“Hey, Adam.” She lifts her hand in greeting, wiggling her fingers at me.
I lift my chin at her, not bothering to say hi.
Darcy might be hot, but she’s an idiot.
And she must think I’m fucking stupid.
She tried to play it off as an accident when she walked into my bathroom yesterday while I was in there showering. My private bathroom, the one you have to walk through my bedroom to get into. Yeah, sure it was an accident, Darcy.
Max laughed his ass off when I told him.
He doesn’t give a fuck. And if Darcy weren’t screwing Max, I probably would have banged her, as I’m guessing that was what she was there for. I’ve never been one to turn down a hot girl, even if she is an idiot. But Max is banging her, and we have one golden rule in our friendship. We never sleep with the same chick.
Bros before hos, and all that.
Max is the only real thing I have in this shitty world, and I wouldn’t do anything to risk losing him. He’s the same with me.
Max’s background is pretty similar to mine, fucked-up parents and all, but sadly, between us, I score the highest on the screwed-up-worst card.
We look out for each other. We’re brothers in the true sense of the word. Aside from his poor taste in women, he’s the best person I know.
Thankfully, Darcy will be gone in a few days. That’s Max’s MO. He hooks up with a girl and keeps her around for a few days—longest I’ve seen is a week—and then she’s replaced. Me? I don’t keep them around. I screw them for one night, and they’re gone the next morning.
No repeats. No relationships.
That’s exactly how I like it.
And if I sort my shit out, then Rock Girl can be my next no-repeater.
Actually, something feels very wrong with that statement. Again, what the hell is wrong with me?
Maybe that’s why I can’t get off my pussy ass and go introduce myself to her. Sitting up there on that rock, she’s perfect to me. If I go over there, I’ll only end up tainting that perfection, ruining it.
Spoiling pretty things is a gift of mine. It’s a Gunner family trait.
“We’re just going to grab some dinner,” Max says. “You wanna come?”
I turn around, pressing my back against the sun-warmed railing. “Nah, I’ll pass. I’m gonna go for a run.”
Am I? I guess I could go for a run. I could go for a jog along the beach. Maybe speak to a little hottie seated up on a rock…
“And would that run take you past a certain blonde over there?” Max jerks his chin in Rock Girl’s direction.
I lift my shoulders, shrugging at him.
He shakes his head at me. “What the hell is going on with you, Gunner? Why haven’t you just talked to her already? It’s been a fucking week.”
I flicker a glance at Darcy, who has this sudden sour look on her face, and now, she’s staring out past me in Rock Girl’s direction.
Yeah, not going to happen, Darcy.
I strike a glance at Max. I love the guy like a brother, but I wish he hadn’t said that shit in front of Darcy. She has a big mouth, and I don’t want to get a rep here in Malibu for being a pussy who can’t even talk to a girl.
“Nothing’s wrong with me. Maybe I just don’t want to talk to her.”
I really do. I want to talk her straight into my bed.
“Yeah, sure you don’t want to talk to the super hot girl, Gunner.” Max rolls his eyes at me.
“How do you know she’s super hot?” The words are out before I can stop them.
As far as I know, Max hasn’t seen her up close, not that I have actually seen her up close. Just the quick glimpses of her as she’s walked past here. But the glimpses I have gotten, I’ve liked—a lot.
A shit-eating grin spreads across Max’s face. “Because I talked to her yesterday.”
“You talked to her?” My voice has suddenly gotten weirdly higher.
Why the hell did Max talk to Rock Girl? And why is he only just now telling me this?
He lets out a prolonged deep chuckle. “Yeah, I did. When you went in to shower after your little hour-long hot-girl gazing session, I decided to go for a swim. And your little hottie came back, as she’d left something up on that rock she sits on. A fucking pencil or something. Seemed important to her.” He shrugs. “Anyway, after she found this pencil and was climbing back down off the rock, she dropped her bag, spilling her stuff everywhere. Being the gentleman that I am, I helped her pick things up—tampons, lipstick. You know, girl things.” He grins.
I lift my eyes to the sky.
Gentleman, my ass.
Max wouldn’t know a gentleman if one actually came up and smacked him across the face. Not that I would either, but that’s not the point. The point is, Max talked to my Rock Girl.