3. Darian
DARIAN
Bad Bunny is pumping through my car speakers as we drive to Aspen. I move my head to the beat, my brain split between my favorite tunes and the chatter in the back seat.
I glance at Sawyer in the passenger seat beside me.
He’s moving his head to the music as well, his crazy curls bobbing as he taps his fingers on his knee.
His foot is resting on my dashboard, his clown feet shoved into a pair of high-top Converse.
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him in any other shoes.
If we’re not on the court, he’s wearing his Converse.
He has a variety of pairs in every color of the rainbow, and they’re all beat-up, scuffed, and well-loved.
I glance at his curls again. He put blond highlights in them at the beginning of the summer—went for a frosted-tip look—which we hassled the shit out of him for. Charli laughed and said he should have gone for red, and then we could have called him Sideshow Bob. Hilarious.
Checking the rearview mirror, I glimpse Charli’s animated face as she says something to make Nix laugh. With the music playing, I’m only picking up snippets of their conversation. All I know for sure is that they basically haven’t stopped talking since they got into the back seat of my ride.
I’m still trying to decide how I feel about Charli’s little friend.
She’s seriously the size of a peanut compared to the rest of us.
Everything about her is petite, from her little pixie nose to her tiny fingers.
She’s got short hair to match the rest of her body.
When I was loading up the car and she came to stand next to me, she only just reached my shoulder. Teeny-tiny.
But she’s got a personality the size of the freaking Burj Khalifa.
I sometimes wonder if she puts on that feisty front to make up for the fact that she’s little, especially when she hangs out in a land of giants.
I mean, Charli’s short compared to all of us, but she still towers over Nix.
But Pixie Girl’s got bite. There’s enough pit bull in her to scare off a WWE wrestler, I swear.
I’m not gonna go messing with that.
Although… when she was helping me load up the car before we left, I definitely felt something spark between us. Not to sound like a sappy teenage girl or anything, but our hands brushed at one point, and I swear I felt it all the way to my core.
I glanced at her, and she shot me a quick look before turning her back to reach for the next bag.
It gave me a chance to check out her ass in those cut-off jean shorts, and damn…
that girl is sporting a cute little heinie.
My palm could easily cover one whole cheek, and do you think I’ve been able to stop thinking about that?
Nope.
And shit.
It’s fucking annoying.
I should really steer clear of the little pit bull. She’s got bite, and I’m not about to put myself in harm’s way.
But… there’s something about her feisty spirit and hot little body that I am finding irresistible.
Checking the road again, I glide the car up the hill before glancing in the rearview mirror once more. Nix catches me looking, her bright eyes sparking as her lips twitch into a little smirk.
“Can I help you with something?” She doesn’t say it out loud, but I can hear her thinking it.
Her gaze is filled with challenge, like she’s daring me to take her on.
I look back to the road, my own lips twitching. Should I do it? This weekend could be fucking amazing.
Or a disaster! Don’t go there, man.
Sensing my best friend’s stare, I glance at him, and he snickers as soon as our eyes connect.
Okay, so he knows what I’m thinking.
He always does.
We’ve been friends since kindergarten.
And when I say friends, I really mean brothers. We connected on our first day and have been inseparable since. He lived next door to me growing up, and I’m pretty sure he spent more time at our place than his.
Sometimes, we’d even wake up in the morning and find him asleep on the floor in between my bed and Charli’s.
He hates it when his parents fight. Couldn’t handle it when he was little, so he’d run to our place.
At one point, his parents split up for a while, and things were way calmer.
We didn’t find him in between our beds anymore, but he’d still come over every morning and then be at our place after school.
When his parents got back together again, it wasn’t so bad…
but an explosion would still happen every now and again.
Even after we moved farther away, Sawyer would show up on his bike, climbing through my bedroom window and making himself comfy.
Charli moved out of my room when she was like twelve, but Mom kept a spare bed in there for Sawyer.
I’m pretty sure my parents figured they have three kids, and it doesn’t bother them one bit. They adore Sawyer. Hell, we all do.
He’s just one of those guys who’s easy to like.
We’ve never had a fight. Sawyer just will not get mad.
He’s an easygoing guy who can laugh off any angst. The only time I ever saw him lose his shit was in middle school when Ricky Steinbeck shoved Macy Hopman into the pool.
She couldn’t swim and started panicking.
One of the teachers jumped in to get her, and Sawyer went after Ricky like he was an assigned target.
Gave the kid a bloody nose and was nearly expelled from school over that one.
Thankfully, Sawyer’s dad managed to talk the principal around, but it was touch and go there for a minute.
He got suspended for a week and grounded, so I wasn’t allowed to see him.
Charli and I hated every second of it, but after his release, he came over and told us why he couldn’t handle seeing Macy nearly drown.
Shit.
Not my story to tell, but it was intense, and Charli actually cried while listening to him.
“I don’t want to talk about it ever again,” he ended in a mumbled whisper.
