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Chapter Five

Jordan

The pool is the worst possible place to eat breakfast after a night of drinking enough to intoxicate an elephant. The scent of chlorine has me gagging, while the humidity chokes me. Though we aren’t directly by the pool, it’s close enough that I know it’s there. Bad fucking idea.

“Took you long enough,” I grumble as Austen and Cameron meet us at the table.

Cameron makes some kind of comment under his breath, but he sits beside Austen and they pick up their menus.

“Finally, we can eat!” Paul announces loudly.

“Are you still drunk?” Alex asks him.

“I don’t fucking know,” he answers, shaking his head. “Maybe. ”

I huff out a laugh, thinking maybe I’m still drunk too.

I swear I feel the alcohol bleeding through my pores.

It’s the best feeling and I’m ready for more.

Being here is better than what’s back home.

I cannot wait to finish school so I can get the hell out of that town and spend more time in places like this, where I can have fun.

We order a ton of food and share everything on the table.

Andre’s breakfast plate came with ham, and he won’t eat it, so he swapped with Trey for more bacon.

It’s weird as hell, since it’s all from a pig, but whatever.

I steal as much fruit as I can, especially the pineapple because it’s fresh and so fucking good, and they all act like they’re too rugged for it. Morons. Fruit is amazing.

When we’re done eating, we relax for a while until we’re ready to go into the pool. I’m still not sure I won’t throw up, especially after all the food I just ate, but I bet it won’t be the first time that’s happened here.

Trey and Andre cannonball into the deep end, while I take my time walking in. Prissy Cameron goes over to a lounge chair so the water doesn’t touch him.

I’m not going to waste my weekend worrying about him, though.

Austen wanted him to come, so he can be his problem.

Yes, this is Austen’s weekend, but if he’s going to allow people to ruin it, I’m not arguing with him.

I’m doing what I want to do. This is my vacation too, and I’m using money I really don’t have to be here. Just to fit in with these idiots .

“Hey, Mack! Come play!” Hudson shouts from the center of the pool where there is a volleyball net. He’s got the ball in his hands, holding it up to show me.

There are a couple pools down here, two inside and one giant one outside that I didn’t get a good look at.

“You would be playing with balls first thing in the morning,” I comment when I get closer. Hudson rolls his eyes and holds up his middle finger.

“There are kids here, asshole,” I hiss, swatting his hand away.

“Then stop swearing!” he shouts, and I laugh.

We get into teams, and of course they all fight over who wants to be on my team since I’m the tallest. It’s not what matters in volleyball, because I suck at hand-eye coordination. My job on the field is to take people down, not throw and catch balls.

“Come on, Cameron, we need you!” Paul pouts.

“No thanks,” he responds, eyes glued to his phone.

We settle with Hudson, Trey, Paul, and Austen on one team while me, Andre, and Alex are on the other. Alex literally would not budge. I swear he’s doing this shit just to annoy me. He was nearly hugging me to stand his ground. I was sure I’d have to pry him off with a crowbar.

“We’re going to kick their asses,” he mutters, nudging me with his elbow as he grins excitedly, then moves to the other end so we’re spaced as evenly as three guys can be.

We all suck at volleyball, that much is clear, but as athletes we’re competitive as hell no matter what game we’re playing.

I spike the ball into the net too many times and lose my balance even more as I try to smack the ball to the other side.

I fall over on my side, no doubt looking like a whale falling into the water.

It’s fucking embarrassing, but we’re having fun, so whatever.

It’s a close game, but they end up winning. I swear it’s because they had more court coverage, and they’re smaller so they move better in the water.

“Told you guys to go for the other team,” I say to Alex and Andre, who are pouting.

“Nah, I’ll always stick by your side.” Alex winks.

“I’m going in the hot tub,” I say, ignoring his comment and climbing out of the pool.

I feel eyes on me and when I turn around, Alex is watching me curiously, not at all hiding the fact he’s taking me in from head to toe.

His dark hair hangs in his eyes and he shakes his head like a damn dog, making water spray everywhere before running his hand through it.

He keeps staring, and it’s making me feel self-conscious, but I walk away instead of fixing my shorts or wiping water off me.

Maybe a hot tub isn’t the best thing after all the alcohol, but fuck it. I need to get away from Alex.

I slide in, grateful there is only one other couple on the other side. Twenty people could easily fit in here .

I rest against the wall, closing my eyes and trying to relax.

It’ll only be a short time before someone comes over to annoy me or we have to leave.

Not necessarily a bad thing considering there are a million things I want to do while I’m here, like go on the High Roller and the roller coaster.

Today is the day to do that, since I’ll be even more hungover tomorrow.

Once the sun goes down, it’s strip club time.

I don’t realize there’s someone on the side of me until something brushes my leg. My eyes pop open and there’s Alex, looking at me like a fucking creep.

“Why are you always up my ass?” I grumble.

He smirks. “Trust me, if I was up your ass, you’d know it.”

