University Park Series Box Set: Books 1-3 (57 page)

“I’m staying right here, baby. And don’t
worry, I’ll only have one or two, tops.”

“Want one?” Shawn asked, trying to hand
me one.

“No, thanks.” I recoiled at the thought.

“Sorry.” Shawn patted my shoulder. “Still
feeling the effects from last night, huh?”

I pulled my feet onto the couch and
tucked them under me. “Unfortunately, yes.”

“I’ll take one.” Delaney held out her
hand.

“You want one?” Shawn offered one to
Luke.

“Hell no.” Luke turned his head quicker
than I had. Apparently, he felt worse than I did.

“Anyone up for a little music?” Josh
strolled into the living room, strumming his guitar. The strings melded
together in beautiful harmony as he moved his head to the beat of the music. I
listened intently, trying to place the melody. Finally, I was able to pick out
the notes. It was a John Mayer song.

“Yeah, man, bring it on.” Raven flipped
off the TV and we listened to Josh play a few songs. Shelby sat on the floor
directly in front of him as he serenaded her. It was really sweet. Raven held
me close and we swayed together, relaxing against each other. I waited for him
to sing, but he just hummed along as he drank his beer. Luke and Delaney sat
curled up together while Shawn and Kyle relaxed on another sofa, sipping their
beer.

“Yay.” I clapped when he stopped. “You
play really well.”

“Thanks. Hey, what can you play on the
piano?” Josh motioned with his head to the baby grand in the front sitting
area.

A tingle of excitement filtered through
me. “Lots of things.” I smiled. “Hold on a minute.” I ran to our room and
retrieved my Kindle. I pulled up a website where I downloaded most of my music.
“What can we play together?” I hummed, searching through a few options.

“I can pick up just about anything.”
Josh hit a few chords, showing me his skills.

“Alright.” I walked to the piano and
everyone gathered around. I lifted the fallboard and my fingers hovered over
the keys. I took a deep breath. “Give me a few minutes to warm up. It’s been a
few months since I’ve played.”

Delaney mouthed. “Will you be okay?”

I nodded and shot her a quick wink. I
allowed my fingers to take over as they glided up and down the keys. It may
have been a few months, but my fingers claimed their territory quickly. What I
loved most was the way my ring sparkled as my fingers hit all the right notes.

“Damn, you’re pretty good,” Josh said,
trying to pick up on the melody.

I laughed. “I’m not playing anything in
particular.”

“What are you going to play for me,
baby?” Raven slid in next me, twisting the top off another beer. “Relax. It’s
only my second.”

“And your last?” I asked with a raised
brow.

“Of course.”

I smiled, hoping he was being honest
with me. I wasn’t trying to tell him what to do, just watching out for him like
I had promised. “I can play
Lean On Me
.” I nudged him, hoping he’d
recall the first time we sang together. I also wanted to ease the tension
building between us.

He dipped his chin and a wide smiled
spread across his face. “I remember that day.”

“I do, too.” I inclined my head in his
direction.

“I don’t know if I can play that song.”
Josh tried a few notes, sounding a little off key. “Do you know any country?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I tend to play
more classic rock, top-forties, or oldies — you know, for my parents.” I immediately
started playing the intro to one of my dad’s favorite songs by Journey.

“Oh, yeah.” Josh nodded his head to the
beat of the music, picking out the chords rather quickly.

“I didn’t know you played rock songs.”
Raven looked at me.

“Do you know the words?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Look it up on my Kindle.” I motioned
for him to pick it up. “Josh, do you know the words?”

“Not really, just the chorus.” He
repeated the words, closing his eyes as he sang at the top of his lungs. “Shit,
I can’t sing like Steve Perry.”

“Hell, neither can I,” Raven laughed.

Josh and Raven turned to Luke. “Don’t
look at me. She sucked the all music genes from me.”

“Yeah, but you got the sports talent,
leaving me with none,” I reminded him. Everyone laughed. “What about you, Shawn?
Kyle?”

