Surviving Regret (30 page)

I raised my chin in his direction, “Matt is here.” Jaylinn looked over at Matt, anger shooting from her eyes.

Hailey was in tears and near panic. “Why did he show up here? He knows whose house this is.”

“Look, let’s just hang out here, and finish the game. Try to act like he isn’t even here. Chloe, can you text Jackson, and ask him to handle Matt?”

“Yeah, I sure can.” She reached for her phone on the table, and I saw her tap out a text. A second later, her phone beeped. “He’ll take care of it.”

While Jaylinn and I finished our game, Hailey grabbed a bottle of vodka off the outside bar, and started chugging it.

“You better slow down. I’m not being the only one responsible if this party goes to shit.” I knew she would ignore me and be plastered by the end of the night. After Matt’s stunt, I seriously didn’t blame her.

“Just let her be, Kenzie. She’s a blast when she’s drunk.” Jaylinn said, as the ping-pong ball she threw hit the rim of one of the cups.

“Fine, but when she is puking her guts up, she is all yours.” I threw my ping-pong ball in the cup and turned to look at Jaylinn with my eyebrows raised, gloating that I made my shot.

Finally, my brothers and Hunter came over, but Mason looked pissed. He was watching Hailey as she drank straight from the vodka bottle. “Kenzie, how much has she had to drink?”

I rolled my eyes at his overprotective ass. “She drank the whole bottle of vodka over there,” pointing to the empty bottle on the bar, “and just started on the second one.” I scowled in Hunter’s direction. “Where’d your girlfriend go, Hunter?”

Hunter had dated Alexis briefly a few summers ago, and she had dated Dominic right before he and I started dating. She still was not over either one of them, and would do anything to get their attention. She started rumors that Dominic was going to leave me, and go back to her. She even tried to break us up by telling people that she and Dominic made out after a few of his football games that I had not attended. Dominic always denied it; I didn’t think he would do something like that to me, since he was the one who broke up with her.

“She left. Where’s Dominic?” Mason said, with a smug look on his face as he answered for Hunter.

“Low blow, Mase. I’m going upstairs.” I threw my ping-pong ball at Mason, and turned towards Hailey, “I’m going up to my room; are you coming?”

Hailey giggled at nothing in particular, and shook her head, “No, I’m good out here. I don’t think I can move at this point, since I can’t feel my legs.”

I glared at Mason. “You think you can keep her out of trouble, asshole?”

“Why are you going upstairs? Just stay down here with us. I’m sure Dom will be here soon, CC.” Hunter spoke up as I was getting up out of my seat.

“Kenzie, you’re not going upstairs! It’s my birthday, and you haven’t even had a shot with me yet.” Cooper said. He threw his arm over my shoulder and pulled me into a hug, trapping me.

Rolling my eyes, I said, “Fine, but if I have to stay down here, and deal with this bullshit, I’m going to need more than one shot.” I got up, and stormed away from them.

In the kitchen, I was about ready to down my shot, when I felt a pair of hands grip my hips. I hoped it was Dominic finally getting here, but when I turned around, I was staring at Hunter’s chest.

Seething through my teeth, I pushed back on him. “We need to talk. Let’s just go out front, and talk for a sec.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, looked down at the floor, then back up to me.

“We can’t be gone long; I need to go check on Hailey.”

Hunter and I made our way out to the front of the house, and I heard someone call my name. I turned around, and noticed it was Ricky, one of the football players from high school.

“Hey, Ricky, what’s going on? Are you down here for the night, or are you staying somewhere?”

“A couple of us from the team rented a house down the road for the summer. We got wind that you were throwing a party, so we stopped by. Is Hailey here with you, too?” For as long as I could remember, Ricky had a crush on Hailey, but Hailey was not having anything to do with him.

“Yeah, she’s out on the back deck with my brothers and Jaylinn. I’ll catch up with you in a little bit.” I gave Ricky a hug, and walked down the front steps. Hunter and I walked down the driveway, away from the blaring music, and the people gathered on the front porch.

