Scum (Book 1)

27. Beautiful

Chey’s POV

I know that Alpha Liam has a plan, so I yield to Jenna, allowing the woman to finish my make-up before we step out of the restroom together.

“Jenna what the f*ck?” I was only visible for a few seconds before Liam wrapped a towel around me, still hugging me as he rebukes his sister for ‘doing too much.’ “Where are her clothes?”

“She looks fine.”

“She looks like a slu…” Liam doesn’t finish his sentence, but I know what he was going to say. “She’s changing.” The man is still holding me in his arms as he speaks, giving me an up-close view of how his features contort when he’s angry. “Cheyenne, why didn’t you say anything to her?” I barely get to defend myself when Jenna interrupts, telling Liam that his issue is with her and not me.

“I heard that Porsha was coming… Chey told me that she didn’t feel comfortable, but I-”

“Porsha’s coming?” Liam releases me so quickly that I stumble, but I use my newfound freedom to go back into the restroom and grab the t-shirt I had on before I changed.

I start digging through the luggage that was packed for me, looking to see if I find something else to wear while Liam and his sister are talking.

“You okay?” I hadn’t even noticed Royce in the room, but I’m glad he’s here.

Royce kind of reminds me of my brother in personality, so having him around helps the situation feel less awkward.

“I’m just looking for something to change into.”

“Hey… Don’t tell her I said this but… you shouldn’t listen to Jenna all the time. She hates Porsha.”

“I guessed that much. I just don’t get why she’s taking it out on me.”

“Trust me, she isn’t. She was going to wear what you had on, but after thinking about it, she got the idea that it would look better on you.”

“Did it?”

“Don’t ask me dumb ass questions that have no f*cking answer!” I start laughing so loud that I interrupt the conversation that Liam and Jenna are having, and before I know it the girl is standing in between me and her mate.

“You know Chey, if you were anyone else, I would have attacked you.”

“Why?”

“You see that. Your innocence is why I can’t even be mad at you, but that laugh sounded mighty flirty.”

“Your mate just cursed me out for no reason, and it was funny.” Jenna looks at Royce accusingly, so he tells her what I asked, prompting Liam to explain why the man had an outburst. “This whole thing is confusing to me. I can’t take my shirt off in front of people I’ve known forever, yet I can walk around in what amounts to a bra in front of strangers, but only at the beach. Can someone just sit me down and tell me everything?”

“There are no written rules to life, but one thing is certain… You’re not wearing that dress.”

“Thank the goddess.” I continue to dig through the luggage, and Liam joins me, no longer trusting his sister’s judgment.

“Try this one on,” he says, handing me an army green dress that at least has straps.

I dip into the restroom and come back out, feeling much more covered because, although the dress is tight, it comes to the knee, and covers my breast enough to not feel like they’re going to pop out and cause more trouble.

Royce and Jenna left the room, but Liam is completely silent as he stares at me, making me feel foolish for thinking that I looked nice.

“I’ll go change.”

“Why?!” The man questions, moving closer to me as he speaks. “You look good.” Alpha Liam has never looked at me the way he is now, but when I go to step back, my foot gets caught on a shoe left out for me, nearly causing me to fall. “Careful.” Liam’s hands are on my hips, keeping me from falling, and his current expression makes me wonder if I imagined how he was looking at me before. “Porsha might be at the event tonight,” he says, “but don’t worry; I won’t embarrass you in public. If she and I make up, I’ll make sure to send you home ahead of us.”

I’m not sure how that’s not embarrassing, but that’s what I came here for, so I agree with a nod, and wiggle out of the man’s hold.

Liam’s POV

I’ve always found Cheyenne pretty, but since we’ve been on this trip, I realize that the girl is beautiful.

The dress I picked out looked like a long tank top, which is why I picked it, but now that I’m looking, I realize that the color makes the green in Chey’s eyes pop. She has curly hair, and my sister styled it naturally, accessorizing the girl with gold hoop earrings that just so happen to work with the dress that I chose as well.

“I’ll go change.” I hadn’t realized I was silently staring, and because I don’t know what else to do, I move closer, prompting the woman to back away.

She nearly falls in her haste, so I steady her by the waist, urging her to be careful, but I don’t immediately let go the way I should.

