Chapter 12 #2
He probably shouldn't say anything, keep treating it like a secret that everyone in school tiptoed around.
He said it anyway. "I wish I could tell you what the fuck is going on with him, but I'm just as confused. He walks around with a goddamn chip on his shoulder snapping at everyone and everything while allowing that idiot Sienna claim to the world they’re in a relationship. "
Ebony let out a deep breath.
He could kick himself. The last thing he wanted to talk about was Gavin. "Change of subject. We can either sit here and take bets on which couple is currently using your bathroom as a cheap hotel right now or we can play the game my sister is currently obsessed with."
Ebony shuddered and shook her head. "No thanks. I can never go down into the den after one of these parties until a cleaning crew does a deep clean of the whole place. What's the game Anna keeps wanting to play?"
"Would you rather," he announced dramatically, earning him a laugh. "Let's start off with one she asked me just this morning. Would you rather be lost at sea on an island or in a jungle?"
Turning onto her back Ebony looked pensive. "Mmm that is a good question. It really comes down to dehydration or jungle predators. I'm going to say jungle and hope a jaguar doesn’t kill me. You?"
"Jungle of course. At least then there is a chance to run for help."
While the party progressed around them, they continued to play the game their questions evolving from broader topics to more personal ones.
"Mmm," Ebony hummed sitting up. "That's a good one. Would you rather know the truth and hate it, or live a lie that feels good?" she repeated. "I'll have to think about that one but first I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be back."
Cameron sat up too. "Prepare yourself. I'm eighty percent sure there was more than one person in there earlier."
Ebony closed her eyes and made a face at that. "And people wonder why we lock the doors to the rest of the house."
He watched her walk away trying and failing not to look at the dip in the small of her back right before her ass.
It mesmerized him. He hardly ever got to see her this unclothed.
Normally she only ever wore sports swimsuits, the ones with shorts and sports bra tops.
Nothing at all like this. It had taken the might of God and not to mention a certain someone's burning stare against the side of his head, to keep his eyes from falling to those two glorious purple triangles.
Cameron sighed and took a breath and turned, expecting to see those glowing demonic eyes staring back at him but he was surprised as he watched Gavin walk up to the DJ booth instead and grab a mic.
"Okay, now for the main event. Let's play a game of Last One Standing. Rules are simple. Throw any and every one into the pool and be the last one standing. Winner gets five thousand dollars cash."
A roar of excited screams and whoops shook the air.
All at once people from every direction came to line up around the massive pool.
Maneuvering his way through the crowd Cameron came to a stop beside his friends Ethan, Luis, and Gavin.
A hush settled over everyone as they waited for Gavin to call the start of it.
Lowering the mic, Gavin fixed Cameron with a stare, his eyes blazing bright. "Sure you want to play? I won’t go easy on you this time."
A muscle snapped in Cameron's jaw. He knew he was talking about their last match, the one he lost. None of the extra training had helped. Countless nights sparring with Master Chun one-on-one, sneaking into late sessions just to get good enough to enter the tournament under Gavin’s nose.
And for what? Just to end up on his back, hearing the ref count him out while Gavin stood over him like he’d always belonged there.
Like it was never a question who would win.
Bitterness twisted through him like a black fog smothering his soul as he recalled Gavin’s cocky grin and offered hand to help him up.
Cameron lifted his chin, eyes hard. "Let's do this."
A sick delight lit Gavin's eyes and he lifted the mic. "Game on," he shouted before tossing the mic to Taylor who was standing behind the DJ booth.
Mayhem broke out. Screams and shouts filled the air as bodies collided into each other.
Cameron dodged two girls grappling each other before ducking out of the way as a guy from his chemistry class lifted another girl and tossed her into the deep end.
Cameron tensed as a cool, wet arm slid around his neck.
He could feel the chest of a guy pressing into his back as he attempted to drag Cameron towards the pool's edge.
Cameron reacted. With a hard elbow to the guy's ribs, Cameron didn’t pause at the satisfying grunt of pain.
He turned swiftly on his heel and grabbed the guy, this time it was Steven from his Government class, and grabbed him by the back of the hair.
Steven's yell was too late. It was swallowed by the water as Cameron sent in hurdling in.
He was sending a girl flailing backwards into the pool when he heard a familiar voice. "What the hell?"
Cameron turned to see Ebony standing near the French doors looking stunned by the chaos. A few yards away, he heard Gavin let out a growling curse. Like a linebacker, he moved through the sea of clamoring bodies toward her with ridiculous ease. Cameron followed.
A girl in a yellow bikini reached for Ebony’s wrist. The look Ebony shot her could’ve set concrete on fire.
She recoiled instantly, stumbling backward.
Ebony turned and glared at Gavin as he reached her side, shouldering a guy out of the way.
Cameron joined them, coming to stand on her left.
They had her cornered against the glass doors and completely sheltered from the madness.
"What are you doing out here? I thought you went inside." Gavin leaned into her, his voice just above a growl.
"How was I supposed to know you were going to play this? You never talk to me, remember? And I had no idea I was supposed to shut myself away from everyone so you can pretend I don’t exist," she shot back.
If it were any other time and not an all-out brawl Cameron would've watched their exchange like a movie, instead he helped slowly move them away from the doors as other people began to come out to join in on the fight.
