So it's just me and my mom. But I might as well be alone in this big house.
Ambling down the staircase, I fish my phone out of my pants pocket and scroll through my contact list until my eyes settle on Peyton’s number. The image of her on that bed with Liam flashes through my mind, and it's all I can do not to hurl my phone at the wall.
My girlfriend and my damn best friend.
In hindsight, I should have seen this coming. Peyton and Liam were hooking up before I entered the picture. Before Liam decided to set his eyes on her.
The vivid memory of Sawyer Dunn sobbing into my chest makes me want to hurt him. To deliver ten times the pain he gave her.
I’d seen her first, wanted her first, but I took a step back and let him have her. I thought he'd make her happy. I thought he’d be right for her. I thought he would be able to give her what I couldn't.
Not after my dad fucked off and skipped town with his secretary, abandoning the family he was supposed to care for, transferring all his problems and responsibilities on my shoulders—his selfishness leaving me without any room to care for someone else.
So I quietly watched as Sawyer fell for Liam and started dating him. Then when the jealousy had gotten to be too much, I went after Peyton—her best friend—who’d been more than willing to be my girlfriend so she could make Liam jealous.
But even though our relationship started for all the wrong reasons, we made it work. I buried my feelings for Sawyer and tried to be a good boyfriend to Peyton. I thought we were good together. I thought she was safe and dependable.
Now, isn’t that a goddamn joke?
No doubt she's with Liam right now, relieved that they don't have to sneak around anymore. Fucking ecstatic that we're no longer in the way.
And what about Sawyer? How is she doing? Is she still pining over her cheating ex-boyfriend?
And what will you do now that she's single? Will you go after her and finally stake your claim?
Fuck if I know.
Not wanting to dwell on those nagging questions, I push them to the back of my mind. And just as I do, my phone pings with a text message.
It's Bennett. Party at Giovanni's in an hour.
I stare at the message. I'm not in the mood for a party, especially after what happened in the last one I went to. But neither do I feel like staying home. Mom has company; Janna won't leave until later. I'm free to go.
Decision made, I type a response: I'll be there.
*******
"Fuckhead is asking if we're at G's party right now," Bennett announces over the loud music, ruffling his already-messy blond hair with his fingers as he stares down at his phone.
My eyebrows rise. "Fuckhead?"
"Liam." He studies my reaction to that name.
I don't give any.
So Liam texted Bennett, yet he hasn't reached out to me since Carson's party. No half-ass apology about what happened. Nothing.
Like he doesn't regret a damn thing.
"What did you tell him?" Giovanni probes even as his gaze lasers on the dancefloor where two girls are grinding on each other and giving him fuck-me eyes.
"I told him to suck my dick, what else?"
Jamie smirks, blowing out a cloud of smoke over his head as he takes a drag of his cigarette. "Knew I was right to doubt your sexuality."
Instead of getting pissed, Bennett flutters his lashes. "I'd give you the same offer, Jamie-boy, but we both know you won't be able to handle all this awesome man meat."
"Jesus," I mutter.
These guys are like brothers to me. But sometimes, I wonder why I hang out with them.
"Don't say man meat ever again," Jamie says, taking another hit on his cigarette.
"Man meat," Bennett repeats, just to be a dick.
"Think he'll crash this party?" Giovanni asks, glancing around his crowded place with a frown, as if Liam is already here.
Jamie smiles darkly. "If he does, we'll throw his ass out the moment he shows up at the door."
I never asked the three of them to pick a side. Liam betrayed me, not them. I told them they were free to stay friends with him. But they just brushed it off, as if I was speaking nonsense.
Giovanni said Liam's actions meant he couldn't be trusted. If he managed to fuck me over, he wouldn't have any problem doing the same to them in the future.
I didn't bother arguing with that. Why the hell should I waste time changing their minds? Whether or not they want anything to do with him makes no difference to me. I'm still done being friends with him.
Bennett whistles. "Uh-oh. Giovanni, man, those dumbasses are playing with your mom's blue vase. Didn't it come from the Ming dynasty or some shit?"
"Fuck. My parents are gonna kill me." Giovanni jumps up from the couch and stalks toward a group of guys goofing off with the invaluable vase, ignorant of its real worth.
"His dad will definitely kill him," Bennett snorts. "Hell, Mr. Russo will probably bury him in an unmarked grave himself."
Romano Russo, Giovanni's father, is rumored to be a mafia boss. He's a big Italian guy who's always dressed in suits and surrounded by at least three men every time he makes an appearance. He manages a lot of businesses, according to Giovanni, but people interpret it as businesses related to the mafia.
I believe the rumor is nothing but bullshit, but what do I really know?
"So your sister is still dating that loser," Jamie's amused voice draws my attention.
"What?" I clip.
Smirking, he points his cigarette at the dancefloor where, sure enough, Aria is dancing.
My eyebrows pull together in a frown. I didn't even know she was here.
Her friends are with her, but they're not the only ones. Michael
