Page 15

Chapter 15

Fireworks

Three Years Earlier

Brandon

I scramble to my feet just in time to take a punch right to the mouth. I hit the dirt, spitting blood onto the sand. Parker glares at his own hand like he can’t believe what it just did.

I wipe my mouth roughly as the first firework explodes overhead. “That all you got?” The words fall out in a fury.

Millie’s friends immediately scatter, either to avoid getting caught up in trouble or because this isn’t the kind of fireworks they came to see.

Parker shoves me. I shove him back, hard. He’s wasted, I realise, a second before he charges at me. This time I meet him with a punch of my own, sending him skidding across the sand.

“Stop it, Carter!” Millie yells. She muscles between the two of us. “Parker, calm down. It was just a stupid dare. Of course I wasn’t making out with Brandon. I don’t even like Brandon!”

“Fuck you, Millie”, I pant, tensing for another charge.

“Don’t talk to her like that”, Parker snaps, breathing heavily.

“So now you’re defending me?” Millie yells. “I thought I was the whore hooking up with your best friend”.

“I didn’t say that!”

“So it’s my fault?” I interrupt, “The traitorous bastard of a best friend hitting on your girlfriend?”

Parker glares between the two of us, lets out a strangled snarl, then turns his back and stomps towards the sea, leaving sand scattering in his wake.

Before I know it, I’m in chase-mode. Millie dodges out of the way just in time for me to slam into him, tackling him to the ground. “Doing what you do best, Di Rossi? Leaving when things get tough?”

He pushes me off and he’s on top of me in an instant. He grabs my arms and pins them down. I see his hand ball into a fist, raised high over his head. “Do it!” I yell. “Fucking do it!”

Our eyes lock, and suddenly the fight falls out of him. He goes limp, sprawling himself on top of me. His lips find my ear. His short, wet hair is in my face. “Nice punch”, he murmurs.

Oh, for fuck sakes. “Told you I’d been working out”.

“I’m sorry”. He kisses me on the cheek. “I’m really sorry”. His weight relaxes into me, like pieces of two separate puzzles that somehow fit together. I’m stunned. I can’t even move.

“I’ve literally never heard you say that before”.

“I can’t fight with you, Brandon. Anyone else. Everyone else. But not you”.

But why not me? My anger drains away. “It’s okay”, I hear myself say. “Just get the fuck off me”.

“Now that both of you have got that out of your system”. We both raise our heads. Millie stands over us. She has one hand on her hip, the other holds the two bottles of champagne from my dad’s cellar, “Why don’t we have a drink and salvage what’s left of the night before it’s completely ruined?”

* * * *

One drained bottle later, the three of us sit, hidden from the wind by the cliff edge. The last of the fireworks explode across the water.

Parker’s in the middle, his borrowed tuxedo jacket draped over Millie’s bare shoulders. Our shoes, socks, and ties are piled in-front of us.

“To Parker”, Millie raises the remaining bottle, “And your sense of timing. You just about saved Carter and I from a socially mortifying experience”.

“No offence taken”, I drawl hazily.

We cheers. Parker leans back thoughtfully. “Your dalliance with Brandon puts you in a unique position”, Parker says to Millie, “As the only woman to have locked lips with the two hottest guys in our school”.

“Parker said ‘dalliance’”, I say, to nobody in particular. Parker playfully swipes at me, and I catch his hand. “You’re bleeding”.

“It’s just a graze”. The skin is raw across his knuckles. “It’s my own fault for taking on your jaw of steel”. I take his hand, wrapping my discarded tie tightly around the broken skin. He doesn’t resist, which is surprising.

Millie leans forward silently, and takes another sip of champagne. “She thinks you’re hot”, Parker says to me, his tone unreadable. My stomach flutters. If this wasn’t tragic, it’d be funny.

“No, she doesn’t. She doesn’t even like me”.

“No, you don’t like her . Millie and I played that game earlier. The one where you decide your hall pass. One free night with no consequences”, Parker takes the bottle from Millie, “Of all the guys in the whole school. She chose you”.

“ That’s what you two were fighting about?” I look between the two of them. “And not your inability to grasp the promise of opportunity in whatever the hell your speech was supposed to be about”.

Millie whacks Parker on the arm. “You told him!”

“I tell him everything”. Parker’s hand finds the small of my back, and I forget how to breathe. “He’s my best friend. You two kissing, okay, I was jealous. At first”.

“But now?”

A reluctant smile parts his lips. Millie giggles. “Come on, tell me. You thought it was hot, right?”

He doesn’t look at me. “It wasn’t…not hot”.

I take the bottle from him. Millie’s expression has slowly changed. “Do you really think so?” she says, casually, inclining her head. I’m suddenly very aware of the bareness of her neck.

“The obvious question remains unanswered”, he leans in, tilting his head. “Who’s the better kisser?”

She answers him by pressing her lips onto his. I take another swig. They break apart,then Millie reaches across to me. Her hand cups my cheek, and before it occurs to me to resist, I relax.

I don’t know how long we’re kissing for, probably just a few seconds. Parker stares at us. I swallow. “Do you want to take the first swing?” I ask. “Or can I?”

He ignores me and looks straight at her. “And?”

“Inconclusive”, she teases and pulls him in again. I should just get up and leave them to it, but something else is happening. I want to stay. I think I’m meant to stay. That’s what we’re doing now.

Millie’s hand finds its way to my leg, gripping my thigh as he embraces her. We kiss again. Parker strokes her hair with one hand, fumbling with the buttons of his shirt with the other. He pulls it off as Millie starts to deftly undo mine. I kiss her neck, and Parker’s eyes flash.

Not with anger. Just excitement.

Millie lies down, and Parker leans forward eagerly, holding her by the hips as I shiver even though I’m not cold. I’m probably the only guy in school who’s never fantasised about Millie St Clare. Her lips are warm. And now she’s moaning softly, as Parker explores the parts that only he’s allowed to see. I lie next to them both when Parker raises his head and catches Millie’s eye.

“Do to him what you do to me”.

She rolls over, unbuckles my pants, and a moment later, she’s taken me firmly within her control. Parker’s hand rests lightly on my bare chest. He’s watching us. No. Watching me. Slowly, as my breath intensifies, he swallows.

I put my hand on her shoulder.

“Enjoying that?” Parker asks. His face is very close to mine.

I moan softly in response. Millie raises her head, gestures for Parker to come closer. Eagerly, he starts exploring her neck with his lips. She angles her chin, directing him towards me, and suddenly, his lips are on mine.

We’re kissing.

Parker’s kissing me. We’re all kissing each other.

It’s happening. That’s all I can think. It’s happening . And suddenly our hands are intertwined. We’re all working together; gently, slowly, finding new ways of exploring each other. We don’t stop until each one of us is satisfied.

Millie falls asleep immediately. Parker slides his underwear back on, and drapes his clothes over her. His eyes catch mine. Something unspoken fizzles between us, as he settles down between us.

For a moment, the gentle lapping of the sea is the only sound that exists. “Who did you choose?” I whisper. It’ll be morning soon. “In your game with Millie. Millie chose me. Who did you choose?”

He answers by pulling me down next to him. One arm wraps around me as he fashions our discarded clothes as a blanket. “Go to sleep, Carter”.

Under our jackets, his hand closes around mine.