I scowl, closing my eyes. If I move away, he’ll follow me.

I hate that he acts like this. It makes it really difficult to ignore him, which is what I need to do.

There are too many memories and too many weird feelings.

Nothing I am willing to pick apart, so it’s best I forget them altogether.

It’ll be a lot easier once this wedding is over.

I won’t have a reason to see him anymore.

“Just be quiet,” I say.

Thankfully, he does. I’m able to drown out all the other noises around me.

The footsteps, the chatting, the laughing.

I’m relaxed and comfortable. Once I’m on my own, when I have a good job and my house, I’m going to get a hot tub.

The hot water feels good on my muscles in ways other things can’t.

We’ve all done the ice baths and massages, but this… this is the fucking best.

Surprisingly, I get a good amount of quiet time. Alex stays by me, I feel him there, but he keeps quiet. It’s oddly comfortable, but I won’t admit that to anyone. However, it doesn’t last forever because soon enough, someone is nudging me with their foot.

“Get your fungus toes off me,” I bark as I jerk away, looking up at a laughing Paul.

“You two lovebirds ready to go?” he says.

“Fuck off.”

“Where are we going?” Alex asks.

“Change first, then we’re gonna make a plan.”

Alex and I get out of the hot tub and head upstairs with the rest of the guys.

For some reason, Alex gives me a wide berth, but I’m not complaining.

With the shower running, and the door closed, I finally have a minute to lay down and relax.

I doze off, but it’s all too soon that the bathroom door is opening.

I expect Alex to come out in a towel and be in my face, but he comes out fully dressed in a tight black t-shirt that clings to his skin enough to show the outline of his pecs.

A silver chain on his neck glints off the light.

It looks like a choke chain, but fancier.

Like it cost him a decent chunk of change.

He runs his hands through his dark hair and clears his throat.

“Ready? ”

A flash of him naked in the shower pops into my head, and I jerk upwards.

I grunt my response, not wanting to stare and give him the wrong idea. We meet the others in the hallway to figure out what the plan for the day is.

We split into two groups because we want to do different things. But of course, Alex wants to do everything I want to do.

He gives off so much little brother energy, it’s not even funny.

Every time he’s around me, I’m grateful I don’t have any siblings to deal with.

I have an older sister who’s older than me by twelve years and she’s much smarter because she got the fuck out of dodge the moment she could.

Apparently she’s married with kids and happy as a pig in shit.

She sends me a card on Christmas and my birthday, and once told me that when I’m ready to leave, she’ll be there.

But I’m doing my own thing over here, trying to make my own life.

I don’t need the disappointment of reaching out and her ignoring me. So, I’ll figure life out on my own.

“What are we doing first?” Alex asks.

“Coaster is this way, the wheel is that way,” I say, pointing in the direction they’re in.

“Let’s start with the wheel,” Andre says.

“I agree,” Hudson adds. “Give me some more time to settle before I go through loops. ”

We make our way to the High Roller, passing a ton of places we stop on the way. Clothing stores, chocolate, ice cream, all of it.

I hate shopping. I don’t see the point in it. If you know what you want, there’s no need to browse around for shit you don’t need. I guess I’m the odd man out though, because I’m dragged through too many different stores and walk out with nothing while they all have bags hanging off their arms.

“You okay?” Alex asks, his voice strangely concerned.

I glance at the watches and necklaces in the display case. Hudson wants to get a necklace for his mom and so we ended up in this fancy as fuck jewelry store. Everything in here is nice, there’s no denying that, but none of it is my style.

“Fine.”

I expect him to argue with me, because that’s what he always does. He never takes no for an answer and has to push my buttons. Unfortunately, he knows where each of them is.

He shrugs and says, “Okay,” before heading to the other end of the store. He’s been acting weird all day. Weirder than usual, which is saying something.

When we finally get to the wheel, we head inside and buy tickets and end up inside a cart with a few other people considering it’s huge. I had no idea it was going to be like this, with glass all around. It’s fucking amazing, and I bet the view is even better at night with everything lit up.

The guys chat animatedly as they look down at the city below that seems tiny from all the way up here. The sphere is lit up like a happy-face emoji, looking around the city excitedly. That thing is pretty cool, and if we can catch a show there, I wouldn’t be mad about it.

“Beautiful, huh?” Alex says quietly as we look through the tinted glass.

I grunt a response, and that’s all he’s getting.

“You don’t have to hate me, you know,” he says.

“I don’t hate you,” I say. “You’re just annoying.”

He shrugs, keeping his gaze out the window.

“So I’ve been told.” His smile falters for just a moment, but it’s soon replaced by the sly grin I’m more than familiar with.

My biggest issue with Alex isn’t that he’s annoying.

It isn’t that I caught him jerking off or find him staring at me all the time.

It isn’t that he’s bi and probably thinks about putting his dick in my ass.

It’s that I know beneath his layers and layers of loud and obnoxious, he’s sad just like me.