Parvati came up for air long enough to mumble something about putting it on her tab.
Preston picked up a yellow squirt gun and managed to hit the back of her head from across the room. “Seriously. Cool off, Pervy. I sit on that sofa sometimes. At least wait until the maid goes home so you can use a guest bedroom.”
Parvati wiped away a spray of water that was trickling down her neck. “What kind of weirdo just happens to have a loaded squirt gun lying around the house?”
“A weirdo with badly behaved pets,” Preston said, aiming the gun at his mom’s Himalayan cat, who was curled up on an empty bookshelf and minding its own business. The cat jumped when the spray hit it, hissing, nearly falling to the floor. It gave Preston a baleful look with its smooshed-in face before abandoning the shelf and padding its way up the stairs.
A girl screamed at us from the big-screen TV. We all turned to watch as a man wearing a black sweatshirt with the hood pulled low swung at her with an axe. The silvery tip lodged in her forehead and blood spattered onto the camera lens. The scene cut away to another room in the house where the dead girl’s friends were giggling and doing each other’s hair.
“That’s what she gets for saying Woody in the Hoodie three times while looking in the mirror,” Parvati said. “If you’re going to be stupid, you deserve what you get.” Her voice sounded off again.
Preston gave her a look but didn’t say anything. He took a long drink from the bottle of whiskey and then turned back to his computer.
I glanced back and forth between him and Parvati. “Are you two all right? You’re acting weird.”
They both started to speak at the same time, but then the maid yelled from the top of the stairs. “Preston. Enchiladas in fridge, okay? You just heat. You need more help before I go?”
“No. We’re good, Esmeralda. Gracias,” he hollered back, without looking away from the computer screen.
“Man, you’d starve if it wasn’t for her,” I said.
He grunted in agreement. “I know. You should invite me over to your house to eat. I want to kick back around the kitchen table and have a nice family dinner.”
I snorted. “If you call Hamburger Helper a nice family dinner.” I never invited Pres or Parvati over. I wasn’t embarrassed by where I lived, but I figured they’d rather hang out in their own bigger, quieter houses.
“At least your parents make an effort.” Preston tipped back the bottle of whiskey again.
Parvati yanked me up from the overstuffed sofa. “I believe I owe you a life-changing time.”
“What’s your hurry?” I lowered my voice. “I just got here.” I wasn’t sure if I felt bad about taking advantage of Pres or if I was going into panic mode at the thought of getting to be with Parvati again. I hadn’t found the time to take precautionary measures today and didn’t like the thought of lasting only five seconds, especially in Preston’s house.
She turned to Preston and fluttered her thick black eyelashes in his direction. “We’ll be back, all right?”
“Can I record you guys?” He turned toward us and held up his phone.
Parvati threw a yellow sofa pillow in his direction, and he took aim with the squirt gun again. “You’re a freak,” she said, using a second pillow as a shield.
He rolled his eyes and turned his phone around so that he was filming himself. “Sadly, it appears there will be no footage of this epic union.” He pocketed his phone and fiddled with the gold band of his watch. “Go on. I wouldn’t want to be the guy who stands in the way of true lust.”
Parvati’s eyes narrowed. “For all you know, it could be true love.”
I coughed. Even though we’d been dating for four months, I didn’t think Parvati and I were anywhere near the L word. Not that I wasn’t crazy about her. Love just always seemed like something for people who were older. Stable. People who had their shit together.
Preston grabbed the TV remote off a glass end table. “You’re not capable of love, Pervy.”
“You wish you knew what I was capable of.” She scoffed.
I couldn’t help but feel like a second conversation was taking place in the dead space between their words. I looked back and forth again, wondering if they’d had a fight.
Pres flicked a button and axe-wielding Woodie became pulsing music videos. He punched the volume up a few notches, and his features melted into his usual relaxed grin. “Use the guest room on the main floor. And don’t say I never gave you anything.”
Parvati practically skipped up the stairs and down the hall. I followed behind her, creeping around each corner as if I might run into Senator DeWitt or Esmeralda at any moment. The guest bedroom was at the back corner of the house, its wooden door pulled tightly shut. I froze up for a moment, half convinced Parvati’s father would be hiding in the bedroom with a squadron of air force commandos.
“Come on.” She pushed the door open. The room wasn’t much bigger than the rooms at the Seabreeze, but it was nicer, with muted blue walls and pastel paintings of flowers and lakes. The bed was wide, with a fluffy gray comforter. Parvati collapsed backward into the center of the mattress, pulling me down with her. Threading her fingers through the belt loops of my jeans, she pulled my body up against hers, her mouth finding the tender spot she’d been sucking on earlier. “Max time,” she murmured. “My favorite time in the whole world.”
I rolled her over so that she was on top of me. Her skin glowed. Her eyes were dark tunnels, made even deeper by the thick eyeliner goo she was wearing. “Are you guys fighting?” I asked. “Things seemed kind of tense downstairs.”
“It’s fine.” She brushed her lips against mine. “I think he’s pissed about something online. Probably lost more money.”
“Are you sure? Because I always felt like he was into you—”
“Preston is only into Preston,” she said. “And I’m only into you.”
I loved the way she said it. So matter-of-fact. But I didn’t want Pres to be pissed at us. I didn’t exactly have a lot of friends. “I don’t know, Parv—” My voice cracked in the middle of her name.
“Oh, that’s so cute. You’re nervous.” Her fingertips expertly undid the button of my jeans and whatever I’d been planning to say died on my lips. “I’ll relax you,” she said. Pushing my shirt up to my armpits, she kissed her way downward from my chest.