Page 40 of Before Eve

“Do you see her?” Anne prods.

Carrying his beer bottle, West comes straight toward me through the crowd, and with each step he takes, everything around me fades to just him.

“Hey, Blue Eyes.” He stops in front of me, taking my hand and pressing a kiss to the knuckles. “When’d you get here?”

No one’s ever kissed my knuckles. Not even Grayson. It makes me feel like a blue-haired princess. “A few minutes ago,” I answer, noting the happy tone in my voice.

He leans in a little bit as he peers down into my cup. “Oh no, that’s not the party punch, is it?”

My thoughts skip around, wanting to grab onto an answer, but focusing instead on his nearness.

“Yes, it’s the party punch,” Anne supplies the obvious answer. “Now will you both stop ignoring me and check out the Latina with the brown suede jacket?”

West and I turn to see who Anne is pointing to. “Well?” She looks at both of us. “Yay or nay?”

West nods. “Hot.”

“Definitely,” I agree.

“But…she’s dating Ms. Kelly.” West makes a face. “Sorry to inform.”

Anne frowns. “Oh.”

“Speaking of Ms. Kelly.” West nods over Anne’s shoulder. “She’s waving me down. I’ll be back.” With that, he heads off.

“You’re giving that boy blue balls.”

“Anne!”

“Figures hot Latina is taken,” Anne grumbles. “Just my luck.”

Through the crowd, I catch sight of a gorgeous woman making her way toward West. With her short dress, high heels, and long hair, she gathers more than one look from the guys. She approaches West and Ms. Kelly, and my guts clench as I recognize her. It’s the beautiful Asian girl from before.

I thought this party was private. What is she doing here? She runs a hand down West’s arm, and he turns. They exchange a smile, and jealousy twists all through me.

The music transitions into a louder beat with more bass, and Anne pumps the air. “Yeah, let’s dance.”

Downing the rest of my drink, I toss it into a nearby garbage, and maybe it’s the alcohol or perhaps it’s that girl and West, but I let Anne pull me into the crowd. We start to dance,and I block out the people around me as I absorb the music and the beat. A wave of dizziness flows through me and I sway. Someone bumps me, and I barely even care.

Anne’s laughter floats around me, and I chuckle with her as I turn a lazy circle and hear Anne say, “You go, girl.”

Someone bumps me again and I definitely don’t care this time.

Then someone’s hands are on my upper arms, trailing down to my wrists, and I turn, expecting to see West but see Toby, the drummer, instead.

He grasps my wrists and puts them behind my back, and I freeze. “I usually go for petite girls with big tits,” he slurs. “But gangly works for you.”

A shiver crawls up my neck as he holds both my wrists with one hand and slides the other one up to grab my neck. Everything around me vanishes, and I’m thrown back to my bedroom and Grayson’s tight hold on my wrists.

The rooftop party blurs to my old bedroom and then back again. I yank at Toby’s hold, panic banging so hard within me I’m about to explode. “N-n-no…”

Toby buries his nose in my neck, and I feel his moist breath as he releases my wrists and starts to slide his hand under the hem of my hoodie and up my back. “Love to see you in bed. It’s you quiet ones that are the loudest.”

“No,” I scream, but it comes out more as a strangled cry. “No!” I wedge my hands between us and push—right at the moment that he’s yanked off of me.

I stumble back, straight into a couple of people, just as West shoves Toby into one of the bars. Bottles crash, and as the music continues thumping the night air, I turn.

And I run.