I squinted up into the sunlight. I looked over and saw that Shane had buried his face into his pillow to escape he sunlight. Next to me, Mitch was lying on his stomach, shielding his phone as he scrolled through it.
"Shane," I said, poking him in the arm.
He grunted out a response and I began to poke him in the arm more. He finally picked his head up to glare at me.
"You are so annoying," he growled, shoving me roughly.
I lost my balanced and fell over on Mitch. Mitch sighed helplessly as his phone tumbled out of his hands.
"Jace, get off me," he said, struggling to get up.
"Eh, I'm pretty comfy here," I said, grinning and throwing my weight on him even more to keep him down.
Mitch struggled against me, but couldn't get me off. Shane was watching us in amusement, laughing.
This was our relationship. It was playful and brotherly, not romantic and awkward.
I rolled over, choking Mitch with my arm. He struggled against me even harder, managing to awkwardly kick me in the knee. I winced but held tough against him.
"Give up," I said, nearly losing my grip on him but regaining it quickly. Mitch was a feisty kid.
"Never! he said, reaching around and gripping a fistful of my hair. He yanked on it hard, almost causing us to bash our heads together.
I choked him harder, "Let go of the hair!"
"No!" he wheezed, his legs flailing, trying to make contact.
I dug my elbow into his shoulder and he winced. He grit his teeth together as I dug it in harder and tightened his grip on my hair. He reached around with his free hand, trying to dig his nails into my arm to get me to move it away from his shoulder.
"Too weak!" I taunted.
"Oh yea?" he managed despite the tight hold I had on his neck. He thrust his elbow up, catching me in the jaw. I yelped and nearly lost my hold on him.
As he tried to shove himself up, I body-slammed him back to the ground and fought against him, getting me hold back on his neck. He let out a frustrated noise, which was cut off as I choked him once again.
"Seriously boys?" Carol asked in annoyance as she came outside. "I've been watching you wrestle since you started. Jace, stop suffocating my son. You're going to kill his brain cells and he doesn't need that."
"I want to see him get out by himself," I said, smirking down at Mitch.
"He can't," Shane said, snickering.
Carol and Shane watched us as we struggled for a few more minutes. I finally took pity on Mitch and rolled off of him.
He spun around and punched me in the face, sending me tumbling over. I blinked up at him before laughing.
"That was a good punch," I said, rubbing my smarting cheek.
"God, you are such an ass!" he snapped.
"Just helping you train," I said, smirking at him.
"Alright, alright. Before you kill each other, get out of your swim trunks. It's almost noon," Carol said, crossing her arms. "And clean up this stuff off the deck. The neighbors are going to think we're alcoholics if they see all the beers bottles you three left next to the pool."
We got up and cleaned up the deck before heading inside. We got dressed and went to the kitchen to grab some breakfast.
Mitch and Jasper were sitting at the table together. Mitch was hungrily devouring a wrap while Jasper scanned over the newspaper.
Shane and I made ourselves wraps and sat down with Mitch and Jasper. Jasper glanced up and watched Shane in disgust.
"Shane, are you actually getting any of your food in your mouth? Because I think it's all just falling on the table you disgusting pig," he said.
Shane looked down where, indeed, a good amount of his food had accumulated on the table. He shrugged and took another bite, sending more of his wrap tumbling down to the table.
Jasper rolled his eyes. "So what are you guys doing today?" he asked.
"Probably gonna go be little terrors somewhere," Shane said.
"Aren't you always," Jasper said with a sigh.
"Care to join us little brother?" Shane asked Mitch.
"Maybe. If I'm bored," Mitch said.
"Well you only have a little to figure that out. Because we are heading out for a day of debauchery as soon as we finish eating," Shane said.
"I guess I'll come with you," Mitch said, shrugging.
"If you get arrested, I'm only bailing one of you out," Jasper warned.
"Obviously he'll be bailing me out," Shane said.
"Actually, I'll bail out Jace. He's my favorite," Jasper said.
"My man Jasper," I said, grinning at him.
He flashed me a thumbs-up. "Just speaking the truth."
"Alright, whatever. You suck dad," Shane said, pouting at his father.
"Now, can we go? We can head over to the smoothie place and then head over to the park to hang out."
"Shit, then we need to stop at my house. I have to get my wallet," I said.
"Sounds good. Let's go," Shane said and jumped up.
Mitch and I copied him. He grabbed car keys and once we were all ready to go, we went out to the car. Mitch and I glanced at each other before racing to get shotgun.
