Page 16 of Strictly Curious
“We were just getting ready to leave,” I answered finally.
She eyed me for a second before laughing. “You two are so funny. I never could figure out why you couldn’t go anywhere without the other.”
“You mean it’s not obvious.”
I froze at the voice. Fucking Toby.
Maisy turned to face him. He was still leaning against the counter, but now his new ‘friend’ was leaning into him, making out with his neck. If I had questioned if Toby was gay before now, I would have had my answer even if I hadn’t caught him with Garrett.
Maisy seemed unfazed by what was happening in front of her. She brought the beer bottle to her pink lips, tipping it back and taking a long pull, waiting for him to continue. I shook my head. I wouldn’t allow him to spread crazy rumors. Even if things were changing between Garrett and me, that wasn’t anyone’s business.
I grabbed her hand and went to pull her from the room. “Come on, Maisy. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
She fought against my pull. “What? No, I’m curious. What’s he talking about, Tyler?”
My palms sweated and my pants were really getting uncomfortable now. I couldn’t leave her here to talk to Toby. “He’s talking about nothing, Maisy. You already know this from when we dated. Everyone thinks there’s something there when there’s not between Garrett and me.”
She followed me out of the kitchen, but stopped when Toby called out. “There is something there. I have proof.”
We both whirled to face him. I quickly tried to make a mental catalog of what the hell he could have proof of. That I’d gotten hard when I’d caught them in the shower?
“Maisy, no.” I pulled on her arm again. She looked between Toby and me, letting out a frustrated sigh.
“Fine, Ty. Only because I know you’d tell me something juicy like that.”
Would I? I never told her a lot of my secrets and maybe that’s why we didn’t work as a couple outside of being sexually incompatible. I didn’t have a lot to hide, but had I been upfront with her at the beginning that I wasn’t into the sex, we could have avoided a lot of hurt feelings.
When we got back into the living room, we found Garrett on the couch next to Gabriel and Cassie. However, Cassie was now in Gabriel’s lap making out. Was everyone around us open in their sexuality and I just never noticed? How had I been so blind all along?
As we approached, Garrett stood, and I took another pull from my drink, once again fighting the shudder. I probably didn’t need to continue to pretend to like this shit and could find a place to ditch it like my first drink.
“Are you ready to go now?” Garrett asked, looking hopeful. Stupidly, I took another gulp of the beer. Maisy pouted as I nodded at Garrett.
“You guys are really leaving?”
Garrett gave a curt nod, and I watched as Maisy’s face fell. I felt bad because this was probably the most we’d talked in a while. Now that we were out of school and with college starting in the fall, most of us going to different places, we wouldn’t be seeing much of each other soon.
“Oh, okay.” She pulled me into a tight hug while I fought not to dump the rest of my beer down her back as I returned her embrace. The soft pink dress she had worn didn’t deserve to be ruined by a bad drink.
Once free of her hug I set the bottle on a nearby table and quickly followed Garrett to the front door. What a weird ass night. I needed to get home and get him alone so that we could finish what we’d started. Not to mention that I needed out of these damn pants.
Garrett
Theairoutsidewasmuggy as we left Cassie’s house. I’d hated every second Tyler was gone with Maisy, but knowing what I knew now about their relationship, I didn’t have a ton to worry about. He also wanted to get out of there, not that I blamed him. But he held a good poker face and didn’t draw attention to his situation.
Since he’d somehow ended up being the one drinking while we were there and I’d had nothing, I took his keys from him. We walked a few blocks to his car in relative silence. My fingers twitched at my sides the entire way as I itched to get my hands on him again. I’d never been this desperate for anyone, ever. But this was Tyler, the person I’d been infatuated with since the moment I’d laid eyes on him all those years ago.
When we reached the car, we stood staring at each other with the vehicle between us. The air crackled with the promise of what could happen when we were alone. I still wasn’t sure how far Tyler was willing to go. He made it more than clear he wanted to get his hands on me. I was still having trouble wrapping my head around it all, but Lucy had been right. He trusted me with this. I just had to not break that trust by doing something stupid.
“Can we please just go home now,” he pleaded from across the car.
Saying nothing, I got into the car and he hurried to follow me. There was another thing I had to worry about. Tyler and I were on borrowed time. We’d both applied at and gotten into different schools in the fall. With him going out of state, there was a deadline on what we were doing.
His leg bounced in my peripheral vision but I couldn’t reassure him right now as I needed to focus on the road and getting us home safe. When we got there, I knew what could happen. I only hoped that my mom and his dad weren’t still up when we got there.
The ride home was fast and when I pulled into the driveway, my heart hammered in my chest. Once we got inside, I was going to let him touch me. It was a risk, but it was inevitable. I wasn’t going to stop it anymore. The lights were off in the front of the house, showing that our parents had gone to bed. Guess they weren’t too worried about two nineteen-year-olds going out to a party.
“Garrett?” The question in his tone snapped me from my thoughts, and I turned to face him. He chewed his lip, looking unsure and nervous.
