Page 13 of The Other Half

“Not too hot, right?” she asks in her usual innocent tone, but the state we’re in makes it feel less than innocent.

“Nope,” I say as I desperately try to push away a fantasy of bending her over the edge of this hot tub and fucking her brains out. No, Oliver.

Even if in some alternate universe she ever agreed to that, which I know she wouldn’t, I can’t let that happen. This girl is lonely and she wants me to be her friend. And not to mention, she might be a virgin. I’m not. I don’t want to take that from her. Do I?

I mean on a physical level, yes. I want to stretch her little virgin pussy and be the first one to feel it, the only one to feel it. But my rational mind says no, I can’t and I won’t.

I will myself to say something to distract my dirty mind from those thoughts. “So, why did you invite me over here? I’m not complaining. I’m just curious.”

“What do you mean?” she asks, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

“I know you said you haven’t met many people at school yet, but I’m sure you have other friends, right? From your old school?”

Her smile suddenly falls from her face, and I know I’ve said the wrong thing. “Not really, honestly.”

“Well, if you threw a party here the entire school would be begging to be your best friend,” I say, trying to cover my tracks. I didn’t mean to upset her.

She shrugs. “That’s not what I want though. I don’t want to buy my friends.”

“I get that…I guess that was a pretty dumb idea.”

“No, not dumb at all. I just…” She pauses and bites her lip, turning me on all over again. “I just want to make some friends who like me for who I really am. That’s all.”

Once again I’m pleasantly surprised by how different she is than the version of her I’ve created in my mind. She couldn’t care less about being popular, because if she did I know she could have it in a heartbeat. And she doesn’t even want to show off her massive house. I can’t lie, I probably would if I were in her position.

“That makes sense,” I reply, nodding my head. “But it would be a sweet place for a party, anyway.” It would be. I’ve never been to a rich kid’s party before, the parties I’m used to take place in musty trailers where meth has probably been cooked at some point.

She laughs a little bit. “Yeah, I guess most kids would be throwing a party right now, huh? Since my parents are gone and all. It didn’t even cross my mind.”

“Yeah, that is surprising. Your parents must be proud, you’re a good egg.” I throw a wink at her and she looks away, blushing. It’s adorable how easy it is to make her nervous.

“I don’t party, so I guess that’s why I didn’t think about it.”

“Partying is overrated anyway,” I say. “I’d much rather get high by myself, or drink a beer with a couple of good friends than get fucked up with a bunch of strangers.”

“I’ve never drank or any of that, so I wouldn’t know.”

I’m not surprised, really, but it is weird. I noticed the large liquor cabinet in her hallway stocked with several options of top shelf liquor, so I know she has access to it. I don’t know of any other eighteen year old kid that wouldn’t be rummaging through it right now.

“Why not?” I ask.

“My dad is an alcoholic,” she says candidly and without hesitation.

Now it all makes sense, her dad acts like a dick when he’s drunk. My old man is a bit of an alkie too, but he’s not an angry drunk. He just passes out on the couch after downing too many beers. I guess I should be more afraid of the risk of addiction, but where I come from it’s not a question of will you have a drink at the end of the day, it’s just a given.

Mountain people are tired. We work ourselves to death, sometimes literally. Many of us even turn to the harder stuff to get through those long hours. My dad has always cracked a beer as soon as he got home from work, I’ve never thought anything of it.

“What about weed?” I ask even though I’m pretty sure I know the answer.

“I’ve never tried it. But I might, in the right setting, I guess.” She shrugs awkwardly.

“Well then it’s my new mission to get you high.” I smirk.

She shrugs again. “Maybe, someday.” She looks away nervously, like she’s ready to end this conversation.

The sun is starting to set behind the mountains, and the sky has turned into a swirl of purple and orange. It’s illuminating her from behind, little cracks of sunlight dance around her face and through the strands of her hair.

She scoots closer to me so that her back is against the jet, and she leans her head back and closes her eyes. She looks so effortlessly sexy, I don’t even attempt to stop staring.

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