Page 9 of Our Darkest Summer

I hesitated. Something about him felt different. Like he had just walked through a storm but didn’t want anyone to know.

But I wouldn’t ask.

And even if I did, he wouldn’t answer.

Connor was nowhere to be seen, which meant he went ahead to the car. I forced myself to keep my gaze forward as I passed Thomas, but I felt his stare burn into my back. I had to fight the urge to look over my shoulder. To meet his eyes.

The car was parked at the side of the house. I basically flew over to it, and threw myself into the backseat, shutting the door behind me like I was chased.

“Woah,” Connor jolted in the passenger seat, “and I thought I was excited.”

I wished it was the party that made my skin heat, instead of the boy walking toward us wearing a dark blue T-shirt.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go,” Connor said as soon as his brother took his seat and turned on the engine. “We have a party to catch.”

I glanced at Thomas, who rolled his eyes but a slight, tired smile was visible on his lips. He was always handsome in a way that made people stare, but when he wasn’t wearing that detached, almost intimidating mask—when he was just him—he lookedalmostangelic. The devil in disguise.

I looked away and stared out the window, not wanting to get caught peeking into that private moment.

???

Braxton Lee’s house was a ten-minute drive around the forest, which would’ve been a lot longer on foot. I took in the house that was not much smaller than the Rhodes’. With its white wooden walls and smaller windows, it reminded me of a modern farmhouse. Laughter and music pulsed through the air before we even got out of the car. The bass hummed through the ground, vibrating beneath my feet as I stepped out.

“Is this really the closest house to yours?” I asked, remembering what Braxton said about him being their neighbor. To my surprise, it was Thomas who answered my question.

“Not all ground is safe to build on around the lake,” he said, while opening his door. “So, yes.”

I pursed my lips, and made a mental note to look out if for some reason I ever winded up in these woods and didn’t want to disappear into the ground.

“Are we going in, or what?” Connor looked at me over his shoulder, and I nodded, trying to settle my mind into party mode.

The whole stretch of land between the house and the lake was packed. Strings of lights hung between the trees, casting a golden glow over the crowd. People danced on the grass, in the shallows of the lake, half-drunk, and lost in the rhythm.

“Come on.” Connor grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the bonfire in the middle.

Sweaty bodies crushed against us, laughter and conversation blurred together. Someone shoved a red cup into my free hand, and Connor smoothly plucked it away, setting it on a nearby table.

“Let’s get something fresh!” he shouted over the music.

I nodded, following him toward a table full of drink bottles and cups. He grabbed two clean ones, and filled them with something suspiciously clear. I smiled as he handed me one, and waited for him to say some nonsense we could drink to.

“To the start of a great summer.” He raised his cup against mine while strangers kept jostling against us.

Well, I could drink to that.

I hesitated for a only a second before throwing it back, and instantly regretting it. The vodka burned my throat. I coughed, wincing.

“Jesus,” I choked out, “I always forget you drink like a sailor.” Connor flashed me his sweetest smile. “See, that’s what confuses me.”

“What?” He laughed, playing the unknowing saint while he handed me a new cup filled with something bright orange.

“You and your angelic disguise,” I muttered, eyeing the drink. “Pretending to be so sweet while you try to poison me.”

Connor’s laughter grew louder.

“It’s orange juice. You’re safe,” he said, and I gulped down the sweet drink.

The cold felt amazing after the burn of the alcohol.