Beyond us (all of us #3) 18+

T W O

G I O

If I'm not at football practice, a game, skating, or in my best friend's backyard for a late night smoke session, then I'll occasionally find myself at some lame ass house party in the rich neighborhood.

Huge houses, backyard kitchens, heated pools, whatever a grotto is—those types. But like I said, there's not much else to do.

I grimace at the group of about ten heads that have just sat in a circle to play spin the bottle and instantly cut my eyes at Diesel. My glare screaming a vibrant are you fucking kidding me, to which he only bites his cheek before takes a big gulp of whatever's in his cup.

If this is painful for me then I know it's excruciating for him, yet here we are on another Friday night.

"Why do you fuckin' drag me to this shit?" I barely laugh out the words and tilt my head back to finish off my second drink of the night.

All the cheer skirts and letterman jackets, basketball jerseys, ASB dweebs, and practically everything in between all circling around us like hungry piranhas.

Like they know we're out of our element.

Diesel and I both stick out like sore, throbbing, gangrenous thumbs. I used to think he was just really into that redheaded chick, because pussy is the only justifiable reason for doing almost anything, but as of lately I don't know.

We come to these stupid parties and the two of them barely spend time in the same square foot vicinity, let alone the same room. Diesel stays firm at my side, and Makenna is just so absorbed in her friends and their cute little outfits and pink bubbly drinks, it's almost like he's a little pet she likes to have tied up in the corner.

Here just so she can look at him every once in a while and point him out to her entourage because being with him is some type of status symbol or something.

The only time they really ever mingle is when they happen to bump elbows every hour or so, and then I'm pretty sure they find somewhere to fuck when the nights about done with.

But I can only assume that last part, because that's my main agenda at these things. It's the least I can do.

"Free drinks. Fuck it," Diesel mumbles against his cup, taking another lazy sip as he scopes the room out.

I note him staring solidly across the way and it takes me all but two seconds to realize what his hooded eyes have been honing in on all night.

The blond with the high ponytail who sits two rows over in third period Geometry, giggles at next to nothing and is about as interesting as the fucking cafeteria applesauce.

I shift my eyes back to him just to check, and he's still watching her as she swoons over her little cookie-cutter jock of a boyfriend, practically swinging around him with their fingers all knotted up, pecking lips every five seconds.

It's sick.

What's even more sick is the crush Diesel's had on her since seventh grade.

She was the shiny new girl, entering our junior high mid school year. There wasn't a single kid that wasn't into her.

Shit, even I was for a split second, but eventually her sheen wore off. She became old news and we all got over it.

Mostly everyone, except for Diesel.

I lean toward him and tease, "Why don't you just take a picture of her. Frame it, and hang it on the wall over your bed so you can take a break from jacking off to your shitty memory."

"Fuck off."

If you ask him about her, he'll deny it till he's blue in the face, but I know the truth. I know my friend and what makes him tick, and that preppy, pretty little blond makes number two on the list at the very least.

"So, did you really come because Mak forced you to, or was it actually just to keep an eye on blondie?"

He finally stops watching the couple to glare at me, rolling up the sleeves of his black hoodie. "Did you really just come to be a pain in the ass, or to drink and shut the fuck up?"

I reach back across the counter behind me for a full cup and raise it between us, giving him a tight lipped smile as my answer to that totally rhetorical question.

Diesel's always been so testy, but only with a few specific things.

The things that make him tick, I presume.

Number one, his mom. Number two, Chloe. And three, fighting.

Specifically, if he lost a fight.

He doesn't take that lightly. He'll retaliate until he feels the scoreboard's even. Until he blackens an eye. Until he busts a lip. Until he gets suspended.

No one really fucks with him anymore because of his reputation, and I'm honestly just glad I don't have to back him up anymore or pull him off anyone. But he's definitely waiting on the smallest reason to knock someone out.

"Hey, Diesel." Ah fuck, Marina's here.

I watch Marina and Diesel come into a hug, and her bright smile vanishes once her eyes fall on me. Typical.

"Gio." She drops her eyes from me and I nod at her and the girl she's with. Can't care to remember her name, but she's familiar.

"Where's Trenton?"

I turn my head the opposite way and roll my eyes. If I know anything about her, that was probably her entire motivation for coming out tonight.

She's not a big party goer. Yeah, she made it on the cheer team this year, but those girls aren't her friends. Makenna can't stand her, but that probably has more to do with her friendship with Diesel than anything else. Kay's never spoken a word to her, nor has Chloe as far as I know.

I doubt she was even invited.

"His mom wouldn't let him come or something." Diesel shrugs, his eyes returning to Chloe and Todd again like he has no restraint.

"You know you could easily pull her, right?" Marina blurts and I almost want to high five her for the first time in years.

"Who said I want to?"

"Your body language."

"I'm good," he claims, his eyes still drilling them as they sway to the music. "Her little boyfriend, though?" He huffs. "I could easily pull him into a fucking ditch."

Diesel's had this long time hatred for Sumners for as long as I've been around.

Honestly, probably before I came around. I don't remember a time he didn't plot on the day he'd finally have his way with him. I never bothered asking why. There probably isn't a reason. You could look at Diesel on the wrong day and make top of his kill list just like that.

I'm sure it doesn't help that he got to Chloe before Diesel did, but that's another story.

"Fucking sucks at football," he adds, "but he's good at staying outta my way. See how long that lasts."