“What’s going on with you and Ricky? You know Dominic has a problem with that asshole.” Hunter asked, glaring at Ricky over my shoulder.

“Nothing is going on with me and Ricky. We’re just friends. You know, I’m allowed to have friends.”

“Why did you have to hug him then?”

“UGH! Are we seriously doing this?” Hunter shook his head. “Dominic only has a problem with him because he told me that he saw Dominic and Alexis together after one of the games. Look, I’m not having this argument with you. Let’s just go back inside. I need to go check on Hailey, and Dominic should be here soon.”

I started walking away from him. “Wait!” Hunter called out, and I stopped walking, but I didn’t turn around. “Please don’t be mad at me. I’m trying to do the right thing here.”

“Yeah? And what’s that?” Hunter took a few steps towards me, pushed his body flush against my back and whispered in my ear, “Keeping you away from me, CC. You know I want you. Fuck, you can feel it.” To prove his point, he shifted his hips so that I could feel his hardness. “We both know I just can’t have you.”

Hunter backed away from me, and walked back towards the house.

CHAPTER THREE

Hunter left me standing in the driveway, all hot and frustrated, as he walked back into the house. Yes, I knew he wanted me. That was clear. What I didn’t understand was why he would tell me this now. He knew I was with Dominic. I needed to clear my head before I could walk back into the party, so I took the little path beside the house that led to the beach. I watched the waves crash and the moon dance on the ocean for a little while before I went back to check on Hailey. I couldn’t imagine how trashed she would be if she were still drinking.

I was walking between the sand dunes when I spotted Hailey sobbing, sitting on the bottom step with Mason and Hunter hovering over her. I bent down to her level so I could see her. “Mase, what’s wrong with her?”

He looked annoyed and disgusted. “I don’t know. She is either crying about her ex-boyfriend, her one-night stand from last weekend, or her own puke. None of those things are worth her tears, though.”

Hailey had a different relationship with Mason than she did with Jackson and Cooper. I had asked her a few times if she had feelings for Mason. She had always denied it, so I left it for them to figure out.

“He…had…Slam Station…carved…into his…headboard…and he wasn’t…even any good at it.”

Hailey spoke between sniffles and hiccups. She was trying to get over Matt, but going about it the wrong way. This was the third one-night stand she had this month. Lucky for her, Mason does not know about them. There was no telling what Mason would do to them.

Trying my hardest not to laugh at her, I reached over and put my hand on her knee. “Shut up, and let’s get you upstairs.” I seriously hoped she was done running her mouth. I knew she was going to regret saying that tomorrow.

She tried to stand up, but nearly fell over. “I’m not sure if I should be proud of you for waiting, or disappointed in you for letting your sex life get this sad, Kenzie.”

“Christ, Hailey! That is enough. Come on, let’s go.” I grabbed Hailey by her arm to try to pull her up, but she was dead weight. Hunter grabbed her arm from me, and picked her up so we could make our way inside. When we reached my room, I dug into my pocket for the key to unlock my door.

Hailey put her arm around Hunter’s neck. “You know what? I’m just so happy because I get to go to bed, and when I wake up there will be chocolate milk and Mason’s penis waiting for me.” I gasped, looking back at Hailey while she started to giggle.

“That is just wrong on soooo many levels.” Hunter said, trying not to laugh; clearly, the situation amused him.

I just shook my head. “Like, really wrong! That is just disgusting. No one wants to hear about that shit!”

As I got the door opened, Hunter stepped in and put Hailey down on her feet. She started jumping up and down, screaming she had to pee. After she had taken off towards the bathroom, I took a few steps towards my bed. Hunter grabbed my hand, and turned me around to face him. He whispered, “CC, you look so damn sexy tonight.” Then he leaned in, and kissed my forehead.

