23. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“You want some more?” Candace asks, swirling the bottle of schnapps in my direction.
“Are you a filthy whore?” I ask precociously and snatch the bottle from her. Holding it up towards the moon, I check how much is left before tapping its base on Millie’s thigh. “You first.”
“No thanks, I’m done.” Changing her position, she moves from the utility pole to sit on the ground—stretching her legs out and resting her head back on the wood beside me. “I promised Josh I’d go to church with his family in the morning… Boring.”
“It’s your bed,” I tell her as I unscrew the bottle’s lid and, in three large gulps, swallow down the rest of the evening’s alcohol.
“Hey!” Laura stands, steps over Millie’s legs, and smacks me in the forehead. “Why didn’t you offer me some more first?”
“Sorry,” I chuckle as she slaps me multiple times on the arms and chest. “Here.” I catch her wrists and tug her down towards me. She’s only a few inches closer, but it’s enough to drive her crazy. “Why don’t you kiss me? I’ve still got the taste on my tongue.”
Even in the cloudy night, there’s enough starlight breaking through for me to see her neck move as she gulps, pauses, and contemplates if this is the time she’ll be brave enough to take me up on my empty threats.
“Trevor will never know,” Amy spurs on from beside Candace.
Laura kneels between my spread knees and initiates a game of chicken. “I’m ready.”
Releasing her wrists, I press my index finger beneath her chin and raise it towards me. “You know I’m the one who’ll pay for this if he ever finds out.”
Laura’s hands find my thighs and slowly creep upward. “He’ll never know if you don’t tell him.”
I lean in so close I hear her gasp. “What about your other besties?”
She takes in a shaky breath. “Promise you won’t tell,” she asks Millie, Candace, and Amy—her lips trembling as she speaks.
These girls are so easy to unravel, I almost feel sorry for them.
Well… I mean, I do feel sorry for them.
As if growing up in the middle of nowhere isn’t bad enough, their boyfriends aren’t supplying them with adequate, boredom-evicting satisfaction. Not that I can offer them anything more. They just think I can. They think my cockiness is proof of my experience. But the reality is that I’m two centimeters away from my first kiss.
It’s ironic. My four closest friends have been getting dicked down for ages, and then there’s me—the guy they all want but has no sexual interest in them. Or… anyone, to be honest. I don’t know if my father’s relentless accusations have made me carnally stunted, or if my general apathy towards the world around me has spread into the pleasure centers of my brain because nothing other than the prospect of getting hosed ignites any joy.
Still, it would be nice to know I’ve had my tongue down the throat of his girlfriend the next time Trevor decides to take out his aggression on me. Come to think of it, I should line the four of them up and let them play tag team with me. They’ll have their fun, and maybe their boyfriend’s fists won’t hurt so much next time.
“I’m not playing this time, Laura. If you think this is something you’ll regret, I suggest you back out now.”
“Not a fucking chance.” Laura’s words puff against my lips before she kisses me, and I freeze—her slightly open mouth daring mine to move.
“Woo!” the others cheer as I tilt my head and slide my hand over Laura’s cheek until it’s sitting behind her ear. Her lips feel soft against mine, but cold. I want to make her warm. I want her heart to race as fast as mine is right now. So I lick them. Laura lets out a satisfied little pant and wraps her arms around my waist, pulling our bodies together until I can feel her trying to grind herself against me. No longer tender, my hand grips the back of her neck as the other gropes her ass.
“Fuck,” Candace exhales.
“I know,” Amy agrees.
“That’s enough,” Millie says with an almost jealous tone as she pushes Laura away from me.
“Piss off.” Laura pushes her back and reaches for my waist again. I clamp my arms around her, desperate for more of whatever the fuck is coursing through me.
“Quit being a slut.”
“Quit being jealous that I was the first to kiss him.”
“Both of you shut the fuck up,” I snap at them and slide my hands up Laura’s back, ready to kiss her again. But I’m interrupted by the blasting of a horn.
A familiar one.
One that belongs to a silver Ford F-150.
“Shit!” Millie chokes, and scrambles to her feet. “It’s Josh.”
At the other side of the field, the truck weaves until its headlights find us, then speeds up.
Still between my legs, Laura cowers into a ball, but my hands don’t leave her.
Spotlight on us, the tires brake and skid on the grass.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Trevor yells, jumping down from the pickup’s tray.
“Nothing,” Laura whimpers.
“I wasn’t talking to you, whore.” He grabs her and flings her to the side.
I look up at him without raising my head. “Same answer,” I say brazenly.
“Why the hell do you all keep hanging out with him when we tell you not to?” Amy’s boyfriend, Sean, hits the ground with a thud and stalks towards me.
“No,” Josh says calmly, stopping Sean with a hand on his chest before closing the truck’s door. “I told you I was first…. Get in the truck, Millie.”
“God, I’m getting so sick of this bullshit. We can spend time with whoever we want. We’re not your slaves.”
“Have it your way, then.” He wrings his hands maniacally. “Bring him over here.”
“Can I get in one shot first?” Trevor asks Josh like a pathetic lemming.
“No, you fucking can’t,” I answer for him, and use Laura trying to calm him down as my chance to run. But as I step over the utility pole, I realize they planned the whole thing.
They weren’t out looking for their girlfriends; they knew they were here.
They know where they go; I go. And behind the park, all the way at the other side of the field, the only place I have to run is along a narrow gravel path that surrounds the perimeter with a ten-foot chain-link fence on the other side.
“Jet!” Josh calls out, directing the football team’s wide receiver to cut me off.
“Stop!” Candace yells out to her boyfriend, but he’s already in front of me and my feet are skidding along the loose rocks as I change direction, only to be met by Trevor.
“Fuck you,” I curse—spitting at him.
Laura shrieks as he pounces.
Defiant of Josh’s orders, Jet pounds his fist into my ribs.
Wheezing on reflex, I try to break free, but am dragged back over the pole and in front of Josh.
Defenseless—with both my arms held—Josh calls me gutter trash and breaks my nose.
“Stop it, Josh!” Millie shouts, running in front of me. But he pushes her with so much force she hits the truck’s bonnet, and her head whips back before she falls to the ground.
“Dumb slut,” he belittles her.
Seeing red, I try to kick Josh.
“Think you’re clever?” he laughs, stepping aside when I try again. Then my jaw cracks as his fist strikes me. “Let him go.”
Josh’s words ring in my ears as I fight to keep balance.
A third blow knocks me over.
“M-Millie. Are you okay?” I cough.
“She’s not here.”
“Laura?”
Leaning over me—his face viciously highlighted by his truck’s headlights—Josh looks possessed. “None of them are here.”
“Where did they go?”
“Bring him here, too,” Josh commands, ignoring me.
Him? Who else is here?
I cry out in agony as the heel of Josh’s Timberland’s stomps my right hand. “Do you wanna be conscious while we take turns playing with your boyfriend?”
Who? I don’t have a boyfriend.
“I’m not gay,” I force out.
“Kissing this pretty little thing says something different.”
“I-I didn’t,” I strain, trying to roll towards the commotion beside me.
“Uh-uh.” Josh sends me back with a kick to my stomach. “No peeking… Not yet.” With my right hand still beneath his foot, he straddles my chest, tramples my other hand, then supports his weight above his knees as he towers over me. “We’re gonna make him sing for you. Then, when he’s so spent he can’t cry out for you anymore, that’s when you can watch… Hmm, I might even knock him out so I can fuck his face, too.”