Who He Is (FireNine, book 1) (14 page)

Gage then placed his plush lips on my ear. Tingles ran down my spine and I bit my fingers into the back of his shirt, shutting my eyes briefly, insti
nctively breathing him in.

“Stop fighting and make it easier on yourself,” he murmured in my ear.
“You want me. I see it. I
feel
it.”

My lower belly sparked wi
th heat that ran down and puddled between my legs. Ugh, I wanted to melt all over.

“Let’s just settle this when we get back to the buses. Maybe it’ll get you to st
op denying me. And I think it’ll make you happy, just like it did whatshername in there.” He pulled away from me and pointed over my shoulder at Cracker Barrel, a small smirk tugging on the corner of his upper lip.

I scowled, yanking away from him and
giving the middle finger before storming for the truck.

What an asshole.

I
despised Gage in every way.

Every time we’d go out, he’d have a different girl on his arm—making out with her, holding her, nuzzling her neck. He’d do it right in front of me. I tried ignoring him, but
after a while I realized he was running into me on purpose.

We’d all split up during our free time at the mall and were going to meet at the food court in two hours max, but somehow Gage would always find me and do something explicit with his skank in public. I would continuously scowl at him and brush past him, and each time he would chuckle to purposely get under my skin. I refused to allow him to get to me.

I’d done some shopping around in a bookstore, a department store where I found a really cute red blouse, and then headed to the food court early, hoping I wouldn’t run into Gage again. Surprisingly, Montana, Roy, and Deed were already sitting at a table in the middle, surrounded by a cluster of females. I rolled my eyes, trudging forward and pushing my way through, the struggle comparable to punching bricks, just to squeeze in. None of the girls budged until Montana saw me, stood, and grabbed my arm to reel me in. He pushed some girls out of the way for me and I thanked him with my eyes, smiling half-heartedly.

“Thanks,” I sighed, sitting beside him.

“Always, Miss Eliza.” He winked. The boys reached over the table to sign a few things for the wild girls and even took a few pictures with them until Deed gave a signal to one of the security guards. They bustled their way through, pushing some of the girls back and telling them the boys weren’t giving any more autographs. A few of them pouted their bottom lips and turned away, but some stayed, staring from a distance. The security guards shook their heads, folding their arms.

“Sorry about that.” Montana sighed, fixing his spiky mohawk. “The ladies tend to get a little crazy over our asses.”

I laughed. “I see.”

I
looked at Roy and Deed, but they were staring off, their eyebrows knitted. Deed finally looked at Roy, cocking his head to his left, and Roy nodded, standing from his seat as if he’d been waiting the entire time for the gesture. Deed stood and they went two tables down to sit. I frowned, glaring at them. What the fuck was their problem?

“Why the hell are they being like that?” I snapped at Montana.

He held up his hands innocently, his light-blue eyes wide, his eyebrow and lip piercings sparkling from the sunlight spilling in from above. “Hey… don’t get mad at me. I have no clue what those fuckers’ problems are. We all know Roy can be a dick, but Deed… I don’t know what’s been up his ass.”

I sighed, dropping my hands in my lap. I was about to say something else about them, but then a girl screamed, “HOLY FUCKING HELL! IT’S GAGE FUCKING GRENDEL! OH MY GOD, I THINK I’M GONNA DIE!”

The ladies standing near the security guards squealed as they rushed for him. The security guards bustled forward, guarding Gage before he could get trampled. I wouldn’t have felt bad for him or the blond skank on his arm if they were to get bulldozed. It would’ve given me something to laugh about. The skank smirked, knowing she didn’t have to fight like they did to get his attention. She knew she had him and none of them could take him… but of course it was only for the moment.

Gage signed a few things for the raging girls and pulled away from the skank who looked defeated as he kissed one girl on the cheek while a friend took a picture. She grinned again, though, after he stepped back and
hooked his arm around her. Gage gave the signal to the guards and they stepped in, backing up the girls.

As he and the skank started coming our way, my heart thudded. His eyes were hard on me, his head tilted, a smirk on his lips. I wanted to smack it off his annoyingly beautiful face. I wanted to slap her for being so silly, knowing she wasn’t getting anything out of it in the end. I prayed they wouldn’t sit across from me, but when they did, I lowered my head. Gage pulled the skank in close, grinning at her before looking at Montana.

“We’re jet skiing today,” Gage said. “Ben set it up for us.”

“Holy shit.” Montana rubbed his hands together. “Wait…” His face fell as he stared at Gage. “I don’t have a bitch.”

I gasped and the skank snickered. “Montana, don’t call them that,” I snapped at him, slapping his arm.

“Oh… sorry, Eliza. I always forget
you’re an actual lady with class. My apologies.” He kissed my cheek playfully and I laughed. Gage stiffened across the table and I looked at him, slowly smirking.

And then my mindset
became a little devilish. Oh, it was perfect: pretend Montana and I did have something going on just to get under Grendel’s skin. He was getting under mine. It was only fair as payback, right? It was time for war.

“Well, I don’t have a
chick
,” Montana said, glancing at me to make sure what he said was an okay term.

“If you want, we can partner up. It’s no big deal.”

Montana’s eyes stretched and I could feel Gage glaring holes through the side of my head. “Really? You do know jet skiing requires me sitting behind you and… well, you have the hottest ass ever, Eliza. I don’t mind. It’s just you I’m worried about.” He grinned.

I grinned back, ignoring Gage. “That’s fine. Just keep your hands in appropriate places an
d we’re good. We’ll have fun.”

“
It’s not my hands you’ll have to worry—”

“What time do you want to leave from here?” Gage
asked, interrupting him. I looked at him and his eyes were hard, his glare icy as he directed it on Montana.

