Page 26 of Faking Forever 1
She stares at me, sticking her tongue out before moving me out of the way to get to Beau.
“Lemme hit it. You guys always leave me out.” Sierra demands, holding her hand out.
“Say,please.” Beau smiles now, holding the joint away.
The song shifts into another one in the background of Beau and Sierra bickering, shifting my brain off the topic they had 61
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brought up.
I decided to look for Pea on the other side of the rock. If she wasn’t with Sierra and wasn’t with me, I was interested in knowingwhoorwhatwas decent enough to keep her occupiedthislong. Scrolling my eyes around the beach, I finally find her sitting in the sand with some guy. He was familiar-looking, but I couldn’t quite make out his features. What stood out the most was that she kept touching his chest and laughing. The kind of laugh that tries to give a man a hint. He was enjoying it, too. A littletoomuch.
“Josh!” Sierra and Beau say in unison, stealing my attention again.
“What?” I say plainly, looking at them with a clueless expression.
They both stare at me. Sierra was annoyed, and Beau was trying to see what I was distracted by.
“When did Paisley dye her hair?” Beau asks.
“She didn’t. Nick spilled punch on her.” Sierra says.
“Well, whoever that guy is seems to like it. Go, Barbie.” he laughs, pointing them out.
My head cocks back in her direction, finding her again. He was touching her hair this time, even more in her face than before. It suddenly was now uncomfortable for me. I want it to stop, butit’s not my place to make that call. I could give a shit how nice he was when his hands weren’t being kept to himself.
“You think she’s into it?” I blatantly ask, still watching.
“Don’t be stupid. If she didn’t, she would’ve made him leave ages ago.” Sierra says, laughing.
After getting what she wants, Sierra walks away, heading 62
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back to the party.
“Not sure about you, but I’m on a mission,” Beau says, looking at me, ready to run after Sierra.
I watch as they leave, tossing the joint in the sand some distance away from me. My attention returned to the horrible eyesore that I couldn’t stop watching.
“Chill, Josh. She’s probably just making friends. No big deal.” Beau pats my back as he nods.
I prying myself from looking.
“I’m chill. I’m just looking. I can look, right?”
“Sure, but you seem a little bothered by the sight, don’t you think?”
“Beau, I’mfine.”
I shut down the conversation, heading over to the coolers. He takes off, running after Sierra. I was fixing to find something a bit stronger. Anything that would blur my vision if it meant that was the view. There was something about watching her flirt with any guy that inevitably was so disturbing to me. From the way they ogle at everything except her face, down to the way their end goal is to just get a quick fuck out of her—or worse,just get head. The only good thing Nick has done is the fact that he occupied her for long enough for her to skip out on multiple heartbreaks. I do feel bad, though. At least my exes don’t linger in the same crowd as I do. Not unless they’re purposefully searching for me.
Finding a few pint-sized Jim Beam bourbon, I scoop them out from between the ice chips and stand up. I crack one open, throwing it back as fast as I can, squeezing my eyes as if it would make the taste more subtle. I then do the same with the second bottle, looking around briefly once I finished.
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