Story of Us

Chapter 1-Part 2 Sawyer

I look up from my phone to see Amber walking up the dock toward the boat. I choked on a sip from my coffee, and my eyes got big before I regained my composure.

"Hey, baby," Amber coos in that annoying high-pitched squeal, and Derek looks up in shock. "Surprise," she giggles.

Quickly regaining his composure, Derek walks up to his girlfriend. She throws her arms around him and kisses him, adding a dash more drama and groping in that embrace for my benefit, I'm sure. She pulls back and purrs at him, "You taste fruity. What did you have for breakfast?" she says, running her tongue over her lips, and I choke again, this time causing coffee to shoot out of my nose. As I recover, Derek is helping Amber into the boat.

"Real classy, Sawyer," Amber says, rolling her eyes. Derek grabs a towel and comes over to help me clean up my mess.

"Are you okay?" he asks while kneeling in front of me and putting a hand on my knee.

"I'm peachy," I say with a smirk, then let my eyes drift over to Amber. She huffs with anger that I am getting attention. Derek looks at me conspiratorially.

Derek gets up and walks over to Amber, lazily throwing his arm around her shoulders. "Well, darlin', I am surprised. What made you change your mind and come up for the weekend?" Derek draws out, mustering as much faux southern charm as he can. I steal a glance at Trevor and just know his name is about to come out of Amber's thin lips. He smiles at me.

"Well, Trevor–" Amber says excitedly, staring up at Derek, and I mimic her silently to Trevor then roll my eyes and flip him off – "texted me a picture of you last night sitting all alone by the fire and said you were having a miserable time up here, and that I should at least try to come up for the weekend. So, I had daddy fly me to Redding this morning to surprise you. I'll drive back down with you on Monday!" She squeals, and I cover my ears.

"Oh God," I balked. "Seriously, Amber, when will puberty hit you? That little girl screech is too much for me." Her jaw drops at my rudeness as I glare, daring her with my eyes to say something back to me.

"Sawyer!" Brady chastises me, and I look up at him, batting my lashes like I haven't just verbally bitch slapped my least favorite person in the world. "Play nice, please; this is going to be a fun weekend. We don't want to start it off with a catfight."

"I'm sorry, Brady, you're right." I coo at my brother. He motions his head toward Amber as if he wants me to apologize to her too, but I simply laugh and take a sip of my coffee. He sighs and shrugs at Derek.

"Jess and Reece will be here in 20 minutes," I inform Brady, and he nods his approval.

"Baby, let's put your things in our room." Derek purrs at Amber, and she nods as they disembark the boat and head up to the house. Brady follows them, and I throw a murderous look at 'Cock Block' Trevor.

Well, my weekend distraction tactic has officially been sabotaged.

My situation is...difficult. I have grown up with Derek; our moms were best friends. Although he is Brady's age, we have always gotten along well together. At 16, I loved the attention he gave, the small, forbidden touches, the secret kisses. When I turned 18, Brady made a big deal about reminding Derek specifically about the "Sawyer is off-limits" law. Lucky for me, Derek is not a law-abiding citizen, and that same night, I lost my virginity to Derek. We have always kept our little rendezvous secret from Brady. I think that is what has kept my interest in Derek, honestly.

This is difficult because I have been messing around with Derek for 2 years now, but it has never been a secret that I have a massive crush on Trevor. Since they were freshmen in high school, Trevor and Brady have been best friends, but I didn't really notice him until my eighteenth birthday party when his gift to me was what he likes to call "a moment in time." Trevor is an MMA Fighter by occupation, but his hobby is music. Guitar, piano, saxophone, tambourine...if you hand that man an instrument, he will master it in minutes. At my birthday party, Trevor took out a guitar and played Seabreeze by Tyrone Wells in front of everyone. He said it was impossible to buy a gift for a girl who never asks for material things, so he was giving me something more valuable: a memory, "a moment in time" dedicated to me. I know what he said word for word because he has given me the same gift every year on my birthday, although it is always a different love ballad. There is nothing sexier than a man who takes out an instrument and sings to you, so of course, I fell head over heels in lust for this gorgeous man with a god-like chiseled body and sexy voice. Trevor continues to torture me by rebuffing me every chance he gets.

Now enter the mess with Amber. Amber Clark has been the bane of my existence since kindergarten. She has been lingering on the outskirts of my life for as long as I can remember. Always acting as if our lives were a competition. Always trying to prove she is better than me. After high school, Amber hooked up with Trevor.....my Trevor... the Trevor who will not even acknowledge that I might be an attractive female 364 days out of the year. (I don't count my birthday because singing me a love ballad is definitely acknowledging that I might be an attractive female.) Last year in LA, I walked in on her and Trevor going at it in our pantry...Where Rosa stores our food! He was balls deep, hitting it from behind with her face shoved up against the Frosted Flakes box.

She looked up at me and calmly said, "Ummm, we are in the middle of something." I slammed the door, propped my ass on the counter, and when they walked out, I gave them a slow clap. Trevor had the decency to look ashamed, but Amber came out looking like a kitten who had just stolen the cream. I glared at them both.

"Get the fuck out of my house!" I said with all the hate I could muster. Trevor had stormed out of the kitchen, but Amber had cocked her hip at me in defiance.

"He isn't going to pay you for your minimal effort, hoe. Leave!" I sneered at her as I pointed toward the door.

"Jealousy isn't your best look," Amber said with a toss of her hair over her shoulder.

"Jealous?" I guffawed. "Why in the world would I be jealous of you?" I spat out.

"Well....he will fuck me, but he won't even touch you," Amber said with a menacing laugh, then spun on her heels and breezed out of my kitchen. She knew her target, she zeroed in on the kill shot, and she took it. I'm still wounded and hobbling from the blow.

After that night, I got sloppy with Derek. We still hid our escapades from Brady, but I made sure Trevor caught wind of our endeavors. I knew he would never tell Brady; snitches get stitches and all that jazz. Then Trevor hooked Derek and Amber up. They have been an item for the last six months. This morning was the first time since they got together that Derek and I...connected. I don't even feel guilty. I am just pissed at Trevor for being what he always is...a cock block.

Jess and Reece finally show up, and we spend the entire afternoon on the lake. When we get home, there are people on the dock, people swimming in the lake, and people playing volleyball on the beach court.

"Just a typical Friday night at the lake house," Jess sings out, and I roll my eyes.

"Let's go take a shower and freshen up before dinner," I call to the girls, and we stroll up to the house. Reece looks back at Amber like she wants to invite her up with us, and I clear my throat."Don't you dare!" I warn.