35. Zepp

THIRTY-FIVE

zepp

Hendrix sat beside me on the couch and handed me a drink. "This is why us Hunts don't do mahogany, man."

"It's monogamy, dipshit."

"Whatever. One girl." He waved a hand through the air. "Why the hell would you do that?" He motioned toward my crotch. "Why the hell would you do that? The sword of valor is meant to be wielded, not sheathed in one punani."

Hendrix would never get it. Hell, I wouldn't have gotten it a few months ago because I would never have believed I could have cared so much for one person. And it sucked because it hurt. I had trusted Monroe. I had allowed myself to be vulnerable, and she stabbed me in the damn heart with a piece of shrapnel. What was worse was that, even though it was plain as day, I was still struggling to believe she would screw around on me. I guessed that was what happened when you loved someone; you wanted to see the best in them.

I took a sip of my drink and slouched back against the couch cushion. "Maybe she didn't fuck him."

"You said she was in the same clothes." Hendrix popped me on the head. "That's as tell-tale as you get. Man, she rode his cock like a mechanical bull."

The image had my stomach churning.

He grabbed the controllers, tossing one to me. "It sucks. But… come on. You had to be getting bored of that shit." The game started. To my brother, this probably seemed easy.

I stared at the screen for a moment before taking my drink and heading to my room. I felt like an idiot, and when I collapsed on my bed, tears blurring my vision, I felt like a pussy. All I wanted to do was text her. Call her. Ask her why, but the answer didn't matter.

Pretty certain this was long overdue karma coming in for the kill.

The next day at school, I stood with the guys at the end of the hall. Girls in a semicircle around us. My dumbass brother had made a show this morning, standing up on the hood of Wolf's truck and shouting that I was single across the entire parking lot before I managed to yank his ass down.

Hendrix glanced around at the girls and grinned. "The blonde said she'd give you some head in the bathroom." He whacked me on the back, and I shoved him away. "That should get you over her."

"I'm gonna kill you."

Holding up his hands, he took a step back. "Just trying to help you get some of that aggression out. A back up of jizz never did anyone any good."

"Man, fuck off." I made it halfway down the hall before Wolf caught up with me.

"You look like shit."

I yanked open my locker door, rummaging through the shitshow of books and loose-leaf paper crammed inside before I dug out my chemistry book. When I shut the door, Wolf was still there. "What the hell do you want, man?"

"Dude…" He leaned back against the metal wall of lockers, then took a heavy breath. "I can't believe I'm saying this. Because I liked the way shit was before her, but…"

I frowned and shook my head on my way through the crowded hall. "Save it, Wolf."

But he was right there, by my side, running his mouth. "I don't think she would mess around on you."

I snorted, shouldering through a group of girls fawning over my brother, then I hooked it around the corner, and Wolf was still behind me.

"She like..." He paused, then coughed like he was choking on something. "Loves you or some shit. I mean. Come on."

What the hell did Wolf know about relationships or Monroe. "Go to class, Wolf."

I went into the lab and flipped open my notes about some bullshit convalescence bonds and tried to ignore the empty feeling taking root in my chest, but that feeling only grew worse over the course of the day. By the time our English class came around, I wanted to skip. But I refused to be that pathetic dick.

I took a seat at the back of the room—where I sat before Monroe, and with every student that filed in, my chest grew tighter. The bell rang, and Mrs. Smith went to the head of the class. While she scribbled American Writers over the board, Monroe slipped inside and sank into her chair. She took one glance at the empty seat beside her, then opened her book.

My face warmed, anger brewing beneath my skin when I thought of the smile she had given Chase when she had hopped out of his car. The teacher passed around folded slips of paper, and I didn't even bother to look at mine. I couldn't focus on anything but how screwed up this was that a single person could take everything inside of me and rip it out with one single action. On how shit this was that I loved her and had thought she loved me. I looked away from the back of her head, spinning my pencil on the desk to try to clear my mind.

Mrs. Smith started around the class. Each student read the line from their piece of paper while the rest of the class guessed who the author was. When the teacher called on Monroe, she sighed, mumbling over her line: "The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them."

"Hemingway," the girl beside me shouted. The irony of that quote did not go unmissed. I had trusted her when I shouldn't have. My grip on the pencil tightened until the wood made a soft crack. Mrs. Smith called my name, and I unfolded the piece of paper, wishing I had looked at it before.

"It's fucking bullshit," I mumbled. Trying to keep my emotions in check. Yeah, karma was a dick.

"Mr. Hunt! Read the line."

My jaw set. Heat ate me up from the inside out. "I love her and that's the beginning and end of everything."

