He's a Wildcard

Chapter 5 - Smurf In Deep Waters

Chapter 5 – Smurf in Deep Waters

I stood frozen for a moment, staring into Gabriel’s face. It really was him. What was he doing here? Austin had to be the culprit, I saw no other logical solution.

“Who the hell are you?” Gabriel shot at Chace, “and why the fuck are you doing shots off my girl?”

Chace looked from me to Gabriel and back again. “Your girl?” The question was directed at Gabriel, but he was looking at me as he spoke; raising an eyebrow.

Rage bubbled inside me, chasing the shock away. “I’m not your girl,” I spat at Gabriel, walking up to him, “not anymore. You saw to that, remember?!”

“What are you doing? Riley, you’re better than this,” he stroked my bare arm.

That did it for me and I took a step forwards, slowly closing the space between us completely. Craning my neck to look up at him I raised my finger in a warning, “Don’t you dare!” I screamed and pushed at his chest, making him stumble backwards. If people hadn’t been listening, they sure were now. “Don’t you dare tell me what I can and can’t do. You lost that right when you screwed Sophie Deveroux!”

There was a synchronised intake of breath in the crowd as my words travelled through the room and someone gave a low whistle.

“Riley, calm down.”

“Nah, dude,” Chace shot in, wearing a smug look, clearly enjoying Gabe’s discomfort. “I think you should let the girl speak.”

“Who the fuck do you think you are, huh?” Gabriel sidestepped me and advanced on Chace. “You her new little boy toy?”

This seemed to amuse Chace further, “she’s great in bed, don’t know why you ever let her go.”

I gasped and so did everybody else. Everyone except Gabriel who turned towards me, “Is that true?!” He raged.

A part of me wanted to call Chace out on his lie, but Gabe deserved this. “I can sleep with whoever I want. You cheated on me. Remember?” I’d never seen Gabriel this mad in my life, not ever. Smoke was practically coming out of his ears and for a moment I wondered if I had taken things too far, had the alcohol made me a tad too brave this time?

“Listen here, you little slut,” Gabe walked towards me and I backed up, unsure what he was planning on doing. “You made a great mistake, I was the best thing to ever happen to you. You were nothing before I came around.”

Suddenly I stopped and it seemed to take us both off guard as I straightened my spine and looked him in the eye I said, “Maybe, but I’m not the slut, Gabe. You are.” Then I took the plastic cup a guy next to me was holding, he made no protest, and chucked the content square into Gabriel’s face.

I let myself revel in his shocked face for a split second before sidestepping him, running away before things could escalate further. Laughing I grabbed a hold of Chace’s arm, dragging him with me outside.

Laughing I jumped down onto the beach, ignoring the three steps leading down. “Oh. My. God,” I exclaimed as I tried to comprehend what I had just done. “That felt so amazing!”

Chace smirked and handed me a bottle of beer that he’d no doubt grabbed from the porch. “Cheers to that,” he toasted and we clinked out bottles together before drinking.

A light breeze filled the air and I suddenly became very aware that I was standing there in just my bra and shorts. “Crap,” I exclaimed, “I forgot my shirt inside. Sooo not going back in there,” I said mostly to myself.