Chapter Twenty-eight

"Who's that?" I tip my chin toward a leggy redhead dressed as a sexy witch with glitter plastered all over her body. "She keeps looking over here," I tell Ash while sitting on the cabin steps.

After our little moment on the roof, Doni had to mingle, and I was on my way to find Tia but ran into Ash instead.

"That's my ex, Eliza. Don't even know why she bothered showing up." He looks away and rests his head on my lap.

"She hurt you, didn't she?" I peer down into his bright gray eyes with light blue waves of color streaming toward the pupil like the way the water flows down the river.

"Yeah. The bitch cheated on me."

"I'm so sorry." I rub his hair like a little child, trying to give him that comfort. Just like when we were kids.

"It is what it is. Can't do anything about it. Honestly, I don't give a flying fuck anymore, but no matter what I do or say, she just keeps showing up wherever I am."

"Do you want me to kick her ass?" His body shakes from laughing so hard.

"Whose ass are we kicking?" Tia asks as she spills out of the cabin.

"Oh, you know, the crazy ass ex-girlfriends who won't just fuck off," Ash responds. Tia laughs and sits beside me on the steps.

"Damn, Ash. I didn't know your charm drew in crazy ass bitches."

"Like flies to shit," Ash says without any emotion.

We laugh.

"Where have you been?" I nudge Tia with my elbow. The movement makes Ash sit up from my lap.

"I was going potty," she slurs, hooking her arm with mine and laying her head on my shoulder. Great. She's halfway to being smashed before we even make it to Seb's.

"I'm not carrying your ass to the car, Tia," I gripe. The only response I receive is mumbling gibberish.

As we sit in silence, my thoughts go back to Doni. After leaving the roof, we decided to go our separate ways. Donie didn't want to leave me, but it's his party so he needs to tend to the guests. He just rolled his eyes at me, giving me a crooked grin.

"Who's ready for a game of Flip Cup?" Jag hollers, pumping up the crowd, which works because suddenly I hear "hells yes, yeah baby, let's do this."

That wakes Tia up. We walk into the cabin toward the dining room. Wyatt and Jag remove all the chairs and place the Solo cups in a straight line on each side of the table.

"Who's in?" Jag asks, looking around the room until his eyes land on me and Tia.

"The Latina duo. You're both captains. Pick your teams." He winks and takes a drink of his beer.

Wyatt, Jag, and another guy carry over bottles of hard liquor, wine coolers, and beer.

Tia pours a small amount of rum and Coke in her cup, while I fill mine halfway with Berry Weiss Leinenkugel.

We pick our teams.

Jag goes over the rules. "Ok," he gives a hand whistle to gain everyone's attention but fails terribly. "Fill your cup with whatever fucking drink you want. Drink your cup entirely and use your fingers to flip the cup upside down. Once your cup is flipped, the person next to you needs to chug their drink and so on. The team who has the most cups flipped, wins. Let's play!"

"D, flip a coin. Heads we start, and tails, Tia's team goes." He gives her a wink, earning him a middle finger.

Doni flips a coin, and it lands on heads.

"Yeah! Go, Shorty!" Ash yells at me. I take a drink and flip my cup on the first try. We play until all the cups have been flipped, leaving our team to win. I got a buzz going so I walk away from the table to the sitting room, collapsing on an oversized soft beanbag in front of the fireplace. Tia joins me and snuggles beside me, handing me a bottle of water. Ash lays beside me on the plush area rug with one hand underneath his head and the other over his eyes.

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy Birthday to D and Ash. Happy birthday to you," Addy and the rest of the girls sing to the guys, bringing out a tall, layered cake with sparkling fireworks on top. The bottom cake's frosting is a black fondant, and the top tier is a forest green. Their school colors. "Happy Birthday Donnie Ash," is written on the side.

Ash sits up on his elbows, looking over to me, and rolls his eyes. I let out a light laugh that bubbles from me. He lifts himself off the floor and stands beside Doni.

"You ok babe?" Tia asks as we cuddle with one another.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" I hiccup my beer.

"You look a little crushed," she says in a caring tone.

"I'm not crushed. Just confused, is all. But I'll get over it, like I always do." I'm lying as always.

"You can tell me." She pushes.

I sigh. "I know. I'm ok, really."

"You want some cake?" Addy says. She walks around to stand in front of us, holding out two paper plates with a piece of cake on each. Her smile is genuine, and it makes it hard to hate her.

"Sure. Thank you." We sit up and grab the plates from her. Addy smiles and walks away.

"Ugh," I grunt in frustration and lay back down.

"This tastes like shit," Tia says, spitting the cake back on her plate and throwing it in the fire.

"Tia!" I look over my shoulders to see if anyone saw her, but everyone has congregated in the kitchen.

I take a bite of mine and she's right. It does taste like shit. She laughs when she sees my crinkled-up face as if I ate a lemon and throw mine in the fire.

"Maybe we sh—"

Loud voices cut me off.

"What the hell is going on?" Tia asks rubbing her eyes, smudging her eyeliner.

I roll off the sack and pull Tia up onto her feet. We follow the voices towards the kitchen noticing Doni in a standoff with Jag.

"What the fuck was that?" Doni turns to Jag, close to losing his shit.

"What?" He plays dumb.

"Don't play fuckin' games, Jag." Doni clenches and unclenches his fists at his sides as if itching to beat Jag to a pulp.

"Oh, that?" Jag grins when he looks over Doni's shoulder to me when he says the next words.

Me?

