Untouched (Bay Falls High, #1)(67)

I gasped. My cheeks turned red.

Claire looked at me and winked again. “Maybe just a hand job in his office but that’s it.”

She got out of the SUV and walked up the wide steps to the house.

My jaw was dropped as I tried to think about what she said.

I almost felt bad for anyone who had to professionally deal with Claire.

Or in the bedroom.

Yikes.

That made me think about Pres. And his father. And what I saw with his father and Claire. Whether that really mattered or not.

I still hadn’t shut off the SUV.

Part of me didn’t want to go back into the house.

Because it was going to change me some more.

I was adapting to my environment.

Claiming to be the dirty, poor girl. Yet enjoying the little bits and pieces of being a rich bitch too. Being claimed by Pres, Barr, and Kip.

My body shivered as I thought about the three of them boxing me in. The sounds of their voices. The smell of their skin. The way they all found a way to kiss me right there but not on the lips.

I hurried to text Gi.

I needed them.

My new friends.

For my new life.

To make everything make some kind of sense.

And if and when it all came tumbling down, then fuck it.

I would just find somewhere else to go and live.

And adapt.

Gi texted me back and said they were partying on the beach. She told me where to park and how to get there.

I looked at myself in the mirror as though I really cared about how I looked.

And I turned around and got the hell out of Claire’s driveway.

When I got to the beach, Gi and Iris were waiting for me.

Waving stupidly with a drink in their hands.

“Ah, great,” I whispered.

My new best friends were drunk.

I had no idea how Iris was able to sip anything after her night.

But, hey, everyone fakes it, right?

Gi hugged me like she hadn’t seen me in a year.

“Missed you, bitch,” she said in an extra happy voice.

“Missed you too,” I said. “I even missed you, Iris.”

“I didn’t miss you,” she said.

“Glad to see you have pants on this time,” I said. “Did you piss yourself yet?”

“Oh, shit, let me check,” Iris said. She touched between her legs and then threw me the middle finger. “Nope. I’m as dry as you, Ti.”

“She’s not dry,” Gi said. “Not with the Rulz after her ass.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said. “Please. No more.”

“Right,” Iris said. “No more talking about it.”

Gi and Iris giggled like they had some kind of inside joke on me.

I hated that feeling.

But I faked a fucking smile and went down to the beach.

There was a fire. Drinks. I was pretty sure the same two guys with guitars were there too.

All I had to do was adapt.

Pretend.

Fit in.

Enjoy whatever happened.

And, honestly, what was the worst that could happen?

I wasn’t going to fall in love with three guys at once. And I wasn’t going to choose one of them. And they weren’t going to fight over me.

I could fake it and adapt or whatever else until I was blue in the face but at the end of the day I was still the dirty, poor girl.

And as long as I reminded myself of that, nothing could hurt me.

Right?





twenty-one





Everyone got drunk and danced. I kept a look over my shoulder. When the night was over, I gathered up Gi and Iris and got them into my SUV and took them back to Claire’s house. They were loud, stumbling, laughing, hugging each other, slurring their words as they shared stories that made no sense to me.

And the most famous line of the night was the same…

‘Oh, Ti, you weren't here for that!’

Which I could smile at the first few times. I could fake smile at the next few times.

But after that… it got annoying.

So I didn’t belong in BFH because I wasn’t around for that. Whatever the hell that was at the time. And I wasn’t welcome back where I used to live because apparently I had changed so much that Ruby and Amelia hated me. Which was petty jealousy. But you know what? Screw them then.

Gi and Iris ended up falling asleep right in my bed.

Which wasn’t my bed at all.

It was Claire’s bed. Or a bed in a spare bedroom in Claire’s house.

I ended up at the window, looking down to the pool and out to the ocean.

Last time I was annoyed with Gi and Iris, I ended up calling Devin and that was not a good situation. We talked for hours on the phone and met up just before sunrise. He told me he still loved me and I told him I still loved him. And we kissed when the sun came up and agreed that it could be a good start for us.

To save a long story - it wasn’t.

I grabbed a pillow and a sheet from the bed and slept in a corner.

And the saddest part of that?

The fucking corner of the bedroom was more comfortable than my bed at the other place. The carpet was thick and plush. The air was cool and clean. The pillow was extra fluffy and comfortable. The sheet hugged me like it was made just for me.