Ex-Factor (Diamond Girls) (25 page)

“Maybe we should just stay here. You know, not go to the party at all. Aunt Trish is working a late shift. We could hang out, watch movies, and do… other things.”

Bodie’s eyebrows lifted at the mention of some possible hanky-panky. “Nice try, Doll Face. As much as I’d like to stay here and explore these so-called ‘other things’ with you, I’ve got business with Eli that needs tending to. Ass Face needs a not-so-friendly reminder that it’s not okay to kiss another man’s girl.”

The corner of my mouth turned up the moment Bodie referred to me as his girl. It was silly and superficial on my part to derive happiness from something so little when my friendship with Erin was hanging in the balance, but the overexcited schoolgirl giddiness in me couldn’t be denied. Pathetic.

I chomped down on the inside of my cheek and focused on the big issue in front of us. “Eli’s not worth getting in trouble over, Bodie. If you fight him, you could get arrested. I can’t let you do that. I can’t let you take that risk.”

He made a noise in his throat and shook his head. “I’m not gonna hurt him, Doll Face. I promise. I’m just gonna scare him a little. Make him think twice before he disrespects you or any other girl he comes across.” A devilish smile spread across his lips at that last little bit, and the achy dreadful feeling gnawing away at my chest eased up a bit. Bodie was a man of his word, and I knew, despite the hostility he harbored for Eli, he’d keep his promise.

Honk!

Honk!

“Shit.” Bodie pulled back and waved at his impatient ride. “I gotta go.” He cupped the side of my face and ran his thumb over my cheekbone. “Think about what I said, Doll Face. I know what I’m talking about. Going to that party is a bad idea.”

Honk!

“All right,” he howled over his shoulder. “I’m comin’!” He leaned in and brushed his lips over mine in a gentle kiss. “Mmm, love me some of your sugar. I’ll call you later.” With a wink and a smile, he took off down my walkway and hopped into the truck.

***

“Seriously, Nev? That’s what you’re wearing to the party?”

I glanced at Livvie’s plunging halter and barely-there miniskirt, then down at my simple white tee and denim capris. “Um, yeah. I’m not going to this thing to have a good time, Liv. I’m going to put an end to this bullshit with Eli. Bodie promised me he wouldn’t fight him, but I can’t be sure Eli won’t do something stupid to provoke a brawl. I can’t let anyone else I care about get hurt because of me.”

Livvie mashed her lips together and shook her head. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me any of this was going on until now. I could have, I don’t know, I could have—”

“What?” I said with a sigh. “What could you have done?”

Livvie crinkled her brow, crossed the room, and took a seat on my bed beside me. She angled her body to face me and took my hand in hers. “I could have listened, Nev. I could have supported you. Could have been a shoulder to lean on. I’m your family, Nev. I’m here for you when you need me.”

I tried to pull my hand from her grip, but she had me on serious lockdown and wouldn’t let go. “I didn’t want to lay all my problems on you. Drama follows me like flies flock to poop. I wanted to spare you the trouble.”

“Trouble me. Please,” she said with a small chuckle. “You don’t know how nice it is to have you here to share things with. Growing up an only child is tough. I love that I have you here to confide in. Which means you need to open up and confide in me too. It’s a two way street, okay?”

I gave her a weak nod.

“And since we’re sharing, I’m gonna say this. I’m not sure I agree with what Bodie wants to do tonight, but I wanted to tell you before we go to the party that I was wrong for judging him the way I did.”

My breath caught and my eyes widened. I so wasn’t expecting that from her.

“I watched Bodie with you today at the competition, and then when we got back home a bit ago. He’s good with you, Nev—gentle, caring.” A wobbly smile crossed her lips and she shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, I just thought I should tell you in case things get crazy later.”

Both shocked and overcome with emotion, I pulled Livvie in for a hug and held her tight. “Thank you,” I whispered, fighting back tears. “You have no idea how much your words mean to me.” She really didn’t. She’d just accepted Bodie in spite of his horrific past, which meant there was room in her heart to forgive me when I eventually told her about what happened the night my father died.

The bedroom door cracked open, and Aunt Trish popped her head in. “I’m headed over to the hospital. My shift ends tomorrow morning at nine, so—” Her gaze zeroed in on Livvie’s less than modest outfit, and her eyes narrowed. “Going somewhere?”

