Page 142 of Isolation

We started the night with a family dinner at a restaurant. Afterward, the parents went off to stay at the Plaza and took Mia with them so we could have the house for the party.

Now that our last task is done, which was to bring Milo back to the house, Raven and I are focused on drinking and hanging out with some good friends.

We invited our own small clique of friends to the party, to keep ourselves entertained.

Milo has way too many friends. The house was getting packed so we decided to let the majority of Milo’s friends party inside the house, while us “youngins” gather outside by the back patio, enjoying the cool, November weather.

Few people are also on the street itself, across from the house, enjoying a cigarette or two.

I don’t smoke anymore but I am still walking to the guys huddled around in a circle.

“You got a lighter?” Sam asks as soon as I join them. We go to the same school. He is one of my core boys.

“Nah! I gave up smoking,” I reply.

“Since when?” Jon, Sam’s older brother, pipes in. He frowns at me suspiciously.

“Since I realized that it will kill me and I enjoy being alive.” Since Raven follows me around and throws away every single pack I buy. She finally threatened not to speak to meso I had to give it up.

“All right your highness, no need to be so prissy,” Asher throws up both hands and mimics me.

I roll my eyes but grin nonetheless.

Asher Huntzburger, always the comic. Once upon a time I used to hate Asher’s gut for holding Raven’s attention.

I sometimes shake my head at how much I used to hate him. After all, it’s not his fault. What man could resist it when Raven Beckett throws you a bone?

Once I realized that Raven was over Asher, and there was nothing he could do to change her mind, all I felt for him was pity. All that anger and hate dissipated.

Now, it’s just pathetic watching him vie for her attention.

I guess I see something of myself in him. Over the years the hate for Asher turned into pity and later it turned into some sort of camaraderie.

Now, I actually kind of like Asher. He is a good guy. He is just under the Raven spell and if anyone can empathize, it’s me.

I turn my head slightly to stare at Raven’s small frame by the patio door. She is talking to Natalie and looking unbelievably gorgeous, per usual.

Asher follows my gaze and his eyes land on her as well. Neither of us speak as we both stare at her.

Her long, dark hair is flying everywhere. Her dress is showing just the right amount of skin and the heels are propping her ass up. Honestly, it’s torture for any man to watch her.

Other men want her because they can’t have her. Men are truly like dogs.

If a woman ignores a man, he just pursues her more. It’s the chase. It’s the allure. It’s the mystery. It’s elementary rules. We want what we can’t have.

There are other beautiful women in the world but they can’t keep a man’s attention. It’s not about looks. It’s about how you carry yourself.

I learned these things from years of observation. I have concluded that’s why so many men want Raven.

But that’s not why I want Raven.

I want her because we have a bond that’s unparalleled to anything in this world. We have shared every good and bad memory. Since we learned to speak, we have spoken to each other every single day of our lives.

I want her because she is the only girl who can make my heart beat a million times within the same second.

Most of all, I want Raven because there is something so special about how she loves. Once you earn her love and respect, it’s no holds barred. She will do anything for those she loves.

When we were fourteen, her dad opened a debit account for Raven. She automatically put my name on the account because I didn’t have a debit card.