“I’m bored. Let’s go in the hot tub,” Shane said, setting his controller down a few hours later. We had been playing video games and snacking for the past several hours.
“Yea,” I said, jumping up and cracking my stiff neck.
We changed into swim trunks and grabbed alcohol. Knowing that Mitch was going to be there with us, I grabbed extra alcohol.
We went out to the back deck and slowly climbed into the hot tub. I relaxed once I was in the hot water.
I leaned back and closed my eyes. I hated how everything was. Even Mitch and Shane didn’t seem close anymore. Sure they had always argued and fought, but they had been extremely close. Now it didn’t feel that way anymore.
“I see we all had the same idea.”
I opened my eyes at the sound of Rio’s voice. He and Mitch were standing in front of the hot tub in their swim trunks.
I forced myself not to look at Mitch’s incredible body. Not to remember the passionate nights we had shared together last summer.
“Mind if we join?” Rio asked. He also had a very nice body going for him, although it was nowhere near as amazing as Mitch’s.
“Go for it. I don’t want to face Carol’s wrath,” Shane said.
“No one wants to face Carol’s wrath,” Mitch said, getting in the hot tub.
I shifted so that I was next to Shane. Mitch sat across from me and Rio sat across from Shane. We fell into an uncomfortable silence.
“Is this going to happen every time Jace and I are anywhere near each other?” Mitch asked, raising an eyebrow. “I hate awkward silences.”
“Shut up,” Shane said, splashing water at Mitch.
“Ass,” Mitch grumbled.
I reached over the edge of the hot tub and grabbed myself a beer. I twisted the cap off and took a swing form the bottle. I could feel Mitch’s eyes on me as I drank.
“It’s a beer, Mitchell,” I said, my voice irritated. “I’m not a one beer queer.”
“I didn’t say anything,” he said with a shrug.
“You’re watching me, and I don’t like it,” I growled, looking up to glare at him.
“Well of course I’m watching you. You’re sitting right across from me. I either have to physically move my head, or else watch Shane. You’re the more appealing of those options. Hand me a beer,” he said.
I grabbed a beer and lazily tossed it to Mitch. He opened it and took a sip. I grabbed one for Shane and tossed another to Rio.
“So…” Rio said after about two more minutes of awkward silence.
Mitch sighed. “Seriously, I can’t stand this. Do you want me to sing What Hurts The Most to you?”
“You’re such a bastard!” I snapped.
“Mitch, quit it,” Shane said, his voice warning. “You’re making things way worse. Just shut your damn mouth.”
“Jesus,” Rio said, watching us in amusement.
“Yes?” Mitch asked.
“I said Jesus, not slut,” Rio said.
Shane snickered and brought the beer back to his lips before he could laugh. Mitch rolled his eyes and flicked water at Rio’s face.
“What? It’s true,” Rio said, laughing.
“Whatever, man. Why don’t we have music going out here?” Mitch asked.
But I found myself staring between Mitch and Rio. Did they have sex together? What the hell were they? Friends, or more?
“Go get speakers,” Shane said.
“I’m not getting out. I’ll be cold. Rio, go grab speakers,” Mitch said.
“Hell no, I’m not your bitch,” Rio said.
Mitch and Shane glanced at each other. “MOM!” they called at the same time.
Carol appeared in the open window. “What?” she asked.
“Grab the speakers,” the brothers said.
“Do either of you know the word please?” Carol said in annoyance.
“Can you please get us the speakers?” I asked her.
She gestured at me. “Thank you. This is why Jace is my favorite,” she said before disappearing to go grab speakers.
“You’re such a suck-up,” Shane said, splashing water at me.
“You’re just jealous that your mom likes me more than you,” I said, smirking.
“You can have the old hag,” Shane said. “At least your mom is a MILF.”
I punched him in the arm. “That’s my mom, you pervert!”
“Your mom is pretty hot,” Mitch said.
