“I know, right?” Elena titters. “The first time I came here I thought it was Mount Olympus or some shit. But I was, like, ten. The Saints invited the whole fifth grade class for a swimming party for Lucas’ birthday.”
It’s just as packed inside, maybe more so. There’s a set of gold jumbo balloons in the number eighteen stuck to the wall. People dance in a writhing mass in the living room to music pouring from a speaker system attached to exposed beams in the vaulted ceiling.
For a second I freeze. My heart rockets into my throat and I’m sent to that night. A clammy cold sweat breaks out on the back of my neck.
Elena doesn’t notice—or possibly doesn’t care—as she babbles about knowing Lucas Saint since elementary school.
The interior is like a staged design out of an upscale magazine. I focus on that to claw my way out of my memories, back to the present. The kitchen has a massive island at the center with pendant lights that hang over the white granite countertops.
Rows of liquor bottles line the island along with stacks of plastic cups, set up as a self-serve bar. From Jack Daniels to Patron to Grey Goose, they’ve got it all. Pick your poison.
There’s a farmhouse table by the windows where a rowdy game of flip cup is in progress. The groups playing shout nonsense at each other and I spot my brother amongst them, reveling in the fun.
A burst of relief spreads through me. I can retrieve Alec and get the hell out of here.
“There’s my brother.” I tug my arm from Elena’s grip and jerk my thumb in his direction. “I’m just going to grab him and go. Um, thanks for showing me around.”
“What? No!” Elena reaches for me, but I shuffle back. “Stay and hang out!”
“Another time.”
I hold up my hands and back away. I don’t have to tell her I’m lying. She’s been nice enough, but I’m not looking to join in at Silver Lake High School.
Elena pouts, but is easily distracted by a group of girls that lure her on to the makeshift dance floor.
I hover behind Alec and watch the game with a detached fascination, seeing an entirely different game with other players unfold before my eyes like an out-of-body experience.
“Come on, come on, come on!” Alec howls as he jumps up and down for his petite teammate to flip her cup. “You’ve got this! Do it!”
He’s the last one in the lineup, just like that night when we were sixteen.
My eyes slam shut. I take a minute to draw measured breaths through my nose, counting backwards.
“Alec,” I say in a tight voice.
He ignores me.
Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I jab him in the side with my fingers. “We’ve gotta go. Mom wants us back before she leaves for her shift at the hospital.”
Alec flashes a flat look over his shoulder. Aside from being identical in our dirty blond hair and green eyes, he stands five inches taller than me at five-foot ten. He shakes his head and ruffles the longer hair on top of his head.
Across the table, the other flip cup team shouts unintelligible gibberish, encouraging their final player to flip the cup from the edge of the table. Alec tenses and bangs out a beat on the thick wood.
The petite girl beside Alec manages to flip her cup upright and Alec wastes no time downing his beer. He’s off like a shot flicking the plastic cup. It only takes him two tries before he lands it, sealing the win for his team while the opposite player is still flipping.
“Yeah!” Alec pumps his fists in the air.
The group around the table erupts in an uproar.
My body tenses and I shove my hands back in my jacket pockets.
“Alec! Alec! Alec!”
They chant it and slap him on the back.
It looks like my brother is already well known. He celebrates, wrapping his arms around the girl beside him and fist bumping a tall boy in a dark green soccer captain’s zip up jacket.
“I thought they had us for sure,” the soccer captain says, waggling his brows.
“Nah, man, not when I’m around.”
A laugh rolls out of Alec again when someone announces another match.
“Bishop! Get over here!”
The shout came from across the room and it draws the soccer captain’s attention. He disappears into the party.
I tug on the back of Alec’s shirt. When he turns to me, I raise my eyebrows.
“Ready?”
His expression closes off. “For another game, you mean?”
“No,” I say slowly, trying to keep a lid on my annoyance. “To leave. You heard me earlier.”
Alec bumps my shoulder as he brushes past me. I hold back a grunt of frustration.
He’s been tetchy with me since we moved. Alec was pissed when Dad broke the news a few weeks before we packed up and left Colorado Springs to relocate two hours north.
“Can you just come with me? Mom said—”
Alec whirls around. “You think I give a shit what Mom said? I’m not leaving. Fuck off, Gemma.”
I grit my teeth.
A few people nearby watch with interest. High school kids are vultures for drama. They scent it like blood in the water.
My family issues don’t need an audience.
I keep my voice level as I follow Alec. “It doesn’t seem like you’re unhappy here. You fit right in.”
The ice in Alec’s eyes twists my insides. I don’t want to fight with my brother. It’s my fault we had to move, which I hate.
I was ripped from my friends, too.
The ones I had left, that is.
Forcing out a sigh, I change tactics.
“Mom doesn’t leave for her shift for another hour. If I text her to say we’re stopping for burgers on our way home, can we go soon?”
Alec’s expression shifts enough to tell me he’s considering it. He can’t resist food. We haven’t kept up with our old after school ritual, so maybe I’m getting through to him at last.
“Strawberry milkshakes?”
The corners of my mouth quirk up. “Strawberry milkshakes and fries.”
For a brief moment, we’re not at odds.
Then a pair of strong hands yank me away from Alec by my hips. I’m whipped around and tugged against a wall of hard muscle.
Before I can react, the stranger’s lips cover mine in a demanding kiss.
And just like that, there goes my first fucking kiss.
Two
Lucas
A cheer of coyote howls rises over the heavy beat of the music when I step off the stairs.
My house is packed. I grant people a happy grin that I don’t feel, accepting the fist bumps, half-hugs, and slaps on the back with birthday wishes.
Smoke wafts in from outside when the contemporary glass panels are folded open to enter and exit. In the hall by the bathroom a couple of people lift their hands to their noses and snort bumps. All around me, people revel in the wild bacchanalia of a Lucas Saint party.
The old me would slide into the party vibe without any problem. But can I fake it so everyone believes I’m enjoying my birthday party?
Hiding a frown, I weave through friends and allow the atmosphere to drag me under and bounce me around for a while.
When I come up for air, Carter’s there.
“Yo, dude.”
I bump my fist against Carter’s and accept the shot he offers. “Burns.”