Boys Like You by Jaye Pratt
When they said we continue doing things naturally, that is easier said than done. The touches are more frequent, not that I mind, the secret kisses have been fun too. But I have started to worry I’m not paying as much attention to one over the others.
Maximus: You should sneak up to my room
Me: Should I really? And why is that?
Maximus: Because I can’t come down there
Me: And why is that?
Maximus: Because I might scare my sister with the tent in my pants
Me: Oh you’re a funny man
Maximus: I am, have you found a birthday present for Rocky yet?
I feel the heat rise in my cheeks. I did find something he would find amusing; I bought novelty underwear and the bra is a bow. I’m nervous that it’s too forward, but it’s too late for regrets now. The guys have kept true to their word, sex is off the table and if I’m ready, I have to do it with Maximus, and of course Maximus and I have not spoken about it because he hasn’t spoken to me since our first kiss. He has been practicing small kisses with me every Wednesday morning in our spare. I think the kids at school are starting to catch on that we are more than friends.
Me: Yes
I don’t elaborate.
Rocky’s birthday is on Sunday. We are going to a party tonight, and when I say we, I mean I was invited by Savannah, and the guys are tagging along. So now I’m getting ready at Maximus’s house, yes he was texting me from the other room but he really doesn’t like Savannah’s friends, and I don’t blame him. Becca and Mandy are already here getting ready with us; Naomi is meeting us there. She has somewhat backed off, but it’s clear she still doesn’t like me. I know me being invited is some kind of plan Naomi has up her sleeve and she’s using poor Savannah. But she can bring it, I really don’t care.
Nights have still been cool here so I found an off-the-shoulder sweater dress that hangs loose in the top and hugs my curves. The guys may say I’m pocket-sized, but that’s because I’m short. My hair is in big waves around my shoulders, and Savannah gave me a smokey eye look. She knows that I am kinda dating the guys. She put it together when she busted Maximus kissing me once—he has made awesome progress when it comes to touching me—and then ten minutes later she came back in to see Levi had his hand on my leg. Since we have a truth policy with our family, we told her. She didn’t even seem fazed. In fact, she laughed and said if Naomi finds out, she wants to be there.
“You look hot, JD,” Becca says, finishing off her makeup.
“Thanks.”
“Which one of them are you dressing up for?” Mandy asks. She’s still a little weird around me because Naomi is her cousin, but she is warming up to me slowly.
“I have five very hot male best friends; I’m dressing up for all of them. Payback for how hot they always look.”
As soon as I hear the guys pull up, I leave them to finish getting ready and head out into the living room. It takes them a minute to realise I’m standing here.
“Holy sh… I mean, wow, JD, you look amazing.”
“Thanks, Rocky, it is your birthday weekend.” He looks mouth-watering in a washed-out pair of jeans, a t-shirt and his black beanie. I love him in his beanie, it makes his eyes pop.
“Can we talk real quick in Maximus’s room?” I need to tell them about my dream. I spent most of my day hanging out with Savannah and the guys have all kept a safe distance; she threatened bodily harm if they ruined her day.
The guys follow me to Maximus’s room. I don’t bother knocking, I know he’s in there. He’s sitting at his desk, watching something on his laptop, his headphones on. I turn the light on and off. He turns and stops abruptly, giving me a once over. I walk over, sit in his lap, and whisper in his ear. “Does this help with that tent?”
He shakes his head no but wraps his arms around me. I lean back into his chest. The others all sit on his bed, waiting.
“I wanted to update you on my nightmares. I keep seeing Rory in them, but I don’t know why.” Everyone looks at Rory and he just shrugs. “I have also been seeing other things.”
“Like what?” Mercer asks.
“Silhouettes mainly. They’re hard to remember, but I think it’s like a scene playing back at me. It’s weird, I hear myself scream and look down at my hands and they are covered in blood.” I shrug. “It’s all fuzzy and it doesn’t make sense.” I have felt so guilty keeping it from them but this latest no secrets policy had me wanting to tell them the truth.
Levi jumps up uncomfortably. “Do you think maybe you are starting to remember what happened to you?”