I glared at him. “Stop talking about my mom!”
Mitch shrugged. “What? She passed it along nicely to you.”
Glad that my face was already red from the heat of the hot tub, I kicked my foot so that water splashed at Mitch’s face. He shook his hair, sending water droplets flying.
“Rude,” he grumbled.
“So is talking about my mom,” I said.
“It’s not like we were insulting her,” Shane said, laughing. “Would you like it better if we insulted her?”
“You can go right ahead and do that, but then I’m kicking you in the balls so hard they’re going to fly out of your mouth,” I said and shrugged.
“Jace is a little mama’s boy!” Shane teased, slinging an arm around my neck and ruffling my hair.
“What’s wrong with being a mama’s boy?” Carol asked as she came outside with the speakers. “You and Mitch used to be mama’s boys.”
“Nah,” Shane said as I shoved him off of me.
“Sure you were. I remember Mitch got separated from me in the store one time and just sat down and started crying,” Carol said.
“Mom!” Mitch said in annoyance. “Shut up!”
“And Shane, the first time you ever slept over Jace’s house, his mom called me in the middle of the night because you were crying and wanted to come home. You wanted your mommy,” Carol said, reaching out and pinching Shane’s cheek.
Shane smacked her hand off, pouting. “You are an evil woman.”
“Then you both grew up. Now you’re just rude to me. Morons,” she said, setting the speakers down.
“I remember that sleepover!” I said, laughing. “We ended up sleeping here because you didn’t want to be away from your mom. My dad had to drive us here in the middle of the night.”
“Oh shit, I do remember that. Your parents were trying to make me stop crying,” Shane said miserably.
Mitch and Rio snickered. “Loser,” Mitch said.
“At least I didn’t sit in the middle of the store crying!” Shane shot.
“I was a little kid, drop it!” Mitch said, getting an adorable pout on his face.
“I miss you being little. Now you’re just rude and you piss me off,” Carol said with a sigh before walking back into the house.
Mitch leaned over and plugged his phone into the speakers, blasting his music. We leaned back, all relieved that the awkward silence was hidden by the music.
Cody Carson’s cover of Talk Dirty began to play, and it reminded me of the time Mitch had showed up to my house bloody. I glanced at the scar on his shoulder, fully visible since he was just wearing his swim trunks right now.
“Uno, met your friend in Rio,” Mitch and Rio sang and laughed.
“You guys are dumbasses,” Shane said as he watched them with little interest.
“I’m bored,” Rio said, leaning against Mitch lazily. “We should play spin the bottle shots.”
“I like the way he thinks,” Shane said, grinning.
“Is that a good idea?” Mitch asked, his eyes flicking to me briefly.
I glared at him. “Mitchell, stop acting like I’m an alcoholic. I’m old enough to drink if I want to. I don’t have a drinking problem.”
“The man has spoken and it’s settled: Spin the bottle shots,” Rio said, standing up.
We all copied him and wrapped towels around our waists. We grabbed the speakers and alcohol and went inside. Shane and I changed before opening his door. Mitch and Rio came in a minute later, dressed in shorts and tank tops.
We sat down and set up Dixie cups, filling them with random drinks. Most were alcoholic, but some were filled with just soda.
“Shane what are you doing?” I asked in horror.
“What?” he asked as he poured vegetable oil into a cup.
“I’m not taking that,” Mitch said in disgust.
“Me either,” I said, shaking my head.
“It’s like Russian Roulette,” Rio said as Shane finished pouring it.
“Exactly!” Shane said. “There’s got to be at least one absolutely disgusting shot.”
“Vegetable oil,” I said and shuddered. “Man, we better have chasers.”
“Here,” he said and tossed us each a water bottle.
We arranged the shots in a circle and sat down around it. Mitch grabbed an extra water bottle and placed it in the center.
He looked up and his eyes locked on mine. I couldn’t help but grin a little as our fingers flew up to our noses.
