Dirty Friends (Beautiful Friends #1) (5 page)

While we’re swimming in the pool and enjoying the warm night, I look over to see both Cooper and Ryan missing with their new friends. I just shake my head. Even though I knew it would happen, for some reason, tonight it bugs me. We all decide to get out of the pool and go sit by the fire to make s’mores. I put my skirt back on and grabbed a hot pink tee from my bag, it hangs over one shoulder. Everyone else was throwing clothes on, also. It’s getting late and soon everyone will be leaving. I know Ryan made sure everyone has a safe ride home because if not, he’ll call his dad over. He knows he’ll get into trouble, but he’ll take his chances verses having someone get into an accident.

I grab a couple drinks and sit in between two guys. After discussing our senior year for about twenty minutes and how it’s going to start really soon, out walk the guys, both smiling ear-to-ear and laughing. The girls aren’t with them, so I assume they snuck out the front door and left. It’s so disgusting. I won’t say a thing about it, I don’t want, nor need to know about their conquests. But they certainly can tell by the look on my face that I think it’s gross. I turn and start talking again to the group I’m hanging out with. I started to laugh out loud at something someone said, just as Cooper walks up, and his eyes immediately go to mine.

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough, Ansley?”

“Umm, no, I don’t, Dad. But thank you for asking.” I’m irritated with him. He treats me like I’m a child, yet he was fine with his ‘date’ drinking as much as her and her friends wanted to. Then, taking her inside to screw her brains out. But I can’t have a few drinks? Please.

“Really, Ansley?” He says it with a sharp tone to his voice.

I stand, not even looking in his direction and walk over to the table where the food is. I take the bowl of chips, also bending over to snag another wine cooler. Just as I come back up and turn, I bump into him.

“What the hell, Coop?”

“I could ask you the same thing. You never drink this much. What’s up?”

“Maybe I just had a bad night and I wanted let my hair down. Is that a crime?”

“No, I guess not. Just watch yourself. I don’t need to be picking you up off the ground later.” Taking a beer himself, he walks away.

His voice tells me that he’s pissed, but I don’t understand why. Why does he care how much I drink? Why does it bother him I’m drinking at all?

Going back over to the group, I go to sit back in my same spot. That’s when Ryan shouts at me and tells me to come sit over there. I ignore him and do just what I want. Hell, they just had some fun, so why can’t I? Just then,
Eight Second Ride
by Jake Owen comes over the speakers. Having just enough alcohol in my system to make me want to shake it, I turn and reach for the blond’s hand that is sitting next to me.

“Come dance with me?” I ask, trying to sound a little flirty with him.

“Sure thing.”

We go over behind the chairs and start grinding, just a bit. My back is to his front and his hands are on my hips; let’s just say, I can tell he’s enjoying the dance. I turn around and throw my arms over his shoulders. At this point, he’s just about to lean down to kiss me when Cooper comes over and tells the guy to remove his hands and to beat it. He stands there staring at us, and I can’t pull my eyes away from Cooper. What is wrong with him? I know him to be protective of me, but he’s taking it a bit far. I don’t have that much alcohol in my system, I still know right from wrong.

As the blond walks away, I push Coop’s shoulder, shouting. “What the hell, Coop?” Turning, I walk away from him as quickly as I can. He’s fast on my heels. Once we are far enough away from the group, he reaches out and turns me back around to face him.

“He was getting a little too touchy feely for my liking. He knows you’ve been drinking!” He raises his voice back at me.

“Clearly, it’s okay for you and Ryan to bang anyone you want. But when I want to have a little fun, you pull us apart and tell him to beat it,” I lower my voice as I speak.

Ryan walks up just then. “Peanut, he was just looking out for ya. That guy had his hands all over you.”

“I don’t care…maybe I wanted him to. Did you ever think of that?”

“And I don’t care either, I will always make sure you are safe.”

“Enough, Coop…I’m going home to bed.”

