Page 56 of Strictly Curious
Our quiet enjoyment of the party didn’t last long when Tyler jumped at the sudden commotion at the front door. There was a group of people standing in front of it like they were blocking someone from trying to come inside. I could make out Gabriel in the crowd and maybe it would be a good idea to get up and see what the hell was going on.
I nudged Tyler from my lap. We both stood, and he eyed me wearily as I motioned toward the front of the house. He obviously wasn’t as curious as I was about what was going on. That was until we heard Cassie’s shrill “You can’t just waltz in here after what you did!”
The crowd parted enough and Maisy pushed her way through, hand gripped tightly to Toby’s forearm. Both of them looked up and their eyes widened in what I assumed to be surprise when they realized that Ty and I were there.
Maisy dropped Toby’s arm after they made it through the crowd and crossed her arms over her chest. She stuck up her chin and nodded toward us. “So, this is why you wouldn’t let us in?”
Cassie broke through the crowd that was dispersing now that the troublemakers had made it inside anyway. “You have a problem? They’re my friends and this is my house,” Cassie defended.
Toby took a defensive stance next to Maisy. It was so strange how those two were suddenly friends. I’d never seen them spend any time together.
“You let the brother fuckers in, but not us?”
My body lurched forward at Toby’s words. I wanted to strangle the little shit. There was no reason for that. When it was obvious that we were welcome here and they were not, he should have been more cautious about what he was saying.
Tyler stopped me before I could do anything stupid by placing a hand against my chest, but I heard the ringing slap that rang out over the sound of music still blasting through the speakers. Toby held a hand against his face as Cassie shook out her hand. I didn’t know the girl had it in her.
“Keep your opinions to yourself. No one asked you. I don’t want you here because no one cares that they’re stepbrothers. They care you posted that photo without their permission.” Someone had to have lowered the volume of the music, or Cassie was yelling that loud.
When the room fell completely silent, my first assumption was confirmed. People wanted to see what the hell was going on, the party was on hold until this situation was sorted out.
“Cassie…” I started, but her glare cut me off. I held my hands up because she was clearly on a roll and wanted to try to defend us. It wasn’t worth the big fight. I didn’t want us to be the center of attention like this and it really hadn’t been our intention when we came out tonight. We really just wanted to get back to normalcy. We could leave if this was an issue.
“See what you did!” Cassie screeched. “You’ve made my friends uncomfortable.” It was really sweet that she was speaking on our behalf, but I didn’t need her to defend us that way. Before I could try to say anything else, it was actually Tyler who jumped in.
“What I don’t understand is why? That’s all I want to know. Maisy, we were friends, or I thought we were, anyway. Then you jumped in to support Toby instead of trying to support me.” He sounded a little defeated. I couldn’t blame him. I had talked him into confiding in her and she’d immediately turned around and stabbed him in the back.
Neither of us expected her cruel laughter. Her arms dropped to her side as she threw her head back and laughed. Her dark hair falling back over her shoulders. “You’re kidding? Right? Tyler, you don’t see it? You basically told me I wasn’t desirable. That you couldn’t get it up for me, but you could for him. What the hell was I supposed to think?”
My eyes bounced between the two of them. Tyler looked confused before realization hit him. He looked like he regretted saying something to her and moved to stand closer to her. Every protective bone in my body wanted to prevent him from getting anywhere near those two, but he probably needed to do this.
“Maisy, I never meant to hurt you. That wasn’t my intention when I told you what was going on. I was confused, too. I didn’t think you’d turn around and throw it back in my face. Looking back on it now, yeah, I probably should have realized a lot sooner that what I felt for Garrett was more than what a brother felt. Sure, the sexual stuff is new… and wow this is a lot of people…”
Tyler looked around the room, his face turning pink when he realized what all he’d said in front of all of these people. It wasn’t like we’d come here expecting this type of confrontation.
Gabriel took his place next to Cassie and for the first time I wondered if something more was going on between them. Most of my friends weren’t commitment types. It’s why we’d all kind of bounced between each other without issue, but the way he put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his side left no question that he was there to protect her.
“I think it’s time for you two to leave,” Gabriel said. His voice was stern, leaving no room for confusion that he meant business.
Toby scoffed. “I told everyone I had proof. No one believed me. All it took was you two slipping up one time.” He spun to me pointing a finger at me. His blond curls bounced on his head with the movement. “All I wanted was fun. And instead you made me feel insignificant. Was I ever anything more than a cheap hookup to you?”
I swallowed thickly and my heart hammered because, holy fuck, I had thought it was clear that what I was doing with Toby was hooking up. It’s all I had ever done with anyone. It was all I had felt capable of doing because the one person I’d always wanted wasn’t attainable until he was.
I shook my head and instantly felt remorse when Toby’s face fell. “I’m sorry…” I started but was once again cut off. It seemed nobody was going to let me speak tonight.
“No, Garrett. Fuck you. You don’t get to play games with people like that.” He crossed his arms, turning to Maisy. “You know what, maybe we should go. They can keep them.”
Maisy sighed, almost looking apologetic for a moment before nodding. They both pushed back through the crowd and out the front door. Tyler stood there looking around in confusion, so I moved to Tyler’s side and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He leaned into my side, his body heat comforting me in the moment.
“I am so sorry. We tried to stop them from coming inside at all. No one deserves what they did to you two,” Cassie said.
I sighed, kissing the side of Tyler’s head. “It’s fine. I think that needed to happen. Hopefully, we don’t have too many more problems with them.”
Tyler looked up at me and smiled before pushing up on his toes to give me a soft kiss against my lips. It felt so good to kiss him like this in the open and to know that we weren’t being judged by our friends.
“Again, I’m so sorry. I just wanted you guys to get out and have some fun after all of that.” Cassie snuggled into Gabriel’s side and the music picked up again. Everyone took the sign that the show was over and I was relieved to no longer be the center of attention.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said as I pulled Tyler back over to the couch. Cassie and Gabriel followed us. She sat in Gabriel’s lap when we all sat down, only adding to my suspicion that maybe something else was going on there, especially with the way they’d been all over each other at the last party. Even if she’d tried to hit me up earlier, there was no mistaking the way she curled into him and the way he wrapped his arms around her.