Cameron pushkicked someone out of the way, forcing them into another person while Gavin gave a football player a maniacal grin that welcomed him to just try and touch him.
He in fact did not try and went after someone else.
They were a few yards away from her cabana keeping a good perimeter around her when Ebony let out a clipped scream. He and Gavin both turned to see Luis holding her in a bear hug from behind lifting her off the ground. Luis grinned at Gavin and looked beyond him over his shoulder.
Gavin turned just in time for the surprise attack as Ethan launched himself at him.
"You can't be serious," Gavin growled.
Despite years of Taekwondo Ethan wound up with an arm pinned behind his back and hauled off to the edge of the pool.
"I need the five grand," Ethan screamed as he was launched into the pool.
By this time Luis had the common sense to let Ebony go and run away, not before giving her a rushed apology.
Ebony's head came around sharply in surprise. "Five grand?! Gavin, don't tell me you offered-"
Her words were cut off as two girls rushed her just as someone hooked Cameron around the neck.
Struggling with his own attacker behind him, Cameron watched as Sienna's best friend, Miranda Bridges, grabbed at Ebony.
Cameron got his hand under the guy's wrist and yanked it down before twisting away from him.
He wanted to push the bastard in the pool but his focus was on Ebony.
He could hardly take his eyes off her as her hands moved with lightning speed.
One jab to the stomach the girl doubled over.
Like someone taking out the trash, Ebony grabbed the girl, half dragging half walking her to the pool's edge before tossing her in.
Cameron was amazed. "Holy shit that was-"
A blur of blond darted in between them. Cameron watched as Sienna dove for Ebony. With the pool at her back and people all around her Ebony had no room to move, instead she sent a swift punch like a viper strike to Sienna's face knocking the girl into the pool.
"Fucking hell!" Cameron laughed.
The shock of the situation was plain on Ebony’s face. "She tried to tackle me."
Coming closer to her, he nodded. "I saw."
Surfacing from the water, Sienna held her nose and looked to Gavin who was standing near the other end of the pool having just tossed three other guys into the pool. "I think she broke my nose," she wailed.
Ebony rolled her eyes at the dramatics. "I didn't. Trust me, I would have felt it."
And enjoyed it, Cameron mentally finished her sentence for her.
Two things suddenly happened at once. Sienna's brother Sutton comes after Ebony and both Cameron and Gavin yanked him backward onto the hard concrete.
While Abbi Winston, Sienna's other best friend, rushed Ebony.
She was able to dodge the bulk of her weight but not the girl's grasping hands. Time seemed to slow as Cameron watched the girl’s fingers find the dangling purple strap to Ebony's bikini bottoms. Like a soldier on a kamikaze mission, Abbi clutched onto the string as she fell into the water.
Ebony didn’t look shocked. She didn't scramble back. She didn't try to hold onto her bikini; she did the smartest thing she could do and fell in with her.
Cameron took a step forward to jump in after her but a large figure blurred past him, his body knifing into the water first.
Under the water now, Cameron squinted his eyes across the blue water trying to see through the crowd of bodies.
Brown and pale skin caught his eye. They were in the deeper section of the pool where the water was a darker blue.
Ebony was holding her half-on-half-off bikini bottoms with one hand while trying to use her other hand to swim up.
Cameron could see from the strained expression on her face she needed to breathe.
But Gavin was holding her down, pushing her further to the bottom.
Cameron's heart pounded and he began to swim toward them but stopped when Gavin's hand hooked around the back of her neck and pulled her to him.
Cameron watched with wide eyes, forgetting all about his own dwindling air supply, as Gavin's mouth covered Ebony's.
The fight in her left her body and air bubbles left her nose.
Gavin was giving her air. A second later Gavin was pulling back and he reached for her bikini and knotted the string with quick efficient movements.
Cameron surfaced first, the noise of everyone around him coming into focus as the water came out of his ears.
Ebony's gasp captured his attention and he watched as she wiped the water from her face.
Gavin was right beside her glaring at Abbi who was across the pool trying to disappear into the chaos.
Slowly pulling his gaze away from her, Gavin looked up and smirked at the sole person still dry and standing. "Well, Shanel, it looks like you're the winner."
Shanel jumped up and down excitedly.
The crowd was still roaring from the excitement when Gavin escorted Ebony out of the pool, keeping a possessive hand around her waist. Cameron stepped forward, every intention of coming to her side but Gavin’s eyes found his.
It wasn’t a warning look, not even anger.
It was somehow colder than that—it was brutal.
It was a measured determination. It was the kind of look that didn’t need words to say he wasn't giving him any more warnings to back off.Cameron didn’t look away.
He forced himself to return his stare. Commanded his fists not to ball at his sides at the sheer effort.
His heartbeat thudded in his ears, louder than the music.
He could’ve laughed it off, should’ve rolled his eyes and turned away like always.But he didn’t.Because in that second, something in him snapped.Not anger.
Not jealousy.It was need. Quiet and certain and long fucking overdue.
He needed Ebony to see him. He needed Gavin to know he wasn't one of his minions.And if Gavin wanted to throw down another line in the sand, Cameron would happily cross it.