When Our Worlds Collide (9 page)

Chapter Sixteen

-Graham-

Craig’s house is already in full swing by the time I get
there Saturday night. It is just a little after ten when I pull in the
driveway. There are rows and rows of cars parked in his front and side yard.
His parent’s own one of the larger homes on Lake Hudson. It’s your typical lake
community, mostly occupied by doctors or lawyers and their Stepford-like wives.
I step out of the car and hear music filtrating through the open windows of the
house. 

Walking in the door I am greeted by everyone that I know.
There is barely any room to move around which is the usual capacity at Craig’s.
I have to push my way through the crowd of drunken girls and guys who are
looking for their next hook-up. The living room is filled with a few sophomores
playing Guitar Hero, the dining room has beer pong set up over Craig’s dining
room table which I’m sure his mother would lose her mind if she saw. I step
into the kitchen and see a handful of my teammates gathered around the keg.

“What’s going on, man? We didn’t think you’d make it out
tonight,” Mark fills up my solo cup with beer slapping me on the back.

“Figured I’d come out for a little while at least,” I answer
scanning the room pretending to see who has all came out tonight. I am only
looking for one though. I don’t believe she’ll actually show up tonight. She’s
truthfully the only reason why I came in the first place. A few girls on the
cheerleading team are pouring rows of shots for everyone in reaching distance
from the center island. They hand them out with eagerness. We all throw them
back without bothering to ask what the clear liquid is.

Tequila
.

Not my favorite, but it always gets the job done.

“Amanda’s been looking for you. She’s somewhere around here,”
Dan announces scanning the room looking for her. “She is looking pretty hot
too.”

“You know who else is looking hot?” Mark adds with an
approving head nod. “Kennedy.”

“Kennedy Conrad?” Dan questions. “She was sexy as hell at
the talent show.” He winks at me and my stomach churns. I’m usually the one
being suggestive about the girls at school. I feel protective of Kennedy, not
liking what the other are insinuating. She isn’t like all of the girls that are
always hanging around. Kennedy would blush in a second if she heard the things
the guys were saying about her.

“I’m going to go walk around,” I say chugging my beer. I
fill it back up before walking out onto the back porch. That will be all for me
tonight. I think I’ve learned my lesson on drinking. The back yard is already
cluttered with drunks who couldn’t quite make it to their cars to sleep it off.
Been there. Done that.

I scan the back yard not seeing Kennedy anywhere. Where is
she? I just walked through the whole house and didn’t see her or Violet. Surely
wherever Violet was, Kennedy wouldn’t be too far behind. I hear footsteps
encroaching behind me and I turn to see Becky who has clearly had one too many
shots. Typical Becky fashion.

“Gra…Graham…” Becky lets a long sigh out trying to sound
sexy. She is past the point of being adorably drunk and heading straight for
hot-mess territory with her mascara smeared under both of her eyes.

“Hi Becky. You look like you’re having fun,” I shake my head
in disbelief that I once fell hard for this type of behavior.

“Not really, but you’re here now so I guess my lucks about
to change.” She stands in front of me wrapping her arms around my waist rubbing
her fingers along my waist band. “I’ve missed you.”

I know that it is the alcohol talking. This was her usual
thing. Becky is known for getting drunk then throwing herself at anything that
would take her up on the offer. At one point I was one of those guys. It was
second semester our sophomore year when we started hooking up. She’s beautiful
when she’s sober, with long dark brown hair and honey colored eyes. Not to
mention a body of a Calvin Klein model, but when she gets drunk she becomes a
mess. It isn’t cute, but most guys don’t seem to care. She has what guys want
and she is putting it out there. You can’t really blame any of us for scooping
it up.

I look down into her big doe eyes and immediately feel
guilty for how I had treated her sophomore year. “Becky, why don’t you sit down
for a second?” I usher her over to the bench.
Where’s this guilt coming
from?

“Are you…going to sit with me?” She slurs every other word.

“Sure. Just sit down and chill out for a minute.” Becky
entertains my request, but quickly goes into overdrive and tries to unbutton my
jeans. I jump up from the bench we are sitting on. “That’s not going to happen,
sweetheart.”

