Page 3 of Keeping Score

“No idea what you’re talking about,” I say as I pour myself another drink. I don’t like drinking but Leah being around is fucking with my head, so I need something to take the edge off.

“Hm, see, the thing is even when we were in high school you would always pick her out of the crowd. You were always the first to check on her when we got in late to make sure she was sleeping and whenever she needed a ride anywhere you gave it to her.” I keep my gaze facing out the window and try to act unaffected by his observations. “Then the last week before we left for college, you changed. You went from being the overbearing big brother to the jealous ex.” I spin toward him as that last word exits his mouth. I didn’t realize he had moved until we are standing chest to chest. Beck is a few inches taller than us all and he uses that height difference to his advantage.

“You don’t know shit,” I seethe.

“See, your answer should have been to laugh off my claim or tell me I was seeing things and talking out my ass. You confirmed what I already knew, withoutconfirmingit.” Before I can rip into him, Corvin enters the room. Beck and I take a step back from each other as we face our friend.

Either Corvin is already tipsy and didn’t notice the tension in the room, or he just doesn’t give a fuck as he saunters over to us, steals the beer from my hand and shouts. “Let’s get drunk bitches!”

This is going to be a long fucking night!

Living where we do everything is within walking distance. Corv, Saint, Crue and the three girls all walk in front of us, while Beck and I take up the rear. Ever since shit with Leah went down, Corv and I have drifted apart. It isn’t his fault and he constantly asks what happened to us… why we aren’t as close as we used to be. How do I tell my best friend I stopped confiding in him and going to his place for holidays because his sister turned my world upside down?

“I can’t wait to dance the night away!” Leah’s excitement pulls me from my thoughts. I grit my teeth to keep from lashing out at her and saying something dumb like,you can dance right the fuck out of my life again.

“Shayla always throws the best parties,” Saint cuts in. “All the cheer squad will be there and those girls can ride a dick like no other.” At Saint’s words Crue slows his steps until he is walking on my other side, shoves his hands in his pockets and keeps his gaze down. I don’t know what the hell is going on with him but I have my suspicions. I just don’t want to be the one to voice them until he is ready to admit it.

“Our team could beat the cheer squad,” Katie says in a matter-of-fact manner, causing her two friends to cheer and whoop.

“What’s the difference between your crew and cheer squad?” Leah balks at Saint like he just said the most insensitive thingin the world. The three girls slam to a stop forcing me to stop walking or risk bumping into Leah. Her back is to me as she stares ahead at her brother and Saint with her hands on her hips. Her perfume assaults me and I fight the urge to not lean in closer and take a whiff—she’s always smelt like strawberries and the ocean. A scent I know too well and have grown to hate!

“For one, cheerleaders are there to entertain and hype up the crowd and team through acrobatics, stunts and tumbling. Dancers, our art form is pure, as we tell you a story through the movement of our bodies and make you feel something each and every time we perform.” The conviction in her tone as she explains her craft would be awe inspiring if she wasn’t such a conniving bitch.

“So, what you’re saying, is you can role play?” Saint says as he wiggles his brows suggestively. I shoot him a glare right as Corvin smacks the back of his head.

“You’re a real fucking dick!” Corv grits out before continuing on to the party with the rest of us tailing after him. I can feel her peeking over her shoulder at me every few seconds but I ignore it. I’ve barely spoken two words to her since I left for college. Every time I look at her all I see is her in that bed withhim! I shake my head to rid myself of those fucking memories, I can’t deal with that shit tonight.

Yesterday is history!

I repeat over and over again in my head until we get to Shayla’s. The front yard is littered with students drinking from red Solo cups, and at the sight of us, they all come stumbling over to try to gain our attention. The girls flirt while the guys try to appear interesting enough to hold our attention in the hopes of joining our crew, but they will never be one of us. The five of us built something for ourselves that no one can ever take from us—none of our families, except for Saint’s, are wealthy, so we built our own wealth and have enough money to live threelifetimes over. I look around the packed lawn and that’s when I notice Leah and her friends have slinked off. I dart my gaze around and that’s when I spot her on the porch talking to… Garrett-fucking- Jones, her brother’s enemy. The guy is vying for Corvin’s start position and hasn’t been shy about making it known to everyone butus.

I’m gonna fucking ruin you, Goldielocks,is my last thought before I sling my arm around some random girl and lead her inside to get me a drink. The moment we pass Leah, I feel her gaze on me, so I turn my head, quirk a condescending brow and shoot her a wicked smirk before pulling the girl under my arm even closer and stalking away from her, relishing in the hurt look in her eyes.

