Chapter 2
Diablo
That night I took out my frustration a bit too much on Imogen; luckily, she likes it rough and spurred me on, but it still wasn’t fair on her.
I’ve avoided the other girls for the rest of the week, angry with myself for letting Elizabeth get to me like that.
So my stupid prank failed, but what did I think was going to happen, it’s not as though El Jefe would have actually done anything to her, I just wanted him to scare her a bit.
Instead, she came out laughing and smiling as though they’d been friends forever. Everyone loves her so much, even now as we’re setting up for the party, Ana is talking about her to the guys and saying all this nice stuff. I can’t take this shit anymore.
I shout in their direction, “Why the fuck can none of you see what she’s doing to my brother?”
“What?” Ana asks, looking over at me.
“You’re always going on about how great she is, but what about Donovan?
It’s not fair on him; he’s young, he’s at college, he shouldn’t be tied down with someone who doesn’t give him the same attention he gives her.
He should be free to date and spend time with other girls, instead he spends all of his time with her, and what’s he getting out of it. Fuck all, that’s what.”
I’m gripping the chair I’m carrying a bit too tightly, so I place it down and sit instead.
“Shit, Diablo,” Pretty Boy says, “tell us how you really feel.”
Tank and Slim laugh, and I join them, fair enough, that rant probably did seem like it came from nowhere.
“Whatever.” I stand to go and collect more chairs.
“You do know they’re not actually together, don’t you?” Ana says.
“Of course they’re together, you don’t spend that much time with a girl you’re not in a relationship with.”
“Wow,” Destiny says, “are you saying that you don’t think men and women can be friends?”
“Don’t put words into my mouth, I know they’re more than friends.”
“How?” Ana asks, “Have you ever seen them kiss or anything?”
“No, but that’s why I know she’s stringing him along. Besides, she stays at his place sometimes, so they obviously share a bed.”
I hold out my hands, knowing I’ve proved my point.
“That doesn’t mean shit,” Destiny says, “friends can share a bed. Just because you don’t like to share a bed with anyone it doesn’t mean that other people don’t.”
Pretty Boy chuckles. “She read you, Diablo.”
I roll my eyes. I’m not annoyed by what Destiny said in the slightest, she isn’t wrong.
I avoid intimacy of any kind, and everyone knows that.
The girls know they have to leave right after we’ve finished fucking; other guys might let them sleep in their beds and cuddle, or whatever shit they do after sex, but not me.
What they are wrong about is the relationship between Elizabeth and Donovan, so I decide to turn the tables on them.
“Fine, instead of me proving they’re together, why don’t you give me proof that they’re not.”
I sit and lean back, waiting for the proof I know they don’t have.
“Okay,” Ana says, “Liam, Jaxon, Oliver.” She counts on her fingers as she lists guys’ names. “James, Elijah, Theo, Henry, Will, Ben.” She looks at the other girls, “Who am I missing?”
“Zachary,” Maria says, a smile crossing her face which makes me wonder who that is.
“And don’t forget Dante!” Daniela shouts.
They flat out giggle like schoolgirls at the mention of his name.
“And who the hell are they supposed to be?” I ask.
“All the guys Beth has fucked since we’ve known her,” Ana says, “what exactly do you think we talk about when I steal her away on Friday nights?”
At first it feels like a gut punch, but then I think about what they said and laugh.
“Nah, there is no fucking way.” I shake my head. “You almost had me for a moment, but there is no way in hell that Princess Prude is fucking different guys every other week.”
“Hey, you asked for proof, and there’s our proof,” Ana says, “you’re the only one who calls her Princess Prude, and if you spent more than five minutes with her, you’d know she’s the furthest thing from it.”
The girls laugh and I’m sure Imogen murmurs something that sounds like ‘fucking slut’ under her breath. They have to be playing me. I’m sure her and Donovan are together… unless… Does he know about this? Is she cheating on him ?
I don’t have time to give it more thought as the knock on the gate and the noise outside lets us know that Donovan’s college friends are here.
Not wanting to get involved with them, I head towards the clubhouse to sit on the wrap around porch; from up here I’ll be able to sit back, relax, and watch the evening’s events unfold…
not thinking about Elizabeth fucking a different guy every other weekend.
Elizabeth
I’ve kept the party a secret for as long as possible, but it’s obvious what’s going on when we hit the same street as the clubhouse. The music is blaring, and the night air is full of the sound of partying, the type only college students can create.
