Flawed Perfection (Beautifully Flawed, #1)

Chapter Two

It was like clockwork; the second I remembered how much Adam and Bobby's mom hated me, I would be roped into a block party, family party, or some other occasion that would remind me I was definitely right. Their mom did despise my existence.

Even if the boys hadn't begged me to go, I'd still have to; after all, our families were practically one. We'd grown up almost every second of our lives with each other—our moms were best friends, and we even spent holidays at one another's houses. Getting out of a party like this was damned near impossible when my parents would want me to be at it, too. I could say no to them about as much as I could say no to the Beckerson boys.

The forty-five minute drive had droned on in silence as I pouted over the idea in the backseat of Adam's VW.

Finally I spoke up, "How did I get roped into this again?"

Adam looked over his shoulder at me and winked, sending a tingle up my spine. "I need your support. You know how it is."

"What does that mean?" Bobby asked, and I pushed my knee a little further into his back.

He knew exactly what it meant.

"You're the favorite. River makes it easier to take their bullshit digs at me. I can't wait to hear what they say about my new job," Adam replied, and his voice showed the venom he rarely demonstrated towards Bobby.

"There's no favorite, man, that's all in your head," Bobby answered.

Adam looked over at me again, and I shrugged. The acknowledgement passed between us that there certainly was a favorite.

Adam's family held Bobby on a pedestal for his sports achievements, which eventually led to an injury that made it so he could never play hockey again. Still, as the hockey coach at the local high school he was a legend in everyone's eyes. From the backseat the comparison between the two of them was almost laughable.

Bobby was in the seat in front of me, leaving me no room for my legs, because he had to push the seat almost all the way back. His head was also only inches away from the ceiling of the small GLI.

Adam had a smaller frame; he looked like a normal human in the car. Adam was nothing to laugh at though, he still had muscles that would, and did, make any girl drool. It was just a difference in taste.

"At least your mom doesn't hate you," I said as I grimaced at the thought, sinking deeper into my seat.

"Mom doesn't hate you!" both Adam and Bobby said in unison.

"Sure," I said to myself. "That's not what you said the other day Bobby—something about having a best friend as a chick messes up everything."

"Well, she doesn't. I was just teasing," Bobby said, glancing over and locking his blue eyes on mine.

"Yeah, she's just afraid you're going to lure Bobby into your sex trap," Adam teased.

"Shut up, man!" Bobby went to punch Adam, but I gripped his shoulder.

"I think if I wanted to lure him, I would have by now," I said.

If only I knew how. I shook the thought from my head as I felt Bobby's muscles relax underneath my touch. I patted his shoulder before I sat back in my seat.

"Here we are," Adam said as he parked the car on the curb behind the others.

It was the block-party for the neighborhood, and I knew despite my parents move outside of the area that they would be here, too. I really had no excuse to not come—besides I really didn't want to. I never enjoyed the anxiety of worrying about what would happen next, or what would be said next about Adam or me. We seemed to be easy targets.