She looks confused and rejected. “Graham, come on. You and I
both know what’s going to happen tonight.”

“You pulling yourself together is the only thing that’s
going to happen. Splash water on that pretty face of yours and get Amanda to
take you home.” I walk away leaving her staring in my direction. Hell, once
again I am confused with what I am doing and saying and feeling.

What has gotten in to me? I would have never turned down
someone like Becky, but I just had without thinking twice. It isn’t my MO to
hook up with shit faced girls, but I have never taken much time to think about
it either. I didn’t sleep with everyone that threw themselves at me or else I
would have an even more obnoxious list than I already do, but I’m not in the
department of being picky either.

Sex isn’t personal to me. It never has been. I never
understood the harm in sleeping with different girls every weekend, until now.
The way Becky looks at me as if she expects me to throw her over my shoulder
and go into the first available bedroom makes me feel irresponsible. Is that
how I’ve always treated the girls I’ve hooked up with?

After I leave Becky sitting on the porch I walk around the
side of the house to the front. I find Amanda leaning up against the railing.
She’s surrounded by a few guys from the football team and everyone moves along
once they see my tall figure approaching.

“I was wondering when you’d show up,” she runs up throws her
arms around me.

“You need to go get Becky and take her home. She’s a drunken
mess,” I unhook her hands from around my back. “She tried unbuttoning my pants
on the back porch.”

Amanda laughs. “She’ll be fine and it’s not the first time
she’s unbuttoned your pants, babe. She practically sucked your dick in the
middle of Skylar’s sixteenth birthday party.” She looks annoyed by my concern,
rolling her eyes.

“That’s not the point.” I snap irritated with her
accusations.

Amanda puts up her hands in defeat. “Okay, I’ll get her
home. Relax. Will you be here for a while?” I nod in answer as she stands on
her toes to lay a soft kiss on my cheek. I watch her prance to the backyard
before heading back into the house myself.

And there she is standing at one end of the beer pong table
next to none other than my best friend, Craig. They are playing against Violet
and some sophomore. There is a crowd gathering around the table watching as
Kennedy stretches to make the final shot to end the game. She turns her head
catching my eyes raking over her before turning her attention back to the table.
She sets up and shoots the ping pong ball banking it into the only single red
cup left. Craig lifts her up in a hug as they both cheer in victory. She slides
down his body and immediately notice what she is wearing. My eyes hone in on
her bare legs.

Kennedy is modest most days. She doesn’t completely shun us
all from seeing her legs. She’s wearing a short white summer dress that shows
off her lean legs and allows just enough cleavage to be exposed with a pair of
green sandals. Most girls would look ridiculous wearing a dress with a clunky
cast, but somehow she manages to look gorgeous. I watch as she continues her
celebration with everyone around the table. I can’t draw my eyes away from her
body as she leans across the table to high five Violet making her dress shimmy
up her thigh.
I’m screwed
.

“I have to go fill up my beer,” Kennedy shouts back to Craig
before grabbing her crutches and stumbling into the hallway. She nearly trips
over her crutches landing right in front of me. Her eyes are bloodshot showing
how much she had already guzzled down tonight. Kennedy isn’t used to having
alcohol gushing through her veins and it’s obvious by the glossy cover on her
eyes.
Why do you care how much she’s been drinking?

Kennedy looks up at me just as she trips with a look of
surprise. I reach out to catch her fall. “You okay?” I ask with sincere
concern. She jerks her arm away from me as if I burned her.

“I’m fine,” she barks at me with animosity.

“No, I don’t think you are. How much have you had to drink
tonight?” I put my hand under her chin to get a better look in her crystal blue
eyes.

“What are you doing?” Kennedy jerks away from my touch once
again. “I’m just having fun. You know that thing you do every weekend when I’m
usually at home reading.”

“Sweet heart, I don’t know if you haven’t noticed, but you
can barely stand up on your own. You won’t be having much fun tomorrow morning.
I can promise you that.”

