Page 49 of For the Record
Leaving was safer. At least for now.
Chapter 25
McCoy
She used to livefor the chase. Before she’d met Sawyer, having beautiful people fall for her charms had been half the thrill for Coy. But now, watching as multiple half-naked women traipsed around her apartment, trying to get her attention, was an eye-opener for Coy. She felt like bait trapped in a cesspool with horny queer predators. Everywhere she turned another person she’d slept with popped up, either to drunkenly tell her off or to try for a repeat. It was exhausting, and truly had Coy questioning her life choices of the last ten plus years.
“Hey, baby.” Mallory, who Coy had spent the night with several months ago, slipped her hand in Coy’s, tugging her to a stop. “Any chance you’re unattached tonight?”
Smiling politely, Coy carefully disengaged their fingers. She glanced around the apartment, half expecting Sloane to be lurking around the corner. Something was off tonight. “Erm,actually, no, I’m not. Unattached, that is.” Coy gave her a nervous chuckle, already backing away. “Sorry Mal, but damn, it was nice to see you. Thanks for coming to the party.”
It was the worst kind of torture for someone like Coy, withholding sex during their annual pride celebrations, but she was willing to do anything it took for a chance with Sawyer. They were going at her pace, after all.
“Quick, in here!”
Hands grabbed at Coy’s shirt, yanking her backwards toward the bathroom. When she was certain her time on earth was up, Abi’s face came into view, enclosing them into the small space. She locked the bathroom door. “What …” Coy’s voice trailed off when she noticed Tess camping out on the closed toilet seat. She gave Coy an awkward wave.
“Hey.”
The party was loud, way louder than it should have been in an apartment building, so Tess’s greeting was muffled to Coy’s ears. She lifted her hand for a hesitant wave, observing the beer in theirs. There was a better part of a six-pack sitting on the bathroom counter.
“Jasmine’s in your bed, naked,” Abi loudly explained, giving Coy a friendly push. She looked drunk already. “You’re welcome.”
Coy supposed she owed Abi one, considering that’s exactly where she was headed a moment ago. She groaned, realizing what was happening. “Sloane pulled out all the stops.”
“She’s the one who offered you up as some sort of queer sacrificial virgin?” Abi’s mouth fell open, and she glanced back at Tess.
“Yeah,” Coy answered slowly, watching Abi’s exaggerated shock in suspicion. Something wasn’t right. “We made a bet, so she’ll use every opportunity she can to win.”Not one of her better attributes, I assure you,she added silently. She hadn’tbeen overly impressed with her sister when Sloane gleefully explained what she’d done early that evening. Setting Coy up to fail was a lot different than being a silent spectator. It had to cross some kind of twin code or something. But getting their friends involved was going above and beyond. That was entering traitor territory. “Let me guess, you’re in on it?”
Abi at least had the gall to look guilty. She giggled, slapping Coy’s arm like the whole thing was a joke. “I bet you would succeed. That’s good, right?”
How was any of this good? Coy was an utter mess over Sawyer, and her friends—her own family—were placing bets on her future misery or happiness? How fucked up was that? She swallowed down the bile building in her throat, forcing out, “How much, Abi?”
“Two hundred bucks?”
Beer spewed from Tess’s mouth. “Say what?”
Abi shrugged, a drunken, uneasy chuckle emanating from her. “It’s not just me. There’s a pool going.”
“Un-fucking-believable,” Coy gritted out. Her cheeks flamed within the bathroom’s suffocating enclosure. There was a tickling sensation happening in her throat and nose. She didn’t know if she was about to scream or cry, but she wasdefinitelyfeeling some kind of way.
“Coy …”
“I … My emotions aren’t fucking … lotto tickets to be scratched and won or thrown away,” Coy burst out.Oh no, no please not the waterworks. But sure enough, blasted tears blurred her vision as she glared at her best friend. “Sawyer makes me want things. Different things, tobedifferent. I-I feel it, Abi. I told you that. Iconfidedin you.” It could have been anyone else and Coy would have shrugged it off. But Abi? Why her and why this bet? Abi rarely bid on any of Sloane’s stupid bets.
“Coy, I bet in your favor,” Abi insisted. “Why is that bad? I know you’re crazy about Sawyer.”
Coy held her hand up. “Forget it. Have a good night.”Or not, the pissed off demon camping out on her shoulder snickered silently.
Coy left, slamming the bathroom door behind her. She needed to get out of the apartment before she and Sloane had a throwdown. Coy marched to her bedroom, so busy wiping away frustrated tears that she almost toppled right into Ash. “Hey, Coy, you okay?”
Coy nodded, cutting her eyes to the floor on her way past. “All’s good, Ash. It’s great to see you,” she called to them.
Jasmine was indeed in Coy’s bed, but it didn’t look as if she was hard up for company. “Don’t mind me,” Coy grumbled, not bothering to glance long enough to find out who had their face between Jasmine’s thighs.
“Wanna join us?”
“Nope.”