Who He Is (FireNine, book 1) (20 page)

And then, as I
approached the stand, I frowned. The reason the pictures were familiar was because it was a picture of
me
and Gage on the night of the party. “What the hell?” I hissed beneath my breath, snatching up the magazine. The front cover was a picture of Gage and me at the outlet, shopping for a decent outfit to wear to the house party. His arm was around me and I was smiling at him, but that’s not what struck my nerves. It was the caption beside it.

Is our favorite
rocker dating again?

I gritted my teeth, flipping through the pages to find the main topic of the magazine. I couldn’t believe it. There were a whole two pages about Gage’s secret love life and me being his new “girl toy.”
How the hell did they print this magazine so fast? And who the fuck said girl toy anyway? Corny-ass magazine.

A few more quotes stuck out at me, making my teeth grit even more:

Will this one last?

Is G.G.
finally growing up?

Is she just another loose floosy?

The last line made me shut the magazine furiously and stuff it back onto its stand. I breathed through my nose, trying to calm down, but being called a floosy to a large portion of the world made me upset. Those people were judging me when they knew nothing about me or Gage or our friendship.
A loose floosy?
Seriously? That killed my joy even more. I was about to turn around, grab Cal, and go for some more fun, but then my eye caught them all.

There were
three othermagazines with Gage and me on the front. One with us at the club in the VIP section, another with us on our way to the hoedown, and the last of Gage and me talking in the parking lot of Cracker Barrel. On the Cracker Barrel cover, it had me flipping my middle finger at him and the line above it read
,
“
Trouble with love alread
y
?
”
I scowled, cringed, and clenched my fist as if the magazine could somehow see my anger and make a run for it before it was too late.

“Hey,” Cal said over my shoulder. I turned quickly, looking into Cal’s soft green eyes. “Are you okay?” he asked, giving me a gentle smile.

“Uh… yeah,” I said, shaking my head. “Yeah.” I took a step forward so he couldn’t see the real reason I was upset. “We should go catch some more slides,” I said, forcing a smile. He agreed, and it was a good thing he didn’t seem to notice my frustration.

After going on four more slides, we finally decided on grabbing some lunch. I was nearly starving, but m
y starvation seemed to subside as I saw Gage in the restaurant. I couldn’t help but scowl at his back. I wanted to take Cal’s hand and drag him to whatever else was around, but Cal caught sight of Gage before I could make a move and smiled eagerly, stepping inside.

“Gage!” Cal yelled from the door, holding his arms in the air.

Gage turned around slowly, and as the long-legged brunette stepped from in front of him to his side, my heart failed to beat. Gage noticed me pause in my tracks and smirked, completely satisfied with my shock. “S’up, Cal,” Gage said, removing his arm from around Penelope to shake Cal’s hand.

“This was a great idea. The waterpark,” Cal said.

“Yeah, I agree,” Penelope butted in. “Everyone’s having so much fun.” She hooked her arms around Gage’s waist and he pulled her in closer, kissing her forehead twice. Those small forehead kisses were getting to me. I remembered how warm his lips were against my forehead, how he’d stroked the edges of my hair and kissed me so delicately that I could have been considered fragile. To top it all off and make it worse, he was half-naked and looked extremely delicious. Gage Grendel without a shirt would have caused me to salivate had I not been so aggravated by his presence.

“You guys should join us at our pool,” Gage insisted smoothly. “We’ve got drinks and they’ll be bringing food over in just a bit. We’re ordering now.”

I shook my head quickly. “No, thanks.”

“Hold on now,” Cal said, lifting his arm to hook it around my shoulders. I stiffened and
if I wasn’t mistaken, Gage did as well.

Penelope noti
ced and placed her hand on Gage’s chest, looking up at him. “You okay, babe?”

“Fine,” Gage mumbled, his shoulders lacking some of the tension.
His eyes flickered to the arm around my shoulder and then back into Cal’s eyes again.