They both shook their heads and lifted
their bottles to their mouths. They weren’t even going to try.

Raven belted out the words and we
cheered him on. With a hand pressed to his chest and the other holding my
Kindle so he could see the words, he said, “Lexi, I’m forever yours,
faithfully.” He sounded nothing like Steve Perry and was seriously off key, but
I didn’t care. It was the emotion behind his words that made it so special. I
started singing, “Whooa, oh-oh-ooh,” and everyone joined in. We laughed and
continued singing, not caring if we hit the right notes.

“Hey, what about his song?” Josh began
to strum the beat of a familiar song.

“Isn’t that Jeremy Kay?”

“Yep.” Josh closed his eyes as he sang
the lyrics.

“Do me a favor and look up that song so
I can get the chords,” I asked Raven as I tried a few on my own.

He found the song and then set my Kindle
in front of me. “Thanks, babe.” It took me a minute or so, but I finally got
the chords down. Before long, we were all swaying side to side and singing at
the top our lungs. It was great playing alongside Josh. We were able to follow
each other flawlessly. In the end, I played
Lean On Me
, and everyone
joined in, including Luke. It was one of the best times with my friends,
brother, and of course, Raven. The memories we made, were ones I’d never
forget. Raven had definitely made it the best Spring Break ever.

Just as we wrapped up the song, we heard
a bunch of racket. “What is that?

“Are those gun shots?” Shawn turned his
head, searching for the direction of the noise.

“It’s fireworks.” I pointed outside,
catching a quick glimpse of a spray of flickering lights.

Raven got up from the piano bench and I
followed him. Peering out the window, we saw a group of people on the beach.
“Someone’s popping fireworks.”

“This is private property.” Josh removed
the strap of his guitar from around his neck and set it against the wall.

“I’ll go with you,” Raven said,
following him to the back door, still carrying his beer in his hand.

“Me, too,” Shawn quickly added. Luke and
Kyle followed behind them while us girls watched from inside.

“I hope they don’t get into a fight.”
Shelby chewed on the edge of her nail. “Josh has been drinking all day.”

“He didn’t seem drunk.” I crossed my
arms, keeping one eye on what was going on outside, while looking at Shelby.

“It usually sneaks up on him. And when
it does, he’s hot-headed.” She lifted to the tips of her toes so she could see
over the fence at the edge of the Marshall’s property.

“I’m glad Luke is a happy drunk,”
Delaney said, pressing her hands against the glass. “But tonight, he’s not
drunk. And that’s what worries me.”

I laughed. “If I wouldn’t have seen it
with my own eyes, I would have pegged him for being an angry drunk.”

“Really, why?” Shelby asked, pulling a
chair to the window and standing on it.

“My brother is more introverted and
analytical. Sometimes it can be interpreted as being angry.”

“You’ve got that right,” Delaney huffed.
“Sometimes, when he’s only had a few drinks, he gets pissy, like he did at the
bowling alley.”

I didn’t comment. I knew why Luke
reacted the way he had, I just didn’t want to bring it up. If Delaney hadn’t
been sleeping with so many guys, especially one of Luke’s teammates, then he
wouldn’t have got into that fight.

 “I couldn’t figure him out when we
first met.” Delaney rolled her eyes. “It took a while. I guess I should have
just asked you.”

“By the way, you never told me how you
two hooked up. I know I introduced you to him, but when did you guys start
talking?”

Delaney wrapped her arms around her body,
her face bubbling up in elation. “It was at—”

“Oh shit. That guy just hit Josh.”
Shelby jumped off the chair, knocking it down in the process.

“Damn it!” I screamed as we darted out
the door. Something deep inside the pit of my stomach told me this was going to
end badly. Why didn’t I tell Raven not to drink? I should have taken the beer
bottle from his hand before he followed Josh.

