should have said something, bro. Just like you should have told me about Alex.”