Stuck With The Four Hotties

I can see the infinity tattoo above his right hip, and since my eyes are already down there … Wow. Not only does he have a perfect six pack, he’s also got those delicious V-lines. They draw my eyes down to the waistband of his shorts, briefly wondering what might be underneath.

Damn.

All this time spent with Creed, Zayd, and Tristan is really corrupting me. I pretend like I wasn’t just checking Zack out, and take his hand when he offers it to me, letting him pull me to my feet. It’s like I weigh nothing, and in a split-second, I’m up and in his muscular arms, and he’s carrying me to the water.

Lizzie laughs as Zack puts me on an orange floating raft, and pulls me around the lake. Today is the complete opposite of my experience with Zayd, hanging out in the bright sun in the warm, warm water with a sea of people around us versus that solitary moonlit excursion …

I grin.

“Do you like it here?” Zack asks me after a while. “I don’t just mean at the lodge, I mean at Burberry Prep in general?” He looks at me questioningly,

and I shrug.

“If you’d asked me that question a few months ago,” I start, reaching up to pull my shades down over my eyes. The sun really is bright today. You can tell that winter’s long-gone, and spring is out in full force. “I’d have given you a different answer. But as of right now, it’s a yes.”

Zack nods, but he doesn’t smile. He looks far away, lost in thought. “They’re not bothering you?” He asks, making eye contact with me.

“Not anymore,” I admit, watching him as he gives me a ride around the lake, swimming with one arm and pulling me with the other. When we get to the opposite shore, Zack sits on the sandy beach, half in the water, and we hold hands so I don’t float away.

“I don’t even really like these parties,” he says, glancing up at me from under a fall of dark hair. “I only came today because of you.”

My mouth opens in surprise, and I feel a slight blush work its way to my cheeks. I don’t think I ever properly thanked him for the caramels, but the fact that he remembered in the first place, that meant the world to me. We might not have had the best run of it when we were dating, but he seems to be trying to make up for it now.

He Fan never make up for what he did to you, my mind whispers, but I ignore it. I’d rather just forget about it all at this point.

“You came for me?” I repeat, and Zack nods, staring off into the distance. He’s not very talkative, but when he says something, he means it. He almost destroyed me with those words of his. I imagine, if he put that strength of his to better use, he could move mountains.

“Yep.”

Silence falls between us for a while, the only sound the lapping of the water against the shore and the birds singing in the trees. When the sun gets too hot, Zack swims me back over to the other side, and we get out, wrapping towels around ourselves and settling in to eat fruit at one of the tables inside the lodge.

We sit so close, our naked thighs touch. And I decide then that if he asks me to stay the night again, I will. Not for sex or anything like that, but just to talk, hang out. I miss hanging out with Zack.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

After a while, the Idols show back up. Creed scowls as soon as he sees Zack and me sitting together, but Zayd ignores him completely. He flops down on my other side and pulls me right into his lap.

Zack notices, and his eyes narrow to slits.

“You’re here again?” Tristan asks, pausing in the kitchen to make himself a drink. I reach up and touch the necklace. I didn’t wear it swimming, but as soon as I got out, I put it back on. I like the way it feels against my skin.

“I can go to whatever goddamn Infinity Club party I want,” Zack growls, his voice low and dark. He really, really doesn’t like Tristan Vanderbilt.

“True,” Creed says, sitting down on the opposite side of the table. “But not when all you’re going to do is sit there and pant all over Marnye.” Creed’s blue eyes slide over to mine. When our gazes lock, a tingle goes through me and I shiver. Honestly, I don’t mind Zack panting over me, but I’m guessing that none of the Idol boys likes it much.

“Why don’t you worry about yourself, and I’ll worry about me and Marnye?” Zack says, crossing his muscular arms over his chest.

“You didn’t seem to give a shit about Marnye a few years ago,” Zayd says absentmindedly, and Zack stiffens up like he’s been punched.

“Don’t.” Zack puts his palms flat on the table, and his eyes meet Tristan’s. He switches his gaze from him to Creed, to Zayd, and back again, but I have no idea what’s going on, so I don’t weigh in.

“You told Marnye about that girl you killed yet?” Tristan asks casually, coming over to stand beside us with a drink in his hand. The way he looks down at Zack, it doesn’t bode well. He wants to destroy him. I can see it written into every line of his face, in the way he holds his shoulders, and the way he taps his finger against the side of his cup. “Or, I’m sorry, that girl you almost killed? What happened to her again? She stuffed some pills down her throat in the school bathroom?” Tristan’s gaze moves over to mine, and I feel this coldness come over me. His expression softens slightly, almost apologetically, like he doesn’t want to say these things but has no choice.

“What are you talking about?” I ask, my voice so low it’s practically a whisper. Zack meets my gaze as pain and regret shoots through his. He looks like he’s about to throw up. “Zack?”

Zack grits his teeth and exhales, closing his eyes against a wave of emotion.

“Go on, tell her,” Creed says, leaning his elbow lazily on the table and resting his chin in his palm. “Tell her what you did. At least give her the chance to know the real you.” He shrugs his shoulders like he doesn’t care much either way. “If she still wants to hang out with you, then good on her. She’s a more forgiving person than I am.”

“Marnie,” Zack says, reaching up to take my hand. I let him hold it, let him weave his fingers through mine and marvel at how good it feels. I like Zack. I really do, despite all the things he put me through. “There’s something I need to tell you.”