Page 64 of The C*ck Down the Block

By the time sunlight streamed through the curtains, the intensity of being in love and having my girl tell me she loved me too, still tingled at the edges of my consciousness. I reached for her, but Trixie had already wriggled out of bed. She was naked, and unabashedly so, flipping through her wardrobe, the look on her face suggesting she was mentally preparing for war, or a picnic, which, in this case, might as well be the same thing.

“Are you sure you want to go?” I watched her pause at a sundress that made my pulse quicken thinking of the ways I could push it up her thighs or stick my head underneath it. If she had to put on clothes, that one was my choice. “We could just stay here, order in, and leave Rachel and her drama in the past.”

She looked over, locking eyes with me. “I’ve been avoiding Rachel and the Queen Bees for too long. Ignoring her last night went a long way to making everything she’s ever done to me irrelevant. But I’m done running away. Just because she’s going to be there, doesn’t mean I should skip out on something I want to do.”

I sat up, feeling a surge of pride and love. Here was a woman who’d taught herself to stand tall, to own who she was, and was now prepared to close a chapter of her life that had long been a source of pain. “Alright. Then we go, and we show Rachel she has no power here.”

Trixie smiled, and the light that filled her eyes was so dazzling it made the morning sun look dim. “Exactly.”

I caught a glimmer of our future, one where we didn’t need to prove anything to anyone. We were stepping onto the field of play today, but beyond this one last game was the rest of our lives.

Rachel had no idea what she was up against.

We arrived at the picnic, the atmosphere humming with cheerful conversations and laughter. Rows of tables were covered with checkered tablecloths, an array of dishes showcasing the culinary range of Trixie’s former classmates. Today was meant to be more casual, a way for classmates who’d reconnected to spend a little more time together before their goodbyes. Well, for the ones who weren’t still stuck in their former glory days.

We meandered through the crowd, stopping to chat here and there. Trixie introduced me to her favorite teacher, a nun who was a vivacious woman with an infectious laugh. We moved on to greet several others, and by this time, I was feeling a whole lot more like simply Trixie’s boyfriend and not the sports celebrity. Not a single one of her classmates or their families looked at me like I was a crazy god who’d come down from my throne in the sky to grace them with my presence. I was one of the guys now. It was strange and different, and I liked it.

Most of the people who’d come today had families and this felt more like something I had with the team and less like the showy affairs meant to impress from the last few days. I didn’t know why they didn’t do this for the whole damn reunion.

But the best part was seeing Trixie so engaged, so happy. She had genuinely moved on from the bitterness of her high school years, and it showed. I was about to suggest we grab some of the mouth-watering food when I locked eyes with Rachel, who was observing us from afar.

Unlike the relaxed smiles we’d received from everyone else, Rachel’s eyes were icy, a hint of something dark lurking there. She was standing amid her group of sycophants, including Asshole Anthony, wearing a smirk that irked me from a hundred yards away, holding court amid a cluster of people who looked as if they were clinging to her every word.

She leaned into her circle, whispering something I couldn’t hear but could damn well guess the subject of. The atmosphere around her seemed to shift, the chatter of her followers falling to a murmur.

They were watching something that Anthony was showing on his phone. When he saw me looking, he quickly put it away and gave a jerk of his chin to draw Rachel’s attention to us.

A ripple of tension went through Trixie. She’d picked up on Rachel’s stare too. It was a stare that said, “I see you, but do you see me?” And though I wanted to steer Trixie away from that toxic cloud, her grip on my hand tightened. She was ready.

Rachel must have sensed that her silent taunt had landed because a smirk began to curl the corners of her mouth.

My body tensed, every instinct urging me to step in front of Trixie. Rachel was a storm, and I could feel the change in air pressure from here.

Rachel decided that her moment had come. Breaking away from her clique, she approached us, and the smirk that had only been budding a moment ago now blossomed into a full-blown sneer.

“Well, well, look who we have here. Bea and her... playmate.”

Rachel locked eyes with Trixie and it was as if a switch flipped. Okay, so maybe she wasn’t totally over Rachel’s cattiness.

Trixie took a deep breath. I could see the steel forming in her eyes, could almost feel the energy she was summoning for this confrontation.

“You know, Bea, some of us overheard you and your... boyfriend in the locker room last night. Very... spirited noises, I must say.” Rachel tilted her head, her eyes glittering malevolently. “You might want to keep it in the bedroom next time. Schools are no place for that kind of inappropriate activity.”

Of course it was Rachel who’d come to spy on us. Probably listening at the door like an actual high schooler.

My jaw tightened, and I narrowed my eyes to glare at this absolute bitch. I’d been raised not to call women derogatory names, but Rachel fucking deserved it. My instincts screamed at me to step in, to put her in her place. But then I felt Trixie’s hand on my arm, gently restraining me. This was her battle to fight, and since I was prepared to be her dragon should she need me.

TRIGGERED

TRIXIE

Lulu, who was never late to anything in her life, arrived late to the picnic. But it was also just in time. Just as Rachel walked up to me, so did Lu. With my two best friends at my side and a newfound peace within myself, I was ready to fucking rumble.

But so were the two of them. I felt Chris move forward, and I could see that he wanted badly to protect me. And If I let her, Lu would rip Rachel up one side and down the other, Viking blood-eagle style. Her words were more powerful than Mjolnir.

I reached out to both of them and said, “Let me fight this one on my own, you two.”

They each nodded, but neither was happy about it. Lu kept clenching and unclenching her fists, and Chris looked like he was ready to murder anyone from my graduating class who even looked at me funny. Even sister Mary Louise.

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