He was giving me whiplash. He wanted me, but didn’t want me at the same time. After a few seconds, I heard him curse under his breath. “I’ve got to get out of here before I do something I shouldn’t. If Hailey becomes too much for you to handle, just come get me or one of your brothers.”

Looking puzzled, I said, “Goodnight, Hunter.” Then he left.

About an hour later, there was a knock at the door. I got off my bed, and found Dominic leaning against the wall.

I was furious. “What in hell took you so long? I thought you would have been here hours ago?”

He was standing there, looking at me as if I was crazy and being unreasonable. “Can I just come in, and we can talk?”

I walked back in my room, and he followed behind me. “Just be quiet. Hailey isn’t feeling good. She had too much to drink.”

“You couldn’t put her in her own damn room? I haven’t seen you in two weeks, MacKenzie.”

I shook my head, “No, I couldn’t. Hunter is in the spare room, and you know I always share this room with Hailey and Jaylinn.”

He cocked his head at me. “Why are you being such a bitch? It was just a question. I drove all this way just to see you; you could have at least made sure we had our own room.”

“You know what? Just leave. I don’t even know why you bothered to show up this late. You didn’t have practice today, so there is no excuse for why you were late.”

“Fine. I don’t know why I bothered to drive six hours just to come to this stupid ass party anyway.” He stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

Hailey walked out of the bathroom, shaking her head. “I don’t know why you stay with that asshole, Kenzie.”

“He never used to be like that.”

***

When I woke up the next morning, everyone was still sleeping. I decided I would make breakfast since I bailed on them early last night. I looked around the place, and it surprised me that the house was actually fairly clean. I thought there would be a giant mess to clean up. At least now, I didn’t have to tip the housekeepers any extra.

As I was making the last of the pancakes, Hunter escorted some girl from his room out to the front door. How did he turn his feelings for me off and on like that? Not that it mattered but still, I couldn’t figure it out.

Hunter grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and asked, “Need any help, CC?”

“Nope, I’m good.”
Yeah, I want you to explain to me what you were doing with her!

“Alright.” He went back towards his room, but then stopped before he opened the door. “Did Dominic ever show up last night?”

I pulled the last pancake out of the frying pan and put it on a plate. “Yeah, but not for long.”

He shook his head at me, “What did he do this time?”

“I don’t want to talk about it with you.”

“Fair enough. I’m going to pack up all my stuff.” He went into his room, and I didn’t see him again until we were all about to leave.

Everyone else, including the girl who Cooper had hooked up with, made his or her way downstairs to have breakfast, and talk about what Hailey and I missed last night. After we ate and cleaned up, we all went to pack and get ready to head home.

As Jaylinn and I were walking out to my car to put our bags in the trunk, Cooper came up behind me and hugged me. “Thanks again for throwing us the party. We love you, lil’ sis.”

“Love ya too; I’m glad you all had fun. You know, it’s not easy to surprise you and Mase.”

Nodding his head, “We had a blast. Have you seen Mason or Hailey?”

“Not since breakfast.” Jaylinn answered.

Shutting the door to his truck, Hunter stepped over to us. “You know, she did get her chocolate milk this morning. I wonder if she is getting Mason’s…”

I punched him in the arm, and started yelling. “Stop! Just stop. I don’t want to hear about that shit, jackass.”

While Hunter and Cooper were laughing their asses off, Hailey and Mason walked out of the house, both with big-ass grins on their faces.

I walked over to the driver’s side of my car and got in, while Jaylinn got in the passenger side, and we took off for home.

When I got home Sunday afternoon, I was still pissed off at Dominic for the way he acted last night. He tried calling me all morning, but I kept sending his calls to voicemail. Around dinnertime, my mom yelled up the stairs to tell me that Dominic was here. Sighing, I got up and went downstairs to find out what he wanted.

He didn’t come past the door.

I didn’t bother greeting him. “Haven’t you noticed I was avoiding your calls all day?”