Our Heat Is Gone

“No, no, no, no, no, no!”

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!” I exclaimed and stood up in victory.

“Aw, fuck no! That can’t be possible!” Max complained.

“It was bound to happen, Max.” I stated soaking up all the glory. “I beat you!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, live it up. I still own you at everything else.” He huffed while setting his controller aside.

“Oh, really?” I said setting mine aside as well and placing my hands on my hips while also sending him a challenging look.

“Yes, real-. Oh fuck.” He began to say before I tackled him. “Hell, Lexi! Get the fuck off of me!” He said trying to pry me off.

“I’m going to make you eat your words, Helyer!” I stated even latching myself onto him more.

“Lexi, I am serious. Please. I don’t want to have to have to fight back.”

“Oh please!”

“I warned you, love.” He said and suddenly by surprise, Max easily picked me up and flipped us over. I yelped rather loudly and tried to wiggle my way out of his grasp. He was stronger than I last remembered. Tackling him was never much of a challenge in the past, but I struggled a lot trying to win this battle. “Do you give up?” He asked.

“Never, bitch!” I joked at him and bucked my lower body hoping he would hop off, but it didn’t do much.

“Then, I’m sorry I’m going to have to do this.” He said and I looked at him questionably. The next thing I knew he leaned in closer to my face and ran his tongue along my cheek.

“Oh, ew, gross! Max!” I whined squirming even more underneath him.

“I warned you.” He said through his fit of laughs, but still on top of me.

“Will you two shut the fuck up?” Max and I stopped playing around and turned our attention to the person who said that. I picked my head up a bit and looked over Max’s shoulder to see Josh looking rather grumpy.

“Sorry, mate. We were just messing around.” Max apologized and finally got off of me.

“Whatever, just be quiet there are others on the bus and you know Matt is probably sleeping.” He said looking everywhere, but at us.

“Yeah, that bat.” Max joked and I just laughed a little. Josh shook his head and walked back into the bunk area. We sat there quietly for a few seconds until I decided to get revenge back at Max. I quickly swiped the palm of my hand across my tongue and wiped it on his cheek. “Aw, no! Lexi!” He said loudly, but still trying to contain the volume of it.

“Revenge.” I said laughing at him trying to wipe my saliva off.

“You truly are my best friend.” He said smiling at me. I nodded and leaned back on the couch. I had been on their bus for three days now and we had a week left to go. I would be returning to Virginia and the boys back to the UK. I was going to hate to have to say goodbye to Max again. “So, there is this party tonight. You in?” He asked.

“Definitely.” I replied.

-xxx-

“I can’t stand another second with her on this bus.”

“That’s my family and I really don’t appreciate you talking about her like that.”

“Are you forgetting the reason why we almost couldn’t be here? She broke your best friend’s heart and turned us against each other!”

“She is still family and people break each others hearts all the time.”

“Look, I don’t care if she is your cousin-“

“Matt, for Christ’s sake please, just shut your mouth for one fucking second!” A third party interjected.

“What the fuck is the matter with you? You off all people should hate her. I’m surprised I’m the one trying to get her kicked off this bus. She broke your heart. Why should I shut up? I am only trying to help you out.”

“Well, you’re not doing anything by running that trap of yours. All you do is whine about her all day.”

“You know, if I didn’t know any better I’d say you still fancy her.”

“Don’t even start, man.” Josh warned.

“Then why am I the only one that seems to have a problem with her staying with us?”

“Okay, fine! You know I’ll admit it! I can’t stand seeing her face every second of the day and I am sure I am about to explode before the last few days of the tour if she hangs around, which she will have to because Dan doesn’t turn his back on almost anyone. I hate her too, Matt, but I’m not going to fucking bitch about it every time I open my mouth. In a few days she will be back in Virginia and we’ll be miles away from her again and everything will be back to the way it should be. So fucking deal with it!” Josh ranted. He looked over to his left and then noticed I was standing there. I was in the bathroom the entire time trying to get ready for the party until I heard their loud conversation.

I wasn’t going to lie and say that that didn’t faze me at all. I understood that they disliked me, but I didn’t think that I was really horrible to be around even with what happened to us. I see now that there isn’t any chance of trying to get them on my good side and make amends with either of the two anymore.

“Lexi.” Dan said and started walking over to me. I didn’t let him make it to me because I ran off the bus and tried my best to find Max. My feet didn’t carry me anywhere to far because of the height I had strapped around my ankles. Fuck, these shoes. I thought to myself. I stopped trying to run away because I couldn’t see through my eyes. I just realized I was crying. I didn’t know exactly why I was either. The boy I once loved and my ex-best friend couldn’t stand me more than anything, but that never made me cry like this before.

