“Were you two, like, involved before you even knew her secret?” Tobias asks as he frowns hard in our direction, green eyes dark with frustration.
“Were you?” Spencer retorts, lifting his chin up. “Well, you know, I mean after you found out her secret, since you knew for months.”
“Stop!” I shout, and luckily the music's too loud for anyone but the closet partygoers to hear us. “I hate that you guys were close, and now you're fighting because of me.”
“We're fighting because they lied to me,” Spencer growls out, the hurt thick in his voice.
“We're fighting because we're both into Charlotte,” Tobias whispers back, and I swear, the mood shifts. Hole, please hear my call and open up beneath me, so I can die in peace. I close my eyes and suck in a deep breath. “And by both, I mean Micah and me.”
Micah exhales as I open my eyes, and then shrugs his shoulders, almost apologetically, as he looks at me.
“You painted a pretty picture on the hood of my Lambo,” he says, and Spencer frowns hard. “But my best friend almost died. I'm sorry, but I can't fight with him over a girl, not even one as pretty as you, Chuck.”
“You're really into Charlotte?” Spencer asks, looking like he, too, would gladly accept a hole to dive into. He leans his head back and runs his hands over his face. “Damn it.”
“Was it less than three hours ago that I chastised you guys for this crap?” Ranger snaps, nostrils flaring. He shoves a drink into both Spencer's and Tobias' hands. “Let it go. It's not your goddamn choice.”
“I just want Charlotte to know that I like her,” Tobias says, rubbing his hand over the back of his spiky orange-red hair. He looks almost … sheepish.
“We should hold a competition,” Church says, appearing with a … well, something that looks vaguely coffee-like in his hands. Probable an Irish coffee or something with alcohol in it. “Like we always do when we have disagreements among Student Council members.”
“A competition?” I ask, cocking a brow. “Um, like for my hand in marriage? We’re just dating.”
“Just?” Spencer starts, looking at me. “There is no just. You were there in that bed with me, in that bathroom last night. We have mad chemistry. You know the tension between us isn’t normal, right? I’ve never felt this intensely for anyone else in my life.”
My mouth twitches, but the twins are exchanging a look and then shrugging.
“If it’s paintball, we’re in. Let’s do paintball.”
“You want to play paintball … to compete for my affections?” I ask, and Spencer grits his teeth. “This is the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard. No.”
“I’ll do it,” Spencer says, lifting his chin in defiance. “I’ll fight you for Charlotte.”
“Only, hello, newsflash: this is my choice,” I grumble, and Ranger gives me a sympathetic look. We exchange a long, silent these guys are idiots sort of expression before I turn back to Spencer.
“Admit it: you’re interested in these penis-holes,” he says, but his gaze is on his friends and not on me. “What about this? If I win, it’s just me and Charlotte. If you guys win, she can … like, I don’t know, do her reverse harem thing for a while until she decides who she likes best.”
My mouth drops open. Even Ranger and Church look a bit shocked.
“Seriously?” Ranger asks, like he couldn’t imagine even offering up a proposition like that. “You’re as jealous as they come. Tobias and Micah are as jealous as they come. This’ll never work.”
But then I look between Spencer and the twins, and I can see something happened between them in the last few weeks. They really are best friends, and the McCarthy brothers thought they’d lost their bestie forever. That changes people, that sort of trauma. Hell, it changed me. They care about Spencer, and he cares about them.
This is almost less about me than it is about their relationships with each other.
“A paintball competition?” I ask, and then sigh. It’s about as dumb as all the usual Culinary Club/Student Council activities. I’m not surprised. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt.”
“Prepare to get your ass kicked,” Micah says, smirking at his friend. “We’ve never dueled over a girl before. This should be fun.”
“As is usual with Student Council activities such as this, we’ll all be participating,” Church adds, touching his chin as he muses. I feel my cheeks turning red as I look between him and Ranger. Neither is acting like they’re particularly interested in me, but they’re going to join the duel, too, huh? “Ross can be the ref.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Spencer says, throwing up his hands. “Now I have to win against all four of you?!” He gives me a look, and I smile, giving him a kiss on the edge of his mouth. His hands go to my hips, and I can feel him glaring at his friends over my shoulder.
