The Hazards of Sex on the Beach(20)

"Sure."

"How did you feel about Omega before the Abby thing? I know you weren't  loving it, but does most of this stem from that one brother?"

"A lot of it."

"And how did the other guys respond? They all thought it was cool?"

"Guys aren't like girls. They don't take sides in something like this, but a few told me they thought he was an ass."

"Just make sure you aren't quitting for the wrong reasons. That's all." I  hated when one bad apple spoiled the bunch. I didn't want Kyle to throw  away his experience because of one jerk.

"I know. That's why I'm making myself wait until at least the end of the semester. I've already paid dues, so what's the point?"

"Good luck either way." I took another sip.

"Now your turn. What's the long story?"

"It's really not that exciting."

"I beg to differ. Just tell me."

I sighed. I decided to just get it over with. "I met Chase at a party  and we hooked up. I refused to give him my number and thought I'd never  see him again, but then Jade unknowingly dragged me to his show."

"That wasn't so long." Kyle smiled. "And I'm guessing you changed your  mind about the one time thing and decided to give it another try?"

"Something like that. I mean, he's not here much, so I have no idea what's going to happen."

"Are you guys exclusive? I guess that's really the only potential issue."

"He says he wants us to be."

"That's cool. That would be what I worried about most. Maybe his being  away is a good thing. You can focus on you and not a relationship."

"Focus on me?"

"Are there any activities you wanted to do but couldn't find time for?"         

     



 

"Not really …  but I wanted to start doing some more volunteering, maybe  find a part time job. Oh, and I'm going to check out Jade's radio show."

"That's a nice list. It's a place to start at least."

I finished off my latte. "All right, you about ready to head home?"

"Sure. I wouldn't want to keep Chase Denton's girl out too late." He gave me a wry smile.

I pushed his arm. "Don't start."

"I won't, but don't forget your hat, cowgirl."

A thought occurred to me, and I put the hat on. "Can you get a picture of me?" I held out my phone.

"Sure." I posed as seductively as appropriate in a coffee house. I took  my phone back from Kyle and laughed. "It looks like I can pull off a  cowgirl." I texted the picture to Chase.

He didn't answer right away which didn't surprise me. They were playing in Baltimore that night.

I took off my hat, and we headed back toward my house.

"Thanks again for coming tonight. I know it wasn't the best way to spend a Saturday night."

"It was nice. We've never talked outside of class. We should do it more  often." I'd never really had a male friend before. Neither of us were  each other's types, so there was zero sexual tension between us which  made it even better.

"Definitely."

My house came into view, and my stomach dropped. Aaron was waiting outside again.

"Is that who I think it is?" Kyle asked.

"Unfortunately."

"I'm guessing he's waiting for you."

"Let's hope not. I really don't feel like dealing with another confrontation with him."

"Another?" Kyle tensed beside me. "You had one before?"

"Yes. I'd spent the night with Chase, and he was sitting right there."

"And now you're being walked home by me. He's going to assume I'm the  same guy. Are you okay with that?" Kyle looked at me questioningly.

"He can think whatever he wants. He has no say in what I do. But if you don't want to deal with him, I can take it from here."

"You actually think I'm going to let you face an angry ex-boyfriend by yourself?" He patted my arm. "Let's do this."

Aaron started toward us. "Oh, this is fucking brilliant. An Omega? A fucking Omega?"

"Keep your voice down and leave us alone. I already told you I want nothing to do with you." I tried to step around him.

"Bullshit. This is absolutely bullshit. I'm not going to sit back and  put up with this." His eyes were partially blood shot. He was plastered.  Aaron wasn't a nice drunk.

Kyle stepped in front of me. "Calm down, man. She's not your girlfriend anymore. She can hang out with anyone she wants."

"In other words, Cara can become a whore now?"

A whore? He was calling me a whore. My mouth was dry. Why wasn't I saying anything back?

"What did you just call her?" Kyle stepped toward Aaron. I touched his arm to pull him back, but he shrugged me off.