I jumped in surprise as I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I turned around and saw my cousin with a sympathetic expression on his face. He pulled my body close to him and I held onto him trying not to get any of my make up on him. He rubbed my back a little and started apologizing for what Josh and Matt had said.

“Am I really that awful?” I asked.

“Of course not. If you were I myself probably wouldn’t have forgiven you.”

“You just have a big heart that’s why.” I said pulling away and wiping my tears.

“Hey, don’t let them get to you. They owe you an apology. Besides it’s only a few more days.”

“Yeah, then just like what they said things will be back to normal and you lot won’t ever have to deal with me again.”

“No, not this time. I’m going to make sure we keep in touch and I’ll try to make visits to Virginia.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“You’re family and I could never turn my back on you.”

“Thank you, Dan. You know I’m always going to be there for you too.”

“I know, now cheer up and let’s get to that party. Max is probably looking for you.”

-xxx-

“There you are, love.” Max said as he found Dan and I. “Here you are.” He said handing me a drink.

“Thank you.” I said and took the drink from his hands.

“You didn’t get me one?” Dan asked.

“I only have two hands you know!”

“Whatever, I’ll see you two around. Take care of her, mate.” Dan told Max and walked off.

“So you look very fit tonight.” Max complimented.

“Oh, thank you, again.” I laughed and shook my head. He was probably already buzzed and it didn’t long for me to follow.

“Let’s dance, yeah?” He suggested and I nodded. He took my hand and led us to the dance floor. In our right minds I am certain Max and I would have never danced this close to each other. No matter how perverted he was towards me, it was friendly then, but tonight was a bit too friendly for my taste.

He turned me around and placed his hands on my waist and began to sway us to the beat of the music. We continued to grind rather than dance and occasionally I was enjoying the feeling of Max’s lips being pressed against the back or side of my neck every now and then. Halfway into the next song, I felt a hand wrap around my wrist and yank me out of Max’s arms.

“Hey, mate, what are you doing?” Max complained.

“Fuck off, Max.” The stranger replied. I hadn’t had the chance to look up at this guy, but I saw Max lift his hands up in surrender and walk away at that. Why’d he leave me? I stopped worrying because I felt my body being dragged off with this stranger.

When we exited the building I finally got the chance to see for myself and I was greeted with none other than Josh. I stared at him for a few seconds then anger took over me. I didn’t forget what he said about me earlier today on the bus. Not even with all that alcohol inside my system.

“Get your fucking hands off of me, you prick!” I said and tore his grasp away from me. I stumbled backwards in the process.

“Careful.” He said coming closer, but I just backed up even further.

“Why do you care?” I asked. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair before speaking.

“I don’t, but I wanted to apologize for what you heard earlier. I’m sorry.”

“No you’re not.” I said shaking my head and started to walk away. He grabbed my wrist again and pulled me back. “Get your hands off of me, now.” I said slowly.

“I didn’t mean any of the things I said.” He said looking directly in my eyes. I looked hard into his trying to understand what was going on. I was in no state to be having this conversation with him right now.

“Yeah, you did. You hate me. You probably wish I was dead.”

“Not at all. I only said those things to get Matt to shut up.” He explained. I diverted my eyes away from him and closed them. I was confused.

I kept my eyes shut hoping that this wasn’t happening and when I opened them he would be gone. I never got to open them because the next sensation I felt was from his lips crashing against my own. His hands that were wrapped around my wrists felt like they sent off some sort of jolts from his body to mine. As cliché as it all seemed, his touch felt like fire and as if it beginning to burn his grip loosed around my arms. I stumbled backwards and I felt my back hit the brick wall behind me, but I didn’t want the contact of our lips to stop so I dragged Josh back in by the collar of his shirt and smashed my lips against his roughly. The kiss we shared was raw and full of lust and mixed emotions, at least on my end there were. I wondered what things were running through his mind while we engaged in this activity. Much like what happened a few days ago by the tour buses, his hands roamed around my body and mine wrapped around his neck keeping him close to me.

“We can’t keep this up out here. Someone could catch us.” Josh tried to say while out of breath. My lips would just not leave his. They were almost attracted to them like a magnet.

“Lexi.” He whined as I began biting his bottom lip. I heard him let out a small growl and then grasp my arms again sending those jolts through me once more. He reluctantly pulled his face away from mine and began dragging me away from the building.

I didn’t know the route we were talking or the distance of it, but I soon found myself on top of Josh in a bunk back on the boys’ bus, articles of clothing being thrown around in his bunk, and his rough hands running along my soft skin. Neither of us tried to stop this and there were no words exchanged between us besides the occasional moaning of our names. When the last piece of clothing came off and our bare bodies came in contact with one another, no matter what state either of us was in, we both knew there was no turning back.