Leah

Seeing Chelsea cuddled into Darius’s side staring up at him with stars in her eyes and him looking at her like he is mentally undressing her feels like someone poked a red-hot branding iron over my heart. I knew coming here would be hard, but I didn’t think after all this time he would still hate me. For months after he ghosted me I had no idea what happened or what I did wrong. When I left for college at BVU, I had no ideahewould be there. It wasn’t a problem at first, we even became friends, until one night, when I was training late at the gym, I heard him and his team talking about my team and who is the mostbangable. He laughed and told a story aboutmeI never fucking knew happened! From that night, everything changed. I was dropped from the team and weeks later I lost my scholarship and had no choice but to transfer.

“You okay?” I pull myself from my spiraling thoughts and focus back on Garrett. I try to plaster on a smile for his sake but I can see I fail miserably when his shoulders slump.

“Yeah, sorry just…yeah,” I say.

“Look, Darius and his friends are a pack of jumped-up juice heads who think they are holier than God himself.” I can’t help it, laughter bubbles out of me at his words because he isn’t half wrong. The five of them do prance around with an air of superiority surrounding them. When my laughter dies off, I find Garrett grinning wide at me. He seems more at ease now than he did a moment ago. “Want a drink?” I nod eagerly and allow him to lead me through the hordes of people that are clustered inside the house. Garrett reaches back and grips my hand, pulling me along. I try to spot Katie and Cody but I can’t see them among the mass of bodies, Garrett doesn’t seem to have any issues finding his way around the place.

As we round the corner and come into the kitchen, my breath hitches at the sight of Darius sitting on the counter with people surrounding him. It’s not his popularity that has me short of breath, it’s the sight of Chelsea between his legs, running her hands all over him. As if he can sense my gaze on him he shoots me a scathing look that makes me feel like I am discarded trash. Garrett handing me a cup has me tearing my gaze from Darius.

“Do you have anything in a bottle?” He frowns which prompts me to explain further. “A girl can never be too careful, ya know?” Realization dawns on him at my words. He leads me to the other side of the kitchen where there are bottles lined up along the counter.

“No sealed bottles but you can pour your own?” I reach for one of the bottles only for it to be snatched from my hand, I snap my gaze over to an angry looking Beckett.

“Beck, what the hell?” I snap angrily. He pulls his heated stare from Garrett to peer down at me. He reaches into the backpocket of his jeans and pulls out a hip flask, making quick work of pouring some into a cup and handing it to me. “Thanks?” I say, slightly confused.

“Next time you need a drink, you find one of us and don’t touch any of this shit. Most of it is spiked.” My eyes widen in horror as I look from him to the bottles. Beck shakes his head and leans down to whisper in my ear. “Don’t trust anyone here, Leah. Word will spread about who you are to Corvin and the wolves will come hunting. You need anything, you come find me.” When he pulls back, I stare up at Beckett Dawson in a whole new light. He and I have never beencloseper se but him saving my ass tonight means more than he will ever fucking know!

I’m starting to feel pretty drunk but the atmosphere here is amazing and I feel safe enough to allow myself to let loose a little, knowing my brother and the guys are here keeping an eye on me. Corvin would never allow anyone likehimto come near me. Knowing that I never have to cross paths with that piece of shit ever again has me feeling lighter than I have in a long time. My mom and dad are so angry at me. They had to take out a second mortgage on the house to pay for me to go to CHU. I hate that they had to do that. I also hate lying to them but I also can’t tell them the truth as they would never look at me like I’m their perfect little girl anymore.

“Oh my God! Leah, this is my favorite song. We need to dance!” Katie shouts as she grips my hand and hauls me away from my spot next to Garrett, dragging me over to the makeshift dance floor in the center of the living room. Cody, who was already dancing with some others, squeals at the sight of us andrushes over to give us each a hug. When the beat ofG-Eazy and Chris Brown’ssong “Provide” flows through me, my body takes on a life of its own as my hips begin to sway side to side. I raise my arms above my head as I let my body roll to the beat. Katie and Cody mimic me for a beat before they let loose and begin dropping down low and slowly working their way back up, pushing their asses out as they go.

The three of us have gathered a crowd, which isn’t new to dancers like us. Guys think just because we can twerk and pop our asses the way we do that we are some horny available women that are begging for their dicks inside us. When a guy I don’t know reaches for me, I pull back only to smack into a wall of steel. When my body hums to life, I know who it is without even having to look over my shoulder.

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