Friends & Forever Read Free Page B

as they were narrowed
down, the runners up announced. Carmine took another sip from his flask,
relaxing as the voice boomed from the speaker. "Your 2003 homecoming
queen… Miss Amy Barlow!"
    Nicholas threw up his hands. "I'm
out."
    Carmine chuckled, watching as Amy took the
dozen roses, the crown and sash being donned on her. "Guess that's a bust,
huh?"
    "That's what you get," Dom said.
"You're supposed to be with a girl because you want her—because you like her—not because you want to win some bet. Screwing a girl for twenty
bucks? That makes you a prostitute, bro."
    "A whore," Tess sneered.
    Dom laughed. "A cheap one, at
that."
    Carmine ignored the insult as he turned
his attention back to the football field. He'd certainly been called worse. He
wasn't even offended. A whore? Hell, he didn't doubt it.
    The second half of the game was a haze as
he finished off his liquor. He and Nicholas jetted out early in the fourth
quarter as Durante fell further and further behind the other team. The game was
a definite loss, but the night?
    The night was only just starting.

 
    * * *

 
    Party after party, house after house… the two made their way
around town before ultimately descending upon Aurora Lake once again.
    Carmine, at some point, had lost his shirt
as he strolled along the stretch of sandy beach, clutching a beer, untied Nike's
once again loose on his feet. Same shit, every day. He was who he was, and he
had no plans to change for anybody.
    His eyes scanned the shoreline under the
cloak of darkness, recognizing some friends, ogling some strangers. A sense of
peace settled over Carmine as he infiltrated the crowd, feeling contentment in
the chaos. This was when he was in his element, when he felt on top of the
world. He could forget about the outside world—forget about his family,
about his life, about everything he lost and everything he once loved—and
just exist for a while, the nucleus of society, the center of the fucking universe. It was his kingdom, and they were his people,
and nothing felt better to him than taking his place on his throne.
    Because
these people? These girls? They practically worshiped
him.
    He strolled toward the water, nearing Nicholas
as he slung his arm over the shoulder of a small brunette, a fellow sophomore.
Carmine couldn't remember her name.
    Fuck, his memory was shot.
    "So, uh, what's brown and
sticky?" Nicholas asked the girl. Her face contorted in confusion as she
thought it over.
    Carmine strode right past them, so close
he elbowed his friend. "A stick."
    "Foul, DeMarco," Nicholas
grumbled, trying to kick Carmine with his bum foot, but he dodged out of the
way.
    "A stick?" the girl asked, her
brow furrowing.
    "Yeah," Nicholas said,
"it's brown and, you know… stick-y."
    She forced out a laugh. "I get it!
That's funny!"
    Rolling his eyes, Carmine guzzled the rest
of his beer as he strode further down the shoreline, toward the dock not far
from the Barlow residence—the one Nicholas had earlier crashed into.
Somehow the jet skis had been removed from the water, back in their place at
one of the neighbor's houses.
    Carmine crushed the beer can in his hand
and tossed it toward the metal trashcan. The crumpled aluminum ball hit the
side of it and ricocheted off, but he looked away, not caring.
    A throat dramatically cleared behind him,
so close the hair at his nape stood on end. He turned back around, coming
face-to-face with Amy. She snatched up the beer can and clutched it tightly in
her fist, shaking it at him. "That's littering."
    "So?"
    "So I live here," she
said. "You're practically littering in my yard."
    "So?" he said again. "I
litter in your actual yard."
    She shook her head. "You're
ridiculous."
    "And you're kinda cute for being such
a raging bitch."
    Her gaze darted straight to his. He
expected to see her feathers ruffled, to see her furious, but she appeared a
little shell-shocked instead. "What did you say?"
    He raised his eyebrows, waving her off.
While he liked to