Page 2 of Brutal Reign
Beau chuckles uncomfortably, stabbing his fingers through his thick blonde hair. “Aw, c’mon, Glo, you know I was outta my mind last weekend…”
She slaps a hand on her hip, rolling her eyes dramatically. “That’s no excuse. But I’ll consider forgiving you if you keep these comin’,” she says, swiping the beer can from his hand.
Beau really needs to work on his poker face, because it’s getting redder by the second.
“Sure thing,” he breathes, trying to recover his composure by bending down to fish a couple more beers out of the ice. By the time he straightens, though, Glo and her friends are already strutting away to join the other girls on the opposite side of the fire. His posture deflates and he knocks the lid of the cooler closed, carrying the cans our way instead and tossing them to me and Ace.
“Since when did Glo get so stuck up?” Beau grumbles, huffing out a breath as he drops down into his chair and pops the tab on his own beer.
“She’s always been like that, you’re just blinded by her ass,” Eli snickers.
Beau gazes wistfully in Glo’s direction, rolling his lower lip between his teeth. “It’s a nice ass, though.”
“Psh, there’s plenty of chicks with nicer asses than hers,” I remark, draining the rest of my beer before popping open the new one. “Avery Kessler, Esme Steele, Jackie Kline…”
“Dude,” Ace interrupts, kicking the leg of my chair.
I ignore him, continuing on. “Trisha Ridgeway, Andie Raines, Lo Anderson…”
“Seb,” Ace demands, louder this time.
“What?” I snap, whipping my head toward him to see what the hell’s suddenly so damn important. He’s not looking my way, though. He’s staring off in the same direction he has been all night, but this time, when I follow his gaze, my brain fucking short-circuits.
The glow of the fire highlights River’s striking features as she makes her way closer, wearing ripped jeans and an oversizedhoodie that swallows up her slender frame. Her hands are stuffed in the front pocket, her dark, pin-straight hair brushing her elbows with every step she takes in her beat-up Converse sneakers.
“What are you doing here?” I blurt as she approaches, those piercing hazel eyes locking with mine.
“Wow, nice welcome,” she snorts, dropping down into her usual chair beside my own and tucking her legs up underneath her.
Ace punches me in the arm, leaning forward. “He means, how’d you get past the guards?”
“My parents are in Denver for the weekend,” she replies, shrugging a shoulder nonchalantly. “Cory and Ellie are a lot easier to sneak past.”
I narrow my eyes on her in suspicion. “What if you get caught?”
“Since when doyoucare about getting into trouble?” she retorts, arching a perfectly sculpted brow.
“He means…”
“I don’t need you to translate for me, Ace,” I grumble, lifting my beer to my lips and knocking it back.
This is the exact reason we’ve been distancing ourselves from her- because Ace and I never used to argue or snap off on each other. We used to think of Riv as one of the guys, but then she went ahead and got hot on us overnight, complicating the fuck out of our friendship.
I never used to notice how smooth and soft that olive skin of hers looks. How long and thick her dark lashes are, or the way they fan out over her cheeks when she blinks. How her high cheekbones look like they’re cut from marble but are somehow also delicate and feminine. River Jacobsen is a fucking knockout, and while she doesn’t seem to have a clue, I can’t un-see it.Wish I could.
I drain my beer in a few gulps, crushing the empty can in a fist and tossing it onto the fire. “If this comes back to bite us, it’ll be your fault,” I mutter.
“Wow, what crawled up your ass today?” River scoffs. She shakes her head as she pulls a tube of strawberry chapstick out of her hoodie pocket, popping the top.
My eyes zero in on her plump lips as she swipes it over them. “I’m just sayin’.”
“Well say less,” she sighs, rolling her eyes as she replaces the top on her chapstick. She slides her gaze to Beau as she slips it back into the front pocket of her hoodie. “Got a beer for me, B?”
“Always,” he drawls, pushing up from his seat with a wink.
Riv leans back in her chair, flipping the hood of her sweatshirt up over her head as she surveys the crowd gathered around the bonfire pit. “Lotta people here tonight.”
“Word spreads fast,” I mumble.