CHAPTER FOUR #2
The pink-haired girl drops down beside him, and the redhead takes the seat next to me, her thigh brushing mine, bare skin against bare skin.
The contact sends a spark up my spine, and I do my best not to react.
She smells like vanilla and warm sugar, soft and sweet in a way that makes me feel strangely unsteady.
Her skin is soft. Her legs are perfect.
“This is Max,” Billy says, gesturing toward me. “Max, this is Rox and…”
He looks to his left.
“Peach,” the girl supplies, voice sweet and syrupy, with just a hint of a southern drawl.
I nod politely. I’ve become too mute and passive to do much else. But the heat of Rox’s thigh against mine makes my heart skip in a way it hasn’t in a long time.
Billy flags Cash down again with a flick of his fingers. “Bring more cups.”
Cash nods and returns with a stack of red Solo cups.
“Where’s Maze at?” Billy asks, stretching his arms across the back of the couch.
Rox takes a sip from her glass and shrugs. “Probably passed out in the back room. Or with that blonde from earlier.”
Billy grins. “You guys still crashing in Kai’s room?”
“Yeah,” she says. “Appreciate that, by the way. From both of us.”
Billy waves it off. “You’ve earned it. We needed hands on framing, and he knows what he’s doing. Saved my crew a hell of a lot of time.”
Rox smiles. “We try to pull our weight.”
“Keep that up, you’ll always have a place here,” says Billy, lining up a row of Solo cups and pouring tequila into them. He hands us each a cup.
“To new friends,” he says.
“To new friends,” Peach and Rox repeat.
I lift my cup without saying anything.
I can remember what it was like to be a girl wanting Billy’s attention.
I know how they see him. Handsome and charismatic, with that lean, taut body, the intensity behind his gray eyes, his unruly dark hair.
And somehow, in tandem with all that swagger, there’s a boyishness that seems fun and vulnerable. That’s what draws them in.
But I know a version of Billy they don’t. I know the darkness that underlies that charisma. There is no boyishness or vulnerability in Billy. Not anymore.
I down my drink without flinching, welcoming the burn. It doesn’t hurt, it’s not real pain. Just a little zip, a little flare. A taste of life.
Rox knocks hers back with a wince, and Peach does the same, then lets out a whoop, sticking out her tongue.
Billy watches her with a smile, eyes glinting. He turns to Rox, voice low and teasing.
“I like your taste in girls, Rox.”
“Oh yeah?” Rox says, playing along. “She’s cute, isn’t she?”
Peach grins and slowly sucks a drop of tequila off her thumb.
Billy’s gaze darkens. “Very.”
He slides his arm around Peach’s waist, pulling her in a little closer, then leans in to whisper something in her ear. Whatever it is makes her giggle, her hand landing lightly on his thigh.
Rox shifts beside me, her tone light and casual. “So what’s your story?”
I turn my head to her, but words don’t come. My story? Where would I even begin?
“You’ve got a vibe,” she says gently. “Collar and heels, but sitting here like you don’t want to be seen.”
My mouth opens, then closes again. I don’t want to be seen, and yet somehow she feels like the first person here who does see me.
Rox watches me for a beat longer, and something in her expression softens. She sits back just a little, like she’s giving me space.
“It’s cool,” she says. “You don’t have to talk.” She clinks her cup lightly against mine. “Just trying to figure out the cast of characters, you know?”
I nod…barely.
“Didn’t mean to pry,” she adds, and there’s a quiet sincerity there. No pressure.
Peach leans forward, forearms over Billy’s thighs, fingers landing on mine.
“He wants us to kiss again,” she says to Rox, loud and breathy. She smells like lime and candy and slightly like skin after dancing.
Rox chuckles and her thigh shifts against mine. We’re squished in tight on the couch. I become aware that the side of her breast is brushing my arm.
“Yeah, baby?” she murmurs to Peach. She threads her fingers into her pink hair, gives Billy a sideways look and a slow smile, and then closes the gap between them.
Their mouths meet, parting slightly, and the sight of Rox’s tongue slipping between Peach’s lips sends a warm ripple through me.
I can’t look away.
The heat of Rox’s body soaks into my side. Peach makes a soft, pleased sound, and Billy lets out a low growl.
“Fuck, that is so hot,” he groans, and then he turns toward me. “Why don’t you join them, baby? It would be so fucking hot to watch the three of you making out.”
The girls break apart and smile at me, expectant and open. But I don’t move.
There’s something so pure about the way they look together. So soft, so gentle. I resent Billy’s intrusion. The way he tries to ruin it. The way he tries to make it about him.
“Go on,” he says, that edge in his voice that means he expects me to obey. But I catch Rox’s eye and see something surprising in it. Something…kind.
