𝙾𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟿𝚝𝚑, 𝚂𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚢
Miles POV

Wind whistles around the car as we fly down the open road. There's nothing around us except an open, winding road, palm trees, and the ocean crashing off to the right.

That party-from-hell is old news and far behind us. As I downshift, I fight the urge to keep driving us as far away from this city as possible. It might be the alcohol talking, but I'm ready to drive Parker and me all the way to Maine. Anywhere away from here.

Switching my feet between the pedals, I glance at Parker as I drop my speed down to the limit. "Hey man, are you okay?"

It wasn't the smartest move for me to steal the high school's star athlete and take him on a high-speed ride. Since I can think a little clearer, I also remember him cursing the hell out of that situation. I'll need to wave fuckin' incense around my car later to clear the foul language.

Parker shrugs, except the movement is more like a quick jerk. "I'm alive, so I think that's good enough. You know. Considering the circumstances."

"Considering the circumstances," I echo and chuckle. "C'mon, you were the one insisting on hopping in here with me."

"That's only because I thought my stupidity would make you rethink your stupidity."

I scoff and take my hand off the gear shifter to whack his shoulder. "You're a dumber bitch than I thought. When I dig my graves, I don't leave them empty, man."

Parker finally laughs and smacks my hand away. "I realize that now! Hey, pay attention to the road, would you? Just because we got away from everyone doesn't mean we're suddenly safe from harm."

"Perdóname. Trying to lighten the mood here, brother." I toss Parker a quick grin, which gets me a flustered blush in response. My grin gets wider as I look back at the road. "You cool if I pull over a minute?"

Before I could even snap my fingers, Parker sits all tense and upright. It's the same way he held himself when he got in with me.

"Why?" He demands and self-consciously grabs at the bottom hem of his shirt.

"Because I need to piss, and we need to lay low for a bit in case the five-o comes around searching for our asses." Considering the way Parkers eyes widen, I quickly add to my sentence. "I'm not saying that they will—I think we fooled them—I only want to take a precaution. Cool?"

Parker's eyebrows furrow, and I wait for him to say the inevitable, No. Bring me home.

"Fine, whatever. That's cool... Er, fine with me."

I nod and slow down as the next parking entrance comes up. Carefully, I ease my car onto the packed sand. The last parking lot was a paved luxury. This one is redneck as hell, and I pray we won't get stuck as I park behind the hill.

Parker and I unbuckle at the same time. He gets out fast, as if I kidnapped him and decided to dump him on the side of the road. I take the key out of the ignition before hopping out and walking a few yards down the hill to take care of my business. It only takes a moment, so I walk back over to where he is standing on the other side of my car. His face is tilted up to the sky, admiring the starry night.

For a moment, I'm taken aback by his beauty. I've been with handsome boys, ugly boys, and a few in between, but Parker... There's no other way to describe him except beautiful.

That's also why every girl with eyes falls in love with him, too. I have no reason to daydream or get my hopes up, especially after I just scared the shit out of him. I walk up alongside him, and he startles.

"Easy killer." I stick my hands up. "You're so... ah, ansioso?" I stutter as I try to come up with the right word.

"You know that I passed my Spanish classes with a B-, right?" Parker looks at me from the corner of his eye. "I can't translate."

"Anxious. You're so anxious, always doing this little..." I fade out and mime a jumping action.

That makes Parker laugh, which makes me smile. "Shut up. I do not look like that. You look like an electrocuted cat."

"You look like an electrocuted cat!" I jide and elbow him. He chuckles and steps away from me, his smile slowly falling as he watches the waves pull at the shore. I watch the light dim in his eyes. It reminds me of when my old Game Boy would die mid-level, the screen flickering, music glitching. When the screen went dark, I'd sit there mashing buttons like it would change something, but it never did.

I look up at the sky with him and cross my arms over my chest. "This is crazy. You know, I've always lived in a city where the light dirtied the sky. It wasn't often that I could see the stars like this."

"Really?" That gets Parkers attention. "I mean, it's pretty bad in Corpus too, but I've always gone to beaches far enough away to see the stars. It never gets old."

"It doesn't," I agree and tilt my chin over to look at him.

Parker is focused on me, his face calculating. The second we make eye contact, he looks away, his body shielded by the shadows.

I bite my cheek to keep from grinning, even if he was only embarrassed because he got caught looking at me. "Did you have fun tonight?"

