Page 14 of The Pretender

“Drusilla!” I call. “Are you making me a drink, biotch?”

A rumbly laughter comes from the kitchen and I follow the sound until I’m greeted with a pair of board shorts with the word LIFEGUARD down the side and a grin that makes all the freshmen girls swoon. “Your bubba is about to yell at Aspen. I figured I’d come help you where it’s safe and quiet.” I look at the counter full of liquor bottles and wince. “Are you planning on celebrating your birthday with alcohol poisoning?”

He cocks a brow, those mint green eyes alight with amusement. “Mybubba, huh?” He gives me a thorough once-over. “Did mybubbaalso yell at you?” The replica of Bennett narrows his eyes at my bathing suit but with much less anger. “You left half your swimsuit at home.”

The Jameson bothers are hotheaded, but fortunately for me, Drew is the easier one to sweet talk.

“It was Aspen’s idea. I opted for a t-shirt and shorts.”

Drew makes a face like he can’t decide if my t-shirt would be better or worse than this bikini. “I bet it was. Let me guess, her bathing suit is worse than yours?”

Honestly, neither of our bathing suits are that revealing. Sure, mine shows a lot more skin than I’m used to, but if I were to rate it from fully covered to a cheek hanging out, I’d say it was a solid, appropriate, college two-piece.

“Aspen’s bathing suit is fine. You both are being ridiculous. You don’t see Fenn making a big deal about it.”

Drew raises a brow, and I quickly wave him off.

“Never mind. Forget what I said.”

Fenn is a little different; half the time he doesn’t give two shits about anyone and the other half, he’s a downright asshole. It probably doesn’t bother him because he knows no one will say anything in front him about me or his sister, without him ending the evening with an assault charge.

Drew chuckles, probably thinking the same thing as me. “Here,” he pats the countertop, “come put the ice in the blender for me. I assume you want something where you can’t taste the alcohol.”

Eh, not really, but I’m not going to correct him. Truth is, over the past few months, I’ve learned how to shoot tequila and drink moonshine, without gagging or throwing up. Fruity drinks are no longer in my repertoire of alcoholic beverages. Nevertheless, I hop up on the counter and begin scooping ice from the bag in the sink, dropping it into the blender. “So, who all did you invite to this little shindig?”

Drew eyes me funny while he pours way too much Jäger into his own glass. “Any one person you’re particularly interested in?”

Yeah, the damn neighbor. If Sebastian graces this party with his presence, then his house would be unattended, and he’d be a whole lot of distracted.

“I was just curious if you invited some of the neighbors. Like the girl who lives next to what’s his name…” I point to Sebastian’s house. There’s no reason for Drew to get any ideas about my and Sebastian’s issues.

“You mean, Pam?”

I grin. “Yep, that’s the one.”

Drew nods and presses the button on the blender. “Yeah, we invited her and the rest of the neighbors. Bennett thought it’d be easier to head off the noise complaints if we invited everyone.”

Of course, Bennett would be logical about his birthday party.

“That’s really sweet of you two.” I rub his shoulder. “So, am I supposed to slide on my stomach or butt with this whole waterslide kickball thing?”

Drew turns and grabs his drink, taking a big gulp. “Oh, you won’t be running in that thing.” He eyes my bikini up and down. “I’ll be your pinch runner.”

“Pinch runner is a baseball term,” I correct him.

He winks. “No one knows the real term because kickball isn’t a sport.”

This ridiculous human. “So why did you pick it to play for your birthday? Why not bikini baseball?” He is the university’s star catcher after all.

“Dammit, Vee! Why didn’t you offer up that idea earlier?”

“I didn’t know you were looking for wet sporting events; otherwise, I would have suggested swimming or a lake party.”

Drew shrugs. “The ‘rents are at the lake house this weekend. There’s no way I was scoring with my Dad breathing down my neck.”

“Are my parents there too?” My mom didn’t mention it when I talked to her a few days ago but maybe she forgot.

“Nah. Just Dad and Uncle Theo.” He shrugs. “Yearly fishing trip.”

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