Bad Taste (Part I) // Colby Brock

77 - Rebecca

          Going to sleep so late also meant that I woke up late. Very late. As in, early afternoon late, just hours before Colby or Tara or any other non-human in the house would wake up. This was the latest I'd slept in a very long time yet I wasn't even considering getting up. Maybe it was a 'I don't want to leave my boyfriend's arms' thing or maybe a 'I can't imagine getting out of bed now' thing. Either way, I was rolling over and draping myself across Colby soon enough.

We had stayed in the same position all day, his body pressed tightly against my back, arms around me, but I liked being on top sometimes, rather than equal. It took a little bit of strength to lay him on his back and go after him, since his arms were still tightly around me. I laid my arm across his stomach and rested my head on his chest by his collar bone. Our legs tangled without even trying.

Just like that, the need to get out of bed was completely gone again. Even imagining lying in the sun with Katrina wasn't tempting just yet. I knew I had a little time because it seemed like it was just after midday, so I had hours with LA sunset times. That was hours I could spend with a Colby who wasn't an asshole and who wouldn't argue back.

My chance of still being mad at Colby after last night was a lot slimmer, how ever long later. This version of Colby was very easy to get along with.

But my peace was ruined when I heard a tap against Colby's bedroom door. My eyes moved to it but I didn't respond at all. There was another tap. It was too light for Tara, too timid for Tara, and too early for Tara. No way was it Tara.

The brave person on the other side of the door only tapped once more, this time opening it as well. I kept staring at the door sleepily as brown-blonde hair entered the room. Katrina. "Becky?" she whispered, her eyes on mine. "Can you come downstairs with me? It's getting late and I want to catch some sun."

"Then do it," I muttered harshly.

Katrina blushed. "I want you with me."

Of course, I already knew that. It didn't put me in any better of a mood about being taken away from my vulnerably asleep boyfriend. But I still started to move Colby's arm from around my waist. Katrina slid back out of the room, realising that I was going to get up to go with her. She carefully closed the door just as I was shuffling over the bed to get out.

Colby's sleeping body hardly changed while I was gone. He still laid on his back, his hands resting somewhere on his stomach. He looked quite peaceful as he laid there, and I had to remind myself that I was still a little mad at him.

I showered—after last night, I probably needed it—and changed back into just the shirt, because I couldn't be bothered to find an outfit until I went home for a bikini. When I walked back into Colby's bedroom, he had rolled into the space I had once been, his face dug into the pillow and his fingers lightly clutching the sheets. And it was so goddamn cute that I wanted to kick myself for thinking that word even if it was true.

Who was in the wrong? Was it possible that it was neither of us? He was well within his rights not to do anything with me, especially with the excuse that Tara offered for me. I was well within my rights to want that from him, too. Oh god I was wrong.

With that revelation, literally punching myself in the stomach, and my hands in my bouncy, curly hair, I made my way towards Colby's door. Wherever Katrina was, she wasn't immediately spotted when I got to the stairs so I didn't try to find her. I walked to the kitchen and curiously opened the fridge. Food was in there, thankfully.

I made myself a sandwich, the whole time despising everything about everything. Realising that I was wrong made me hate everything else, because I couldn't handle that. Sort of like the emotions in me when I looked at Colby and called him cute. The word 'softie' was fresh in my mind. Tara had called me soft, too.

The one friend of mine—I had only two—who had kept her comments to herself was finally here. Katrina walked in through the backdoor wearing only a bikini. I could already see where her skin had started to tan under the bright LA sun. "Hey, Becky," she said with a shy smile.

"Katrina."

"You've been sleeping all day, right?" I nodded. "So you don't have a bikini... do you want to borrow one of mine?" I looked up at her like she had three horns on her head. She just shrugged and kept up her shy smile, now a little bit stronger.

I was hesitant. "Whatever."

"Come with me." Katrina led me back upstairs and down a hallway towards a door. She paused outside, glancing at my legs in particular. It took me way too long of just staring at her back to realise she didn't want me half-dressed in front of Sam, even though Sam was most definitely asleep.

When she did finally open the door, however, I saw a shirtless Sam—a pleasant sight, but not one I wanted—lying on his side looking at his phone. I automatically paused in the doorway, letting Katrina go inside and walk to the closet. Sam looked up at us and he smiled at me. I thought it was the first time he had really smiled at me. At least the first time since I'd paid any attention to his smile.

"Hello, Rebecca. Are you... okay?" What he meant was: 'are you pissed off anymore?'.

My voice was harsh. "Mostly okay, Sam. Go back to sleep."

"Just checking." He was smiling as if this had happened before, and I couldn't help but imagine how Colby would react if Sam asked that double-meaning question. Probably the same.

I looked back at Katrina hoping she'd found something. She had, and she was holding two different bikinis up for me: the option of covering myself or completely the opposite. I was staring at the one that'd show off much more of my body. Her brow raised as she smirked at me.

"Do I have to ask?"

"No."

She put the one with more fabric away and handed me the other still smirking. "Go easy on him," she told me, though I didn't think she meant it. Sam laughed in his bed, a sleepy noise riddled with something I couldn't quite pinpoint.

I was going to make Colby's life as difficult as possible... maybe.