Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 99623 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99623 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
I roll my eyes and nudge him out of the way so I can get in the car. "Come on, let's get this over with."
He laughs. "Don't sound so excited."
"Hey, I'm trying. Parties just aren't my thing."
"Do you want to stay home?"
"No, it's fine. Let's go."
"Okay... If you're sure?"
"I'm sure. Plus, I think Stella might actually murder me if I don't go and give her a play-by-play report since she has to miss it."
He puts the car in drive, and within minutes we reach our destination. This house is somehow even grander than the football house. It's old and ornate looking, save for the plastic cups and dry-humping couples scattered about the lawn.
Inside it's like every other party I've been to this year—the drinks are flowing, the bass is pounding, and people are making questionable decisions on every available surface in every room.
"What do you want to do first?" Sterling asks.
"Consider yourself my tour guide for the night."
He winks. "First up, something to drink. Nonalcoholic for you, of course."
"I could probably handle one drink." For some reason, I feel keyed up. Maybe a few sips of liquid courage will be just what I need to take the edge off.
"Are you sure? Don't feel pressured, baby."
"No, I think I'm okay. I really would like a drink."
"Then to the kitchen we go!"
I wait patiently near the edge of the room while he mixes us each a drink. Knowing him, he'll most likely be light-handed with mine. I think he still has some residual guilt for feeding me alcohol at the last party we attended together. And while it was a shitty thing for him to do, at least it had a happy ending.
"Slut."
Great. I was hoping to avoid her tonight. Still, I pivot around to face her.
"Melanie." Surprisingly, Summer is also with her.
"Nice to see y'all," I say, employing the years of etiquette classes my mother insisted I take.
"Everyone's going to know the truth about you," my RA hisses, sounding like a drunk snake.
"Can we not do this? Please. Let's call a truce, just for tonight."
Summer laughs. "Oh, wait, you were being serious?"
I nod, hoping they'll agree.
"Yeah, no." Both women cackle. "Good luck tonight."
"Good luck with what?" I ask, but they both turn and flounce away.
"Miss me?" Sterling asks, and I whirl back toward the kitchen in time for him to drop a kiss to my cheek before passing me my drink.
I sip from it, determined to put Melanie and Summer's strange behavior out of my mind. "Mmm, fruity."
"How about we take these to-go and head to the dance floor?"
I down the rest of my drink along the way, abandoning my cup on a table before Sterling pulls me into the throng of dancers.
The tempo of the music is sensuous and the rhythm heavy as we rock our hips together, swaying in time to the beat. We stay that way, in our little cocoon, dancing for several songs, before I announce that I need a break.
"Oh, look!" I point toward the far side of the room. "There's Gabe and Zach. Wanna go say hi?"
"You go ahead, baby. I'll wait here."
He swears he's not, but I think he's still salty about me wearing Gabe's name. Regardless, at least they don't hate each other. That would be miserable.
"Gabe! Zach!" I rush up to them and they squish me between them in a bear hug.
"Where's Stella?" Zach asks.
"Anniversary dinner for her parents," I inform him.
Suddenly my ears heat and my skin prickles. I glance up, expecting to find Sterling looking my way, but he's right where I left him, messing with his phone. Weird, I think, shaking off the odd sensation.
"Oh, man, that was tonight?" Gabe says.
"I know, it sucks. She's really bummed."
Gabe snaps his fingers. "We one-hundred-percent need to send her a selfie."
The three of us pose, our cheeks squished together with smiles on our faces. Gabe sends her the picture, chuckling evilly.
"If that doesn't set her FOMO off, I don't know what will,” Zach says.
Gabe’s phone dings almost instantly. "Guess we're about to find out," he says as he whips it up to his face to look at her response.
He swallows roughly, glancing from his screen to me. "Um, Emmy."
"What?" I ask, his tone setting me on edge.
Before he can answer, Zach’s phone pings.
"Jesus-fucking-Christ," he mutters, looking like he's going to be sick.
"Guys, y'all are freaking me out."
"You need to get out of here, Emmy. You need to leave and go straight home."
"What?" I ask, my eyes prickling with unshed tears. "Why?"
"Just go, Emmy!" Gabe snaps, turning and stomping off to God knows where.
I sniffle, turning to look for Sterling so I can ask him to take me home. I don't know what I did to suddenly make Gabe mad, but I clearly did something.
Frantically, I move through the crowd, looking for Sterling, but he's nowhere to be found.