Chapter Five
Cash
“Look who finally showed up.” Benson, a guy we’d been in school with since kindergarten, held his long arms out wide. “Where you been, man?” His lips twitched—he knew where I’d been. He was the only other person aside from our family that knew what I’d been doing for my brother. He found it a lot more comical than my older cousins did. “From that dark frown on your handsome little face, I take it you could use a drink?”
I walked toward his truck, taking the plastic cup he offered. “Where is my dickhead brother?” I took a sip, wincing slightly as the chilled whiskey hit the back of my throat.
Benson nodded his head to the right. “Holding court, waiting on you.” He hopped down off his tailgate. “You ready?”
I nodded, finishing off the borrowed drink and setting it down.
“Cash, look man, your brother finally showed up.” Benson sauntered over to the front of his jacked-up Ford, calling over his shoulder. “You two come here, I got a little graduation present for you.”
I followed Benson, stepping into the shadows and away from prying eyes. I ripped off my black t-shirt, tossing it to my twin when he joined up. He did the same, removing a baseball tee with royal blue sleeves. Crue took the ball cap off the top of his skull and put it on my head backwards. “Everything go okay? Anything I should know?”
“No.” My tone was pissed. I was pissed. I was always pissed when we did this. When we switched clothes and he finally gave me permission to be myself again. I shoved past him and headed straight for the bottle of whiskey I’d seen sitting in the bed of Benson’s truck. I grabbed some ice from the cooler and made myself another drink. I leaned against the tailgate, the hard metal biting into my lower back. I didn’t look at Crue as he walked past me, heading to the opposite side of the bonfire in front of me. Avory smiled when she saw him, acting like she hadn’t seen him all night. No doubt playfully giving him crap about where he’d been. It was a game, and we’d all honed it to perfection.
“Tonight’s your last night, right? You’re done now.” Benson sat back down on his tailgate, his own drink now sweating beside mine.
“Yeah. I’m done.” And I was fucking done. Crue and Avory were both certifiable if they thought this summer was going to mirror last summer.
Benson chuckled. “What now, man? Your dick is going to go through withdrawals.” He gestured out to the crowd, his hands wide to encompass the entire lakeshore. “You going to finally start fucking as yourself?”
I shook my head. “Nah, I need a break.” I crossed my arms over my chest, sighing. “Besides, I’ve pretty much been with every chick in this damn town. They’re all the same.”
“Well, as someone who hasn’t banged the entire junior and senior class, I might still try to get with a few of them before I leave for A&M.” Benson leaned over, whispering behind his hand. “Help a guy out. Which ones are a good time?”
I shook my head, laughing despite myself. “Tell me who you’re looking at, and I’ll tell you what I know.” Benson was a good guy, which was how I knew he was mainly kidding. Trying to pull me out of my funk by making light of my—thankfully now over with—situation.
“How ‘bout her?” He pointed across the field, his drink sloshing out onto the ground.
I followed his gaze, nodding my head. “Sara Jones. She tried to take about a million selfies with me while we were making out in a movie theater. Fame hungry and inconsiderate.” When the cameras came out, my irritation level reached combustible proportions. I hated having to spend time with chicks who only cared about who my father was.
“Mmmmkay. What about that one?”
I glanced over to where he was pointing then turned around and poured myself another drink. “Kristen Martin. Funny, easy to talk to, and…”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Enough daddy issues to fill that lake she’s about one drink away from skinny dipping in.” I sent him a toothless smile. “I’m telling you man, the only semi-sane chick at this party is Avory.” I shrugged. “And Crue would remove your eyeballs with a spoon if you even looked her way.”
“What about her? The gorgeous one dancing.” He leaned forward, squinting his eyes. “The one who also seems to know all the words to the old Ryan Bingham song coming out of my truck speakers.”
Oh, my, my see them girls shake their ass
Underneath the sunrise
He shook his head, a stupid grin on his face. “Son. I think I’m in love.”
I peered through the flames of the small bonfire, ready to burst another one of Benson’s bubbles. But the words died on my lips. I pushed off the tailgate, taking a few steps to the right. I’d never seen that girl before, but Benson was right. She was fucking gorgeous. Her hands were in the air, making her dress shorter than it really was. Her dark hair fell past her shoulders, wavy and almost wild. Her eyes were closed, but her lips were moving, a smile on her face.
Oh my, my, taste the sugar on their lips
Underneath that moonlight
She was lost in her own little world, completely oblivious to the party going on around her. She looked mystical, like she was made of gypsy magic and fairy dust. I took a step in her direction, without even meaning to.
“Cash, man, where are you going? I saw her first.”
I could hear Benson protesting behind me, but I simply didn’t care. The girl was twirling and dancing in the light of the flames. Still singing every word to a song that was written before she was even born. Her legs were long, tanned, and perfect. Her boots stopped above her knee and I was almost afraid I was drooling. She was all alone, and having the time of her life. I rounded the bonfire, moving toward her in a trance.
Cause everybody’s beggin’, well, everybody wants a chance
Stuck in a storm, we’ll do a rain dance
“Katie, come over here, I want you to meet some friends of mine.”
I stopped short, my eyes flying to Avory. My little cousin was holding her arms out, laughing as the girl I was oddly infatuated with danced her way over. How did Avory seem to know this chick and I didn’t?
Please God don’t let me be related to her in some form or fashion.
“Hey, Cash, come here and meet Katie.” Crue had his head cocked to the side, studying me with a shit-eating grin on his stupid face. “Katie, this is my twin, Cash.”
She held her hand out, smiling. “Nice to meet you.”
Oh, the pleasure was all fucking mine. But saying that out loud would make me sound like a douchebag. Like when I had to pretend to be Crue. “Nice to meet you too, Katie.”
Avory slung her arm around Katie’s neck, like they were old friends. “Katie is staying at the compound for the week while her dad is out on tour.” She handed her a red plastic cup. “Her dad sent her home with my dad so that she would be somewhere with adult supervision.”
Katie took a small sip of the drink Avory had given her, a grin playing on her lips. Then Avory took her hand, spinning her in a circle. “Stick with me, girly. I’ll make sure you don’t get into any trouble.” Avory was giggling, which meant Avory was most likely drunk. She spun Katie out, basically handing her to me. “Dance with C Money, he’s better at it than Crue.”
Crue dug his fingers into her side, making her squeal and spill some of her beer onto the ground. That was the most he’d touch her in public like this, but I could tell by the look on his face he was mere minutes away from demanding they leave. He wanted to get her alone, and if everyone surrounding us wasn’t wasted, they’d notice it too.
“I think I’m all danced out.” Katie spoke politely. “No offense.”
“None taken.” I gestured with my head to Avory and Crue, who were still eye fucking each other. I dropped my voice, “But, unless you want to have a front-row seat to the most PDA-filled car ride you’ve ever seen, come with me.” I held my hand out. “I don’t bite.”
She snorted. “I’ve heard that one today already. What else you got?”
“I’m your only bet for a ride back to the compound.” Her eyes darted to Crue and Avory and I chuckled, shaking my head. “I can assure you, they aren’t headed home.”
After a few more moments of indecision, she put her hand in mine. Holding her hand was making me happier than it had any right to. “I asked Avory earlier if she and Crue were—”
“Shhh.” I squeezed her hand, moving my mouth closer to her ear. “Not here.” We walked past Benson, who flipped me off, and then we arrived at my truck. Crue would take his when he left. We had switching back down to a science. We’d each leave our keys in the truck so no one would see us making the exchange.
“Climb on in, Katie Baby, you are about to get a crash course in all things Devil’s Spawn.”