“Eliza and I would love to meet you at the pool. All we have to do is grab our stuff.” I
frowned, slipping from beneath Cal’s arm. I hated how he was using “we” and “our” as if we were a couple. It was kind of uncomfortable.

Grudgingly, I turned around and stepped out of the restaurant. I couldn’t go to that damn pool. I didn’t want to be around Gage, who I knew would purposely kiss and lick on his girlfriend in front me. I knew for sure he was planning on getting drunk, and a drunken Gage wasn’t good
to be around unless he was with me. While he was with Penelope, I wasn’t too fond of the idea. It was selfish as hell, but what did I care?

Cal came bursting out the doors behind me and smiled,
hooking an arm across my shoulders. “I should get a good scoop tonight, don’t ya think?”

“You could.” I sighed. I don’t know why, but seeing Gage made me not want to be around Cal any longer. I didn’t want to be around anyone. I just wanted to be left alone. On top of that, I was starving and almost exhausted. I was going to grow even more exhausted with trying to ignore and avoid Gage at the pool.

Cal and I grabbed our things as the sun was just setting. The sky was filled with splashes of pink, yellow, orange, and even a fierce red. It was a beautiful sight, but it wasn’t the night to enjoy it.

Cal
brought up some more small talk (more about the magazine and the band than anything else), and I was half relieved, half upset we’d finally gotten to the pool. Relieved because Cal finally stopped talking and upset because Gage was in the pool, so close to Penelope they could’ve been considered one person.

I kept stealing glances of them and with each one they were closer and closer, if that were even possible. Her back was against the wall and I knew her legs were wrapped around him beneath the water. She ran her fingers through his hair and he placed kisses on her neck, his beer resting on the concrete outside the pool, locked in his right hand. He would place a few kisses on her lips, but I noticed how he didn’t kiss her as much as he’d kissed me last night. These kisses weren’t as passionate or deep. It was kind of strange, seeing as she was his “girlfriend” and all, but I shrugged it off.

Two beers appeared in front of my face and as I looked over my shoulder, I saw nothing beyond Montana’s bright smile. “Come on,” he begged as I scowled at the beers. “You’ve got to. You’re sitting at the edge of this pool all pouty and shit.” He stepped over to sit beside me. “Are you upset about Mr. Grendel?”

“No,” I snapped quickly, looking around, glad no one could hear him. Cal was talking to Deed and the other people around were dancing to the boom box music playing loudly. My feet were in the water as I surveyed everyone from the opposite side of the pool.

“Drink one with me please, Miss Eliza,” he insisted, lifting one of the beer bottles. Sighing, I grabbed it and he chuckled. “Atta girl.”

I popped the cap and took a long draw. Montana did the same and I thought he was going to question my overzealous drinking, but he didn’t. In fact, when we both finished our first bottle, he told me to wait while he went to get a few more. I could have rejected the drinks, but I refused to do so. I wanted to forget about Gage and t
he night we shared before.

I started
thinking maybe that night wasn’t real, but I knew I was to blame for him being with Penelope. I mean, I didn’t want him, but I would much rather him be alone than with any other girl. That seemed so selfish, but it was just too soon for him to be rubbing and kissing another girl after what we shared less than twenty-four hours ago.

“I’m pretty sure you’re upset about seeing him in there with her,” Montana said, as if he’d just read my mind.

I looked at him and he smiled lazily. “I’m not,” I lied.

“You sure?” He grinned, his head tilting.

“I’m…”

He raised an eyebrow, waiting on my response. Why was I being hesitant? Was it because I knew I was upset and would rather it were me he was against? I couldn’t believe how stupid I was being. Why was I getting so upset over it? It was never like me to get upset over guys, but of course Gage was the one who had to be the exception. Gage, my high school crush and the guy that’d always haunted my dreams. Gage, the one I always happened to drool over whenever he made an appearance.
Gage…

“Why don’t you just go for something?” Montana inquired.

