All the Inside Howling (Hollow Folk #2)(49)

Colton swiped at the beer on his shirt with one big hand and kicked the now-empty red Solo cups across the carpet. “Fuck.”

“Sorry.”

“Watch where you’re fucking going.”

At least he didn’t try to smile, didn’t try to act like we were friends. That was kind of a relief. “Go fuck yourself.”

To my surprise, the irritation in his face eased. Not a smile, nothing visible, but like he was one-percent less pissed off with me than he had been. “Why aren’t you with your—with Austin?”

“With my boyfriend?”

“Yeah? You guys are official?”

This was definitely not how I’d imagined the conversation. “I don’t—yeah. We talked about it.”

“Even after yesterday? Did you fucking apologize for being such a major fucking tool that you forgot his fucking birthday?”

“Back off. That doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

Those big hands gripped my shoulders, and after the beating Sal had given me earlier, I didn’t have much fight left in me. Colton steered me backwards, through a doorway and into a darkened, empty dining room. The smell of the spilled beer was overpowering now, mixed with the scent of the gel in his hair and the leftover lemon of furniture polish. Light from the doorway caught on the silver chain around Colton’s neck, and it was the only bright thing in the room until he spoke, and then his teeth were just as bright as the silver.

“It does have something to do with me, you fucking moron. It very much does.”

“I—”

“Shut up.”

Finally, in spite of the aches and pains, I managed to break his grip and shove him back a step. Colton retreated, breathing heavily, his hands still up.

“Fucking bigoted redneck piece of shit,” I said.

He lip curled in a sneer. “Most times, I wouldn’t give a shit where you stick your dick. This time, though, it’s my friend, so it does have something to do with me. I don’t like you. I don’t think you’re any fucking good, especially for Austin. He’s stupid as a stack of bricks sometimes, though, and it looks like you’re one of those times, so we’ve all got to play nice.” The part he didn’t say, the part he left hanging between us, was, until he gets tired of you and breaks it off. “When you fuck it up, though—and trust me, you’re going to fuck it up—I’m going to knock your head right off your fucking neck.”

“Give it your best shot.”

“You got something else to say?”

“What the hell would I want to say to you, Colton?”

“You want to tell me why you’re rolling around on the ground, playing grab-ass with Emmett Bradley, right outside your boyfriend’s,” he laid sarcastic stress on the word, “party?” He turned to go.

I grabbed his arm and swung him around. “No. You don’t get to walk away. When I screw up, you can knock my fucking block off. Fine. I’ll deserve it. But that’s not tonight. Tonight, Emmett’s out there, hammered so bad he’s probably pissing that car right now, and the only reason he’s still out there, and not in here screwing things up, is because I stopped him. You know why he came here? To pick a fight with Austin. What was I supposed to do? Let him walk in here and ruin this? This is the only good thing that’s happened to Austin since I showed up in this fucking town. I know I fucked up his life. I didn’t mean to, but sorry, it happened. I’m not going to let Emmett turn this into a shit-show because he’s—” I almost said jealous, but I managed to change it into, “just a spoiled kid who wants the attention.”

Colton considered this for a moment. “What are you going to do?”

I held out the car keys. “You want to drive him home?”

“Not a fucking chance.”

“Then who? I’m not dragging Austin away from this, and Kaden’s trying to do a keg stand, and—”

“You, you brain-dead fuck.”

“Huh?”

“Go get in that fancy car and drive him the fuck away from here.”

“I’m not—”

“Look around you. You want to be here?”

I didn’t speak, but the answer was clear to both of us.

“Does anyone want you to be here?”

“Real nice.”

“Get over yourself. Ok, Austin likes you. That’s . . . whatever. But tonight’s about him and his friends. It’s not about you. And you’re—”

“Hard to talk to,” I said, echoing Kaden’s words.

“No. You’re an outer-space quality asshole who makes everyone feel like shit. So get lost, and let Austin have a good night.”

“Really, really nice.”

His mouth quirked into a grin. “I’ve been wanting to have this talk with you for a while. Glad we understand each other.”

“I’ll drive Emmett home. If Austin asks—”

“I’ll tell him some kid got sick and you’re taking care of it.”

Part of me knew it was a bad idea. I shouldn’t leave Austin here, I shouldn’t take Emmett home, and I certainly shouldn’t do any of it without talking to Austin first. But . . . but there was a part of me that wanted to be with Emmett, even if he was drunk, even if he didn’t want to be with me. And listening to the roar of the party, punctuated by another excited shout from Austin, there was a part of me that knew I didn’t belong here. If I stayed, I’d only mess everything up.