“I take it I have you to thank for this?” Donovan asks, as we stop a few buildings down from the gate.
“I wanted you to have a fun going away party, with your college friends and the club. And you’d better appreciate it, because I’ll have you know it didn’t come cheap.”
“What do you mean? The club aren’t charging you for this are they?”
He looks concerned, and I chuckle.
“No, just a hit to my pride. Diablo led me to believe that I had to ask El Jefe’s permission and told me to take it to the table.”
He brings his hand up to his mouth in shock. “You didn’t… did you?”
“Yeah… I may have knocked and walked in only to find El Jefe glaring at me. He looked so fucking mad, I literally thought they were going to kill me or something, I was freaking out in my head. ”
“Shit,” Donovan laughs, “I’m guessing it all worked out okay though, seeing as though we’re here.”
“Yeah, they realized Diablo was fucking with me and were lovely about it, even asked me to make sure I rubbed it in his face that he failed.”
“Holy shit, that explains it,” Donovan says.
“What?”
“Why he was in such a shitty mood that night, even after you left for work, I could see he was furious but had no idea why.”
I groan. “Oh no, that probably means he’s going to be even more of an asshole to me tonight than usual.” I clasp my hands together in mock pleading. “Please protect me.”
“Sorry, you’re on your own. I’m leaving tomorrow so you’re going to need to learn to handle him by yourself.”
“Well we don’t have to worry about that, it’s not like I’ll be coming here without you.”
“You could you know, I’d like it if you did,” he says.
“What do you mean?”
“Beth, come on, you know what you’re like. Without me, you’ll go to school and go to work and that’s it. I hate the thought of you being on your own, you’re my family, so you’re their family too. And I know Ana and the guys will want to see you.”
“I get plenty of social thank you very much,” I say, playfully hitting his shoulder. “Are you forgetting about my nights out at the bar?”
“Finding some random guy in a bar to fuck, then disappearing before he wakes up the next morning doesn’t count as social, Beth!”
I sigh. “Okay, okay. If Ana ever invites me here, I’ll come, I promise.”
He pulls me into a hug. “Thank you. ”
“Now,” I say, leaning back to look at him. “Enough of all this, we’ve got a party to get to, and by the sounds of it, a lot of drinking to catch up on.”
Taking his hand, we head to the clubhouse gates and knock loudly. They open immediately, it’s too loud for Walrus to hear us if he were to ask who it is. We walk in and Donovan keeps his hand in mine as he leans in.
“Thank you so much for this, you’re the best.”
“You’re welcome,” I say, kissing him on the cheek.
We make our way around our friends, catching up and hugging them; Tank and Pretty Boy are also mingling with us, mainly focusing on chatting up the college girls.
Both are popular with the ladies, which is understandable considering Tank’s sheer size and his rich mahogany skin covered in tattoos, and Pretty Boy with his dirty blond hair, blue eyes made brighter by his tan, and his cheeky smile.
Slim meanwhile is probably up in his room, not wanting to be anywhere near college students.
I glance up at the clubhouse where Diablo sits on the porch with El Jefe and Tipo, who both raise their beers and nod at me as I smile in thanks. Diablo glares at me, and there’s no misinterpreting the meaning behind his eyes, he’s furious.
The party has been a blast, everyone’s been getting on well, and the club made the space welcoming for us. Steel drum fires were placed around the yard, so everyone was warm enough for most of the night, drinks flowed freely, and everyone was dancing, laughing, and having a great time.
When it got cooler, our college friends decided to head back to their dorms, probably to either hook up or crash, whichever they needed. But the party continues inside, with the club members and the girls sitting in a circle around some tables we’ve moved together.
“That was actually way more fun than I thought,” Destiny says, “your college friends are nice.”
She’s sitting on Tank’s lap who joins in. “Yeah, I was worried it was gonna be like a high school party or something, but that was alright.”
“You’ll have to explain that to me,” El Jefe says, “I’m too old to know what goes on at high school parties so help me out here.”
Imogen shifts in her seat and leans into him.
“You’re only as young as the woman you feel, El Jefe.”
She runs her hand over his chest, but he gently guides it away.
I only notice because I’ve not seen him do that before, usually he’d have one of the girls on his lap.
A hurt expression crosses Imogen’s face, and I almost feel sorry for her, until she turns her attention to Pretty Boy instead, as though El Jefe doesn’t even exist.
“You’re not that old, El Jefe,” Tank says, “surely you can remember what eighteen-year-olds get up to at parties?”