I WATCHED his toned legs work that field with everything that he had.
I did a silent prayer in my mind to thank the Lord Jesus for this unusually blazing hot spring day because he had taken his soccer jersey off and was running around completely shirtless.
I always thought sweat was disgusting but it was actually doing things for me right now. His sculpted abdominal muscles were coated in a shimmer that made his skin glow. Every now and again he would wipe his forehead and after drinking his ice water he would squirt the bottle down his chest to cool himself off.
"Lovely weather we're having right now isn't it Fearne?" Lexi interrupted my floor show with the biggest smile on her face and I wondered if she was onto me.
"Yeah, I guess." I brought my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them.
I watched him walk over to a small circle of girls and he stayed there talking to them for a while, they made him laugh and he made them laugh but it was flirty and playful. Not like he laughs with Lexi.
I was too far away to hear them but they were pointing at his chest tattoo and running their fingers over the inky lines. He seemed to be explaining it to them and I desperately wanted to know too.
"So which one do you like best?" I pulled my eyes away from Arlo and glanced down at Lexis phone.
"What the fuck?" I asked as she flicked through her photo gallery.
"I like this one I think." She was standing in her underwear, looking towards the camera but with her body facing away so that her ass was the main focal point of the picture and it looked amazing.
"But then he likes suspenders." She flicked to another photo of her leaning against her bed post in just lingerie, sexy, expensive lingerie, she had her finger resting upon her lips and a 'come and get me' expression.
I gulped, feeling my heart sag. "Who likes suspenders, Arlo?" She dropped her phone and grimaced.
"What the fuck Fearne?" I hugged my knees tighter, protecting my heart more. "I know we're not technically related but Jesus Christ that's fucked up. If it was anymore inbred we would be fucking sandwiches."
"But you're so close." She picked her phone back up, a solemn expression troubling her grey eyes.
"You know on the surface he's a sarcastic asshole but when you get to know him he's first one everyone calls when they need help. He loves so fiercely, he'll protect his friends and family with everything that he's got and he's loyal as fuck. You don't want to get on the wrong side of him."
I smiled, looking at Arlo tensing his biceps for his adoring fans. He danced too, teasing his soccer shorts down ever so slightly.
Lexi was right, Henry loves him. Chloe rung him when she felt frightened and drunk. Jamie obviously trusts him implicity. I couldn't help but wonder who was there for him during his hour of need because all I could see was him laying in bed alone.
"I can't decide, you think he'll like full topless better or is that revealing too much?" She swiped through lots of pictures in different poses before showing me an image of her breasts. Then she turned to me expecting an answer but my mind was still focused on Arlo. "Fearne, it's not hard which one do I look the hottest in?"
"I don't know, you look like a freaking model in them all. How are you so flawless?" Lexi laughed.
"Like five hundred attempts, good lighting, a filter and poses that feel so abnormal they hurt. I'm gonna send him the underwear one, its the best right?" She flicked back to the photo in lingerie and studied it for a while.
"You're gonna send someone a photo of yourself in underwear?" She nodded. "Why?"
"I wanna be the reason he tilts his screen away from others." I watched her open up a message chain and attach the image, she didn't even hesitate before pressing the send button. My heart raced for her, a few seconds later she received a new text message.
'Naughty girls get punished Lexi, party tonight?'
She winked at me with the biggest smile on her face. "We're going to a party tonight Fearne."
•••
Lexi had dressed me in one of her outfits and it was more revealing than anything I had ever worn. It was a plain black t-shirt dress that barely covered my ass. If my father could see me right now he would murder me and bury me underneath the roses.
"Quit messing with the dress Fearne, it's not that bad." She focused more on her face in the rear view mirror than she did on the road. "I just gotta make a quick pitt stop at Arlos first, I left my phone charger there." Suddenly I didn't have enough air in my lungs to breathe.
"What? Lexi, no." I protested. She ignored me, carrying on driving towards Arlo's house.
Things were awkward between us, we hadn't spoken in weeks. Not since I turned him down, again. I think on some level I was avoiding him or maybe he was avoiding me.
"Get it another time." I begged.
"I'll just be a minute."
She wiped the edge of her lips just incase her lipstick had smudged but it was seemingly perfect. Before not too long she was pulling up into his driveway and walked straight into his house.
I would never get used to how they all walked into each other's houses uninvited like they owned the place.
I followed sheepishly behind her, the only thing filling the silence was the drumming of my own heart. She yanked open the patio doors and headed out into the garden, purposely looking for Arlo.
He was in the pool, floating mindlessly on a big inflatable ring, a glass of coke in his hand.
His skin shimmered with oily sun lotion, for the most part he was dry but laying on the surface of his skin was a few water droplets. My saliva thickened in the way it would just as I was about to eat. He was the definition of perfection.
"Where are you taking your imaginary girlfriend this weekend?" He asked Eli, who was sitting at the side of the pool, dangling his legs in.
"Fuck off Arlo" Eli answered without hesitation. Arlo and the four other guys in the pool laughed.
"Arlo!" Lexi interrupted. He raised his head a little off his donut ring to look at Lexi, except his eyes roamed past Lexi and fixated on me. He sighed.
"What are you doing here?" He asked in our general direction. I picked at the skin around my finger nails, feeling nervous and awkward to be here but I didn't answer him.
"Where's my charger?" She demanded with the confidence I lacked.
"Kitchen." He waved us off and Lexi dragged me away. I felt better being away from him but still out-of-place in his house when I had rejected him. I stood awkwardly as she rummaged through his kitchen drawers.
"Ahh, got it!" She pulled it out and set it down on the kitchen counter. "I'm gonna go pee." My eyes widened.
"No, don't leave me." I whisper shouted, she giggled and bounced away. "Shit." I muttered under my breath.
Of course Arlo took that opportunity to come inside and open up his fridge. I looked around, anywhere but at him.
The atmosphere between us was so thick it could be cut with a knife. He took out a glass jug of orange juice and set it on the counter, then he grabbed a glass and poured the liquid while staring right at me.
"Are you staying?" He asked, his words slower than usual. Maybe even a little slurred. Was he drunk or just high off drugs?
"Uh... no... um... I don't think so." I frowned at myself for stuttering. I was so damn nervous around him. "I mean, you wouldn't want that so..."
He seemed weird, zombified. Even his blinking was slower than usual. He took a large sip of orange juice and then set the glass back down on the counter.
"You're here now, aren't you? I'm not going to tell you to leave." I opened my mouth to speak but Lexi interrupted me.
"Done, let's go." I grabbed her charger and spun around rapidly.
"Where are you going?" His slurred voice called out after us. I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to figure out his level of sobriety.
"We're going to a party with some guys. Catch you later dipshit." Lexi walked away.
I hovered in the kitchen, watching Arlo as his eyelashes fluttered open and closed at a slow pace and his movements were delayed.
"What?" He asked moodily.
"Are you drunk?"
"No."
"Did you take something?" He picked up the orange juice and tipped it to the back of his throat until the glass was empty and then he slammed it down on the black glossy counter.
"So many fucking things." He shook his head and rolled his eyes.
"Fearne!" Lexi called from the entrance way.
"The side effects will wear off after a few hours, enjoy your party." He nodded towards the door so I left without saying another word to Arlo.