Conflicted (Secrets and Lies) (14 page)

Bri bit her lip after her last comment slipped out. I shrugged not giving it a second thought knowing that there was truth in what she said.

"I don't deserve you guys. You're way too good to me," I admitted with a wide smile.

She rolled her eyes securing my arm on our way over to the boys. I let out a breath of relief that I went with black hi-low tank dress. The guests were not in formal wear but it was more than casual attire. Bri turned heads with most of the guys that we passed not that it shocked me. She had on a dress that cut so low that it creased into her chest line. It didn't help that she drew even more eyes to that area with a diamond choker to match the dangling diamonds in her ears. The rest of her dress was sleeveless with the same dip in the back. The part that had jaws dropping was it flared well above the knees. Between the different cuts of the dress, her skin had little coverage. It astonished me that Trey even let wear it. Then again, those two lived to tease each other with their bodies.

The boys dressed the part too. I wanted to whistle because they looked sharp. All of them had on dark washed jeans but it was their upper body wear that had me beaming. Jackson styled his long locks into spikes since he was without his baseball cap. He had on a fitted button down in midnight blue with a black tie. He rolled the sleeves to the elbows exposing his tattoos.

Shane had on a burnt orange fitted short sleeve button up with pockets on each side. He was hot in that shirt. The tints in his brown hair that faded with the summer sun came out even more when he wore it. He kept three buttons open revealing a white-cropped shirt underneath which was turning quite a few girls' heads.

Trey shocked me the most with a button down on too. He went with a color-blocked one that was black above his pecks and gray below them. He left several of the buttons open like Shane but was without an undershirt exposing the definition of his chest. His hair had grown some and it was all over the place.

As handsome as they were on the outside, they appeared leery of what reaction I might give them. I held up a finger shaking it at each of them.

"All right, which one of your asses do I have to kick over this?"

Bri stifled a giggle as their gazes drifted to the ceiling, windows, or floor anywhere but in the direction of me. I pulled everyone together for a group hug. The boys stiffened at first before returning the embrace. I stepped away seeing the wariness remain in their eyes.

"I'm not going to flip out. Thank you guys."

Jackson picked me up for a huge hug. I squealed as he twirled me around before setting me down next to the shots lined up on the coffee table. Shane, Bri, and Trey joined us as we formed a circle. Jackson handed a shot of whiskey over to each of us.

With his shot held up, Jackson exclaimed, "A toast to the one of the hottest girls I know and one of my dearest friends. Happy birthday Mia!"

Shane finished his shot and towed me in for a hug. "Happy birthday Mia. We wanted to do something nice for you," he whispered.

I smiled shyly before turning to Trey. He let go of Bri's hand to give me a bear hug. He held me for longer than I expected before letting me go with a huge smile.

"Happy birthday Mia. I hope you have fun tonight," he said sincerely.

I nodded as he relaxed into Bri's arms. Jackson had already filled up the shot glasses for another round and we finished them quickly. He snatched my hand after we downed our second round towing me towards some of our friends from the paper.

If the party in my stomach was any indication on my nervousness, I was in trouble. My chest constricted as anxiety swirled through me. I hadn't really been around anyone but my roommates since I got kicked out of school. Seeing a variety of familiar faces from there made me incredibly unsure of what they might say to me. I tightened my grip on his arm to bring him back for more shots. Jackson whistled for the others. We came together and did a few more rounds until my nerves calmed down.

The music from our sound system had been playing the entire time. The people that were a little tipsy before I arrived had settled into the make shift dance floor of the living room. I clutched Jackson's hand and headed to where our friends from school were dancing and drinking. My palms were sweating so my hand slid upon his. I took a deep breath trying to remain calm.

"It will be fine. We won't mingle long. I want to revisit the keg competition that you and Bri tend to have whenever you start drinking too much," he said with a cocky smile.

"You're incorrigible Jackson Reid. You're always trying to start mayhem around here," I pointed out with a roll of the eyes.