“No, you are staying here with us.”

“Where would you expect me to sleep…in one of the beds you two were just screwing your new friends in?” I ask, putting quotes around the word friends.

“Well, I didn’t use a bed.” Ryan says chuckling. Cooper swats him in the gut and Ryan bends over, laughing still.

“Really, Ryan? This isn’t funny. I’m just going home.” As I start walking away, Cooper is right behind me, again.

“What are you doing?”

“Since you are being a pain in my ass, I’m going to make sure you get home okay.”

“It’s next door, Cooper…I think I can manage. Go back to your party.”

He catches up to me, walking side by side but nothing is said between us. I step up my back porch stairs and let myself in, shutting the door behind me. Cooper immediately opens the door and walks in. I just stare at him. I don’t know what’s gotten into him, but really, he needs to get over it.

“You can go now, I’m inside and I’m fine. My buzz is gone already. I’m just going to go upstairs to bed.” I try to walk away when he pulls me to his chest and hugs me.

“I just worry, that’s all. I need to know that no asshole ever tries anything that you aren’t ready for.”

“Thanks, Coop, but really I’m fine. Go back to your party.”

Ryan and Cooper are two people I can never stay mad at. I tried once to stay mad for a week, and it only lasted two days. They both showed up at my house talking to me until I answered them back.

He reaches forward and pulls me into another hug. Staying in the embrace, for just a couple minutes more, makes me want this, a guy who gives a shit. But not with Cooper, no that would just be weird. Then he kisses me on the top of the head, before he turns, walking out the door slowly and closing it behind him as he smiles back at me. Grrrr, he’s a brat. He knew I’d forgive him. I lock up and head up to bed.

Cooper

ANOTHER TWO WEEKS PASS BY. Ryan and I are heading to another race tomorrow. Getting things ready all day Saturday is on our agenda. We both have our bikes out in Ryan’s driveway; we are going to wash them up making them shine. Yes, I know what you are thinking…we’re just going to ride in the dirt but they need to sparkle until they hit the track. It’s a hot day today. The temps have been staying around ninety-two for about a week now, and there isn’t a break coming anytime soon.

“Hey, dickhead, get the shit out of the garage and we will start getting these babies shiny.” We both treat our bikes like they are our most prized possessions, which they are. We don’t want anything to happen to them.

“Call me a dickhead again and you’ll be missing a couple front teeth there, buddy.”

Laughing out loud Ryan turns to me and says, “Oh ok…jackass, you make me laugh.”

Chuckling back at him. “And you, my friend, are a brave man.”

I head to the shelf that contains all the cleaning supplies, pulling out the Simple Green and some rags. Walking back to the bikes that are already up on their stands, I set everything on the cement. The hoses are lying next to the buckets of soapy water.

“Have you talked to Peanut, today?” I want to know if she’s going with us or not. I know she has some stuff to get done, but I was still hoping she was gonna come watch.

“I left her a message to come over or call one of us.”

“I just thought she’d like to come tomorrow.”

“I’m sure she will. Unless she’s got stuff to do with or for her mom.”

We stand there talking and spraying off the bikes when Ansley walks over. I barely hear her walk up, the country music is blasting through the speakers from the garage. She caught my eye, wearing a black bikini top and little hot pink shorts that cover up her bottoms. Her long blonde hair is thrown up on top of her head, sporting a crazy messy look. I can’t figure out why the hell I care what she’s wearing lately, but I’ve started to notice, more and more, that I don’t like her showing so much skin in front of others.

“Well, what do we have here? My two best friends doing manual labor?” She speaks while pulling her sunglasses down, looking over the rim at us. I can’t help but laugh at her while turning and spraying the hose at her feet. She immediately screams.

“That’s freaking piss warm water.”

Both Ryan and I start laughing at her as she’s jumping up and down then begins running away. Of course, that just encourages me to do it again.