We rounded the pool and flew down the
stairs to the beach. Three guys stood face to face with Raven, Luke, and Kyle.
And by the looks of it, they weren’t ready to play ball. Even though it was
dark, I could see the tattoos covering their arms and legs. Except, these
tattoos weren’t attractive. These were the kind a person received while in
prison. To the right, another guy hovered over a piece of wood covered with
tubes and rockets. There was enough firepower lined up along the beach for a
small show. It was scary to see them pointed directly toward the house. “Raven,
don’t!” I pleaded as I stumbled through the thick sand. “Let’s just go back
inside.”

Raven motioned for me to stay back, but
I refused. I had made a promise to keep him out of trouble and I would do just
that.

Shawn had his arms laced through Josh’s,
holding him back as he cussed and yelled, “Get the fuck off my property!”

“Josh, stop!” Shelby jumped in front of
him, trying to get him to calm down, but he was too riled up to listen.
“Please, sweetie. Not tonight.”

 “What are you going to do about it?
Huh?” A guy a head taller than Luke, and about the same build, took a step
closer. He lifted his chin, continuing to goad Luke. “Huh? Whatcha gonna do?”
The guy was acting like a total prick — he was begging for them to start
something with him.

“Look, man,” Luke held up his hands, “we
don’t want any trouble.”

Delaney started toward the guy, but I
grabbed her arm, holding her back. “Don’t. Just stay put.”

“Just get your shit and leave.” Raven pointed
to the mound of fireworks. “Like my friend said, this is private property. You
need to pop that elsewhere.”

The guy that was standing over the
fireworks started gathering them and I sighed in relief. Before I could relax,
a fairly large guy, about the size of Cage, jammed his index finger into the
middle of Raven’s chest. “Fuck that. You can’t make us leave.” He looked over
his shoulder. “Gabe, leave our shit there. We’re not going anywhere.” I was
sure Raven could hold his own since it looked like fatty did more drinking than
working out.

“You need to take your finger off of me
before I break it,” Raven warned.

The guy smirked and then retrieved his
finger. I watched Raven for a second, making sure he wasn’t about to jab the
guy in the face when Gabe dropped the stuff in his hands.

No. No. Just go. Just leave.

“Yeah, we’re not going anywhere. So take
your punk asses and go back inside.” Gabe crossed his arms over his body,
taking a defensive stand. Didn’t they realize they were the punk asses? My
heart pounded in my ears and my throat thickened with a sickening feeling worse
than any hangover.

Kyle darted toward Gabe. “You need to
go. Now.”

Gabe threw his head back and cackled.
“You jocks think you’re tough shit with your fancy houses and fancy cars. But
you ain’t shit without daddy’s money.”

“Fuck you.” Josh twisted and turned,
vying to get free from Shawn’s grip.

“Screw you, man.” Kyle shook his head.
“You don’t know shit.”

“I know enough.” Gabe met Kyle’s gaze in
a challenging stare off.  Even though the guy was shorter than Kyle, he didn’t
back down. His hands curled into tight fists and the muscles in his arms
twitched, as if ready to spring into action.

“You need to get the fuck out of my face,”
Kyle said, pushing the guy.

Gabe responded with a quick blow to
Kyle’s face. Kyle’s head snapped to the side and he stumbled back, trying to
catch his footing. Shawn released Josh and they rushed forward. Shelby screamed
but Josh didn’t pay her any attention.

“No! Stop!” I yelled, reaching for
Raven. The last thing he needed was to get in a fight. In one quick movement,
Raven pushed me out of the way and I fell to my butt. Sand sprayed across my
face and into my mouth as Delaney and Shelby sprung forward. I spat and coughed
as I scrambled to my feet. Raven was in an arm to arm battle with the guy. Both
of them head to head and nearly knee deep in the sand.

Delaney dove in, fists raised, and
punched the guy provoking Luke. I scrambled after her, grabbing her arm and
trying to pull her away, but took a step back as Luke and her pounded on the
guy. I turned to see Shelby, straddled on the back of one of the guys, her arms
around his head as Josh punched him in the stomach.