“Well Mr. Black, if you haven’t noticed lately someone ran
me over with their car and because of that idiot I have a broken fucking leg,”
Kennedy bobs her head back and forth enunciating every word while poking me in
the chest. I just stand staring at her in silence.

I half expected her to lash out at me at some point. I never
imagined it would cut as deep as it had. She forgave me for what I had done or
at least she claimed she had. The girl standing in front of me now was not the
one that sat in her room feeling vulnerable and unsure. Her passion was a major
turn on. My pants grew tighter with her hostility. That’s a weird reaction, I
know. How she’s making me feel is unnatural, that much is obvious by the major
hard on I am rocking in the middle of this party.

“Fair enough, Kennedy. Go have fun. Try not killing yourself
tonight. Craig seems like he’d miss you,” I gesture to the beer pong table
where Craig and Violet are standing. Kennedy glares up at me with her eyes
burning with fire. She is infuriated. I’m not sure if she is upset by what she
has said to me or by the way I am treating her.

“I think you have that market cornered, Graham. Don’t you?”
she rolls her eyes then turns away from me. My mouth just falls open in dismay.

Craig came up behind Kennedy and pulls an arm around her
shoulder just in time to interrupt. “You ready to play? Violet and John want a
rematch.” Craig looks to me nodding his head to show what his intentions are.
It only pisses me off more. I tighten my fists to push back the urge to lay his
ass out.

She smiles up at him.
Damn, that grates on my last nerve
.
“Of course, I’ll be right over as long as we’re done here,” she pokes her
finger into my chest one last time for good drunken measure.

“Yeah, we’re all done,” I speak directly to Craig. Kennedy’s
already making her way back to the kitchen where a full cup of beer waits for
her.

“Who knew, right?” Craig points back to Kennedy who’s
standing at the keg waiting for Dan to fill up her cup. Craig leaves me to grab
her drink carrying it back to the table. Talk about playing the gentleman card
just to score a little tail. She’s not like most of these girls, she should be
able to see right through it.

I’m left frozen in the same spot watching her. Feeling
territorial is out of my wheel house. Seeing Kennedy with Craig only makes my
blood boil hotter. He may be my friend, but he isn’t a good guy. I suppose I’d
be placed in that same category alongside him. Craig’s been known to pull girls
in with his sweet talk and spit them out just as quickly.

The next few hours go by slowly. I discreetly watch every
move Kennedy makes. She continues to kick back beer after beer. Even from a far
distance I can tell she’s well past the point of just being drunk. She would be
feeling the repercussions of her choices tomorrow morning. We ended up being in
the same room throughout the night. She refused to make eye contact and spent
most of her time laughing at something Craig was saying. I know for a fact that
he’s not nearly as funny as she makes him out to be with her little giggles and
gentle hand brushes.

They are sitting on one of the couches in the living room
watching Violet play guitar hero against Dan when he leans over to whisper
something in her ear. One hand is on her thigh making its way to the hem of her
dress. She giggles loudly at what he’s saying. A soft blush covers her cheeks
as he stands up holding a hand out to her before helping her up to her feet.
She can’t stand up on her own, that much is obvious.

I have zero intentions of watching Kennedy go off with Craig
to god knows where to do god knows what. I get up to leave the room and run
smack dab into Amanda by the front door.

“Are you leaving?” she asks with a bright eager smile.

“Yeah, are you coming with?” I grab her arm and steer her
out of the house without waiting for an answer. I know what it will be. I don’t
need to waste time with the pleasantries.

I should be stricken with guilt for using Amanda in the way
that I am. Somehow I have let my frustrations with Kennedy bubble over and I
have every intention of using Amanda as my own personal stress ball. She has
never minded before, but the way her eyes lit up when I asked her to leave with
me told me differently. It would have been simpler to just go home to take a
cold shower. Amanda was standing there in my pathway dragging me back to what
is easier.

Amanda is my last ditch effort in blocking the thoughts of
Craig and Kennedy together. The way she had laughed at whatever he whispered in
her ear while they were sitting on the couch got under my skin. Jealousy, true
honest to god in your gut jealousy, isn’t a feeling even a girl like Amanda can
dull. I sure as hell was going to let her try.