Page 211 of Something Rad
A chill runs through me, and I know it’s not just from the frigid breeze blowing through my hair right now. My heart begins to race, dropping into my stomach. And not in the good way. In an almostpainfulway. I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but something in how Paul just said what he said makes me want to bolt for the door. The words themselves were innocent enough, but every ounce of his voice was laced with bad intentions. My reaction is so physical, that I have to shift my head away from him. And, when I do, my gaze collides perfectly with Robbie’s across the pool.
There he is. Billy to his left, his ear turned to him as Billy animatedly tells him a story, and Kate Andrews to his right, his arm slung around her shoulders, and his eyes glued to my face.
Robbie shifts into slow motion as I completely freeze in place. Robbie’s arm holding the beer bottle up to his mouth halts, slowly lowering back down as a deep indent forms between his brows. The lights reflecting off the pool flicker in his heated gaze, showing off the flecks of gold and caramel in the dark brown depths of his eyes. His jaw flexes as he gives the lightest shake of his head, one that I’m sure nobody but me notices because nobody is focused on him as intently as I am at this moment. Billy is still talking his ear off, completely unaware of how Robbie’s attention is no longer on him. Completely unaware of everything he’s saying with that silent shake of his head. I can hear his voice in my head rattling off so many different questions and accusations that they all start to blend together, creating a whirring sound that makes my ears feel like they’re ringing. The one thing I can hear above all the chaos, however, is,What the hell are you doing here?The second is,What the hell are you doing withhim?
And, I can’t explain why, but something about those unspoken questions anger me. Becausewho does he think he is?
I have every right to be here that he does. What, did he think I was only capable of leaving my house if it was with him? I’m sure he’d be absolutely floored to learn that I was actually invited here tonight. That I was actually wanted,without him. And,God forbid, another boy wants to speak to me without it having anything to do with him. What a concept that must be for Robbie Summers to take in after two long months.
All of these irritating thoughts swirl through my head, and I try my best to just latch on to them, but I simply can’t ignore the ache in my chest threatening to overpower them all.
The ache at seeing him here, perfectly back in his element, his arm around the type of girl that makes perfect sense for him, having the time of his life. I know–or at least I think I know– that there’s nothing between Robbie and Kate. And, even if there was, it wouldn’t be my business, but seeing the two of them so close is still just a painful reminder that he fits with someone like her in a way that he could never fit with me. There’s no eyes on them because they simply work. They’reexpected. Nobody would even turn their head or raise a questioning brow at seeing Kate with Robbie because she’s exactly the type of girl he should want. The type of girl that would last with him. They’re not fire and ice. They’re water and water. A combination that blends and flows easily. They’re one of the same. Not one thing that snuffs out and destroys the other.
Sure, Robbie has a death glare in his eyes right now, but just moments before he saw me, he looked happy. He looked like he was having fun. He looked like his life had just picked up right where it left off. Like he hasn’t woken up every single day for the last two months thinking of me and fallen asleep every single night seeing nothing but me behind his eyelids. Like he doesn’t spend the days focusing on avoiding me in every way possible and the evenings just aching for me to be there. Like he hasn’t spent any weekends just staring at his house phone on the wall, wondering if it might ring. No, he doesn’t look like he’s experienced any of that at all. And, as much as I know that should be a good thing, that I shouldwantthat for him, because it would make it that much easier for me to get over him…I hate it. I absolutely hate it with everything in me.
I blow a deep breath out of my nose, trying to calm down. And then I take a long sip of my wine cooler, my eyes still on Robbie because I’m not sure right now how to look away.
But then I feel fingers pressing into my hip, drawing me forward.
“How does that sound?”
My attention snaps back forward, back to Paul just in front of me. But I can’t see his face, because it’s practically buried in my neck.
“I– How doeswhatsound?” I ask, trying to put some comfortable distance between us to no avail.
Paul pulls away just enough that I can see the curve of his smile in my peripheral vision. “C’mon, you can drop the act already.”
I rear back, catching his eyes. “What are you talking about?” He reaches up, starting to run a hand through my hair, but I shake my head out of his grasp. “Paul? What act?”
He lets out a harsh laugh. “Your innocent Little Miss Valedictorian act. You don’t need to keep it up anymore. Especially not around me.”
My spine steels. “I’m not putting on any act.”
“C’mon, darlin’...” Paul tuts, cocking his head to the side. “You don’t have to pretend. You’ve already shown me what you can do. I know you showed Summers even more. Clearly he didn’t appreciate you enough. Why don’t you show me what he’s been missing?”
He leans in suddenly, his lips brushing mine before I have time to shove my hand against his chest. “Paul,stop. What are you doing?” I try to shove him away further, but he’s a step ahead of me, pulling me closer by both hips.
“What we should’ve started doing a long time ago,” he huffs. “I mean, come on. You practically threw yourself at me at Denise’s party. I haven’t stopped thinking about it.” He reaches up, cupping the side of my face with his hand and sinking his teeth into his lower lip. “Those little sounds you made while you were in my lap…Mmm.”
My face heats and I push his hand away.
“Yeah, well, I hate to disappoint you, but I wasn’t thinking about you when I made those sounds, Paul.”
Paul stares at me for a long moment, his brows pulling together. And then, he laughs, advancing on me further. “Shit, Cooper, did you put up this much of a fight with Summers?”
“That’s none of your business,” I tell him, prying myself out of his grasp. “Thank you for the drink, Paul, but I’m not interested in anything else from you.”
“Cooper–”
“I asked younotto call me that,” I fume, my eyes shooting up to meet his.
Paul scoffs. “Well, you don’t have to be such a bitch about it–”
“What the hell is going on here?”
Both our heads snap in the direction of the new voice, and I find a version of Robbie I’ve never seen before standing just behind Paul, his gaze burning into him. His hair is windblown and disheveled, his cheeks and the tips of his ears tinged with pink. He’s panting as if he just completed a sprint, and his eyes are so dark I don’t even think I can refer to them as chocolate anymore. He pushes up the sleeves of his gray Members Only jacket to his elbows, and I take Paul’s momentary distraction of watching Robbie do so to fully remove myself from his grip.
“Nothing that concerns you, Summers,” Paul snaps.