Mitch beat me there, but I slammed him up against the car. He winced and tried to fight me off. I locked my arms around his waist and grinned, spinning him around and throwing him to the ground. I slid into the car and locked the door as he got up.
"Dirty fucker," he grumbled, getting into the backseat.
"Jace is just kicking your ass today," Shane said, laughing as he pulled out of the driveway and took off towards my house.
"I'll pay for your smoothie," I said, also laughing.
"Yea, you better," Mitch said, glaring at me.
Shane pulled into my driveway and we all got out of the car. They followed me inside once I had unlocked the door.
"Jace!" mom said in surprise as we entered the messy living room. "I didn't think you were coming home so soon."
"Yea, I left my wallet at home," I said, feeling guilty. I tended to leave my mom alone for days at a time while I stayed at Shane's house.
"Good luck finding it in that mess you call a room," she said. "Hi Shane! Hi Mitch!"
"Hi Erica," they greeted and followed me into my bedroom.
"Your room really is a mess," Mitch said, looking around. "I haven't been in here in a while. No wonder your mom avoids coming in here."
"Like hell she does. She comes in here every chance she gets to make sure I'm not hiding drugs or cigarettes in here," I said, throwing clothes aside in hopes of finding my wallet.
I let out a triumphant yell as I snatched it off the ground after throwing several shirts off of it. I tucked it securely into my back pocket and shoved the brothers out of my room.
"Where are you going, Jace?" mom asked as we came back through the living room.
"Out to destroy the town," I said. "Burn it down for kicks and bathe in the ashes."
She rolled her eyes. "Behave, Jace. Are you coming back to the house tonight?"
The hope in her eyes shot more guilt through me, but I didn't want to lie to her. When we went out, I tended to have a few drinks and stumble back to Shane's house with him. Besides, I liked being at his house more.
"Probably not tonight," I said.
The smile on her face nearly fell, but she managed to keep it going strong.
"Okay, dear. Have fun," she said.
"Uh...I might be back tomorrow. I can kick your ass in Phase 10 if you want," I said, because I felt bad that I was leaving her alone again.
Her face lit up and she nodded eagerly. "Sure, we can play a game or two when you get back," she said. My mom usually hated card games, but Phase 10 was one of the few that she understood and enjoyed.
"See you later mom," I said, giving her a small wave and pulling the two out of my house.
We climbed back in the car and Shane blasted his music as he drove towards the smoothie place. I mentally sighed, still feeling like a shitty son for ditching my mom all the time.
I mean, I was 19 years old, so it's not like she expected me to be by her side all the time. But I was home from college for summer break, and she probably expected me to spend more time with her than I did.
I shook the thoughts out of my head. I knew that as much as it left her feeling lonely, she understood it. She had never tried to stop me from spending so much time with Shane and his family.
"Hey, Helen Keller," Shane called, waving in my face. "We're here."
I looked up and, sure enough, we were parked in the parking lot of Tropical Smoothies, our favorite smoothie place I pushed my hair back with both of my hands and got out of the car with Shane and Mitch.
"You owe me," Mitch reminded, sliding up next to me as we went inside.
"I know. I'm a man of my word, Mitch," I said, grinning. "Besides, I kicked your ass twice in one day, and it isn't even lunch time yet. The least I can do is buy you a smoothie since I can't buy you dignity."
He punched me so hard that I yelped before laughing. The woman in line behind us shot us a distrustful look and pulled her kid closer to her.
"With a punch like that, I'm surprised I keep kicking your ass," I said, rubbing my arm where Mitch had no doubt left a bruise.
"Because you fight dirty," he said.
"Oh Jesus. If you guys break out into a fight here, I'm going to record it and pretend I don't know either of you," Shane said. "You heard my dad. Only one of us gets bailed."
"Which would leave Mitch to be a prison bitch," I said, and winced when he punched me again.
"Aw come on, Mitch. It would totally work. We could call you Mitch the Bitch." I groaned and rubbed my arm again. "Stop that. You're going to turn my whole arm into one giant bruise."
"That's the plan," he said with a shrug.
I noticed that the lady behind us was watching us in disgust. I glanced at Mitch and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Better stop being violent. We're offending the locals," I said, nodding towards the woman.
Shane snickered. "Yea, Mitchell. You're such a bad influence."
"I distinctly remember you wandering around the street naked in the middle of winter, drunkenly telling the trees how attractive they were," Mitch said.
"That was one time! And I was only 16! I didn't know my tolerance back then," Shane whined as I started laughing.