“Nose goes!” we cried.
“Nose goes!” Rio said, hurriedly bringing his finger to his nose.
“I fucking hate you guys!” Shane whined and spun the bottle.
He took a shot and made a disgusted face, quickly chasing. I spun next, praying that Jesus took the wheel. I grabbed the shot it landed on and threw it back, nearly gagging as it burned down my throat.
“What did you put in these shots?” I asked miserably once I was done chasing water.
“Some are shitty. Some are normal,” Shane said with a sigh.
“This was normal,” Rio said when he was done taking his shot.
“This was normal,” Shane mocked.
Mitch rolled his eyes and spun the bottle. We continued going around in a circle, the amount of shots getting smaller and smaller.
“Shane, I hope you burn in hell,” Mitch snarled as the water bottle landed on the vegetable oil shot. He picked it up and inspected it with a disgusted face.
“Come on Mitch! Take it!” Rio said.
Mitch looked at it miserably before closing his eyes and throwing the shot back. He gagged and Rio handed him his water. He chugged it and coughed when he was done.
“Never again!” he said. “That was worse than swallowing cum.” His eyes shot to me, and I blushed.
“Oh, come on!” Shane said in annoyance, chucking a Dixie cup at him. “You little perverted freak.”
“What? It’s true,” Mitch said, taking another swallow of water. “And you know it’s true because you heard it.” He leaned back and lightly tapped on the wall that was between his and Shane’s rooms.
“Why do you keep bringing all this shit up Mitch?” I asked in irritation. “Yea, we had sex. That was a year ago. Get over yourself.”
“How can you tell me to get over myself when you’re not even over me?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
I stared at him, my mouth slightly open in surprise. I snapped my mouth shut and narrowed my eyes at him.
“I’ve been over you. I moved on in life,” I said coldly.
“No, you haven’t. You never do,” he said. “It’s been 14 years since your dad left, and you’re still not over him.”
“Mitch, what the fuck? Don’t bring his dad into this,” Shane said angrily.
“Shane, shut up. You don’t help anything. Supplying him with liquor doesn’t solve anything,” Mitch said, not taking his eyes off of me. “If you can’t get over something that happened 14 years ago, there’s no way you got over something that happened last year.”
“Don’t hold yourself so high, you piece of shit. You’re not my dad. You’re just my best friend’s shady little brother,” I said. My voice remained cold and my expression was carefully closed off.
Mitch stared at me in surprise. “I knew you got bad, but I didn’t think it was this bad. Jace, you’re closing down from everyone. Look, I know what happened last year. But I think we just need to talk about it already.”
I stood up. “I’m leaving,” I said, forcing my voice to keep emotionless. “We’re done, Mitchell. Stop trying to talk to me about things. Stop bringing up our relationship. It’s over, you ended it, and I’m making sure it stays ended.”
Shane stood up and shoved me so that I was sitting again. “You’re staying here,” he said. He turned and gripped Mitch’s tank top, dragging him to his feet. “You’re the one who’s leaving.”
“Let me go!” Mitch said angrily, struggling against Shane.
Shane twisted Mitch’s arm behind him and Mitch hissed in pain. Shane fought with Mitch until he was out of the room. He slammed the door, locking it.
“Uh…” Rio said, glancing at the locked door. “Still here, Shane.”
“Stay here until Mitch is gone. Otherwise he’ll dart back into my room,” Shane grumbled. He came over and sat down, grabbing Vodka and pouring the three of us shots.
I took my shot happily, wanting to get lost in the fog of alcohol. But I frowned as Shane poured another shot for each of us and put the alcohol away.
“We’re done for the night,” he said, glancing at me. “The midget is pissing me off, but he does have a point. You were developing a drinking problem last summer. Jake said he was worried about you through the year. We’re not going through that again. We’re keeping the alcohol lower than last summer.”