Montana didn’t seem to notice and that made the moment even more hilarious. I was winning. I was getting under his arrogant, thick skin.

“Anytime, man. Doesn’t matter. Since Miss Eliza is my date for the afternoon, I guess I should be asking her.” He looked at me, smirking. “What time would you like to go, cutie?”

“Doesn’t matter.”
I held back a laugh. Montana was so natural at flirting that I felt he played along with me to make Gage even more annoyed. Hilarious.

“Well, we should go and get ready now,” Gage said, drumming his fingers on the table. “Truck’s already waiting.”

Montana and I nodded and Gage stood without another word. The skank followed after him, but he didn’t touch her. I watched as she brushed against his side when he met up with Roy and Deed and said something to them. They nodded and followed Gage out of the mall, but he still wasn’t touching the broad.

“Shall we?” Montana asked, offering his hand.
I nodded, taking his hand and standing from my seat. “So does this mean I have to spend the whole afternoon with you? Not that you’re a problem or anything. I just know there’s going to be some hot bitches there and—”

“Montana! Stop calling them
bitches,
please.” I aimed to be serious, but of course I failed terribly as he grinned goofily and knuckled my chin.

“Sorry.” He laughed. “I’m just used to it. It’s not like they aren’t bitches. Most of ‘em are stuck-up and self-centered anyway.
Best ones to have sex with, though.”

“They’re still people,” I said softly.

He smirked at me, shaking his head. “So, like I was saying… we’ll be at the beach and I’ll be seeing some hot…”—he hesitated, trying to find a polite word, and I laughed—“…
females
. I’m gonna get at one for myself. You know that, right?”

“I know. It’s cool.” I shrugged. “I don’t expect you to stick with me the whole time. I’m not expecting a real date from you.”

He smirked, holding the glass door open for me. I stepped out and he caught up with me, putting on his sunglasses. “I know what you’re doing, Eliza. It’s fucking funny as hell, too.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re pissing Gage off. It’s funny when he’s mad. He does that whole scary glare thing and his jaw clenches a million times. He’ll say he’s not mad constantly when we all know he is.” He laughed, sliding his fingers into his front pockets. “You’re an asshole for this. You know that, right?”

I laughed. So Montana did kno
w I was trying to get under Grendel’s skin. “I’m not an asshole. I just know it’s killing him to think I’ve rejected him for you. He’s been rubbing his skank in my face all day, and it’s truly annoying.”

Still laughing, Montana and I climbed into the truck and took the back row with Roy. Of course Roy took a window seat, and to make things less awkward, Montana sat in the middle,
but I didn’t let Roy bother me like usual. This afternoon was going to be… interesting, and I was ready for Gage’s reactions toward my fake date.

After picking up a
striped black-and-white bathing suit from one of the stores nearby, the boys and I were at Cocoa Beach. It was beautiful, temperature blazing, and my sunglasses were definitely necessary. What weren’t necessary were the millions of chicks in bikinis that the boys had invited. There were a few guys as well, but they barely stood out among the flocks of girls waiting around for attention with bottles and cups of beer in hand.

“All right, Miss Eliza,” Montana said, rubbing his hands together. “Do your worst. We’ve gotta make this quick, though, ‘cause—” Montana stopped talking rapidly as a girl in a black G-string bikini walked by, her skin shiny from tanning oils. She giggled over her shoulder, red cup in hand, as Montana stared directly at her ass. I rolled my eyes as he practically drooled. I then snapped my fingers in front of his face, breaking him out of his horny state of mind.

“Get it together, Montana,” I sighed.

He shook his head, still staring at her ass. “Sorry, but that one’s mine. Let’s make this quick. Please?” he begged, turning around to hold on to my shoulders. Just as he
’d placed his hands on me, Gage stepped by with a new chick on his arm.
Typical.

He paused in front of us, staring at Montana’s long, tanned arms stretched out toward me. His hands gripped my shoulders and we were only a few inches apart. From a bystander’s point of view, it looked like we were about to kiss and then hug, and I could see in Gage’s eyes that was exactly what he thought.

The girl on his arm hugged against him, probably aiming to never let go. If she were to let go, he would have most likely found another chick to fondle. It made me giggle thinking how stupid and naïve she was. It made me giggle even more as Gage frowned at Montana. “Ready?” Montana asked, hooking his arm around my shoulders.

I nodded at him, smiling. “Yep.” I smiled warmly at Gage, but his eyes were stern, cold. Montana gave him a playful punch in the arm, but Gage’s frown deepened. “He looks really mad,” I said as soon as we were out of earshot.

“It’s your point, right? To piss him off?”

“A little, but not too much. I don’t want him
too mad.”

“Gage’ll be fine.
You’re making him realize his balls aren’t as big as he thinks they are. He’s one cocky fucker.” Montana released me as we met up at the jet skis. After we strapped up in our lifejackets and I pulled my hair up into a tight ponytail, Montana stepped ahead of me. “You know how to work one of these things?” he asked, fiddling with one of the handlebars.

“No.” I shrugged. “But it can’t be too hard. I’ll give it a shot.”

“Oh, good ‘cause I know nothing about this shit. If we end up wrecking, you’ll take full blame and Ben will pay it off.”

I laughed, stepping past him to climb on. As I did, a jet ski app
eared beside us and girly giggling caused me to turn. Gage floated in next to us, a cocky smile on his lips as he looked directly into my eyes. He didn’t look away as he strapped on his lifejacket, ran his fingers through his hair, and then pulled the girl in by the waist. Her annoying giggles chimed again, but I rolled my eyes, gripping the bars of our jet ski.