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Clearly my brother drunk is even more useless than my brother sober.
“So, what’s going on with you and Kellan?” Kiara’s standing beside me in a metallic-pink bikini, looking out at the pool like she didn’t say anything.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She faces me, one perfect eyebrow raised. “Right.”
Is this where I’m supposed to tell her I like him and to back off? I’m not going to do that. I can’t control who Kellan’s with any more than he can control who I’m with. I want him tochooseme. I want him towantto be with me, and telling Kiara to stay away from him won’t do anything except tip my brother off to what’s going on. I may not like that she’s flirting with Kellan, but who am I to tell her to stop?
I’m spared from having to reply when Darius and Kellan appear at our sides, Darius holding a half-empty beer bottle.
They make small talk, but Kiara just stares at me like she has more to say and isn’t happy.
“Hey, shorty!” says a loud voice on the microphone, the announcer looking right at me. “You’re up!”
I pat Darius’s arm. “Let’s show ’em who’s boss, Dar.”
He doesn’t seem to mind that I’ve just branded him with a new nickname as he smiles and sets his beer down somewhere.
We stand beside the announcer, a guy in his early thirties with a shaved head who’s wearing white pressed pants and a pink T-shirt with a name tag that reads “Omar.”
“And who wants to face these two?” Omar asks into the microphone.
I brush my hair over my shoulder as there are some whistles and catcalls, and then Kiara yells, “We’ll do it!”
She steps forward with Kellan a few feet behind her.
“You’re usually my chicken fight partner at parties, Fayanna.
You sure you want to go up against the champ?” Kellan jokes, his tone light and flirty.
Despite being a little put off that he’s not exhibiting any jealousy, I smile confidently at him. “You’re about to find out what it feels like to lose. Come on, Dar.”
As Darius and I jump into the pool, the large crowd cheers.
Darius slips under the water, and when he stands, I’m lifted into the air. Seated on his shoulders, his hands on my thighs for support, we wait as Kiara and Kellan get into position as well.
“Best of three!” Omar announces. “Go!”
Kellan and Darius walk closer to each other, and Kiara and I grab onto each other’s forearms. It’s hard to keep balance sitting on Darius’s shoulders while trying not to let Kiara, who has a height advantage on me, knock me into the pool. She digs her nails into my forearms with a force that tells me it has nothing to do with the game, and my competitive fire flares. The cheers from the crowd fade from my ears as I focus on trying to knock her smug face into the water. She shoves me, and I almost lose balance, but Darius rights me before I fall. Then, as we round on them, I grab Kiara’s forearms and pull, and she falls sideways into the water.
The drunken crowd cheers, and Darius gives me a congratulatory high five. I glance over at Kellan, but he doesn’t seem to mind me blatantly flirting with Darius. Kiara gets back on Kellan’s shoulders, and before I know what’s happening, I have an arm in my face and then I’m in the water.
I pop back up for air and Kiara’s laughing with Kellan.
Okay, she’sseriouslypissing me off. Darius helps me back onto his shoulders, and Kiara and I square off. We eye each other and there’s an intense animosity in her eyes. She pulls my hair not even a second after we start, which issoagainst the unspoken rules. I push her off me, and our attacks become less and less like a friendly game, and more and more personal.
“Can you just lose already?” Kiara exclaims.
She pulls my hair again, and I’ve had it. We push and pull each other, and soon I lose my balance.
“Ahh!”Kiara and I both go airborne, landing in the water with our arms wrapped around each other.
“I can’t believe you pulled my hair!” I say when we pop up for air.
Kiara doesn’t react. She just covers her mouth with her hand.
“What?” I ask, looking around.