Instead, I stare at the girl, fighting against instinct by reminding myself that this is a game and she’s the little sister of one of my best friends. No matter how she looks, and no matter how pent up I am, I should respect that boundary, and more importantly, Chey is waiting to find her mate, that person is not me.

Realizing that I’m still holding her and I’m seconds away from crossing the line, I remind myself of why Chey is with me in the first place, and I’m not willing to jeopardize winning Porsha back by not being able to swear that everything was an act, and that even though we’re broken up, I haven’t been with anyone except her.

“Porsha might be at the event tonight, but don’t worry; I won’t embarrass you in public. If she and I make up, I’ll make sure to send you home ahead of us.” Chey wiggles out of my hold, flashing a tight smile that I can’t quite read. “Unless you’d want to stay.”

“No… I don’t think I’d like being here without a reason.” I thought Chey was having a good time on this trip, but her words convince me that she’s not, making me feel even worse about what I just said.

“What do you want to do?”

“Alpha Liam, I’m just here to help you out. I’ll do whatever you ask me to do. Anything else is really unnecessary.”

“Don’t be like that Chey… I want you to have fun too.”

“Then… let me hit a few people.” The cheeky smile Chey’s giving me is all I needed to know that she’s not angry or upset about what I told her. This is just her personality, and since she’s unused to having nothing to do, it must be killing her.

After she straps a pair of heels on her feet, I pull her into the standing position, wanting to shift the conversation into something friendly.

“This favor you’re doing me is huge. I don’t want you to leave this place without at least a few good memories.” Chey thinks for a while, but I know that she’s probably mentally calculating the cost, then crossing it off in her mind. “My treat.”

“That actually doesn’t change anything for me. You aren’t working and technically the money you're spending comes from my wallet.” That was rude, but Chey isn’t the first person to tell me that. My father let me know before we left, and my mother co-signed seconds later.

Basically, if I don’t want people being able to say that to me, I need to get my sh*t together the way Chey does, otherwise, I’m no better than a slumlord.

“How about we go to an amusement park?” I ignored Chey’s statement about money because there is no argument I will win with her regarding finances, and Dallas forewarned me not to even try.

I was told the girl cried on her birthday because her family bought her the laptop she needed for school, and although she wanted to keep it, she felt like it was wrong to accept it, knowing that financially, they weren’t in the position to splurge on anything.

From what I understand, she still has that same laptop, which I believe because the girl’s phone is ancient. That reminds me…

“Hey Chey, I want to take a picture of you.”

“Why?”

“Your TweeGram profile hasn’t been updated since you were fifteen.” The girl shrugs, just as uncaring as ever. “Come on Chey, even Dallas posts pictures.”

“Of weird stuff…” That… is true.

Dallas posts a lot of pictures that he finds funny, and sometimes, just to shake things up, he’ll post gym pictures, but more recently, he posts a lot of pictures of him and Nora. They don’t go on many dates, so I guess it’s his way of making her feel special.

“Chey… it won’t look good if my ‘girlfriend’ and I aren’t proud of each other. Just let me take a few pictures.”

“Okay,” Chey grabs the bag that matches her shoes, and marches toward the door, making me ask how she learned to walk in heels. “My mom made me learn. She said that she didn’t go through all the trouble of making a girl to end up with two sons.”

“That’s kind of sexist.”

“Right?!” Chey exclaims, looking at me in incredulity. “Sadly, Dallas found out not to call my mother out on double standards the hard way.”

“I need details…”

“She made him practice walking in heels too. You know, to practice gender equality.” Dallas has never mentioned that, but there was a time when his calf muscles were admirable, but he wouldn’t tell anyone what he was doing differently.

“How did he do?”

“He and I turned it into a game, and truthfully, he’s better than me.” I can guess that it’s hard to walk in heels simply because of the number of women willing to risk a foot fungus by walking around barefoot after a night at the club.

When we get to the lobby, Royce and Jenna are there talking to Riker, and just like me, his eyes get glued on the woman beside me, but she’s so focused on telling me the benefits of training in heels that she doesn’t even notice anything until I wrap my arms around her shoulders.

Chey isn’t mine, but Riker can’t have her either.