I cut Jemmy an annoyed look, but she was suddenly too busy examining her nacho. Sierra gave me a sympathetic grimace of apology. I moaned. “Fine. We had a little argument. They were mad that I used my gift to force them to help me out. They weren’t talking to me and decided to hang out with Yaris and his friends. Apparently, the girls were at their little get together, but they were watching television while the guys played poker.”
“So…?” Dawn seemed thoroughly confused. “Were they flirting with them?”
I knew they hadn’t been. After their explanation, I believed them. They could be infuriating, overbearing, insuffera
ble, and downright stubborn, but they weren’t liars. The way Dawn was looking at me made me believe maybe I had overreacted, but they had hurt me by ignoring me.
“It doesn’t matter,” Jemmy huffed. “The moment they saw those girls, they should have left.”
Dawn shrugged as she took a drink. “I don’t know. I remember how Remy, Jaxson, Troy, and Noah were before Blake came into their lives. Remy was…well Remy. Jaxson and Noah were hopeless flirts, and Troy had a constant string of women throwing themselves at him. It was like a game for Troy. He entertained some of them, and he always seemed to be looking for…more. Now they’re like tamed lions. Their gazes never even wander anymore.” She gave me an apologetic look. “Before I knew you were in the picture, I tried. Believe me, I tried.”
I shrugged. It was all under the bridge now. I took a bite of my candy bar. “Should I just let them off the hook and forgive them?” I asked a bit skeptically. “I…I kind of blame them for last night,” I said shamefully. “If I wasn’t hurt and angry at them, I wouldn’t have been there.”
Dawn frowned. “Bradford was a predator. If he set his eyes on you, he would have found a way to get to you somehow, someway. It was just coincidental that it so happened to be with the day that you guys were in a disagreement.”
“They would die before they let anything happen to you,” Sierra added quietly. “When I watched the recording earlier, I could see that it was tearing them apart.”
I felt my heart sink. I really couldn’t stay mad at them forever. I had acted out of line yesterday. They had acted out of line last night. Maybe we were even. Life really was too short to hold grudges against the ones you love. “Maybe I owe them an apology,” I said slowly.
Rachel snorted. “Don’t let them off that easy,” she snapped her fingers and smiled her evil smile. “Let’s make them suffer a little more, but first, another movie.”
The second movie we chose was a romantic comedy. It was funny with the right amount of romance in it. It wasn’t overly sappy. I never had the desire to watch romance movies. As a child, when my dad was alive, I wasn’t interested in watching non-animated movies. By the time I wanted to branch out from it, Heidi and her mom always took over the television.
They had horrible taste in what they watched, in my opinion. I couldn’t stand the numerous reruns of Murder She Wrote or The Golden Girls (Heidi’s mom’s preference) or endless reality television that seemed to glorify women that had one too many plastic surgeries, excessive drinking, and spending all their men’s money (Heidi’s preference).
I tried to avoid them at all cost and most of my entertainment came from a book. A book didn’t yell at me to go get the remote or to get up and change the television. Instead, I got lost in books. I read a few PG tween ‘romances’ but most of my interest lied in books with adventure and dystopian novels. The school library always allowed me to rent and return books at my heart’s content, much to my relief.
“Lincoln Hudgens is so hot.” Rachel sighed as she took a sip of her pop.
“He definitely floats my boat,” Jemmy added as she grabbed a handful of popcorn.
“He can more than float my boat,” Dawn made a suggestive motion making Sierra, Jaxson, and I groan in revulsion.
“Maybe I’m over girl’s day,” Jaxson groaned as he buried his head in my neck.
“Well you weren’t invited,” Jemmy said tartly. “So, Sierra and Blake?”
“So, what?” Sierra asked in confusion as she unwrapped a Reese’s peanut butter cup.
“What do you think of dreamy Lincoln Hudgens?” Dawn prodded with a mischievous smile as she looked over at Jaxson.
I looked at the actor on the screen. He wasn’t conventionally handsome. He was cute in a different sort of way. He was more rugged looking, like he belonged on a farm throwing bales of hay as opposed to acting. He had exotic looks, definitely hinting at a mixed heritage, maybe Asian or Native American with his jet-black hair, tan skin, and super high cheekbones. His eyes were really pretty with an almond shape to them but they were a unique shade of bluish green. His physique was toned and chiseled but he didn’t have the thick muscles that Remy, Jaxson, and Noah boasted of.
“He’s alright,” I joked as I kissed Jaxson’s mouth. “But he has nothing on my guys.”
“Good answer,” Jaxson murmured as he kissed me sweetly once more.
Dawn made retching noises. “Gross. I mean, your guys are cute but no hot-blooded female would kick Lincoln out of her bed.”
“I would,” Sierra said with a sly smile. “I’m content with Gavin.”
“Gavin is perfect in so many ways,” Jemmy added. “But if we found out tomorrow we could add another man to our group, I wouldn’t complain, especially Lincoln,” she joked.
“That’s not how it works,” Rachel guffawed. “You are so greedy! You have a great nucleus. Meanwhile, Dawn and I wished we could have been marked.”
“True story,” Dawn piped up.
“It’s not always as easy as you think it is,” Jemmy said cryptically.