The Bet | Gay BxB |

25. Growing Soft

I sighed. I knew why. And it had a lot to do with me wishing I didn't have the scars so I could swim in public, but that was too much to admit.

"Do you mind if I swim for a bit?" Nic asked, and I pulled my sleeve back down.

"Of course not," I said.

"Cool. I'll go grab a towel. I can swim in normal shorts, right? I don't have my swimming gear here," Nic said.

"Of course you can."

"It's either that or underwear, so..." he trailed off with a smirk.

"Right," I said and faked a laugh.

I didn't even own swimming gear...

Nic stopped to watch me, then stepped in front of me, taking my hand in his. "Is this... okay with you? I mean, I don't mind staying at home with you, so if you don't want to go–"

"We should go. We don't go out too often, and never with your friends," I said, even though staying at home was tempting. "It's a nice day, too, and we have the entire weekend to watch movies."

He nodded slowly. "True, true."

"Should we get going then?" I asked.

"Sure," he said.

I wasn't even sure why I was insisting on going out with his friends. Especially when their activities would most likely make me feel things on the negative side. But I guess it wasn't about me. I wanted to do this for Nic, who could definitely use a fun night out. Something else to think about. And I hoped his friends knew how to cheer him up since I was still new in his life.

When Nic and I arrived at the river, the place was pretty crowded. Jess, Daniel, Allan, and Cecilia were thankfully waiting for us in the parking lot since it would've been hard to find them by the river.

"Hey!" Nic greeted them, grabbing our bag from the backseat.

I waved at them, then glanced around. Ew. People. But I also noticed that we were about half a mile away from Nic's home. In the fancy area. Surrounded by rich people. And all the rich kids from our school. And then it dawned on me that my entire party for tonight was full of rich kids. Daniel was Nic's brother, Jess and Allan were his mansion-next-door neighbors, and Cecilia... Well, there was still hope she was a normal mortal like me.

Great...

But I wasn't sure if I liked the idea of Nic so close to his home. I doubted his father would come looking for him here, but I was trying so hard to keep Nic's mind off him, and now we were basically in his backyard. He did seem cheerful when we joined his friend group, though.

"Let's go find a spot for us," Jessica suggested with an excited smile, so we grabbed our bags and headed to the crowd.

I was probably just imagining things, but it did look a lot like people were staring at us. At me, in particular. To be honest, I would've stared at myself, too. I was so in the wrong crowd, and Nic made things worse by putting his arm around my shoulders. But it was just my insecurities speaking, right?

No, they're definitely staring...

And talking.

"I still can't believe the Gabriel is dating Jax..."

I was doing this for Nic. I was doing this for Nic. I was doing this for Nic...

"Look! There's a nice spot!" Jess suddenly said, and I really wanted to hug the girl since she was pointing at an empty spot way over back where an old, tall bridge hovered over the river.

"But the road is right there. It's not that peaceful," Cecilia said.

"You rather stay with the screaming kids over here?" Jess asked.