“Maybe. But it feels like I’m watching it from a distance. “I don’t know. I’ll see what happens, I guess. Should I maybe tell Lissa?”
“I think we should, just in case. Since they released that picture of you, they have been tight lipped on everything. They stop talking when I walk into a room.” He shakes his head, pulling his phone out from his pocket. “I’ll text her and ask if we can stop by tomorrow.”
Savannah comes bouncing into Maximus’s room and announces she is ready to go. We all pile into cars, I ride with Levi so he doesn’t get his cranky pants on, Rory takes Savannah and her friends while Mercer takes Rocky and Maximus.
We pull up to the curb beside a house off the beach; it’s massive. Savannah and her friends race off to find Naomi as soon as the car stops. I go to follow, but the guys pull me back.
Levi speaks first. “Make sure you don’t take drinks from anyone except us.”
“And make sure you have one of us in your sight at all times.” Mercer looks at me seriously.
“We have the location app on your phone activated.” This time I look at Rocky.
“Location app? Why do I have that on my phone?”
Rory holds out his phone. “It’s on all our phones, we like to be prepared for anything.” I just nod, I haven’t told them I’m feeling anxious to be here. I don’t know why; it just came on suddenly in the car.
“Okay, let’s get our party on, birthday boy.” Rocky steps forward and takes my hand; he declared me his for the birthday weekend.
We step into the large open plan house. It’s dark and strobe lights flash around the room. Old-school hip-hop blasts through the speakers, I know because Rocky loves it, this particular song being one of his favourites; “No Diggity” by Blackstreet.
Maximus gestures to Levi that he is going upstairs. I look at Levi for clarification. “Maximus goes upstairs to play Black Ops or Fortnite with a friend. He isn’t big into the party scene.”
“It’s da birthday boy! We have the weekend off so you better be getting your crunk on! Oh, hello, beautiful.” Seems Mac has joined the party.
“Touch her and you die,” Mercer states.
Mac throws his hands up in the air. “Wouldn’t dare. What’s your poison? It isn’t a birthday celebration unless you’re getting wasted.” He throws an arm around Rocky’s shoulders and leads him, and me by default because Rocky has hold of my hand, into the kitchen. The others stay behind.
We don’t stop in the kitchen though. It leads us out to another room and then a huge sliding door to the back yard that leads to the beach. There is a large bar area under the patio. A couple of cute girls that look to be a few years older than us in skimpy clothes stand behind serving drinks. I see the look in their eyes as Rocky and Mac walk closer, neither notice me being dragged behind. I think Rocky forgets I have short legs compared to him.
He pulls me close to his side when we reach the bar. “What would you like?” the brunette server purrs. Mac is already flirting with the other one, leaning over the bar, playing with her hair. She is eating out of his hands, giggling at everything he says.
“What would you like?” he asks me. I shrug, I don’t even remember if I’m a drinker. “Something sweet.”
“Something sweet, and I will have a rum and coke.” She flips her hair and gets to work. She bends to get something from the bottom shelf, making sure to really push her ass out. Rocky must notice because his large hands run up the back of my leg and under the hem of my dress. I have to cross my legs as the heat pools between them.
“Sex on the beach for the girl and a rum and coke for the man.” I don’t miss the dismissive tone in her voice.
“Hmm, sex on the beach sounds like a good idea.”
Rocky smiles. “Did you hear that? It looks like I’m getting an early birthday present.” He winks at the server. We grab our drinks and walk towards a bunch of guys standing around chatting.
“I like it when you’re jealous,” he whispers in my ear as we get closer to the groups.
“Rocky, you’re here!” a girl shrieks. Before I know what’s happening, he pulls me in front of his body as a shield, wrapping an arm over my shoulder.
“Oh, hi,” she says, stopping abruptly before she reaches us, clearly already intoxicated.
“Jada, this is JD.” She looks me up and down.
“Nice to meet you.” I may as well be civil; he does have his body pressed to mine, and she doesn’t seem happy about it.
“You never told me you had a girlfriend,” she slurs.
“I don’t have a girlfriend; JD is a good friend.” Jada seems happy with that information.
