Tangled Beauty (7 page)

She tried pushing me away. “Let me go.”

“Look at me,” I demanded. “Promise me that you’ll stop.”

“
No, I won’t,” she said. “I only do it once in a while and… it helps me concentrate.”

“
Helps you concentrate? That’s bullshit! Sela, you know that shit is not allowed in my parents’ home or in our home, for that matter.”

“Well then, maybe we sh
ouldn’t ever live together,” she said, glaring up at me.

Her wo
rds crushed me. I released her. “You’d honestly choose drugs, over me?”

She raised her chin, defiantly. “No,
but what I do choose is
my
freedom to decide what
I
want to do. I’m not a child and nobody will tell me the way to live my life. Not you or anyone else.”

I
was so pissed, I wanted to throttle her. Instead, I decided to get the fuck out before I did something I’d surely regret. As I moved towards the door, she called after me.

“What?” I snapped.

She smiled sadly. “You’re being unreasonable.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes, just stop this, please.”

I sighed.
“Sela…”

“
Don’t leave me,” she pouted. “I don’t like being alone.”

“
You’re not a child, huh? You’re certainly acting like one. You’d better think about your choices in life because I’m dead serious about the drugs, Sela. If you won’t give them up, then there is no way in hell it will work between us.”

She gave me a murderous look before
she stormed back into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Sinclair

“I still can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” I said, zipping up my
turquoise hoodie. “It wouldn’t have been so bad if it would have just been the two of us, but now…“

“Oh, relax,” said Jesse. “You have to let loose and live a little.”

“But, your
brother
is going to see me naked!”

“It will only be for a second,” he said. “All you have to do is strip and make a dash for the water.”

“Right,”
I said, picturing how my boobs would be swaying, back and forth, in a most unflattering way.

“You know, that
Sela is a total cunt,” said Jesse. “If I was a woman, I’d kick her bony ass back to France. I don’t understand why Reed has such a hard-on for her.”

“She’s certainly pretty
, enough,” I said. “He must just be totally enamored by her looks.”

He wrinkled his nose.
“If you can see past that stone-cold bitchiness.”

“Well, s
he must have some hidden talents that keep Reed happy.”

“
Girlfriend, pulease. Even if she sucks cock better than me, she’s still not worth the gas it took the cabbie to drop her ass off at our doorstep.” 

I chuckled.
“Well, she’s going to be your sister-in-law,” I said. “You’ll have to somehow learn to accept her.”

“
No I don’t and you know why? Because she won’t be around long enough to bother,” he said. “Reed will come to his senses and kick her to the curb. I’ll give them six months.”

“That much?”

“Okay, three,” he said, tossing me a beach towel.

I
stared down at it and sighed.  “Why are we doing this, again?”

“It’s liberating, exhilarating,
and totally naughty,” he grinned, wickedly. “You’ll love it.”

I didn’t know about that. Being naughty was his thing, not mine.
“Let’s just get it over with,” I mumbled, following him out of my bedroom.

It turned out that all of my fears were for naught. We arrived at the private alcove just before midnight and there was no sign of Reed or
Sela.

“It’s beautiful,” I said, staring at
the low-tide under the moonlight. It looked so tranquil, so peaceful. Now, that I was actually here, I was glad I’d been talked into coming.

“Spread out the towels and we’ll have a n
ightcap before we strip and run around naked.”

“
I’ll need it.” 

As we enjoyed the wine, Jesse
’s stared towards the ocean, a wistful look on his face. “It seems like yesterday…”

I smiled. “What,
that you were swept off your feet by that actor?”

He took a sip of wine
. “Yes. I was so confused until that night, Sin,” he said, turning to me. “I mean, I tried, I really did, to be what everyone else wanted me to be. I even went out on a couple of dates with girls, but it always felt so wrong.”

“What, like kissing a brother or sister?”

He laughed. “Probably. I don’t know, I’ve never kissed Reed before.”

I hit him playfully in the shoulder. “You know what I mean, smartass.”

“Yeah. Anyway, I guess deep down I always knew I was gay.”

“Did you ever try talking to anyone about it?”

He sighed. “Once. My parents invited this couple over and they had a son, who was the same age as me, I think we were seventeen at the time.  Anyway, I thought for sure he was gay and when I broached the subject, he literally freaked out.”

“What happened?”

He smiled, bitterly. “Called me a few names and then took a swing at me. He went completely berserk.”

“Why did he freak out so bad
? Did you make a move on him or something?”

He rolled his eyes.
“No. I just told him that I was confused about girls and whether or not they were for me. Then I asked him if he’d ever been with a guy before and he acted like a total asshole.”

“That’s too bad.”

He nodded. “You know what the worst part is?”

I took a sip of wine. “What?”

“He came out of the closet.”

My eyebrows shot up. “You’re kidding
.”

“Not at all
. My parents mentioned it, a couple of years ago. They were obviously flabbergasted about the entire thing.” He scowled. “My parents are so homophobic, it’s pathetic.”