He let out a hearty laugh. "Mia, I never said I was an angel. Let's go have some fun."

A song came over the speakers that made Jackson stop and pull me to his chest. He held me tight as we started to dance. He sweetly gazed at me mouthing all the words about forgetting everything but being twenty-two. I laughed letting him sway me back and forth as we danced. We finished dancing to that song before heading over to talk to some of our friends from the paper. I handled it better than I expected. I suspected that my friends might have coached all the guests on what to say to me because all conversations focused on what I was doing now. No one asked about what happened last year.

After making several rounds getting reacquainted with old friends, I went across the living room to greet another guest. I swatted Jackson for hiding him from me. I couldn't believe he invited his little brother and neglected to point that out from the very beginning. Jackson gave me an unapologetic gaze as we made our way over to him.

"Jayden! It's so good to see you. How are you?" I asked, giving him a big hug.

"Happy Birthday Mia! It's so great to see you. It's been too long. I blame this asshole," Jayden teased, poking Jackson in the ribs.

Jackson retaliated by smacking him across the head. I loved watching these two together. They had a strong love hate relationship but got along for the most part. They batted out a few rounds before giving me their attention.

"What's new Jayden?" I asked.

"Same shit different day. People are always in the market to dig up something or other. I'm keeping more than busy. Of course, cutting out class would make life a hell of a lot easier," Jayden commented, glaring at Jackson.

"You're not fucking quitting school so figure it out jackass," Jackson snapped.

"Whoa, easy tiger...I don't think he meant them as fighting words," I chimed in.

"I've missed your humor Mia. Jackson said things are starting to move in a better direction for you. I'm glad to hear it. If you ever need any insight on anything, don't hesitate to seek me out. You know you get the family and friend discount," Jayden joked with a cocky grin.

"It sounds like Jackson talks to you more than he invites you over. We might have to fix that going forward," I answered, eyeing Jackson for an explanation.

He smiled as his eyes told me to let it go. I redirected my attention back to Jayden.

"What's new twerp? Are you at least passing this semester? You have the IQ of a genius so you better have pulled your shit together. You know Mom and Dad will ream your ass if you fuck up another semester," Jackson stated in warning.

Jayden smirked. "I've executed a new strategy this semester that is bulletproof. I expect nothing but A's by semester end."

"Why are you even in school? With your talent, can't you get a job at the FBI or CIA?"

Jackson frowned at me. Jayden pretty much had his own computer hacking empire. There wasn't a person around that could catch the guy. He was without a doubt the best around at wiping any digital track anywhere. Ask and thou shall receive was his slogan.

Jayden winked. "It's all about appearances Mia. I don't want to lose my street cred. Besides, no one wants to work for the government."

I laughed. "It was good seeing you Jayden. Don't be a stranger."

Jayden nodded as he eyed Jackson. They exchanged a few more brotherly jabs before Jackson whisked me away to talk to the next group of people from the paper.

As I made the rounds socializing, the hours started to slip by and we were all tipsier. I had been dancing with Shane when it occurred to me that someone needed to stay somewhat coherent. It was necessary to avoid a real mess in the morning or the cops showing up.

I leaned into his ear and whispered, "We need to find the others and talk about who's going to slow down. We don't want things to get out of control and piss off the neighbors."

Shane nodded whistling to get Jackson's attention from the girl he was making out with. He reluctantly looked up and Shane beckoned him to join us. I looked around for Bri and Trey praying that they were still downstairs. I spotted them on one of the couches giving each other soft kisses while mingling with people. Jackson strolled over to us and I fell out of Shane's arms taking each of their hands to go over to the other two.

Bri raised an eyebrow as we approached. "What's up Mia?"

"We need to figure out who is going to slow down to keep an eye on things," I stated.

They agreed to the suggestion. We stared at each other with drunken eyes not getting any closer to making a decision on who was sobering up. Bri sat up chewing the edge of her lip.

"We're all pretty wasted at this point. Let's make this simple and just do rock, paper, scissors. Whoever loses has to stop drinking."