Livvie cast me an uncertain smile, then looked at her mom. “Meg Crewson’s birthday party?”

“Not dressed like that, you’re not.” She thrust a finger at me while she addressed Livvie. “T-shirt and jeans, like Nev. Now.” She turned then, and leveled me with a no-nonsense glare. “You’ve been through a lot, Nev, and I think you’ve learned from your mistakes. That being said, I’d be a fool if I didn’t do the mom thing and at least remind you to make good choices tonight.” Her expression softened. “I love you both. Be safe, and be home by midnight.”

“Your mom is so cool,” I said to Livvie once Aunt Trish had left.

Livvie rolled her eyes at me and tossed a black tee onto her bed. “Uh, yeah, okay. If you say so.”

I pulled my knees into my chest and wriggled my toes against my soft comforter. “I do say so. Your mom knows all my faults, all the bad stuff I’ve done, and she’s still letting me go to a party. With you in tow, no less. I’d say that’s pretty darn cool. You’re just mad because she made you change out of your easy-access outfit.”

Livvie let out a shocked gasp, latched onto a nearby pillow, and chucked it toward my face. I ducked out of the way with a shriek and a giggle. “You throw like a girl.”

“I am a girl, hag!”

I snatched up the stray pillow and hugged it to my chest as I rolled onto my stomach. “Seriously, though. Why were you so dressed up?”

Livvie shimmied out of her skirt, then stepped into a pair of white capri pants with blinged-out pockets. “I was trying to look cute for J.P. I heard he was going to be at the party, and I wanted him to notice me.”

Frowning, I sat back up and placed the pillow in my lap. “You don’t need to dress like a hoochie to get guys to notice you. Just be your normal, awesome self, and if J.P. is the smart guy I think he is, he’ll take notice.”

“Thanks.” She snatched up the black tee she’d tossed onto the bed and stared down at me for a moment, her happy expression turning to one of concern. “Are you sure you want to do this, Nev? Go to Meg’s party? Are you really ready?”

I rolled onto my back and slammed my lids shut; the familiar staccato beat of my anxious heart thudded in my ears. Was I ready? I sucked in a deep breath and exhaled nice and slow.

Not even close.

But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going.

Chapter Seventeen

Status update:
No turning back…

Twenty-inch Spanish tiles covered the floor of Meg’s house as far as the eye could see. Bodie’s home was huge, and it was posh, but it still felt like a house to me. Meg’s, on the other hand, had a palatial quality that boggled the mind. Part of me felt like I should don an apron and enter through the servants’ quarters.

My heart ping-ponged inside my ribcage, a heaping mixture of nerves and absolute disgust at the ease with which my fellow classmates trashed Meg’s house souring my stomach. The chic European décor was riddled with drunken teenagers, beer cans, discarded clothing, and—
gag
—vomit. From experience, I could almost guarantee the random puker wouldn’t be hangin’ around to help Meg clean once the party was over, and my heart went out to her. Scrubbing dried puke off the floor was some straight up nasty business.

Mouth dry, I wove in and out of the crowd and followed Livvie past a large atrium, into an even larger kitchen. Partygoers lined the walls, smashed tight against one another like cattle in a pen. The room stank of cheap beer and marijuana, the pungent stink so potent I was sure I’d come away with a contact high.

A half-naked couple sat atop the giant island in the center of the kitchen giving lessons on proper make out technique. Too bad I hadn’t shoved a tube of lip balm in my pocket along with my keys. The girl was going to need it with the way her guy was slobbering all over her face. Did they not care that everyone was watching them? Were they so blitzed they just didn’t notice?

Probably.

My heart sank. How many nights had I done the same thing myself with Nate? Got tanked and made a spectacle of myself? I didn’t want to think about it—couldn’t think about it. The shame was too great.

Grimacing at the sight, I looked away. That’s when I saw Callie knocking back shots at the dinner table with Meg and a group of rowdy boys. Her competition bow rode high on her head for all to see, and she wore her black and red X-Factor warm-ups. Coach Shea would have a fit if she saw Callie representing the gym in such a bad light.