“Shit, you guys have some problems,” Rio said, taking his second shot.
“Shut up,” I said.
Rio chuckled. “Calm down, I don’t judge. My brother had a drug problem when he was in high school. I get it. You’re probably still in the phase where you’re defensive and don’t accept it.”
“Don’t make me toss you out the window,” Shane warned.
“Sorry, sorry. I’ll let it drop.” Rio grinned at me. “But I think you need to be more careful around liquor if people who care about you are telling you that you have a problem.”
“Changing the subject,” Shane said, turning to me. “Did you ever tell your mom you were staying here?”
“Oh shit,” I groaned, whipping out my phone. “She’s probably freaking out.”
I dialed my mom’s number and held the phone to my ear. It rang twice before my mom picked up.
“Jace?” she said, and I could hear the worry in her voice that I despised so much.
“Sorry, I forgot to call you. I’ve been at Shane’s,” I said, feeling guilty.
“I figured. But sometimes you go off to other places. Are you alright?” she asked.
“I’m fine,” I said, nodding even though she couldn’t see me.
“Okay…well…behave,” she said seriously. “I love you Jace.”
“I love you too mom,” I said and hung up.
I turned my head as I heard a faint scratching noise. I saw Shane’s door handle rattle slightly and I nudged him, nodding towards it.
Shane glared in annoyance, standing up. He went over and roughly body slammed the door.
“DAD!” he called, sounding pissed. “MITCH IS TRYING TO UNLOCK MY DOOR AGAIN!”
“Mitchell!” I heard Jasper yelling. “Get over here! Get away from Shane’s door!”
The sounds of arguing reached us, and then a door slamming. Rio cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair.
“Oh, this is awkward,” he said.
“Rio, sit there and don’t say words,” Shane said, walking over and slapping him in the forehead.
“Rude,” Rio grumbled, rubbing his forehead. “Anyways, I think Mitch is away from your door. Can I leave now?”
Shane grinned. “No, you can’t. Because Mitch is being a bitch, and I want to piss him off.”
“Don’t use me to do that,” Rio groaned.
“You’re sleeping in here tonight. I’m tired, so we’re going to bed,” Shane said. “And if you try to leave, I’ll tie you to the chair again.”
“My neck was killing me when I woke up the next morning,” Rio said with a sigh, rubbing his neck. “Guess I’m staying here for the night.”
“You and Jace can share the couch,” Shane said. “It pulls out.”
“So do I. Want a demonstration?” Rio asked, winking.
“Oh lord,” I grumbled, rolling my eyes and getting up. I went over and pulled the couch out, setting up blankets.
We all changed and laid down together. Shane hit the lights and I moved towards the edge of the couch in the darkness. I didn’t like sharing a couch with Rio. God only knows what the guy did with Mitchell.
As my vision adjusted to the darkness, I glanced over at Shane’s bed. I could hear his breathing and tell that he was out cold.
“Hey, sorry Mitch keeps bringing up shit. I know how that feels,” Rio said, making me jump a little in surprise. I thought he had fallen asleep too.
“Whatever. It’s not like you control Mitch,” I said. “No one does. He just does whatever he wants and doesn’t care about the consequences.”
“For what it’s worth, he used to talk about you a lot,” he said.
“Used to?” I asked.
“Trevor told him it was annoying,” he said, laughing a little. “But for about two weeks, he just talked about you and things you guys used to do together. Sometimes Shane was thrown in, sometimes he wasn’t.”
“I don’t care,” I said, rolling over so that my back was to Rio.
“Yes, you do,” he said, and I could imagine his grin. “But keep lying to yourself, Jace. I’m sure it’s working wonders. Goodnight.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. I wasn’t lying to myself. I didn’t care about Mitch anymore. Hell, I had learned not to let myself care about anyone too much anymore. Everyone I loved seemed to hurt me. So I had stopped getting close to people. I would never let anyone get close to me again, especially not Mitch.