“It’s all good,” she says easily. “Peach and I don’t mind giving you something to look at.”
She gives Peach a little smile, and leans toward her again, but Billy’s not smiling.
“No,” he says firmly. “I want Max to do it.”
Peach falters just slightly, sensing the tension, but Rox doesn’t flinch. She presses a soft kiss to Peach’s lips, and then turns to Billy with a smirk.
“You’re cute when you get bossy,” she says, tone breezy. Then she leans back like the rules don’t apply to her, impossibly self-assured.
With one smooth motion, she pushes her hair behind her ear, pulls a joint from behind it, and lights up. She takes a long, slow drag. eyes half-lidded, then leans toward me, close enough that her breath grazes my cheek.
She holds the joint out, lips curled in a smile.
“Try this,” she murmurs. “It’ll keep you feeling nice and chill. Guaranteed.”
I take the joint from her fingers, even though I haven’t smoked a joint in ages. I’d take anything to feel chill—or better yet, nothing at all.
I inhale deep and cough. But I hold onto it, and take two more drags before handing it back.
Almost immediately, a soft tingling sensation spreads out from my center, like a pleasant fizz beneath my skin. My shoulders loosen. My jaw unclenches. For the first time all night, I don’t feel like I’m vibrating out of my own skin.
Rox takes another hit and then passes it to Peach, who giggles through her inhale and hands it to Billy.
He takes a drag, then holds it out and eyes it a little longer.
“What is this?” he asks, brow raised.
“It’s got a little dust in the wrap,” Rox says with a glittering smile.
Billy grins and takes another long hit. “Shit, Rox. You’re full of surprises.”
The joint keeps moving—to Rox, to Peach, back around, I can’t keep track of it. The room softens at the edges. Lights blur, voices slow. Like everything’s underwater.
I feel floaty. Heat spreads through my limbs, syrup-thick and sweet, and the tight coil in my chest begins to unwind.
Rox leans over me to say something to Billy, her voice a sugar-spun whisper, and the sound of it sends a delicious shiver up my spine—like the sound waves themselves are tangible.
For the first time in days, maybe weeks, the noise around me doesn’t feel like it’s crawling across my skin. It feels good. Like I could let go.
I exhale and lean back, letting my head rest against the couch. My limbs feel so loose, like I’ve sunk into warm water. My thighs press together, just a little, as a slow throb blooms low in my belly, unexpected and impossible to ignore.
“Feel better?” Rox murmurs, leaning in beside me.
I turn my head toward her. Beautiful green eyes. A smattering of freckles across her nose. Full lips curved in a small, intimate smile. And for the first time in as long as I can remember, I smile too.
“You’re beautiful,” she says, low and husky.
I can’t speak. But I think: So are you.
I think I lick my lips. Her nose brushes along my jaw, her lips grazing my cheek.
The touch is feather-soft but electric. I feel it in my teeth. My spine. My thighs tense, the ache between them deepening with every breath.
She pulls back a fraction. Our eyes meet again.
And then—she kisses me.
Just a gentle brush of her lips on mine, slow and soft and sure.
Her mouth is so gentle. No urgency. No stubble scraping my skin. Just curious, warm pressure—an exploration.
The kiss deepens by degrees. She tilts her head, presses in, and my mouth parts without thinking. Her tongue glides against mine, soft and slow.
My hand drifts to her thigh, fingers tracing the smooth skin. My pulse flutters under my skin. I want more. I want everything. She moans softly into the kiss, and the sound ripples through me—pleasure, oblivion…need.
The heat in my belly spreads down my thighs, into my fingertips. Every brush of her lips feeds it.
Somewhere to my left, Peach giggles. There’s a wet sound, soft and rhythmic, and I’m vaguely aware of her leg straddling Billy’s lap, pressing against mine.
They feel far away.
All I can focus on is Rox. Her mouth on mine, her body edging closer, her hand sliding up my ribcage, finding my breast.
My whole body stills. Not in fear, but in wonder.
Her palm is warm, fingers curving around the swell of my breast. My lips part against hers again. A quiet sound escapes me, almost a whimper, but it doesn’t feel like it came from me. It feels like it came from somewhere deeper. Somewhere buried.
She kisses down the curve of my neck, her breath catching in the hollow of my throat, and I sink back farther, legs and hips loose. She moves over me, lips brushing over my chest, down between my breasts. I arch and inhale, pleasure sparking from her touch, rippling outward.
Her kisses trail lower, over my ribs, across the plane of my stomach. She lifts the elastic of my underwear, runs her tongue along the waxed-smooth curve of my mound, like she’s reaching for my clit, and need surges in me.