Page 8

T he party is in full swing by the time we get there, and I appreciate being able to blend in with a certain amount of anonymity as we make our way through the yard and into the house. That is until Evie spots Jake lingering in the kitchen and drags us immediately in his direction. He’s surrounded by a few of the guys he was eating lunch with the other day, and a couple of girls I don’t recognize, and to my surprise, Alexander is nowhere to be found.

“Babe, finally,” Jake greets, grabbing Evie by the belt loop on her pants and pulling her into his arms, as he smashes his mouth to hers. The PDA doesn’t seem to surprise anyone, and I can’t help but smile as I watch them, noting the glances from everyone else in the kitchen, until the two finally pull apart. “Bree, you came,” Jake adds when he notices me, offering me a smile before grabbing the rest of the kitchen’s attention. “Everyone, this is Coach’s daughter, Bree.”

I cringe a little at him outing me like that, as I come to rest on the kitchen island, expecting an onslaught of shock and questions about my dad, but they all seem genuine as they smile at me. Evie releases herself from Jake's hold and moves to make us both a drink as she takes over the introductions.

“Bree, that’s Nova and his girlfriend Maddie,” she starts, gesturing to one of the hottest guys I have ever seen, who has his arms around an equally beautiful girl, and all I can do is stare in awe at the two of them. They look like a Hollywood couple. “And that’s her best friend Hallie, and her husband, Josh.” Another beautiful couple, looking completely smitten, and apparently married?

Each of them offer me a shake of their hand and a welcoming smile, but I can’t help but stumble as I get to the latter. “Husband?” I question in surprise looking between the two of them. “You guys are married?”

They both give one another a knowing smirk, before Hallie replies, “Took him a decade to realize I was the love of his life.” Her words are paired with a roll of her eyes, and I expect him to defend himself, but all he does is look at her like she is the most fascinating thing he has ever seen in his life.

“Well, we’ve got forever for me to make it up to you,” he murmurs, grabbing her chin and pulling her in for a kiss that is nothing short of demanding and possessive, and I swear Maddie groans.

“They’ll be doing that for a while,” a new voice cuts in, and I flick my eyes to another insanely attractive guy, who is smirking at me knowingly. “I’m Archer, and this is my boyfriend Daemon.” He offers me his hand, as he nods his head to a quiet and brooding presence at his side, and I swear Archer is quite literally beaming as he says the word boyfriend. Daemon doesn’t offer me his hand, instead offering me the tip of his head, but my stare is drawn back to the smirk on his boyfriend’s face, as Archer adds. “You know my best friend right? Alexander?”

I’m startled slightly by the question, as Evie pretends to cough to hide a laugh, passing me the drink she made me, and I accept it gratefully, taking a deep gulp while I consider my response. “We’ve met briefly,” I reply sweetly, not elaborating any more than that, but for some reason it just makes Archer’s smile even wider.

“Is that what we’re calling him stalking you at lunch the other day?” he muses, sipping his own drink without breaking our eye contact, and I narrow my eyes a little.

“You can call it whatever you like, I have a boyfriend, I wear a purity ring, and I have no interest in Alexander Reign,” I snap in response, and everyone in the kitchen seems to quiet as they stare at me, and just when I think things can’t get any worse, a familiar tone crawls up my spine.

“Well, well, well, what are we talking about over here?” Alexander questions, arriving in the kitchen and coming to a stop far too close beside me, and when I flick my eyes up to meet his, they are shining with mischief.

“Oh just Bree and her purity ring,” Archer offers up, like he thrives on the chaos of other people’s misery, and I snap my head around to glare at him, but all he does is wink at me like we are sharing some inside joke. If we are, I’m not in on it.

“Interesting,” Alexander muses slowly, his eyes now fixated on the dainty gold ring that takes up residence on the middle finger of my right hand. A hand that just so happens to be wrapped around my drink and in clear display for them all to see. “A shackle to the infamous sky daddy, huh?” he adds with a smirk, and I can’t help but huff a laugh at his description, that is until he meets my stare and adds, “I thought you didn’t like me and weren’t going to come to my party?” he muses, with a cocky arch of his brow, and this time Evie doesn’t attempt to hide her laugh.

It’s not lost on me that everyone in the kitchen is watching our interaction, we have their attention despite the thump of the music surrounding us, and for some reason it annoys me. As if they think we are in some cat and mouse chase that he is inevitably going to win. My irritation only grows when a group of girls across the room call his name. It forces me to look in their direction, but Alexander doesn’t spare them a glance.

“I don’t like you and this isn’t just your party,” I clap back, and that insufferable smirk of his only grows, as his teammates laugh, no doubt enjoying the show.

Alexander isn’t deterred though, as he lets his eyes drag over every inch of me until I have to fight the urge to fidget beneath his appraisal, not stopping until he is settled back on my hand. “Hmm, and the drinking you don’t like to do?” he adds, like he believes every word I said to him the other day was complete bullshit, and just to spite him I bring the cup to my mouth and drain the contents in one go.

“Apparently, sometimes the company I keep calls for the numbing of my brain that only alcohol can provide.” I aim to keep my words light, but something tells me from the way he meets my stare that he can somehow see the sadness in my eyes that I try to hide from everyone.

“Then it sounds like you need to cut that boyfriend of yours loose, so the tendency to drink in bars and at parties subsides.” He doesn’t wait for my response, before sliding past me into the kitchen to grab himself another drink.