"Man, I remember that," I said, shaking my head. "You were bombed, Shane."
"Thank you for stopping me, oh lovely best friend of mine," he said, pouting.
"Hey, it was cold out, I was slightly intoxicated, and I was laughing too hard to actually move," I said.
Shane flipped me off before stepping up to order his smoothie. Mitch hooked his thumbs in his pockets and glanced up at me.
"I'm going to order the most expensive thing I possibly can," he said.
"And I'm going to beat it out of you," I said.
He grinned. "And you told me that I need to stop being violent."
"You do. Look at my arm!" I said, holding it out so he could see the bruises forming in the shape of his fist.
He examined them and shrugged. "Hey, I'm not afraid to hit you," he said. "You've known that since we were little."
I smiled fondly. "Like the time I pushed you off the swing and you tripped me and shoved my head into the sand," I said.
"I was, what, six?" he said, his grin getting wider.
I slung an arm around his shoulders and nodded. "Six years old and pissed at me for pushing you off of a swing. Or that time I slapped you when you were 8 and you bit my arm."
He made a face at that memory. "That was disgusting. I can't believe I made you bleed. It probably got in my mouth. Gross."
"Good times. Now, let's order," I said, stepping up. Mitch and I ordered our smoothies and waited until they were ready. I stared at wallet longingly as I sighed and handed over the money to pay for both of us.
"Good lad," Mitch said, patting my shoulder and sipping on his smoothie.
I took my change from the employee and shot Mitch a glare. "AW, shove it, asshole."
We sat down at a little table together, drinking our smoothies and talking. Mitch looked up at me and grinned.
"Hey Jace, I think you should pay for my shit all day," he said.
"I think you should suck my dick," I said.
And suddenly, I found my mind wandering off. Was Mitch a virgin? His virginity had never come up in conversation before, and Shane had never said anything. Sure, we joked around a lot. But...now I couldn't stop myself from imagining Mitch getting together with some girl and the mental image made me feel..jealous. What the hell?
"Nah," Mitch said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "I choke on small objects."
"Whatever. Get me a napkin," I said as a little smoothie leaked onto the table. Mitch got up and went over to the counter, grabbing a handful of napkins for us. He started walking back and tripped over a chair, throwing out his hands to break his fall, sending napkins fluttering to the ground.
"Fuck!" he snapped, pushing himself up and wiping his hands on his jeans.
"You need to watch your language!" a woman snapped at him. I realized it was the one who had been in line behind us. Her kid was watching curiously.
"Sorry, lady. I tripped. It slipped out," Mitch said with a shrug, kneeling down to pick up the napkins.
"Filthy mouthed delinquent," the woman said in disgust.
"Hey!" I said angrily, standing up and going over to Mitch. "He said sorry. He didn't mean to do it."
"Lady, if you're so worried about language, maybe you should focus on teaching your kid that fuck isn't a nice word. Don't freak out on other people for their language just because you don't like it," Shane said, joining us. "And watch who you insult. That filthy mouthed delinquent is my little brother."
"I bet your parents are proud," the woman said sarcastically. "Good for nothing, waste of space brats."
"My parents are pretty proud of me being in college so that I'm not a bum living off the government. How about you, Jace? Your mom proud?" Shane asked, glancing at me and grinning.
"Mom's pretty proud that ľ'm also in college. I bet this lady thinks that we just sit around drinking and doing drugs. We're bad kids because we say the naughty 'f' word guys," I said.
Mitch was trying not to laugh. "Whatever man, can we just go sit? I'm already sick of this bitch," he said, nodding at the lady.
"The world is better off without scum like you," the lady growled at Mitch. "You'd do the world a favor if you disappeared."
"Fuck you, you filthy bitch. I hope your kid grows up to be an STD infected meth addict," I said, grabbing Mitch's hand and dragging him with me out of the smoothie place. Shane hurried after us.
"What the hell, Jace?" Shane asked curiously.
I released Mitch's arm. "Sorry, I just..she was basically telling Mitch to kill himself."
"Dude, it's fine. I don't care," Mitch said, also looking curious. "Why are you getting so worked up about it? It's just some stuck up lady that we don't even know."
"It just pissed me off, okay?" I grumbled, pushing my hair out of my face.
That woman had been insulting Mitch, and it had pissed me the hell off. Sure, I had seen Mitch getting insulted plenty of times, especially when I was still in high school.
But for some reasorn, it had pissed me off more than ever today. I looked up at Mitch, who was texting on his phone.
I really had to get my feelings for that boy sorted out.