Page 7 of Shutout
I smack some random guy’s chest with my beer until he gets the hint and takes the bottle. Trent says something to the girl that makes her un-Velcro herself from him. He’s screwed,though. The living room is packed with people that block his exit.
“Brooklyn.” His eyes travel down to my hands while I crack my knuckles. Meanwhile, what he cracks is his voice as he says, “Hi, fancy seeing you here.”
I grab him by the collar of his shirt and yank him close. His eyes are wide, nostrils flaring as he breathes fast.
“Excuse me.” I shift my glare to the girl. “You may want to step back for this.”
“What?” She’s still flushed as she glances between Trent and I. “What’s happening?”
He releases a choked laugh. “Um, it’s just a misunderstanding?—”
I get in his grill, using the full force of my height. “Misunderstanding my ass. You’re cheating on my best friend.”
“What?” The girl hisses the question.
I frown at her. “You didn’t know this slimeball has a girlfriend?”
“No!” Her expression morphs into total disgust.
He tries to push my arm away and I don’t budge a single inch. “W-What the hell is it to you? You and Liv aren’t even friends anymore.”
Wrong thing to say, because now I’m even more pissed off. If I hadn’t screwed things up with her, I could’ve kept this asshole far away from her.
He slobbered around her ever since they met at some chemistry class on the first semester of freshman year. The second I was no longer part of the picture, he pounced. I can’t even believe Liv caved. Like maybe his decent looks prevented her from seeing what I saw all along—that he doesn’t deserve a second of her time, let along a whole year together.
Through gritted teeth, I say, “This isn’t about me, you steaming pile of horse dung. Does Liv know you’re cheating on her?”
“Of course not.” He frowns, a bead of sweat rolling down his face. “And it’s going to stay that way, right? After all, you two don’t even talk anymore.”
“The hell it will, because you’re going to tell her yourself or else I’m going to make you shit your own teeth.”
He sucks in air through his damn teeth and opens his mouth to spew some garbage, except his words are drowned by a different voice.
“Trent?” A pause, and then… “Brooklyn?”
Slowly, I turn to face her.
And I mean,her.
The redhead for some reason hasn’t scrammed and right beside her is Liv, along with two other girls that I vaguely recognize. All I care about is Liv, though, my former best friend. The feeling is obviously not mutual and her dark eyes shift away from mine, back to her boyfriend.
A boulder of guilt slams over me. I regret wishing she’d come to this party. It’s like this house is cursed to give her nothing but pain.
“What’s happening here?” Liv asks with that naturally raspy voice of hers. It doesn’t matter that the music blares all around us, blending with a cacophony of other voices. I’d recognize hers in my sleep.
“Liv, babe. This Neanderthal is assaulting me. Tell him to back off.”
“Shut the hell up. I haven’t even hit you yet,” I grumble under my breath.
“Yet! See?—”
But Liv cuts him off. “And just why would he want to hit you?” After a blink, her eyes are on mine again even as she keeps her face turned to whatshisface.
The most curious thing happens. My body thrums back to life like it does when I deliver a particularly nice check againstthe boards, and I want to grin. The situation doesn’t merit it, and I strain every muscle in my face to stay serious.
Her boyfriend takes advantage of my lapse to free himself from my hold, but he can’t run any farther than before. “Well, um…” He clears his throat.
The redhead snaps. “Sis, is this your boyfriend?”
