Scum (Book 1)

22. Sink

Chey’s POV

I didn’t bring a swimsuit, so after grabbing something to eat, Jenna and I picked one up when we went to buy snacks for the hotel room.

We still have about two hours of daylight, but the pool doesn’t close until 10PM, giving us plenty of time to splash around.

There are still many people swimming, but I’m not paying any attention to them. I don’t often get to travel, so I’ve never been in a pool, and I’m eager to play in water that isn’t treacherous like the river that runs near the pack’s territory.

I use the stairs to get into the pool, not wanting to break the hotel rules and embarrass Alpha Liam, and when I’m deep enough, I dive under, then allow my body to naturally float up.

I can’t swim, so I didn’t want to go past the five-foot marker, but someone jumped into the water right next to me, and it pushed me into the deeper section.

I don’t know what to do, so I hold my breath and start walking my way to where my head is back above water, and when I finally get to take in oxygen, I turn to knock the head off of the person who could have killed me, but Liam practically tackled me, already anticipating what I was going to do.

“Why?” I growl, shaking in anger because I really need to hit someone. We are in a resort hotel, so the pool is huge, and that means that the i***t who jumped in near me did it on purpose.

“Everyone here is an invited guest.”

“And that includes me.” Liam looks shocked by my response, so he lets me go.

I stalk up to the jerk who’s just standing there looking at me like an i***t, but he makes no move to defend himself, even though I’m sure he knows I’m not planning to have a conversation.

Liam’s POV

Chey isn’t violent per-se, but she’s definitely a rough girl, so I intuitively knew that she was going to lash out at the person who made her sink. She told us that she couldn’t swim, so I was already going to pull her up when I noticed that she went under.

Fortunately, she was smart enough to walk to more shallow water without panicking, but the look on her face was so murderous that I nearly tackled her.

“Why?” The girl growls her response, and I can feel her shaking in anger.

“Everyone here is an invited guest.”

“And that includes me.” Chey has a point, and because she’s here as my ‘date’ it’s important that I don’t undermine her.

I watch the girl stalk up to the i***t who’s about to get his jaw rocked by her, and her question to him makes me cover my mouth to stop myself from laughing.

“What’s your problem bro?” Chey has spent way too much time around men, and she clearly doesn’t realize that she’s a woman, an incredibly attractive woman who looks so damn good in a bikini that Royce tried calling Dallas to stop her from going swimming.

Even now, he’s in his room arguing with Jenna because as he put it his ‘default little sister’ isn’t going out like a sl*t. Jenna countered by showing him her swimsuit, which was practically the same, and since then, they’ve been going back and forth about sexism and all kinds of things that I didn’t want to be involved in.

Thankfully, they were arguing in their own room, so Chey is only aware of the fact that Dallas was called, and that Royce doesn’t approve, but nothing else.

Sadly, this puts me in an extremely awkward situation in which I’m trying badly not to ogle at a woman who I’ve always seen as a little girl… that is up until recently.

“Sorry beautiful, I was just trying to show off a little.” Chey’s entire posture changes, and she retreats backward several steps, clearly unused to being flirted with.

Back home, people never approached her because no one wants to offend her or Dallas, so essentially, the man who just flirted with Chey might as well have punched her in the gut, she’s that unable to compose herself.

Not knowing how to respond, and no longer angry, Chey turns to and starts moving toward me with absolute terror in her eyes.

I can’t take it, so I start laughing before extending a hand and pulling her into my chest, looking up at the flirty male who respectfully salutes me before backing off.

“What was that?” She asks, peeking over my shoulder to look at the man who’s gone back to where he was before he jumped into the pool.

“That was exactly what Royce tried to warn you about.”

“I want to go home.” Chey starts trying to leave the pool, but I stop her with a bear hug.

“You started this Chey, and you know why we’re here.” Right now, I have to make us look like a happy couple, otherwise, someone else may start flirting with her, and I don’t want that.

“Liam, I don’t like this anymore.” Chey’s whispering, but because I’m serious about putting on a show, I ignore her concern and pull her into the deeper water. “I can’t swim.”

“Just relax. I’ve got you.” Chey tries to listen, but at some point, Royce and Jenna return, and I'm mentally assaulted by a mind-link from both of them.