He snorts and mirrors my body position, crossing his arms over his chest. "Tell me, are we talking about when I nearly got hit by multiple cars in the parking lot or when we were flying down the road at Mach One?"

"Flying down the road. Be real, you can't look me in the eyes and tell me that wasn't fun. Have you ever done anything like that?"

Parker looks over at me again. This time when we make eye contact, my stomach somersaults. At first, he's dead serious and it takes a second until his cheek twitches with a refrained smile. "No. I haven't." He sighs and turns away. "Fine, fuck you. It was kinda fun."

"I knew it!" I hoot and jump forward to ruffle his hair. Parker exclaims and ducks away. "I knew some part of you enjoyed that! There's nothing better than a good adrenaline rush while racing down the road."

"Sorry, but actually nothing is better than making the winning play during a football game. Especially when the team and the crowd goes nuts, you know?" Parker says and mimics throwing a ball.

I shrug and glance at that ocean water before slipping my shoes off. "I know what you mean, although I don't understand it."

"That's okay. It's still the same feeling."

Humming in agreement, I slide my fingers under my shirt and pull it off.

Parker blinks wildly and looks away as if I just full-on flashed him. "Okay, what are you doing?"

Seriously, was he born yesterday? I'm sure he has seen more shirtless guys in the locker room than I have in my whole young teenage life, which is saying something.

"Going for a swim? You think I'm gonna burn time by standing around gossiping like a granny all night? Come with me," I say as I toss my shirt and keys down on top of my shoes.

"A swim? Right now?" He's baffled.

I grin and walk away from him. Turning on my heel, I walk backwards towards the surf so I can still face him. My feet are a little unsteady from the alcohol, though I manage to stay upright as I jam my thumb over my shoulder. "You comin' or no?"

Parker stares at me.

I've seen that look enough tonight to know the answer: I've got him baited.

Another stupid grin splits my face as he sighs and kicks his shoes off next to mine. His shirt follows, and he throws his phone down on top of the shirt.

As Parker busies himself with fixing his hair, I let my attention stray over his body. All he did was remove his shirt, but the change in his physique is so monumental that it makes me hard. He's all toned muscle and perfectly shaped edges, his abs perfectly imprinted, those wrists the perfect size to hold in one hand above his head.

That thought makes me swallow and turn back around before he can catch me staring. I break into a jog and leap into the waves. The water is cool enough to momentarily shock me out of the daydream. I relish in it and go in further to slip under the waves.

I'll be damned if I think about a straight boy that way. I'm no fool. I saw the way that blonde chick was hanging on him last weekend and again tonight. Parker might be perfect, but he's not perfect for me.

I kick my legs and resurface, breathing in a deep gulp of fresh air. Grinning again, I push my curls off my face and twirl around to see Parker slowly paddling over to me. We might not ever get together in any way, shape, or form, but that doesn't mean I can't admire how his body moves.

"Much better than that party, right?" I ask as Parker gets closer. The waves crash around us, and the current slowly guides me over to him.

He slows down and treads water for a moment, his eyebrows raising. "What was that? Say it again. Slower."

My body might be submerged under cool water, yet my skin gets hot when he commands me like that. Instead of acting on my sudden surge of hormones, I slap my hand against the water and splash him for making that claim, which makes him laugh.

"Hush! I'm not saying that I despise parties, they will always be my favorite past time. That one, in particular, sucked." I pause. "Unless I get my money, then it might feel better."

"That's right. What did Luke end up saying to you?" Parker asks, and I watch that same darkened look cross over his features.

"The regular shit. I was chillin' by the fire with some of your buddies when he came around, talking a big game about the cars in the lot. He wanted to know who owned what, except he didn't believe me when I told him." I run my fingers over my curls again and brush my toes against the sand below us. "He started to push my buttons. I try not to get mad, I really do, but he makes it difficult to stay calm."

Parker shrugs. "He tends to have that effect on people. When I joined varsity football my freshman year and immediately made it on the team, not only did he call my uncle out for playing favorites, but he also called the school board to have me tested for steroids."

"No. Shit." I gape at him, my eyes wide.

"Seriously." Parker scoffs and he must be starting to touch the bottom because his frame gets steady, rather than bobbing with the waves. "Unfortunately that's just one of the many things him and his posse have tried to start."

"You mean that Asian kid? They're buddies?"

