Page 19

The party was still in full swing when I noticed the time.
Shit. My curfew was creeping up fast, and as much as I wanted to ignore it, I couldn’t disrespect Hayley’s parents that way. If my bestie had been with me, she would have been tugging on my sleeve, telling me we had to get going. Even drunk, she could be responsible.
But Hayley wasn’t at the party.
She’d gotten sick that morning. I told her I’d bail and we could watch rom-coms together—actually, I was trying to talk her into aStar Warsmarathon, the original three—but she felt so nauseous, she didn’t want me anywhere near her.
Which meant all that awaited me when I left the party was an uncomfortable sofa bed in the den. Ugh. I wanted to stay at the party!
I was having fun, dancing and singing with Nick and our friends.
His hand crept around my waist, pulling me close, his beer-stained lips nibbling my neck—sucking, teasing, turning my insides to liquid fire.
Spinning to face him, I draped my arms over his shoulders and kissed him deeply. He responded with his standard “Mmmm,” walking us backward until I was pinned against the wall. He rested his hand near my head; I think he needed the wall for balance. He tasted like alcohol and was swaying like he was about to topple over.
I giggled against his lips. “You are so wasted.”
“Yeah, baby.” His mouth covered mine and I sank into the kiss, loving the feel of his warm tongue and wandering hands.
I couldn’t leave now, could I?
The phone in my back pocket started buzzing and I groaned. I should have ignored it, but the good girl inside of me couldn’t do that.
Nudging Nick away, I pulled my phone out, then giggled as he came right back, sucking my neck and nibbling his way up to my ear.
“Hello!” I shouted. It was pretty damn hard to hear my caller with the music thumping, but I recognized Hayley’s mom immediately.
“Uh… Nylah?”
“Yes! Hi, Susan. Hi.” Pushing Nick off me, I ducked under his arm and ran outside. It was mildly quieter on the back lawn, although it had started to rain, so I leaned as close to the house as I could, trying to keep dry. “What’s up?”
“I was just looking at the time and wanted to make sure you were heading home soon. I know you’ve finished all your exams and this party is about celebrating that, but it still doesn’t change the fact that your parents are really strict on the curfew thing, and they’ll be calling me to check in soon. They know you’re at a party, and they won’t like it if I let you flout the rules, you know?”
I rolled my eyes, tipping my head back against the house. “Yeah. I know. It’s such a pain in the ass.”
Susan laughed. “They only do it because they love you.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I sighed and crossed my arms. The rain was picking up, and despite the fact that it was late May already, there was a cool nip in the air.
“They’ll be here next week for your graduation ceremony, and I don’t want there to be any tension because I let their baby girl party too hard.”
I laughed and nodded. “I understand. I’ll go and get Nick, and we’ll hit the road real soon.”
“Okay. Thanks, sweetie. According to the kitchen clock, you’ve got thirty-two minutes to walk through the door.”
“Yep.” I nodded, then hung up with a huff.
I didn’t want to leave, and it was obvious Nick was still in party mode. The fact that he burst outside singing my name at the top of his lungs kind of gave it away.
“Where’s my angel?” He gave me a dopey grin, standing in the rain with his arms stretched wide and swaying on his feet.
I giggled and walked into his embrace, squeezing my eyes shut against the cold droplets. “Let’s go inside.”
“Kiss me in the rain, baby.” His mouth landed on mine before I could even respond, and we made out under those cold droplets until a crack of lightning pulled us apart. Thunder rumbled right behind it, and I tugged Nick inside.
“We have to go!” I shouted in his ear.
“What?” He frowned down at me. “But we’re partying.”