Three guys and two girls come over to us since we’re just standing here.
“Happy birthday,” the shorter of the two girls says.
“Hi, I’m Sherie, this is Alana, Donny, Aaron and Simon, we all belong to the same athletics club.”
“Is he any good?” I tease.
“I can’t even lie; he is bloody good at everything. Gives us all a run for our money,” she says.
“I can’t wait to see him in action.” These friends seem nice, unlike Jada, who is still giving me the stink eye.
“We start competing later in the year but we still train together a lot.”
We talk for a while before Mercer walks towards us. We’ve taken seats in the yard; the guys set up a semi-circle so we could all talk. Rocky insisted I sit on his lap. Mercer has a certain swagger, dressed in his tight jeans, white jumper that is also tight, a white cap with a gold logo, the brim straight. He always wears a large gold watch on his left wrist, his white Adidas shoes not a mark on them. I don’t know how he keeps his outfits so clean. I can picture Carson having a coronary trying to wash his clothes. I chuckle and Rocky leans in closer to me.
“What’s so funny?” I point to Mercer; Rocky still doesn’t catch on.
“I just pictured Carson having to wash his white clothes.” Mercer is close enough that Rocky’s friends all say hello. He hands me a drink; it looks to be the same as the one I just had. The slight burn as it goes down is welcomed. Rocky rubbing the side of my leg with his thumb as he talks to his friend makes me hot and bothered, especially with Mercer standing so close.
Next to find us is Rory, he has a more laid back style, black jeans, black boots, a plain white shirt and his leather jacket. I spot Rory heading our way with a drink in his hand. He offers it to me, and I tip it back in one go. I’m starting to feel the effects of the alcohol now, and so is my bladder, it would seem.
“I need to pee,” I whisper to Rocky.
He lets me go, then addresses the group. “Be right back, gotta take a leak.” He intertwines our fingers and leads me to the bathroom, which I’m thankful for because I’m slightly unsteady on my feet.
A bunch of girls are leaving the toilet when we make it upstairs.
“Pee, I will be right here waiting.” I close the door and do my business, checking myself in the mirror before opening the door. A platinum blonde, with too much cleavage hangs off Rocky. She stumbles a bit in her hooker heels, and he grabs her to steady her. She giggles as he tells her to go find water before turning back to me.
“Finished.” I bite my lip and grab him by the shirt, pulling him into the bathroom.
“What’s all this for?”
“A girl has needs, and you keep torturing me with touches.”
He wastes no more time talking, taking me by the waist and sitting me on the bench. Stepping between my legs, his lips take mine, kissing me like there’s no tomorrow. We come up for air when there’s a knock at the door.
Pulling away, my lips feel swollen. He tucks himself up in his pants so whoever is on the other side of the door doesn’t get full view of his crotch. I smooth down my dress as he opens the door. A lanky guy eyes us and shakes his head. We both laugh.
We make it back to our group of friends to see Levi has now joined. He hands me another drink. I end up back in Rocky’s lap. Levi gives me a look and I shrug; we like to keep the PDA to a minimum, not that I’m ashamed to be dating them, it’s more so for my benefit. I would be labelled a whore or slut, taking Edgewater private schools most eligible. Not that they dated before but I know they screwed around. I’m not deaf, I hear the girls when they talk about them in class. They must think me and whoever I have class with can’t hear them, or maybe that’s the point, they want them to know they would go back for seconds. At first it bothered me but now I just brush it off with assurance from the guys that it was before they met me. Sherie asks me to dance, all four of the guys look at me, I know they will all be filled with worry.
“I’ll be fine with your friend; I have my phone in this awesome pocket.” Honestly the dress having a pocket was the selling point of the outfit.
“I’m not worried about what you will do, it’s that ass and those boots; guys will be lining up.” He loosens his grip on me when I wiggle my ass. I lean in to kiss his cheek, but he moves his head so our lips touch. I follow his lead as our lips move together, putting on a show, staking his claim.
“Now you have to explain that to Merce and Levi, good luck.” I peck his cheek this time and sway my hips a bit more than necessary as Sherie and I walk inside towards the dance floor.
