Somehow, it tempers the thunder running through my head.
“Feel better?” Max asks, cocking her head as she looks at me.
“Yeah.” I grin at her. “Thanks, Mom.”
“Hey, ladies.” The voice behind me draws my attention, and I turn to see Cliff making his way toward us.
Max catches my gaze and rolls her eyes slightly. Cliff’s developed a bit of a fascination with me ever since that stunt I pulled at Gray’s party. He’s not the only one, honestly. There were definitely a few guys there that night who took my little strip show as confirmation that all the rumors about how easily I spread my legs are true.
I’ve shut most of that shit down and tuned the rest of it out, but I still get the odd comment or glance sometimes.
“Were you at the game tonight?” Just like he usually does, Cliff ignores Max and focuses on me as he comes to stand in front of us, holding his glass loosely in one hand.
“Yeah,” I say shortly, turning away.
“I’m glad to see you’re starting to socialize more,” he goes on, ignoring my very obvious cues that the conversation is over. “Gray and his boys are dicks, and Colin and Oliver are assholes, but we’re not all like that. I hope you’ll realize that by the time you graduate.”
Colin and Oliver are the two guys who accosted Max in the cafeteria that day. I’ve since learned their names, although I regret taking up valuable brain space on such useless trivia.
“Yeah,” I repeat, looking at Max and jerking my head toward the door.
But Cliff follows us as we leave the kitchen, falling into stride beside me as if we’ve all somehow become a fucking unit.
Jesus.
“So what do you have planned for tonight?” he asks, leaning down to speak conspiratorially into my ear as we step into the large living room.
“What do you mean?”
My voice is blunt as I tilt my head to look at him. I think he’s trying to flirt with me, but he’s fucking bad at it—and he’s clearly not picking up the fact that I’m not interested.
“Well…” He shrugs, grinning at me. The smattering of freckles across his face is set off by a small scar on his right cheek, and I’m annoyed that he’s standing close enough for me to notice that. “After what you did at the last party, it’ll have to be something pretty spectacular. How’re you gonna top that?”
Oh. For fuck’s sake.
“I’m not.” I take another sip of water, letting the cold liquid clear my head a little more. “I’m not a fucking party clown. I don’t do tricks, and I’m not here for your amusement.”
He blinks, looking startled. “I didn’t—” He laughs, shaking his head. “That’s not what I—”
“Hey, Montgomery. Fuck off.”
A new voice from my right makes my eyes widen. My head whips toward Elias as he ambles up beside me, nodding at Max before turning to look at Cliff again.
“It’s not your house, Pierce,” Cliff shoots back, looking annoyed. “You can’t tell me what to do.”
“No.” Elias shrugs. “But I can kick your ass for standing where I don’t want you to.”
Cliff scoffs, looking like he wants to say something else. His gaze darts to me quickly, and he snaps his mouth shut. Then he flips Elias off and stalks back into the kitchen.
Max whistles, turning back to Elias and cocking her head curiously. “So, you guys are really good friends, huh?”
Elias grins at her, his light brown eyes gleaming in the dim light. “Well, Saints and Sinners have never gotten along.”
“Saints?” I ask, looking between the two of them.
“Cliff and his crew,” Max explains, and I roll my eyes. These names are too fucking much for me. I’m about to give Elias shit for it when the volume level in the room suddenly triples.
Several members of the football team have entered, and shouts and cheers rise up as they’re quickly handed drinks. Gray is among them, and I can tell he’s riding high after their win tonight. I don’t know fuck-all about football, but he obviously loves the game. He played hard, and I can practically feel the leftover adrenaline emanating from him.