I looked at him, frowning as he took a sip of his beer. “What do you mean?”

“If you don’t want to see him with her,”—he nearly cringed as he pointed at Penelope—“then why don’t you just take her spot?”

“I don’t wanna be his girlfriend.”

“You don’t have to be his girlfriend.” He laughed. “And besides, Penelope
is not
his girlfriend. She just believes she is because she’s known him for a while. She thinks after he’s done partying and living life like a star, he’ll finally settle down with her.” Montana laughed again, placing his beer down. “Not likely. Not Gage.”

“But even if that were true, she still allows him to do whatever he wants behind her back?”

“Sometimes he’ll tell her.” He smirked. I gaped. “She’s crazy, I know. It’s exactly what you’re thinking. She’s head over heels for Gage and I’m really not sure why he hasn’t gotten rid of her yet. I’m not sure why he still leads her on. He can’t stand that girl. None of us can.”

“And you really expect me to ‘go for something’ with him?” I shook my head and laughed, placing the rim of my bottle against my lips.

“I look at it this way: you both have two months together on this trip and the more you try to avoid each other, the worse it’ll be between you. He told me what happened this morning, and if we’re being frank, it was really fucked up on your behalf.”

I was about to protest, but he shook his head and his voice overpowered mine. “I’m pretty sure after the tour is over, you won’t be seeing much of Gage. You won’t have to worry about him because you’ll be… wherever you are and Gage’ll be too busy doing shit with the band. I say have at it. Have fun. Don’t let any feelings get involved if you don’t want to. I’m all up for having a friend with benefits—a hot friend at that. As long as she doesn’t expect me to change or want to go through with something more, we’re good. As long as she’s all about fun, I c
an get down with that. Gage is the same way. He just wants some fun.”

I pressed my lips together. “So you’re saying I should have a casual fling with Gage?”

He nodded. “Or casual sex. No feelings, of course. Your choice.” He smirked.

My cheeks sparked. That was going to be hard seeing how I was a virgin and all.

“Just a small fling,” Montana said, placing the palms of his hands on the concrete behind him. “You can’t lie and say you didn’t have fun with him last night.” I laughed as he raised a knowing eyebrow at me. “I saw it clearly and I was high as hell.”

“I did,” I admitted, “but we were drunk—”

“Doesn’t matter. Fun is fun.”

I looked from Montana to Gage, who was now sitting on the edge of the pool like us, his feet in the water. He was bobbing his head to the music and Penelope was still in the water between his legs. He seemed to be thinking about something else as she babbled on.
Apparently the music was taking him away. He was staring right at Penelope, but he didn’t seem to be listening to a word she said.

He then swung his gaze up and I stilled as our eyes locked. It was magnetic, powerful. I tried to blink and dared myself to look down, but I was stuck. Gage’s face remained firm. His jaw ticked as he scanned me from head to toe and then looked at Montana who was only an inch a
way from me. He finally tore his gaze away, sighing and whispering something in Penelope’s ear. She nodded and she and I both watched Gage walk away from the party with a beer in his hand.

I
looked at Montana who was staring up at the stars, his palms still planted on the concrete behind him. “What if I actually start to… like him?”

He shrugged.
“Try not to. Look, if you never take the risks, you’ll never live. That’s how I go about my life. We only have one to live, so why not make the most we can out of it? I’m sure since Gage is so ‘hot’ and ‘charming,’”—he dramatically batted his eyelashes and I giggled—“then you might fall just a little, but you’re a strong girl. I think you’re smart enough to play it safe but still have some fun until it’s time for you to go.”

I nodded because he was right. Montana grunted as he pushed on his hands to stand. “I’m gonna get back w
ith the people over there, but seriously,” he said, eyeing me, “think about it. I’ll catch you later, Miss Eliza.”

He stumbled off and I watched him meet a blonde in a yellow and grey bikini. He kissed her and she melted in his arms, and I refused to watch his fingers slide into the bottoms of her bikini so I stared at the water.