“Temperature” by Sean Paul is playing. We hit the dance floor and shake our asses, both laughing at our own dance moves. Whenever any guys try to dance our way, Sherie moves them along so I don’t have to worry.
The beat of a new song comes on and my skin prickles. I know this song, “Everything” by Pitbull. My chest constricts, and I feel the blood rush from my face. I run on wobbly legs up the stairs. As I make the top step, a flash washes over me. There’s a man, I don’t know what it means but he wears a thick gold chain, kind of cliché gangster looking. He’s very attractive. I don’t know who he is but now his face flashes in my mind every time I close my eyes. I’m yelling, and he is there, but it’s all patchy, I don’t know if I’m yelling at him or to him.
Remembering Maximus is up here, I find the door and push it open with so much force it hits the wall hard. I collapse on the floor.
***
“JD.”
My eyes open at the sound of his whispered voice. I look around, disoriented. I must have fainted. I sit up abruptly, almost launching myself at Maximus. A girl with bright orange hair and a grungy style flies through the door followed by Sherie, Mercer, Levi, Rory and Rocky.
“What happened?” Mercer demands, bending down. Maximus has his arms around me. My breathing is still tight.
“We were dancing and when I turned around, she was gone. I thought maybe she went to the toilet but by the end of the song I came back to find you. That’s when she,” Sherie points to the red head, “came running out.”
“Leah,” Levi says, turning to her.
“She pretty much fell through the door and passed out. I thought she was just drunk, but then Maximus said, “guys”, and seeing as I’ve never heard him speak before, I knew it was bad. That’s when I came to get you.”
“There is no way she’s drunk, she had four drinks, that’s it,” Rocky tells the guys.
“Could anyone have slipped her something?” Rory asks, pacing the room.
“Not possible. She was with me the whole time until she went dancing with Sherie.”
“Guys,” I whisper. “I’m not drunk, I just had a moment.” I give them a look, hoping they understand what I mean.
“We should call Beth,” someone says.
“No, I’m fine. Rocky will be sleeping over tonight; he can watch me.”
After arguing for a solid five minutes, they agreed, but only after I promised to leave right away. Rory and Maximus are staying to round up the girls and take them home, but the others all insist on coming home with me.
The guys ask everyone to give us a minute.
“Are you really okay?” Mercer asks as he leads me out to the car.
“Yes, I’m really okay. I just had a flashback.” I peer up at him. “This one was clear. It was triggered by a song. I saw a guy a few years older than us, very attractive but in a gangster kind of way, he had on low hanging jeans, a tight black shirt with thick gold necklaces around his neck and a big diamond stud earring.”
They all look at me with concern in their eyes. With a hand on my shoulder, Mercer asks if I know who he is.
I shake my head. “No. I have no idea.”
The plan changes. Levi decides to go see his aunt; Rory and Maximus wait for the girls while Mercer will drive Rocky and I to Beth’s. Rocky brags that by Monday he will be able to drive me around.
Once we’re dropped home, Mercer was reluctant to leave but I insisted for this to work we all need to have some time to ourselves, Rocky promised he would call if anything else happened. Beth and the kids were in bed when we got in, perfect for my plan. With the heater on, I excuse myself to “get dressed for bed.” Rocky tells me he will set up his sleeping bag. In the bathroom I strip off my clothes, my gift all wrapped, my hair and makeup still look fine. When I exit the bathroom and switch off the light, Rocky is in only his boxer briefs, bending over to straighten the sleeping bag. I appreciate the muscles in his back.
When he finishes, he turns in my direction, his mouth falls open, for the first time since I have met Rocky he is speechless.
“Happy Birthday, Rocky.” His smile is so big as he closes the distance between us.
“Best birthday present ever.” I take his hand and lead him to my bed, we spend the next few hours touching, grinding and kissing, the bow comes off but the panties stay on, he worships my body and makes sure he tells me over and over that it’s the best birthday ever. I wish he could sleep in the bed with me, but after he gets my sleeping pills he tucks me in with one last kiss and goes to sleep on the floor like a perfect gentleman.