The rest of us nodded. I got ready with the rest of them but they pushed me back.

Bri frowned and said, "Not you Mia. This is your party."

I took a stubborn step towards the circle. They shook their heads not having of it.

Jackson straightened his arm to keep me from moving forward. "Mia, the plan was to get you completely fucked up not have you take care of the rest of us."

Shane reached for my other shoulder with a firm grip. "We're lucky that you reminded us that someone needed to hold back."

I opened my mouth to protest but Trey's hand clamped it shut. I tried talking around his hand but it came out as garble. Trey pulled his hand away with a drunken smile.

"Shut up Mia. It's your job to have fun tonight."

I sighed raising my hands in defeat. They huddled together and counted down before flashing their respective choices. Jackson ended up losing. I stifled a giggle as he accused each one of them of cheating. I was about to pull him away before he went into a full-blown tantrum from Shane and Trey's teasing when two people at the door caught my eye. Since I had been seeing double on occasion, I squinted for a minute to verify who it was. Standing in the entrance of the living room was Brandon with Braden and they looked incredibly pissed off.

"Oh shit," I muttered as my face fell.

Bri caught the shift in me and glanced towards the door. "Fuck."

I led her away from the boys. "Bri, this is bad. It's obvious that they know that I've been sleeping with both of them," I stated, panicked.

The warm and fuzzy drunk feelings I had moments ago were starting to flee as the pressure in my head increased. Her eyes crinkled together as she looked at them.

"You were never exclusive. If they start shit, you know the boys will end it," Bri declared.

"Are you sure?" I asked worriedly.

"You know what Mia. It's time that we settle the age old debate of who does this the best."

Her mouth slipped into a devilish grin as she led me towards the kegs. She whistled for Trey and Jackson pointing to the kitchen. They saluted and continued to bicker with each other.

I giggled at them before turning to Bri with a smug smile. "Bri, I don't want to embarrass you in front of so many people."

"You think you're hot shit with your tolerance level. Why don't you put your money where your mouth is Mia?" Bri challenged.

We were almost to the kitchen when a hand came down on my shoulder halting us. I cringed and looked over at the boys who had their eyes trained on us like tigers ready to attack. I shook my head wanting them to stand down for the time being. I slowly turned around doing my best to keep the panic prickling through me under control.

Today would be the day that my indifference with men would come back to bite me in the ass. It fits for this all to go down at a packed party. It's my awesome luck working its best.

I pasted on a fake smile and pleasantly said, "Hey Brandon. It's good to see you again."

Brandon stared icily at me as he waited for Braden. Braden reached us glaring at me with the same hatred that Brandon had in his eyes.

"Braden tells me that you've been fucking him for the past several months. Is that true? I thought that you were only sleeping with me this entire time," Brandon seethed.

My eyes constricted at his vulgarity. "Yes, I was seeing Braden as well. I'm sorry if you thought we were exclusive. I thought I made it pretty clear that it was casual."

Braden looked at me with disgust and snarled, "Well, aren't you just the slut. I guess it's true what they say about the skanks from the south side."

Bri's eyes went from happily drunk to livid as she raised her hand to slap him. I stepped in to intercept her hand from hitting his face. I didn't care what either one of these assholes had to say. I used them and they were angry about it because I had no remorse. The music had stopped and everyone was watching the drama unfold around us.

Super. This gossip is going to go real well with my expulsion. I mean it only seems fitting that I'm also a slut on top of an academic failure. What a mess. Well, done Mia.

"I'm sorry if your feelings got hurt but I never promised either of you anything," I reiterated.

The tension was on the rise. I pushed past them to get out of the room. My dulled senses had slowed my reaction time. My heart picked up speed when Brandon tore me away from Bri. He kept his hold on me like a vise. I struggled to get away from him as he inched us closer together before shouting towards Braden. Bri was tugging at Brandon's arms while cussing him out. The boys had seen enough and were making their way through party guests to get to us.

"Maybe we should just fuck her like every other whore from the south side. What do you..."