Page 23 of Raise Me Up

My hand tightens around my beer. Maybe Ishouldget drunk tonight. Hail would give me a ride home. I’d fall asleep without thinking about the quiet or the darkness of my apartment.

“Cheers, chica.” Maria clacks her beer bottle against mine. She’s got her eyelids shaded a sparkly black and her lips painted a bold red few people can pull off.

For all her bravado on stage, she’s a bigger sweetheart than my twin brother. Hail was more than happy to let her step in for him on lead vocals. It gave him the opportunity to focus more on side projects with his boyfriend.

Whom I have yet to meet in real life.

“You gonna come hang?” Maria asks, waving toward the fire.

Despite my hunger for conversation, I’m not really sure how to mesh with the others.

“I’m okay right here, but thanks.” I smile.

I watch Maria’s petite form cross the grass, hips and dreadlocks swishing.

More drinking it is.

Too soon, my bottle’s empty. Balancing it on the railing, I twist my hair back up into a bun to keep it from sticking to my neck. Then I leap down to my feet and sneak into the kitchen for another drink.

Knowing I’m gonna regret it in the morning, I fill a red solo cup with whatever blue concoction Malek brought in a sealed pitcher.

I’m about to head back to my roost when Beau appears, a half-eaten chocolate chip cookie in hand.

“Sweetheart, these are criminal,” he says around a mouthful.

I laugh. “Well, you get to take most of the credit.”

“Nope. All you.” The other half of the cookie disappears in one bite, his eyes never leaving me. “What are you drinking?”

I sniff at the liquid in my cup and wince as the scent burns the inside of my nose. Testing a small sip, I shudder at the potency of alcohol steamrolling through me. “Oh, god. I’m not sure it’s safe for consumption.”

He reaches for the fridge handle. “Bottle of water is the safer bet then.”

I expect him to wander back to his previous conversation, but he leans against the counter beside me, elbow and thigh lined up against mine, bringing tingles of awareness to my skin.

A little confused by his actions, I glance up in time to catch his Adam’s apple bobbing as he drains his water in a couple gulps.

I get the sense that Beau doesn’t hold back in life, but I could be making assumptions. I’ve only known him for a couple of hours.

Which is why I’m questioning how he can wreak such havoc on me. I don’t normally have this kind of reaction to others. I was convinced I was wired wrong. Even in my exploratory years in college, I never felt a rush of nerves or experienced an attraction like this.

Not with anyone but Liam.

Beau leans closer to peek into my cup. “Fuck. That smells horrible.”

“Oh, it tastes horrible. Like fruity household chemicals.”

“How do you know what that tastes like?”

He’s smiling so big, I don’t have to give him more than a playful eye roll to get him to laugh.

Our heads pop up in unison as the back door slides all the way open to let in a massive body of muscle and ink.

My heart forgets what it’s supposed to do. It was hot outside, but now it’s hot in the house, too. Or is that the toxic sludge burning through my DNA?

Liam prowls over to us, crowding Beau as he opens the fridge and grabs another Coke. Unperturbed, Beau swings those deep blue eyes back to me. I have to commend him for his bravery.

“So, do you play any instruments?” Beau asks.