Trying Not to Love You (4 page)

"What's going on?" Jaylinn asked, looking around.

"Kenzie, what the fuck is he doing here?" Hailey was practically screaming at me. She had every right to be hysterical after the shit that asshole put her through.

"I have no idea. You know I wouldn't invite him here after what he did to you." After senior prom, about thirty of us came to party here at my parent's shore house. Alcohol flowed freely, and everyone became more and more trashed as the night passed. Matt cheated on Hailey with some skank who had come with one of our friends. They broke up that night, and Mason nearly beat the shit out of Matt.

I raised my chin in Matt's direction, "Matt is here." Jaylinn looked over at Matt, anger shooting from her eyes.

Hailey was in tears and near panic. "Why did he show up here? He knows whose house this is."

"Look, let's just hang out here, and finish the game. Try to act like he isn't even here. Chloe, can you text Jackson, and ask him to handle Matt?"

"Yeah, I sure can." She reached for her phone on the table, and I saw her tap out a text. A second later, her phone beeped. "He'll take care of it."

While Jaylinn and I finished our game, Hailey grabbed a bottle of Vodka off the outside bar, and started chugging it.

"You better slow down. I'm not being the only one responsible if this party goes to shit." I knew she would ignore me, and be plastered by the end of the night. After Matt's stunt, I seriously did not blame her.

"Just let her be Kenzie. She's a blast when she's drunk." Jaylinn said, as the ping-pong ball she threw hit the rim of one of the cups.

"Fine, but when she is puking her guts up, she is all yours." I threw my ping-pong ball in the cup and turned to look at Jaylinn with my eyebrows raised, gloating that I made my shot.

Finally, my brothers and Hunter came over, but Mason looked pissed. He was watching Hailey as she drank straight from the vodka bottle. "Kenzie, how much has she had to drink?"

I rolled my eyes at his over protective ass. "She drank the whole bottle of vodka over there,"–pointing to the empty bottle on the bar– "and just started on the second one." I scowled in Hunter's direction. "Where'd your girlfriend go, Hunter?"

Hunter had dated Alexis briefly a few summers ago, and she had dated Dominic right before he and I started dating. She still was not over either one of them, and would do anything to get their attention. She had started rumors that Dominic was going to leave me, and go back to her. She even tried to break us up by telling people that she and Dominic made out after a few of his football games that I had not attended. Dominic always denied it; I didn't think he would do something like that to me, since he was the one that broke up with her.

"She left. Where's Dominic?" Mason said, with a smug look on his face as he answered for Hunter.

"Low blow, Mase. I'm going upstairs." I threw my ping-pong ball at Mason, and turned towards Hailey, "I'm going up to my room; are you coming?"

Hailey giggled at nothing in particular, and shook her head, "No, I'm good out here. I don't think I can move at this point, since I can't feel my legs."

I glared at Mason. "You think you can keep her out of trouble, asshole?"

"Why are you going upstairs? Just stay down here with us. I'm sure Dom will be here soon, CC." Hunter spoke up, as I was getting up out of my seat.

"Kenzie, you're not going upstairs! It's my birthday, and you haven't even had a shot with me yet." Cooper said. He threw his arm over my shoulder and pulled me into a hug, trapping me.

Rolling my eyes, I said, "Fine, but if I have to stay down here, and deal with this bullshit, I'm going to need more than one shot." I got up, and stormed away from them.

In the kitchen, I was about ready to down my shot when I felt a pair of hands grip my hips. I hoped it was Dominic finally getting here, but when I turned around, I was staring at Hunter chest.

Seething through my teeth, I pushed back on him. "Hunter, don't okay, just don't. I can't believe you, of all people, would invite Alexis here."

He crossed his arms across his chest, looked down at the floor, then back up to me. "CC, let's just go out front, and talk for a sec."

"No." I was not going anywhere with him. He knew I hated the drama that bitch brought with her. I had wanted to have a good time tonight, but seeing her had ruined it for me.

"No?" He was challenging me. He knew I had a problem telling him no to pretty much anything.

God damn it!

Why did he have to be so damn hot? Even after that summer, knowing nothing could happen, I still had feelings for him. I had Dominic now, but no matter what my brain said, my heart wanted Hunter. I looked up, and he smirked at me. I rolled my eyes. "Fine, but we can't be gone long; I need to go check on Hailey."

Hunter and I made our way out to the front of the house, and I heard someone call my name. I turned around, and noticed it was Ricky, one of the football players from high school.

"Hey Ricky, what's going on? Are you down here for the night, or are you staying somewhere?"

"A couple of us from the team rented a house down the road for the summer. We got wind that you were throwing a party, so we stopped by. Is Hailey here with you, too?" For as long as I could remember, Ricky had a crush on Hailey, but Hailey was not having anything to do with him.

"Yeah, she's out on the back deck with my brothers and Jaylinn. I'll catch up with you in a little bit." I gave Ricky a hug, and walked down the front steps. Hunter and I walked down the driveway, away from the blaring music, and the people gathered on the front porch.

"What's going on with you and Ricky? You know Dominic has a problem with that asshole." Hunter asked, glaring at Ricky over my shoulder.