I’m not an i***t, so I know how this looks, but it’s supposed to look that way, so I relay the message, reminding both people that they were the ones who pushed for Chey to be my fake date.

However, because holding Chey the way that I am is a little weird, I bring her back toward more shallow water and let the girl go. She must have been just as uncomfortable as I was because the way she moved away from me looks like I was holding her hostage.

As soon as she’s out, Royce throws a towel at her with a little more aggression than he needed, so Jenna punches his arm, giving him a death glare that makes me wonder if they’ve ever argued about the amount of attention he pays to the girl.

“What’s up?” I mind-link Royce who I feel is a little more interested in Chey than he should be as a marked and mated male.

“Don’t be f*cking stupid. I love your sister to death, and I’d never disrespect her in that way, but Lillian looks up to Chey and this sh*t is unacceptable.” I’m reminded that Royce’s little sister is so obsessed with Cheyenne that she copies anything the girl does, and because she’s approaching the age of consent, Royce must be panicking. “She’s already bought skirts, f*cking skirts, and if she buys a bikini, I’ll have no choice but to kill her.”

Royce must have opened his link to my sister because she slaps his chest, glaring at him because like me, she’s all about equality.

My beta was raised in a family that's a little more conservative, so he has certain biases that my sister and I don’t, but most of them are rooted in the desire to protect, not oppress.

When Jenna turned fourteen, I was only sixteen, so it was completely acceptable for me to walk around posturing against anyone who looked in her direction for too long, but she only had eyes for Royce, and before finding out that they were fated, my friend would never have disrespected me by screwing my sister, just like I would never do that to Dallas.

“What are you guys linking about?” Chey doesn’t have a wolf yet, nor is she a member of the pack, so she can’t communicate with us.

“Royce thinks that he’ll lose control of Lillian if you become too girly.”

“It’s a valid fear,” Royce says, glaring at my sister in the way that only couples understand. “She bought a skirt!”

“I’ll talk to her if you want.”

“What would you say?” Royce looks at Chey like his last lifeline, and honestly, I don’t blame him. As a future beta, his hands are really tied.

“I’ll tell her that she won’t be able to take me down in a dress.”

“Do you promise?”

“Sure. She can’t wait to knock me off the top spot, so she’ll take it seriously.” Royce is visibly relieved, but Jenna is visibly annoyed.

“And what happens when we have a daughter? Will we have Chey mess with her head too?”

“YES?!” We all laugh except Chey, who slowly backs away from us and takes a seat on one of the pool chairs.

My sister and her mate start being too lovey-dovey for me, so I join the girl, noticing too late that she isn’t happy.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Chey smiles at me, but when she stands, I block her path.

“Did we say something wrong?”

“Yes.” I replay the conversation in my mind and realize that neither of us were very considerate of Chey’s feelings when we were talking.

The woman tries to walk around me, but I really don’t like to see her in a bad mood, so I block her path again.

“Come on Chey. We were just teasing.”

“There’s nothing wrong with who I am,” the woman replies, keeping her beautiful green eyes locked on mine as she speaks.

“No there isn’t. You’re an amazing girl, and everyone acknowledges that. We just find it weird that you act like Dallas.”

Chey doesn’t look as sad anymore, but she’s definitely in a foul mood, so I step aside, allowing her to go back into the pool, this time with her cover-up on.

It doesn’t take long at all for someone to approach her, but because it's a girl, I don’t feel threatened.

However, that was probably a mistake because the girl is touching Chey a little too much for my liking, and it’s clear that she’s flirting when she advises Chey to remove her shirt because it could ‘drown’ her.

Jenna and Royce are too busy cuddling to notice, but when the girls get into a splash fight, I have to step in.

“Chey Hun; I’m ready for bed.” The girl’s neck snaps toward me so abruptly that it’s funny, but she catches on before she can comment on my word choice, but once in the elevator, I explain things anyway. “You know that girl was flirting with you, right?”

“Really? I couldn’t tell, but she started to weird me out a little when she invited me to her room.” I start laughing, making Chey smile. “I think I’m done with swimsuits for a while,” she innocently adds.