We both nodded and swore we’d never tell a soul.
And we never have.
Rounding the next curve, we get to the top of the hill, and a smile stretches over my face at the stunning mountain view.
Damn, it’s beautiful. I love the drive to Aspen.
I’ve only done it a few times. One summer, we did a road trip from Denver to San Francisco.
So much freaking driving, and Charli and I complained bitterly about it, but Dad was determined to show us some more of the country.
And he was right to do it.
The Rockies are amazing, and now that I’m an adult and can appreciate this kind of thing more, I really do.
We live in a beautiful country, and Colorado has got to be one of the best states in it.
“Nearly there,” Sawyer murmurs, squinting against the sunlight. Why the guy doesn’t wear shades is beyond me. He never does. Obviously likes to show off those chestnut-brown eyes of his.
I know. Chestnut?
But it’s what my mama always calls him.
The guy’s got a lot of names, and it took me a couple of years to figure out why my mama called him some kind of nut. At first, I thought it was because she thought he was nuts, but when I got to about ten, I finally asked, and she told me it was because of his beautiful chestnut-brown eyes.
I’m pretty sure Sawyer fell in love with my mom that day.
Charli calls him Mr. Dick, because his last name is Richards. She’s the only person on the planet who can get away with it.
I don’t know why he lets her do it.
Maybe he lost some kind of bet with her or something.
Those two are always getting into something together.
Their prank war is endless, their inside jokes and teasing like a dripping tap, but neither of them will let up.
It’s like the only way they know how to communicate—by hassling the shit out of each other.
It used to drive me insane, but I’m resigned to it now, and it’d probably be weird if they weren’t trying to playfully torture each other whenever we’re together.
I wonder what they have planned for this weekend.
It’ll be something fun and crazy, no doubt.
Although, I’m not really sure how much planning goes into these things.
Whatever they get up to, it’s gonna make a mess, and it sure as shit won’t be me who cleans it up.
Checking out the rearview mirror again, I see Nix’s head tilt back with a laugh and can’t help studying the line of her throat.
I can picture the tip of my tongue exploring the contours of that smooth white skin, and yeah…
I think I’m gonna be way too busy to clean up anyone else’s messes this weekend.
I might just be caught up in a mess of my own.
Dude, that’s exactly what it will be! A big fucking mess! Do not go there.
I ignore the warning, my lips pulling up at the corners.
Maybe I want a little mess this weekend.
A little hot, sticky mess with the sexy pixie girl in my back seat.
Damn if that idea doesn’t get my blood pumping.
It keeps me company the rest of the ride, images flashing in my brain and turning my core temperature to boiling in the best way possible.
When I catch Nix’s eye again in the rearview mirror and score myself an eyebrow raise, I wonder if she’s thinking the same thing too. There’s definitely a spark between us—maybe it’s time we turn it into a flame.
Will Charli be annoyed about that?
Nah, she’ll be cool.
It’s just a little weekend fun. Not like I’m wanting to date the girl or anything. We’ll get hot and heavy, get it out of our systems, and then things can go back to normal.
Easy.
I can’t help smiling as I turn down the MacAlisters’ driveway.
It’s long and winding, building this sense of anticipation as you weave your way through the trees, then pop out into a lush open space with a freaking mansion of a lake house.
It’s a three-story stone-and-wood structure that is jaw-dropping.
I can’t see the river from my spot, but I can hear it, which obviously feeds into the lake that this property sits right next to.
I’m guessing you can jump off a back deck and straight into the water.
And who knows what’s in this place. It’s got to be at least six or seven bedrooms.
My lips part as I climb out of the car, barely noticing Ben and his carload of teammates. I’m too busy gaping at this palatial place. I can’t believe we get to stay here for free.
“Shit, I knew Mac came from money, but maybe I didn’t realize just how much,” I mutter across the roof of my car at Sawyer, who’s wearing the same expression as me.
“Are you kidding?” Charli slaps me on the shoulder when she hops out of the back seat. “Look at what he drives.”
She points to his shiny car with the spoiler and who knows how many dollars’ worth of special features. That Nissan GT-R is his baby, and I’m guessing it’s one of many.
Yeah, okay, so he’s loaded.
But this house…
“Come on.” Charli lets out an excited giggle. “Let’s go check it out.”
She runs around my car, which suddenly feels like a cheap rust bucket compared to the array of cars parked outside this place.
At least Ben’s car doesn’t look like a boy racer’s wet dream. It’s still an Audi, but it’s more likely been passed down from his dad or something. I don’t know, I’m just speculating here. Ben just strikes me as the kind of guy who comes from sensible wealth rather than the ostentatious kind.
He raises his hand and waves at me just as Charli and Nix rush past him.
I give him a smile before heading to the trunk to unload our stuff.
“It’s gonna be a good weekend, man.” Sawyer grins at me. “This place is sick!”
“Yeah.” I laugh, nodding and wondering exactly what we’ll get up to in this rich man’s lake house.