𝐈 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮

Jonesy

"Jesus Christ, she looks like a Polly Pocket." Daria snickered from my side, her red solo cup pressed to her lips. Her eyes were glued to Althea, who was standing on the other side of the kitchen island, entertaining a very animated conversation with Gemma.

"Be nice, Dar." I sipped my own drink, the alcohol burning its way down my throat. I didn't typically drink at parties, but after seeing Aiden with his hands all over Althea, I needed something to cool my mood.

  He was definitely doing it on purpose and I couldn't stand it; seeing him with his grimy hands all over her body. She didn't seem comfortable, more than once I had seen her shy away from his touch. Why was she still with him? Was it simply to piss me off or was she just not a huge fan of PDA?

  Either way, the sight of them together made me sick. Sick enough to join Daria in the corner with a bottle of tequila. Daria was sulking over something but wouldn't tell anyone on the team what it was, so she made an excellent drinking companion.

  Until she started picking on the little things Althea did. She wore too much pink, she was too quiet, her hair was too big. Why did she wear bows like a child? Several times I wanted to tell her to shut the fuck up.

  Daria huffed and finished her drink. "Sorry, didn't know the pretty pink princess wasn't on your shit list anymore." She rolled her eyes before locking them with someone across the room. "Is it just me or is Justice St. Germaine like...really hot?"

  My body physically recoiled and I turned to her. "Ew, Daria, no. Justice is literally the baby brother of the friend group."

She shot me a sideways glance and put on a look of innocence. "Meaning what?"

"Meaning, he's off limits, especially for you."

Daria's look turned sour and her eyes dark. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean, Jones?"

  I could hear the bitterness in her voice as she spat out my nickname. I looked across the room to see Althea already staring at me, completely oblivious to Aiden standing beside her.

  Fuck my life. I really did not want to have this conversation with Daria, not in front of Althea. I turned to my friend and found her gaze unrelenting. Her scowl deepened as she looked from me to Althea and then back at me, waiting on my response.

"It means, you can't have him. I know how you are, you're going through something and you're looking for a rebound." I shrugged and raised my cup to my lips only for her to snatch it from my fingers.

"You know how I am? So what does that make you? Everyone knows you've fucked almost every girl on the skating team." Her eyes were pitch black with anger, I knew she was just deflecting, trying to say anything to make me feel bad and take the attention off her.

  "Don't start coming at me for wanting to have some fun when you've had your fun with just about every girl in this room."

  She bent close to me. "Except for your roommate, or have you already fucked her?" She turned to storm away but I caught her wrist.

"Justice. Is. Off. Limits." I stared her down, my blood boiling. I could slowly see her fire visibly dissipate as she shrunk under my gaze. I didn't care about the things she said about me, because for the most part they were true. It was her assuming Althea had just been another fling when I had to restrain myself from looking at her for too long.

  Daria had no idea how much strength it took for me to not admit that I wanted her. She had no idea how badly I wanted her. Throwing her name out like that made me angry, and if she did not remove herself from my presence, things would no doubt escalate. I also was not about to let Justice fall victim to her ever changing whims.

  She would become bored of him the moment she was sober. Justice was too sweet of a boy to have to deal with that. Hooking up within the friend group was allowed. Hooking up with Justice was not.