"A whore. We've been broken up a few weeks and she's already moved on?  And my bet is you're not the first guy. Was she with you last time? Or  was she fucking someone else?"

"Don't talk about her that way. She's a nice girl who never should have  wasted her time on you anyway." He shoved Aaron in the chest.

Before I could even process what was happening, Aaron's fist made  contact with Kyle's face and he was on the ground with blood splattered  across the sidewalk.

"You asshole!" I yelled at Aaron, doing my best to pull him away.

He stumbled back and just stood there like he couldn't believe he'd just  done it. I couldn't either. "You are such a jerk." I knelt down next to  Kyle. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry."

Kyle sat up, covering his bleeding nose with his hand. "You weren't the  one who punched me." He glared at Aaron who was still standing there  with a frozen expression on his face.

A group of girls from my house spilled out onto the sidewalk, mingling with a growing group of onlookers.

As soon as the crowd moved in, Kyle stood up. "I'm fine. It's just blood."

"You really need to get that checked out." A guy looked nervously at Kyle. "Want us to call someone?"

The wail of a siren made me jump.

"Campus PD is here," another guy said.

"Fuck." Aaron uttered his first word since shedding Kyle's blood.

"What's going on here?" an officer asked. He came right over to me. Maybe his bias was trust the girl.         

     



 

"He-"

Aaron interrupted. "Nothing. Nothing is going on. Just a little misunderstanding."

"Is that so?" The officer turned to Kyle and me.

"Technically, I pushed him." Kyle adjusted his hand over his nose. "Can I go clean this up?"

"Yes, but we need to know, do you want to file a report?"

"No," Kyle answered quickly.

"Want me to take you to the hospital?" I asked. I didn't know much about a broken nose, but there was definitely a lot of blood.

Kyle shook his head while still covering his nose. The words came out mumbled. "No. I can handle it."

"What about you, miss. Is there anything you want to tell us?"

I took one glance at Kyle. I needed to handle him first. "No. Thank you."

They moved to Aaron next.

"Let's get you inside and clean you up." I put a hand on Kyle's back and led him toward my house.

"To Delta Mu? I'm going into Delta Mu like this?" His words were garbled.

"Uh huh."

My sisters were ready for him before we got inside. He was met by  several sets of hands offering ice, towels, and consolation. My guess  was that Kyle almost didn't mind the bloody nose after an hour of being  pampered. My big sister Lacy seemed particularly interested in seeing  that Kyle was comfortable.

I felt so incredibly guilty. He was only hurt because of me. I gave a  statement to campus police and gave them all my contact info. I wasn't  sure what kind of trouble Aaron was going to be in, but I couldn't worry  about that. He'd hurt my friend. A stray thought of what would have  happened if Kyle hadn't been there went through me. There's no chance he  would have hurt me, was there?

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I wasn't surprised to see Chase's  message. Hey cowgirl, I wish you were getting ready to lasso me up.

I wish I could laugh at that pathetic joke.

Why can't you?

Aaron punched my friend and now his nose is probably broken. It's all my fault.

What? Are you serious? And it's not your fault. Can I call?

No I feel terrible.

"Are you texting with Chase?" Kyle asked while holding a compress to his nose.

"Yes."

"Ask him if I can get free tickets to his next show for defending his girlfriend's honor."

I laughed, before texting him exactly that.

"He says he'll give you exclusive access Sinister Summer Tour tickets."

"Nice." Kyle sighed. "This is embarrassing."

"Embarrassing?" Lacy asked. "Why? You're kind of a hero. Aaron's a tank and you stood up to him to defend Cara."

He smiled. "Kind of a hero. I'll take that."

"Do you live nearby? When you're ready, I can drive you home." Lacy handed him a new compress.

I turned away so I could smile. Lacy was a junior. I wondered if Kyle liked older girls.

"I'm only a few blocks from here, but sure. I feel pretty dumb walking around this way."

"I can drive you." I decided to give him the out if he wanted it.