One of the guys jumped up from the table, beer in hand, and staggered over toward Livvie and me. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and attempted to smile. “Hahhtnezz… dayum! You two wanna haz some fun wit me? Lez go for a drive. Yeah?” His lids hung at half-mast and the swig of beer he took dribbled down the side of his mouth like a dental patient who’d had too much Novocain. I snatched his keys, ran to the open window on the opposite side of the kitchen, and chucked the jangling babies as far as I could.

Asshole wouldn’t be driving anywhere anytime soon. One life had been saved. Thing was, there was a house full of idiots, and I was but one girl. Bodie had been right. I wasn’t ready to be at this party. I needed to get out, and I needed to get out fast.

The back end of the house sported a large family room, with an adjoining game room complete with pool table and bar. Red Solo cups covered the top of the pool table, a handful of guys from the varsity team in the middle of a rousing game of beer pong. A large set of sliding doors lined the wall opposite the table, and my heart swelled in relief. Salvation lay just a few feet away.

I rounded the table behind Livvie, who had spotted her boy J.P, and shrieked when one of the linemen—who’d just dunked his ping-pong ball into his opponent’s last cup—threw up his hand and shouted. The full cup of beer he’d been holding splashed down the front of my T-shirt and jeans.
Lovely.

Grumbling and reeking of cheap beer, I left Livvie with J.P. and headed for the bathroom. I wouldn’t manage to get my shirt dry, but I could at least wring out the excess liquid weighing it down.

I finally had the guest bathroom in sight when Bodie appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and blocked my path. His dark gray shirt hugged his broad chest, and the muscles in his arms bulged when he crossed them in front of his body.

His eyes grew wide when he took in my drenched shirt. He pulled me over toward an empty patch of wall and angled his body so I was partially hidden from view. “What happened? Are you okay? Who did this to you?” His expression flashed from worry, to concern, to anger in the span of two seconds. His gaze continually darted off to either side of us, and I could tell it was bothering him that anyone within a ten-foot radius could see that I was wearing a lacy pink bra under my tiny white tee. The wet fabric clung to my skin and showed absolutely everything
.

I shrugged. “Livvie and I were headed outside. I got too close to the beer pong table and got splashed.”

Bodie swept my hair over my shoulder and palmed the side of my neck. His hand was warm, and my knees immediately turned to mush. “I thought we talked about this, Doll Face. This party, these people, they’re no good for you.”

I trailed my hand down the length of his arm and entwined our fingers together, eyes never leaving his. “Yeah, and getting arrested for assault and battery isn’t good for you. I can’t let you hurt Eli. Even if he is deserving of a complete and total beat down.”

A large blond guy with tree trunks for arms and a wine barrel neck burst into our little bubble of quiet. He stopped short at first glance of my wet T-shirt, whatever he’d been about to say lingering at the entrance of his open mouth.

I rolled my shoulders forward and crossed my arms over my chest.
Creep.

Bodie’s entire frame went rigid, and he clenched his fists. “Dude, you want to keep your eyes on my girl’s face and not her chest? I’m here to scare the piss out of someone else, but I don’t have any problem turning your ass into a bloody stain on the floor.”

Barrel Neck flushed crimson and looked at the ceiling. “Shit, dude. Sorry. I didn’t mean to… I found him. Walker.”

Danger flashed behind Bodie’s eyes. “Where?”

Barrel Neck inclined his head toward the sliding glass doors. “Outside, in the garden. He’s hot and heavy with some chick from Douglas High.”

Bodie nodded and stormed across the room with purpose in his step, stopping when he noticed me following. “Stay inside, Nev. I don’t want you anywhere near Eli. I’ll come and get you when it’s over.”

I puffed out a breath of air and scowled. “Uh, sorry, but no. This mess with Eli, it’s all because of me. I need to be out there with you.”

Bodie stepped forward and opened his mouth to speak, a rebuttal argument no doubt hanging from the tip of his tongue, then thought better of it and shook his head. “Just let me do all the talking, okay?” He glanced down at my shirt and growled. Clearly irritated, he pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it at me, the thin, white tank he wore beneath the only thing separating my eyes from his glorious pecs.

“Put that on, please. I can’t think straight knowin’ every asshole in this place is lookin’ at your goods.”

I did as he asked, thankful for the coverage, but still uncomfortable. My wet shirt was starting to chafe, and a small, wet spot began to form in the center of his dry shirt I’d placed over it.