4. Betrayal is a Bitter Brew

ADRIAN

Parties weren't really my thing, but fuck if I was going to stay home if Meghan was going to Tiffany's to hang with my friends.

Where did she get off insisting to go anyway? Tiffany was my girlfriend. Or at least, a fake one. Luke was my friend. Hell, everyone who was going to be there was part of my crowd, not hers. She should step off.

As far as I was concerned, Meghan had picked her side when she'd used me then left me for Boston. She didn't get to show back up in my house with my family to go to my college with my friends and demand to hang at parties meant for me.

She needed to get her own friends and stop trying to poach mine.

Tiffany surprised me when I got to the party.

It was like she could tell I was upset. She brought me a Captain and Coke then got me another when I drained it dry with a few swallows. I liked how she didn't seem to care if I drank enough to get a good buzz going. Tiff was turning out to be a cool chick to fake-date.

I just wished she understood we weren't really dating. I didn't have the heart to tell her directly either. At least, not yet.

I was on my third rum and coke cocktail when I realized I was going to have to suck it up and clue Tiff in on my own.

The music was loud enough to have my ears ringing so I wrapped an arm around her waist, fascinated by the way she settled against my side as if she was meant to be there- to walk her out to the porch for some privacy.

A good breeze blew across the porch, cooling us off, and Tiff turned in my arms to face me. She put her hands on my hips before tilting her head up at the perfect angle for me to kiss her and I realized I didn't know why I shouldn't kiss her.

I couldn't come up with one single reason not to kiss the hot cheerleader who wanted to be my girlfriend even when I was rude, antisocial, and nowhere near the life of any party. Hey, I was a sucker for a good make out session.

Her lips were soft, yielding, and tasted of a mixture of spiced rum and cherries from the lipgloss she seemed to conjure out of thin air all the time. I was starting to get into kissing her when I felt a finger poking into my shoulder insistently.

Who the fuck---?

"Meghan!" I yelled at her, annoyed to see her, period. And even more annoyed to notice how hot she looked with her midriff exposed along with most of her long, long legs. The legs I used to love so much. The legs I imagined having wrapped around my waist while I fucked her.

I noticed the red cup in her hand after I took in her appearance. Snorting, I rolled my eyes and turned to give Tiffany another quick peck on the lips before pushing her gently toward the door.

"Go back to the party while I take care of my stupid stepsister?" I told Tiffany but kept my eyes on Meghan.

"Sure," Tiffany agreed, easy as pie and twice as eager to please, "I'll get you another Captain and Coke? I'll wait on you by the stairs and maybe when you come in I can show you my room?"

My dick finished chubbing up in my jeans as I realized Tiffany wanted to show me a lot more than her room. Naughty girl, now I remember why I let her get so close to me!

All I had to do was get rid of Meghan, How had she gotten here anyway? Did Luke go pick her up? Fuck, I hope not because if he did, he was looking to get his ass kicked.

Somebody had to give her a ride because I sure as shit didn't do it. I wouldn't take the bitch to hell if I had a handbasket ready with an Easy button to shoot it straight down.

Feeling bolder than I had since Meghan had arrived back home, I asked, "What are you even doing here?"

"I came to the party. I was invited. By your girlfriend. Remember?" she scrunched her forehead which I found cute once.

"Hard to forget with you here to be a living reminder. How'd you get here? You didn't call Luke did you? I told you to leave my friends alone."

"Luke doesn't want me to leave him alone. He didn't drive me here, but he is going to drive me home." Meghan straightened her back and looked me in the eyes, challenging me to defy her.

The idea of Luke the playboy getting Meghan into his fast car with his fast hands was enough to make my anger spike. It was like I couldn't control my emotions around this girl. She was making me crazy.

Keep calm, she is saying all this to make you angry like before, I told myself in my head.

Balling my hands up into fists, I leaned into her face to sniff her breath, "You're drinking and you're dressed like a slut and you want to have the fastest guy in my class take you home in his Love Machine? What the fuck are you even doing? Did you leave your self-respect back in Boston?"

I could smell the spiced rum of Captain Morgan. A glance into her cup showed Luke's "magic mix" which he claimed was a surefire way to guarantee getting laid. I knew it was rum, ginger ale, and pineapple juice poured over ice with a lime wedge; I was pretty sure it was actually called a Pineapple Mule but it wasn't like it mattered what Luke called it when it got him results every single time.

Taking the drink away from her, I took a sip and grimaced at how sweet it was in comparison to my rum cola. Disgusting. I couldn't imagine why chicks like these types of things.

"You think this is going to make you look cool? Give you a shot of courage? Make it easier for you to fuck my best friend to scratch your itch with his dick instead of mine this time?" I hissed.

My dick was a hard knob in my jeans. I hated the mixture of anger and lust coursing through my veins. I wanted to drive Meghan home where I could tell her to put some more clothes on before coming out of her room.

Except.

I knew I was too drunk to drive anywhere and I had already sworn I wasn't going to take her anywhere.

"However you got here? You take that route home. I swear to God, Maggie, if you fuck my best friend, I'll tell your mom all about how you cockhopped me before flying off to Boston. I'll tell both our parents all about how you used me for a breathing dildo so you could be good and ready to fuck when you got to college."

It was like my lips were running away on their own agenda. All the thoughts in my head were spilling out, tripping off the tip of my tongue before I could close my teeth around them and keep them hidden inside my stupid mouth.

I stepped closer to Meghan so I could lower my voice a little more, trying to take my volume down if I couldn't stop my words from spewing out like poison as I told her, "You think they'll believe you're their little princess after hearing that? You think they'll still love you if they know you're the reason I almost didn't make it through the summer?"

Fuck me.

I hadn't meant to tell her that.

I poured her drink out on the porch and threw the red cup as hard as I could, hearing it ping in the gravel driveway somewhere too far away for me to see.

"But whatever. You want to take your chances? Stick around. Let Luke stick it to you. If you do, you better make sure you enjoy it because it'll be the last dick you get before I tell the parents all about you. As for me? I'm gonna go fuck my girlfriend because she's not a backstabbing bitch like you. It's nice to spend some time with someone I can trust."

Stalking back to the entrance, I threw the screen door open hard enough to have it bang against the wall of the porch.

The loud sound was like a gunshot in the night---fitting because I'd nearly convinced myself to try my luck with a handgun courtesy of my loving stepsister's betrayal.

I rejoined the party with the intention of burying my dick and my feelings in Tiffany.