“Listen, man, it’s not what you—”
My fist had collided with his face before he got the last word out. His head whooshed back, taking half of his body with him. He stumbled, shaking it off.
“This is how it’s going to be?” Cole asked, spitting blood onto the sand.
“Hell yeah! It’s go time, motherfucker. I’ve been waiting for it.”
I charged him, ramming my body into his torso, taking him to the sand. He was prepared for it and instantly fought back. We wrestled around in the sand for a few minutes, each of us trying to get the upper hand on the other.
“You fucking son of a bitch!” I hit him. “You let her get drunk!” I hit him again. “For what, Cole? To take advantage of her?” I hit him twice.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” he yelled, blocking another blow.
“Lucas, stop!” Aubrey shouted, trying to pull me away. “This isn’t helping anything! Alex needs you!”
Every angry bone in my body stopped in an instant. We both breathed heavily, sweat pouring from our overheated bodies. I jumped back, removing myself from his body with one last shove, spitting blood to the ground by my feet. The crazed look in my eyes warned him to stop. That’s when I saw Alex. She was doubled over, dry heaving into the sand, one hand covering her stomach. Cole was no longer in my sights. I didn’t give a shit about him anymore. I wiped blood from my bottom lip and went to her. I went to Alex.
“Jesus, Half-Pint, what did you drink? I just saw you.”
“Whatever the fuck was in the punch. It hit her out of nowhere,” Aubrey answered.
I glared up at Cole while rubbing Alex’s back. “I fucking told you she doesn’t drink. Why the fuck would you let her drink this much?”
“She told me she was fine.”
I wanted to continue to yell at him and threaten him, but all it would do was reaffirm that he didn’t know her. By the look on his face he finally fucking realized it.
“What time is it?” I asked Aubrey.
She looked at her phone. “Almost eleven.”
“Shit, she can’t go home like this.”
“I… don’t… feels… so… goods… Bo...” Alex mumbled, leaning her tiny frame against my chest and hiding her face in the nook of my neck. “You… smells… good…”
I chuckled. I couldn’t help it, even being drunk as shit and smelling like vomit, she was still adorable to me.
“Don’t worry about it. She called her parents a while ago saying that she was crashing at my house.”
I sighed in relief and kissed the top of her head.
“I’ll take care of her,” Cole claimed.
“The fuck you will,” I roared, standing up with Alex passed out in my arms. I faced Aubrey. “Thank you.”
She nodded. “Don’t mention it. Just get out of here before the boys see you and her.”
“Will you at least text me and let me know she’s all right,” Cole hollered from behind me as I walked away.
“She’s all right. Consider this your text message, motherfucker!”
I gently placed Alex in my truck and buckled her seatbelt. “Baby, what did you do?” I murmured, sweeping all her hair away from her face, making sure it didn’t have throw up in it. It was just on her clothes and I needed to get her out of them. I got in my truck and looked at my face in the visor mirror. Not much damage, my lip was a little swollen but not enough to where Alex would notice. I took a deep breath and drove her to the only place that ever felt like home to me.
Our abandoned house.
“Mmm,” I groaned when I felt something hard beneath me. I opened my eyes to Lucas sitting above me.
“Shit. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
I laughed even though I was disoriented as all hell. “I’m thirsty.”
He handed me a bottle of water. Surprisingly it was cold. I drank half of it down in a few gulps while trying to look behind him. Everything just appeared fuzzy to me. “Where are we?” I asked, squinting my eyes.
“Our place,” he simply stated, grabbing the water and taking a few sips for himself. “How do you feel?”
“Funny,” I beamed.
“You’re drunk.”
I frowned and pouted. “Nah uh.” If I were standing, I probably would have fallen over. I decided to lie down because the ground was on the move. “What’s that smells?”
“You,” he laughed, placing a shirt by me.
“I need helps. Will you please help me’s?”
He nodded, easing me up. I immediately placed my hands on his chest. “Whoa, tell the floor to stop moving.”
He laughed again. It vibrated his entire body. He felt so good that I wrapped my arms around his torso. “You smells good and feels nice. I’m going to stay right here… mmm… kay…”
“I need to change you before you can lay down again.”
“In your arms?”
“Of course.”
I smiled into his shirt. “Mmm kay.” I hugged him tight one last time and stepped away, swaying. I closed my eyes and put my hands up above my head, and he swiftly pulled off my dress.
When I heard him hiss I opened my eyes to find him staring at me with lust and desire. I was drunk, but I could see it clear as day. I don’t know what came over me. We were in our place, our home, our safe haven.
Away from everything and everyone.
Away from the lies and the truths.
Away from expectations and insecurities.
Away from it all…
It sobered me up enough to know what I wanted.
Him.
I stepped toward him and he stepped back, shaking his head like he knew. “Don’t,” he warned, in a tone I remembered all too clear.
I stepped again, except this time I reached for the strings of my bikini top.
“Alex,” he coaxed with a look I had never seen before.
“You’re leaving tomorrow,” I stated, untying the strings to my top and then bottoms, letting it fall down my body to the ground.
I stood there in front of him with a familiar yearning in both of our intense stares.
Naked.
Vulnerable.
Exposed.
I whispered, “Make love to me. I’m yours. I’ve always been yours.”
I saw a look of pure unadulterated fear and confusion reflected through his stare as he looked at me. Except he wasn’t looking at my naked body like I assumed he would. His eyes never wavered from mine. They were bonded together by the severity of my words and what I wanted.
What I needed.
It all seemed to happen so fast after that.
He was over to me in one stride, roughly grabbing the back of my neck and colliding my lips with his in the most forceful and passionate kiss…
Of my entire life.
My boys were gone.
Lucas was gone.
Though Austin remained. A huge part of me was gone, too.
My innocence.
My virtue.
My virginity.
Half-Pint left with my boys. Brown eyed girl left with my Bo.
They left yesterday, and I could barely look at myself in the mirror today. There was no going back for me. I already felt lost and alone without them, without him.
I couldn’t believe I lost my virginity like that. I couldn’t believe I gave it to him so easily. I couldn’t believe it was gone.
Like them.
Like him.
Alex… Alexandra… she remained.
With a choice that I made…
With a guilt that I inflicted…
With a hurt that I caused…
With a regret…
That would forever haunt me.
“What the fuck, man?” Jacob badgered. “Come out with us.”
“I’m all right,” I yawned into the couch, channel surfing.
“Are you fucking kidding me? Jesus Christ, Lucas, we’ve been here for almost four months and all you do is watch TV and go to class.”