"I was just speeding up the process, brother." He winks and before Doni can react. "You'll thank me later, bro." he says with a satisfied look.

"Why are you getting your panties in a bunch? Because Jag was right?" Ash shakes his head a few times.

Doni glares at his brother.

"Just admit it, man, and get your head out of your ass," he says, glaring right back at him.

"Admit what?" I ask wearily.

Doni tenses when he hears my voice. He turns to face me and says, "nothing."

"Doesn't seem like nothing if this involves me." I cross my arms over my chest not buying his bullshit.

Doni leans back, grabbing the back of his neck, and sighs in frustration. "Nothing is wrong, Shorty." He offers me a weak smile.

"Just tell her, D." Jag leans against the counter besides Wyatt with a beer in his hand. "She's going to find out about it eventually. If not from you—"

"Yeah, tell her." Addy walks and stands in the middle of the room facing Doni. She looks like a hot mess. Her eyes are red and blotchy, and her make up is ruined because of her tears.

Why was she crying?

"Tell me what?"

Doni grips the edge of the island with his head hanging low. He doesn't respond nor does he look up.

"Fine. I'll tell her." She spins around to face me with an angry expression. "Is it true? Do you love him?"

"Addy." There was warning in Doni's tone.

"Is there something going on between you too?" Addy gestures between Doni and me.

Neither one of us answers.

"Oh, my God." Addy half laughs and half cries. "There is something going on."

"Addy—" Doni starts but Addy interrupts.

"No. Don't Addy me. Don't lie to me Donnie."

"Addy, stop." Doni warns.

"No. I won't stop!" Her voice is louder, attracting other eyes to us. She turns to face me when she says, "He belongs to me. Just because you guys have history, doesn't give you the right to swoop in and take him away from me."

I don't even know what to say, other than I feel like shit right now.

"Addy. Knock it off," Ash spits back.

"Stay out of it, Ash." She glares at him.

"Then take your bullshit somewhere else if you don't want a fucking audience," he snaps.

"Did you fuck him?" Addy's chest is heaving, and her breathing is hard.

What the…

"Jesus Christ, Addy. The fuck!" Doni yells. "Why are you acting like this?"

"So, you are fucking her!" she yells, pointing her finger at me again.

"Fucking Christ." He rubs his hands up and down his face in frustration.

"Addy, come on," Eliza says when she walks in with Kenzie and Serena. "You've had enough to drink. Let's go."

"Yeah, let's go, Addy," Kenzie says as if trying to save her from embarrassing herself any more than she already has.

"No. Not until he admits fucking her!" Addy glances over her shoulder at me and says, "He's mine. He. Is. Mine."

Doni sighs in frustration, trying not to lose his shit. "I already told you. You and I are not together Addy, we haven't been for a while. So, stop this shit. I'm not having this conversation with you right now."

"Yes, we are," she counters but then looks at me with sadness hiding behind her fa?ade. She doesn't want everyone to see how hurt she is. "Why did you come back, huh? We were doing fine until you came along. I love him. He belongs to me" She wipes her tears away. "Let him go, ok? Find someone else." she begs.

I open my mouth to find the words that will put her at ease, but nothing comes to mind.

"Jesus, Addy. I'm not some type of property you can claim."

"You promised not to hurt me. We were good together, remember?"

"I said we are not doing this right now." Doni was barely holding his temper in.

"You asshole!" Addy screams and attacks Doni by banging on his chest with her fists, tears falling from her eyes. "She's not worth it!"

Doni catches her wrists before her next blow. "That was your freebie because I deserved it, but don't ever insult Shorty." He warns through clenched teeth. He releases her.

"You can't be serious about her. Donnie, she's not one of us. She will never fit in our world. Your mother will never accept a whore from the ghetto. Just because you grew up together—"

"The fuck did you say?" Tia walks towards Addy ready to attack but Ash notices the anger radiating from her and pulls Tia back to his chest.

The room grows silently still.

"Get the fuck off me!" she yells, trying to wiggle free from his grasp, but he holds on tightly. "You wanna see ghetto princess? I'll fucking show you ghetto."

My emotions are running high as I try to keep my shit together before I reach over and slap the arrogance off her.

Doni bends down to Addy's level, face to face. His eyes are dripping with spite, his luscious lips are curled with disgust, and his fists are clenched at his sides. The rest of the guys stand behind Doni. You can feel the energy in the room shift in a matter of seconds. "Did you just insult my girl?"

My girl?

Addy's eyes glisten but she doesn't say anything.

No onesays anything.

"You need to get the fuck out of here before I throw your ass out myself."

"Donnie, man…" Wyatt grabs his bicep to pull him away. Doni pauses and speaks again. "Get. Out."

Addy's lips begin to tremble, and tears start to flow down her face.

"You belong to me!" she cries out while Kenzie and Eliza try to pull her back.

"I said get out."

When Addy doesn't comply, Doni loses his shit.

"I said get out!" His voice roars and booms throughout the entire cabin.

"FUCK YOU, DONNIE!" Addy's chest heaves when she wails and runs out of the room with Kenzie and Serena.

Donie stalks towards me and grabs my face with his hands. "I'm sorry. She shouldn't have said that about you." He says in a softer tone.

"Yeah, she lost her fuckin mind," Ash curses under his breath.

Doni looks hurt more than anything. He's hurting for me.

"Babe, you ok?" Tia asks in a sincere tone as she tries to turn me to face her, but I don't say a word. It's all too much. The next thing I know, the voices that are calling out to me fade away as I run out of the cabin.