Chapter 18 #2
“I’m sorry, okay?” he whispers, looking around to make sure no one’s listening. “I was just tired of you telling me what to do. I can’t live like this. I can’t hide out in my house until all this shit blows over.”
“Yeah, actually you can.” I slam my locker door shut and turn to him. “If Parker and I can do it, so can you. You think we don’t want to be out drinking tonight? I’d drink right now if I could, but I need to keep my mind clear. Just one screwup and we’re done.”
“I could go to the party and just not drink.”
“You know that’s not gonna happen. If you go, you’ll get wasted, and then you’ll tell someone.”
“Then what am I supposed to do tonight?”
“Get wasted at your house. Drink and watch porn until you pass out.”
He smiles. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea.”
“I need to get to practice. Get your ass home and stay there. I’m sending Parker over to check on you so you better be there.”
“Where are you going to be?”
“Where I don’t want to be.”
“What does that mean?”
“I have to meet Ella to do an assignment for Chem lab. I’ve been putting it off all week but it’s due on Monday and she’s working this weekend. Tonight’s the only time we can meet.”
“Does Aubrey know?”
“No, and don’t tell her. She thinks I’m hanging out with Parker. And Parker told Scarlett he’s hanging out with me.”
“Why do you care if Aubrey knows?”
“Seriously?” I stare at him. “Have you met Aubrey?”
He laughs. “Yeah, got it.”
“I have to go.” I walk off. “You better be home tonight!”
I let him off easy. I could’ve stayed angry with him, but that would make it harder to keep tabs on him. I’ll be shocked if he actually stays home tonight. If he doesn’t, Parker’s going to go pick him up at the party.
Rugby practice goes surprisingly well, given my lack of sleep the past few days.
I’m alert and focused and playing better than I have in weeks.
After practice, I go to the gym and work out nonstop for two straight hours with just a few minutes of rest. If I knew jerking off to fantasies of Ella would have this effect on me I would’ve been doing it a long time ago.
When I’m home, I take a long, hot shower. As I’m getting dressed, Aubrey calls. I send it to voicemail and she calls right back.
“What do you need, Aubrey?”
“I need you to be my boyfriend and show the hell up at this party tonight!”
“I told you I’m having a guys’ night. I’m not changing my plans.”
“You had a guys’ night last weekend! We haven’t seen each other all week!”
I hold the phone away from my ear because she’s yelling so loud.
When she quiets down, I calmly say, “I’m not going to the party. I’m hanging out with my friends. If you don’t like that, go find someone else.”
She doesn’t respond. She knows every girl at school wants to take her place — everyone except Ella — and there’s no way Aubrey’s giving that up.
“Will I see you tomorrow?” she asks in a soft, almost begging tone. I’ve never brought up the idea of us breaking up, and now that I threw it out there, she’s panicking.
“I don’t know. I’ll have to see. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Okay,” she says in a timid voice. “Bye, babe.”
I toss my phone on the bed and finish getting ready.
I’m meeting Ella at a coffee shop. I offered to meet her at her house, but she insisted on meeting at a public place.
I think she’s afraid to be alone with me.
I’d never actually hurt her, but I’ve threatened her enough over the years that she thinks I will.
It’s probably good we’re not meeting at her house.
After all the dirty thoughts I’ve been having about Ella, I don’t trust myself to be alone with her.
When I get to the coffee shop I spot her at a table near the back, her laptop out, scribbling something in her notebook.
She’s wearing a tank top and shorts, showing off more skin than she does at school.
It’s really warm out tonight, so I get why she’s wearing that, but it’s going to make it hard for me to focus, given where my thoughts have been all day.
“You’re late,” she says when I sit down across from her.
“At least I showed up.”
She leans across the table, her eyes bouncing around the coffee shop. “Any updates?”
“No. I assigned Parker to watch Finn. He’s going over there soon to make sure he’s home.”
“Will Parker actually do it, or will Scarlett guilt him into going to the party?”
“He’ll do it. If he goes to the party, I’ll have to deal with Aubrey being pissed I’m not there and he knows I’ll kick his ass if that happens.”
I can’t stop staring at Ella’s tank top.
It’s a soft lavender color and has these tiny buttons that go down her chest. The top few are undone, and I can see some cleavage.
At school, she always wears baggy shirts and nothing cut low enough to see her tits.
I already feel my cock straining against my jeans.
Did she do this on purpose? She had to know I’d be staring at her chest in that shirt.
I’m a guy — I like tits. I can’t help but look.
“Briggs?”
I force my eyes back to her face. “What?”
“You didn’t answer me.”
“About what?”
“Aubrey. Does she know we’re meeting?”
“No. I told her I’m having a guys’ night with Parker, and he told Scarlett the same thing.”
“Why didn’t you tell Aubrey the truth?”
“Because she doesn’t like me being around other girls. She doesn’t even want me talking to them, not that I listen to her.”
“But she knows you hate me. You could’ve just told her we were forced to meet because of this assignment.”
“Trust me, it’s easier if she doesn’t know.”
Ella pauses, looking at me. “Do you like Aubrey, or do you just go out with her because she’s pretty?”
“Honestly?” I shrug. “I don’t really know anymore. It seems like all we do is either fight or have sex. I like the sex part, but I’m getting tired of the fighting.”
“Then why do you stay with her? You could easily get sex. You don’t need Aubrey for that.”
I lean back. “Why do you care?”
“I don’t. I just don’t know why you’d stay with someone you don’t really like.”
“I never said I didn’t like her.”
Ella looks down at her laptop. “I started to make a list of ideas if you want to see them.”
That was abrupt. I guess she’s done giving me advice about my love life. Why was she questioning me about it? And why was she telling me to break up with Aubrey? Does she want me for herself?
This night is suddenly getting more interesting.