“Here I was coming over to tell you guys I was going to come with you tomorrow, but now, well, I don’t know,” she says, while trying to hold a straight face and crossing her arms in front of her. She fails miserably.

“Peanut, come here and I’ll protect you.” Ryan always wants to be the hero. He stands there with his arms wide open. So, what do I do? I turn the hose on him.

“Oh, buddy, you just made the worst mistake,” he says, while removing his tank.

He’s soaked and I know he’ll retaliate. I’m ready, armed with my hose and taking cover behind my bike. Ansley runs and hides behind him and his bike. Before I know it, we are having a water fight and we’re all drenched. Once we all call a truce, Ansley starts removing her shorts and lays them on the cement driveway to dry. I remove my tank, as well, throwing it next to her shorts. She stands there in her tiny bikini, looking at me as I glance over at her. What the hell is wrong with me…?

Ryan goes to grab her a towel, while she sits on one of the buckets that she flipped over. I start drying my bike off and spraying it with the Simple Green.

“Why exactly do you spray it with that green crap?”

“Well, sweetheart, it makes it sparkle. Look at her, isn’t she beautiful?”

Laughing at me she says “Umm…Coop, it’s a bike. But yes, it looks great.”

“It’s not just a bike. She’s my baby.”

She starts laughing out loud when Ryan comes out. I roll up the towel, snapping it in her direction. It makes a loud noise, scaring the crap out of her; she almost falls off the bucket. I drop the towel quickly and grab her. I would feel horrible if she’d fallen off and gotten hurt.

“Nice save, dickhead,” Ryan says as he walks back out. My hands are still on Ansley when I stand up. I’m holding on to her and don’t even realize it. She’s looking up at me as I quickly put my hands to my sides.

Clearing my throat, I agree with Ryan and get back to my bike. She takes one of the towels that he put down on the grass in the front lawn and spreads it out. She sits down and lies back. There is no way I’m going to be able to concentrate on my bike when she’s laying there in a teeny, tiny bikini. I really needed to get a grip. I don’t like her like that, and yet I’m noticing things about her that I haven’t before. Like, did you know that her bikini top fits her perfectly? While her bottoms sit really low on her hips and her stomach is really flat. Also, she’s getting really tan this summer. Her legs go on forever. Thank God for my black sunglasses, so neither Ryan nor she can see my eyes traveling up and down her body. Seriously, what the hell?

“We need to leave around five thirty tomorrow morning, you still coming?”

Nodding her head while laying back, she answers Ryan’s question. She pulls one knee up and starts tapping her foot to the music.

“You both can sleep over tonight if you want. Ans, it might be easier than you waking up your mom early in the morning. We’ll need to make sure everything’s in the truck tonight and load the bikes in the trailer once my dad gets home. I’ll order a pizza and we can watch a movie.”

Ansley yells out that she’s picking out the movie, and I tell Ryan I’m paying for the pizza. So, it is settled we are all going to stay over at his house. I know my parents don’t give a shit what I do, but it’s funny because let’s face it, how many mothers would let their daughter stay over at a guy’s house? Ansley’s mom trusts us and I will never break that trust. It doesn’t matter how much I’m noticing about her daughter. The night comes before I know it and we’re all sitting down to watch the movie and have pizza. His parents sit in the kitchen having a slice themselves, before Ryan’s dad goes in his home office to get some work done. He owns his own construction company. He’s looking over plans and doing paper work, like he does most nights; while his mom is upstairs doing whatever moms do at night. I’m really not sure, mine is never home. We all climb on the sectional couch, getting comfortable. I reach for a piece of pizza first and eat half of it before either one of them even take a bite.

“So, what movie are we watching, Peanut?”

She rolls her eyes, wanting to smack Ryan, I can tell. “I picked
The Town
starring Ben Affleck, Blake Lively and Chris Cooper
.
It looks good, and of course, Ben’s not bad to look at.”

“Well, Blake’s a hottie so I’m okay with it, how about you, Coop?”