“
Well, I think that guy owes you an apology.”

He took a drink of his wine. “At the very least,” he said. “But really, I don’t care. He was obviously battling his o
wn feelings at the time. Although, once an asshole, always an asshole. Speaking of…”

I tu
rned to see where he was looking and felt a warm rush swirl around my insides.

Reed.

“Where’s Sela?” asked Jesse as he walked towards us through the cool sand. He’d also changed his clothing and now wore black lounge pants and a matching hooded sweatshirt.

Reed sighed. “She has a migraine
.”

“You know, I hate to be the one t
o break it to you,” said Jesse, “but, your fiancé is an irritating bitch.”

He stuck his hands in his pockets and chuckled.
“She definitely has her moments.”

I stared at
Reed as he stood there looking towards the ocean and felt envious of Sela. With his eyes glittering in the moonlight and his hair blowing in the wind, he looked like a model, posing for a picture. If I were Sela and hadn’t seen him for a while, he wouldn’t have been out here with us. I would have tied him to the bed and had my way, several times over, by now. 

Of course, I’d never had a migraine so I shouldn’t judge.

Feeling a little loose-lipped because of the wine, I cleared my throat. “Would you like to join us? There’s plenty of wine.”

He turned and smiled. “No, thank you.
I just wanted to let you know that I hadn’t forgotten about you two.”

“You’re not going skinny-dipping
with us?” asked Jesse.

“No, I’ll give you love-birds some privacy,” he said, his mouth twitching.

Jesse stood up. “Nonsense, we don’t need privacy, big brother. We didn’
t come here for sex.”

“
Well, although I’d love to join you,” he said. “I have to get back to Sela before she wakes up mom and dad. If she thinks I went skinny-dipping without her, she’ll blow a gasket.”

“You’d better go
back, then,” I said. “We’re not staying out here much longer, anyway.”

Plus, there was no way I could drop my clothes when he was watching.
At least, not here, on the beach.

“Well, you two have fun,” he said, turning to go back. “Don’
t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“
Good luck with the shrew!” hollered Jesse.

Reed raised his hand but didn’t look back.

***

Michael

I watched them frolicking
in the water after the other man left. They couldn’t see me hiding between the rocks, but my view was clear, especially of
her
.

It was the perfect night.
The moon was full and the setting was made for lovers.

It was made for
us.

When Sinclair
stepped out of the water she looked almost naked in her pale wet panties and bra. Her curves set me on fire and my hand moved inside of my trousers, watching her as I pumped my cock. I wanted nothing more than to lick the salt from her breasts as I thrust in and out of her wetness while she whispered my name, begging me for more. These thoughts consumed me and soon I shuddered into my fist, imagining the satisfaction in her eyes when it was over, as we held each other close and spoke of our future.

Soon
, my love

.

Reed

I walked back towards the house, wondering why the hell I hadn’t just said
fuck it
, and stayed with Jesse and Sinclair. Not only would it have been interesting to see how far they’d go with their little farce, but the thought of getting a glimpse of Sinclair’s body naked, well, it was enough to make me strain in my pants. As far as I was concerned, I could still appreciate a beautiful woman without touching her.

Unlike my father.

Sighing, I walked into the house and up to the guest room, to check on Sela. It was dark and empty.

Fuck.

I left and began searching the house for her as quietly as I could, so I wouldn’t wake up George, Gretchen, or my parents. When I finally made it to the library, I stopped in my tracks. Sela was sitting on the sofa, wearing a flimsy pink robe, and drinking a glass of champagne with Jack. As soon as he noticed me, Jack stood up and moved behind the sofa.

I forced a smile.
“What’s going on in here?”

“
What does it look like?” asked Sela, a little gleam in her eyes.

Jack smiled and patted the sofa cushion.
“Son, sit down.”

“No, thanks.
So I see that your migraine went away.”

“
Yes, after my bath. I went out to look for you and bumped into your father,” said Sela, running a hand through the back of her damp hair. “We’ve been chatting.”

“Is that so?” I asked.

Jack cleared his throat. “Yes. We haven’t had much of a chance to talk, yet. So, we decided to have a quick glass of champagne, to celebrate your upcoming wedding and talk about you.”

“Oh, did my father reminisce about my childhood?” I asked, knowing very well that he wasn’t around enough to know much about it. Nor did her really care, since I wasn’t his biological child and he was a prick.

“No,
but we did talk about
acting
, actually,” said Sela. “Your father seems to think I might have a future career in Hollywood.”

I looked at Jack, who nodded. “Yes, she expressed an interest in it and I told her I might be able to help.”

I turned back to Sela. “So, what about modeling?”

She shrugged.
“Well, I can do both.”

“You’re already complaining about how busy you are. I don’t see how you can
,” I said.

“Listen,” said Jack, looking down at his watch. “I think I’ll head up to bed, so you two can discuss this in private. It’s getting late.”

I folded my arms across my chest
. “Good idea. I’m sure that mom’s probably wondering where you are.”

He stared at me for a minute and then nodded.