"Fitzgerald," Monroe said quietly, gathering her books, then pushing to her feet. "May I be excused?" She opened the door before Mrs. Smith had responded.

I crumpled the piece of paper in my palm, tapping the toe of my shoe over the floor for a moment before I got up. Mrs. Smith shouted for me to sit back down before the door slammed closed behind me. I started after Monroe, fuming and hurt. She reached the end of the hall, stopping by the fire exit.

"You realize this is your fault, right?" I yelled, my voice echoing from the lockers and down the empty hallway.

She spared a cold glance over her shoulder. "I hear you're single now." Then she opened the exit and stepped outside. The door banged shut behind her.

Two days ago, I had told her I loved her. I had every intention of spending the rest of my life with her, and now it felt like none of that ever mattered.

The past three days had felt like a fucking year. I had never been so glad for a Friday to roll around because I couldn't take one more day in class with Monroe. Not that hanging out on Wolf's roof was much better, seeing as how I was staring at her trailer. None of her lights were on. Jerry's car wasn't there, and neither was hers. I wondered if she was with Chase now, the bastard hadn't been at school all week, probably because he knew he would get his ass handed to him.

Wolf passed me a beer before folding himself back into the lawn chair. "Sucks, dude."

"Man, I don't care." I tipped my drink up.

Wolf knew it was a lie. I knew it was a lie, but it made me feel better to pretend I wasn't torn up over it.

"I'm eighteen. What do I need a girl for?" Saying that caused a little ball of guilt to settle in my gut. Because I did need her.

"Yeah." He huffed, then slouched lower in his chair before chugging his drink. "Why would we need a girl." He fiddled with the ratty hemp bracelet on his arm, then sighed. "Fuck girls, dude. Just..." Another hard sigh.

"What's wrong with you?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "Nothing. What's wrong with you?"

The hum of the highway rolled in the distance, mixing with the loud classic rock blaring from the neighbor's backyard. We sat in silence for a while, until Wolf's phone dinged with a text. He chucked his beer over the edge of the roof, then grabbed his phone. A short snort left his lips while he stared at his screen. "Davison just sent me a text. Kreuger's got a party going on. Wanna go?"

Kreuger was a dick, and his parties always sucked. Plus, I didn't feel like being around anyone right now. "No."

His foot tapped the shingles for a moment. "Monroe's there."

"And?"

"And Matthews." He turned his phone around, and on the screen was a picture of Monroe and Jade between Chase and a few of the other football players. "Davison sent it to me."

I finished off my beer, my blood pressure spiking before I crushed the can in my fist. "Can I borrow your bat?"

I left the bat in the back of Wolf's truck and followed him up the drive that led to Kreuger's bright-blue house. A handful of girls leaned against the siding, laughing and waving at us while they held up one of their friends who was taking a piss.

"I hate Kreuger's parties," I mumbled as we stepped through the open gate into the backyard.

Kreuger had graduated two years ago; then his parents had died in a car accident. He took his inheritance and tried his damnedest to turn the house into something worthy of an under-budget porn film.

"He's a dick," Wolf said, snagging a cup on our way to the keg. He nodded toward the heart-shaped hot tub filled with topless girls. Wolf chuckled before lifting the plastic cup to his lips. "But at least there's titties. Dude, Hendrix is gonna kill us for not bringing him."

I filled my cup and followed Wolf through the yard to the hot tub. He crouched by the edge, flirting with one of the girls. The only reason I had come was to… I felt my brow crease. I wasn't even sure why I had come. To beat Chase's ass? To rub salt in an already raw wound by seeing my ex-girlfriend with another guy?

"Hey, Zepp." One of the girls edged to the side of the tub, pressing her shoulders back to lift the bottom of her massive tits above the steaming water. "Like that shirt."

"I don't give a shit."

She gasped before sinking back onto the seat amongst her equally horrified friends. I looked across the yard, through the swirling steam, and my stomach sank just before the lava-hot adrenaline surged through me. Monroe was by the hammock, next to Chase, and laughing like she was completely fine.

God, I must look like an idiot. Right under my nose. And now she was out with him. At a damn party. I glanced across at Wolf. His gaze pinged between Monroe and me.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Wolf skirted over, grabbing my elbow and tugging me out of earshot. "Look. The bat's in the car, but wait until it thins out. Or until everyone else is shitfaced. ‘Cause it's just you and me." He did a quick take over his shoulder. "But meanwhile, dude. Just fuck with her head. You got about ten topless chicks back there willing to suck your dick. Don't forget who you are."

Yeah. Right. Don't forget who I am. A guy who used to be a player and was taken to his knees by a girl who stole his heart.