"Calvin?" Parker clarifies and nods. "Yeah, they're partners in crime. I don't let it bother me. Until they make it onto varsity and gain multiple scholarships before senior year, I'm not letting them get to me."

"Hell yeah. I like the way you think," I praise him, except considering the way his shoulders hunch and his eyes drop while talking about them, I get a feeling that he's talking big talk.

My feet touch bottom as well, and the current pushes us back toward the shore. Loose sand slips around my soles, and I shift my weight to backpedal away from Parker. I didn't realize how close the waves were pushing us together.

He must realize that at the same time I do because his chest starts to move in an erratic rhythm. His body tightens again like a coiled spring, and I try not to let his wandering eyes affect me. Droplets of water slide off of my hair, down my neck, past my collarbone, and toward my abdomen. His eyes track the entire path of the droplet.

I'm tempted to dunk under the water again and come back up if it means he'll look at me like that a second time.

Parker must realize his mistake because he suddenly straightens up. The movement disturbs the water lapping around our waists.

"Hey, what's that? A birthmark?" He motions at my left shoulder, obviously trying to play off the reason why he was staring.

If things were weird a second ago, they're about to get weirder.

I purse my lips and look down at the white circle. It's a distinct contrast against my dark skin, so I can't blame him for being curious.

"No. Um." I hesitate, trying to piece together a lie. Burn, bike accident, some dumb story. But... Fuck it. Might as well be honest. "My dad shot me. I let him. Rather me than my sister or mom."

Parker gasps and flings water towards me as his hand shoots up to cover his mouth.

"Oh my god," he says, muffled. "No way. I'm so sorry, I didn't..."

"You couldn't have known. It's fine. If it wasn't fine, I'd be dead." I laugh to play off the trauma. It's been nearly five years, and I can still feel the shredding pain. Taste the blood in my mouth and the raging hatred of my father.

This thing is no son of mine. I didn't raise a faggot.

"Jesus, Miles. How can you laugh about that?"

Tough crowd tonight. Maybe I should crack another joke, but the way he says my name has me feeling a certain way and I totally forget whatever I am about to say.

"It's a part of me now. Literally, I have the scar to prove it." I motion at the spot. "This isn't new to me. I can't do anything but laugh. He's in jail for a reason."

"Good riddance at that," Parker mumbles and lifts his hand up as if he's going to brush his thumb across the spot.

I inhale sharply at the same time he pauses right above my skin. Slowly, he drops his hand back in the water and quietly asks, "Um, can I ask you question?"

"I haven't stopped you and your questions in the past."

Parker humphs. "What happened?"

I pause. Think. Smirk. "I fucked the neighbor boy and he didn't like that."

I don't know if that's the answer Parker was expecting or not by the way he stops as if I shot him. One hundred more questions must be brewing in his pretty head, except our conversation is cut off by the sound of a ringtone echoing across the water.

"Shit. That's my phone. Sorry, I should probably..." He points over his shoulder.

I wave Parker away, so he quickly half paddles, half runs out of the waves. He barely makes it to the phone in time, grabbing it and answering on the last ring. "Hello?"

I follow him out of the water at a much slower pace. My heart is pounding crazily in my chest. It's been a long time since I've had to explain that scar, except that's not what's bothering me.

What's bothering me is Parkers reaction. His genuine shock and hurt. His sympathy and that look on his face, like he realized that this shit doesn't happen only in movies. Or, like he believes it's over. Like the worst already happened.

It hasn't.

"Grif, I need—... Dude... Look, you can—" Parker cuts off again and hisses out a sigh. He picks his shirt up off the ground and slips on his sandals before walking in a circle.

I approach carefully, and as I bend down to grab my belongings, I hear a lot of yelling and cursing on the other end.

"Okay!" Parker finally yells. "Relax! I'm fine. We're on our way back! Be there soon!"

Pulling the phone away from his ear, I hear a muffled, You better be—

Silence.

Parker groans and pulls a hand through his hair, tousling it further as he turns to face me. "I'm sorry, my cousin..."

"I get it. We should leave, anyway. Do you need a towel? I keep some in my trunk."

Parker's shoulders hunch in relief, and he nods. "Yes, please. Then we should hurry back before Griffin explodes. Just—"

"Not as fast as before. Got it." I wink as I walk past Parker and go back to my car.

"Right." Parker sighs and follows me, his chin down.

Finally, I run out of things to say to make him feel better.

The worst part is that I'm starting to run into the boundary line between us, and I don't dare to cross it.