"Nothing is going on with me and Ricky. We are just friends. You know, I am allowed to have friends."

"Why did you have to hug him then?"

"UGH! Are we seriously doing this?" Hunter nodded his head. "Dominic only has a problem with him because he told me that he saw Dominic and Alexis together after one of the games. Look, I am not having this argument with you. Let's just go back inside. I need to go check on Hailey, and Dominic should be here soon."

I started walking away from him. "Wait!" Hunter called out, and I stopped walking, but I did not turn around. "Please don't be mad at me. I'm trying to do the right thing here."

"Yeah? And what's that?" Hunter took a few steps, pushed his body flush against my back and whispered in my ear, "Keeping you away from me, CC. You know I want you. Fuck, you can feel it." To prove his point, he shifted his hips so that I could feel his hardness. "We both know I just can't have you." Hunter backed away from me, and walked back towards the house.

Hunter left me standing in the driveway, all hot and frustrated, as he walked back into the house. Yes, I knew he wanted me. That was clear. What I did not understand was why he would tell me this now. He knew I was with Dominic. Hunter would never act on his feelings; look how that turned out last time. I needed to clear my head before I could walk back into the party, so I took the little path beside the house that lead to the beach. I watched the waves crash and the moon dance on the ocean for a little while before I went back to check on Hailey. I could not imagine how trashed she would be if she had not stopped drinking yet.

I was walking between the sand dunes when I spotted Hailey sitting on the bottom step with Mason and Hunter hovering over her. I bent down to her level so I could see her. "Mase, what's wrong with her?" Hailey was sobbing.

He looked annoyed and disgusted. "I don't know. She is either crying about her ex-boyfriend, her one-night stand from last weekend or her own puke. None of those things are worth her tears, though."

Hailey had a different relationship with Mason than she did with Jackson and Cooper. I had asked her a few times if she had feelings for Mason. She had always denied it, so I left it for them to figure out.

"He…had…Slam Station…carved…into his…headboard…and he wasn't…even any good at it." Hailey was saying between the sniffling and hiccupping. She was trying to get over Matt, but was going about it the wrong way. She was going out with different guys all the time. This was the third one-night stand she had this month. Lucky for her, Mason does not know about the those. There is no telling what Mason would do to them.

Trying my hardest not to laugh at her, I reached over and put my hand on her knee. "Shut up and let's get you upstairs." I seriously hoped she was done running her mouth. I knew she was going to regret saying that tomorrow.

She tried to stand up, but nearly fell over. "I'm not sure if I should be proud of you for waiting, or disappointed in you for letting your sex life get this sad Kenzie."

"Christ, Hailey! That is enough. Come on, let's go." I grabbed Hailey by her arm to try to pull her up, but she was dead weight. Hunter grabbed her arm from me, and picked her up so we could make our way inside. When we reached my room, I dug into my pocket for the key to unlock my door. It was a pain in the ass to have the doors locked, but we really didn't want to have people hooking up in our beds.

Hailey put her arm around Hunter's neck. "You know what? I'm just so happy because I get to go to bed, and when I wake up there will be chocolate milk and Mason's penis waiting for me." I gasped, looking back at Hailey while she started to giggle.

"That is just wrong on soooo many levels Hailey." Hunter said, trying not to laugh; clearly, the situation amused him.

I just shook my head. "Like, really wrong, Hails! That is just disgusting. No one wants to hear about that shit!"

As I got the door opened, Hunter stepped in and put Hailey down on her feet. She started jumping up and down, screaming she had to pee. After she had taken off towards the bathroom, I took a few steps towards my bed. Hunter grabbed my hand, and turned me around to face him. He whispered, "CC, you look so damn sexy tonight." Then he leaned in, and kissed my forehead.

He was giving me whiplash. He wanted me, but did not want me at the same time. After a few seconds, I heard him curse under his breath. "I've got to get out of here before I do something I shouldn't. If Hailey becomes too much for you to handle, just come get me or one of your brothers." Looking puzzled, I said, "Goodnight, Hunter." Then he left.

About an hour later, there was a knock at the door. I got off my bed, went to open the door and found Dominic leaning against the wall across from my door.

I was furious. "What in hell took you so long? I thought you would have been here hours ago?"

He was standing there, looking at me as if I was crazy and being unreasonable. "Can I just come in, and we can talk?"

I walked back in my room, and he followed behind me. "Just be quiet. Hailey isn't feeling good. She had too much to drink."

"You couldn't put her in her own damn room? I haven't seen you in two weeks, MacKenzie."

I shook my head, "No, I couldn't. Hunter is in the spare room, and you know I always share this room with Hailey and Jaylinn."

Cocking his head at me, he asked, "Why are you being such a bitch? It was just a question. I drove all this way just to see you; you could have at least made sure we had our own room."

"You know what Dominic? Just leave. I don't even know why you bothered to show up this late. You didn't have practice today, so there is no excuse for why you were late."

He grabbed the bag he had left by the door. "Fine. I don't know why I bothered to drive hours just to come to this stupid ass party anyway." He walked out the door, and slammed it shut.

Hailey walked out of the bathroom, shaking her head. "I don't know why you stay with that asshat, Kenzie."

"He never used to be like that."