Page 7 of Whirlwind

But Jude was no longer next to me. He was slumped against a wall of fake rocks getting a blow job from a girl wearing only a bikini bottom, his lazy grin getting wider.

I climbed up a couple of rocks and made it behind one of the waterfalls. Colored lights poked up from slits in the stone. A couple of girls in tiny bikinis were there, oohing and aahhing over the “special effects.”

“This is so cool!”

“So romantic!”

This was so dumb. Man-made, artificial, show off.

I slid down another walkway and landed in a hidden small pool which was lit by green and blue lights from under the water, where a lot of loud sex was going on. The humidity in the air was heavy, the moans and grunts echoing.

My eyes narrowed over a familiar couple. Myles and his current girlfriend, Lisa, were there getting it on. She was pumping up and down on his lap while he murmured his sweet and dirty nothings to her, gripping her short black hair as he thrust into her.

Slumping against the wall of stone, I drank, taking in the show. Suddenly, he pulled Lisa off him and pushed her onto the ground, taking her from behind hard and fast. She turned her head and her gaze snagged on mine. Lisa grinned at me. I grinned back.

She liked me, I knew she did. She’d come on the tour with us off and on. Whenever we’d happen to strike up a conversation, inevitably her body would shift closer to mine. She’d touch my arm, her lips would part, she’d laugh, ask if she could get me something in a breathier than usual voice. Myles knew too. He’d always come over if she was near me, sling his arm around her tightly, and lead her away. That only added to his already piled high resentment of me.

Nothing I can do about any of that, bro.

I raised my cocktail glass at her and she licked her lips, her ass grinding faster back against Myles. That was some ass. That was some energy. Myles grunted, his movements stilled, his face crumpling. Did he come?You’re welcome, asshole.

They disengaged, and Lisa stretched out, back arched, tits in the air. She slipped into the water, swimming off like an exotic deep sea creature who only came up to fuck. Myles dunked himself into the water and pulled himself out again, sitting on the edge of the pool. Two women approached him and they talked and flirted.

Myles’s gaze lifted to mine and his grin deepened. “Ladies, why don’t you give Beck over there some love?” The recreation coordinator.

The girls looked over at me and smiled. “Oh my gosh! Look, it’s Beck!” one of them said.

“He needs to feel like a real man tonight, don’t you think?” Myles’s legs kicked up splash in the water. “It’s not every day your girlfriend cheats on you with a woman.”

“Fuck you, Myles,” I said.

Mae didn’t just brag about cheating on me to the world with a mutual friend. She’d cheated on me with a woman.

A WOMAN.

What the fuck did I do with that?

I threw my drink at Myles. He ducked and the girls yelped as glass crashed on the rocks.

The two girls dove under water and swam toward me. They raised their wet selves out of the water, their wet skin gleaming in the disco lighting. Cold water from their sleek bodies and hair stung my flesh, and I blinked. My own mermaids surrounded me.

They wore only those special red backstage passes along with their bikini bottoms. They’d been chosen to come back here to the party with us after the show. Wet, cold hands slid around my legs, up my chest, tugging, stroking.

“You’re more than man enough for us, Beck. We want to show you.” Soft laughter and breathy moans surrounded me. “Oh my God, you’re so hot, I can’t even…” Colored lights shimmered over their shiny flesh. Tits bounced, eyes beamed at me. Were the mermaids real? Was any of this real?

“So fucking hot.” Lips brushed my ear. A tongue swiped at my lips.

I was so hot.

I was so cold.

I was so nothing.

* * *

I wipedat the vomit from the edge of my mouth, pushing up off the slab of stone. My muscles wouldn’t cooperate. They were like jello slapped on this hard rock, my joints long thin rubber bands. I gulped in air as I tried to focus. I was alone, trapped in the phony candy pastel lagoon.

“Dude! Come up here!”

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