The guys all offer him a tip of their drinks, as he grabs himself a bottle of tequila and a small pink can from the fridge, as those same girls from a moment ago once again call his name. Still not sparing them a look, he heads back towards me, his eyes holding mine, as he thrusts the small can from the fridge into my hand.

“Let me know if you need saving from him like you did those jocks,” he whispers, dropping his head to my ear, before disappearing back the way he came. Only once he is gone do I look down and freeze, as I take in the can of pink lemonade he gave me.

My favorite drink. He bought my favorite drink. What the fuck?

A bitter taste coats the back of my tongue, as Evie moves back to my side and grabs my cup. “You look like you need another one,” she mumbles, and all I can do is nod, as she quickly moves to make me one.

“Come on, let's escape the testosterone in here,” Maddie cuts in, slipping from Nova’s arm and grabbing a bottle of something before coming to my side. “These Flyer boys are always high on their own bullshit,” she adds, lowering her voice, and Hallie laughs as she abandons Josh and joins us.

“I heard that, Princess,” Nova calls out to her back, but his girlfriend only rolls her eyes, before turning and smiling sweetly.

“You were meant to, Charmer.”

Then Evie joins us and all three girls are pushing me from the kitchen towards the back of the house, until we spill out onto a back deck. I’m surprised to find it mostly empty considering how busy the party is, but I’m not surprised to find a hot tub at one end of it. I roll my eyes as the girls lead me past it to the bottom of the garden, where there is a fire pit surrounded by chairs. We all take our seats as I gratefully accept my drink from Evie, only for all three of them to stare at me expectantly.

“Well, what’s the story with you and Alexander?” Hallie asks instantly, and Maddie nudges her with her elbow.

“Hals, you can’t just ask her outright, you’re supposed to warm her up to the subject first,” she scolds, as her friend looks at her in confusion, before she adds, “But come on, Bree, give us the dirt, because clearly we are missing something.”

I open my mouth to deny, protest, skate around the subject, but Evie beats me to it. “Reign met her in a bar before she came to campus, and now he’s been bugging her since she got here,” she starts with a knowing smirk, and I take another deep gulp of my drink hoping it will relax my tense muscles. “I think he’s obsessed with her.”

“He is not obsessed with me,” I quickly interrupt, but that just makes all three of them focus on me with keen interest. “He flirted with me and my friend at the bar, then saw me in class and flirted again. I told him I have a boyfriend and that I’m not interested, and well, he just hasn’t given up yet, but he will, he will get bored and move on.” I’m not sure if I’m trying to convince me or them, but they certainly don’t look convinced.

“Girl, I’m married and even I can appreciate how hot Alexander Reign is,” Hallie replies with a laugh, and Evie holds her glass out in a cheers motion to agree with her.

“And he’s rich, like insanely rich,” Evie reminds me, and I force myself not to roll my eyes.

“Yes, as you told me, and also a whore if I remember your description correctly,” I toss back, sipping more of my drink as Evie smirks.

“Also his dick is fucking huge,” Maddie offhandedly adds, but as all our eyes snap in her direction, she quickly looks away. “At least that’s what I’ve heard.”

Hallie stares at her like she is trying to read her damn soul before she mutters, “Okay, we are so coming back to that.” Before she once again focuses on me. “So tell us about your boyfriend Bree.”

Which is how I find myself getting drunk and making friends, while we all talk about how we ended up with our guys. I am hooked on the tension of Maddie and Nova, laughing at the idiocy of Hallie and Josh, and swooning at the sweetness of Evie and Jake, while also feeling like my own story doesn’t match up. By the time we head back to the party I have achieved what I wanted, and everything is feeling a little less, and I dance and drink some more until the memory of why I was sad has almost faded completely. If only the numbness could last.

The girls disappear back to their guys, and I do not want to stick around for their love fests, so I snag yet another drink, though it isn’t needed, and stumble back out to the deck, as the party starts to wind down. Which is where my luck runs out.

“Oh for fucks sake, not you again,” I scoff, finding Alexander sitting in one of the chairs, as I move to lean on the rail of the deck. “You really are stalking me,” I add more to myself than him, sipping some of the drink in my hand, as I bear witness to his insufferable smirk.

“Aubree, as much as I would like to be guilty of the crime of stalking you, this is my house, remember?” He sips his own drink, once again letting his eyes drag over every inch of my bare skin, so much so that I can’t help but shudder, and when I scoff again, he chuckles, rising to his feet and moving to join me at the rail. “How much have you had to drink?” he questions, like he has the right, and I roll my eyes at his audacity.

“Enough to give me the boldness to tell you to fuck off and mind your own business.” I pair my words with the draining of my cup, just to exaggerate my point, hoping it will encourage him to actually fuck off, but of course he doesn’t take the hint.

“So, still drinking to forget about that unfortunate boyfriend of yours, huh?” he coos, with an air of nonchalance I don’t think I could ever manage, and again my answering scoff has him smiling.

“Ben is not the reason I am drinking to forget,” I snap, before grabbing the bottle in his hand and bringing it to my mouth, taking a deep swill.

“Okay then tell me the reason,” he demands playfully, as if he doesn’t believe there could be such a thing to drive me to these methods, and it only pisses me off more.

“My mom just died,” I reply quickly without thinking, before I gasp when I realize my mistake. He is the last person I want to talk about my damn trauma with, and I can’t help but meet his now concerned stare with a panicked one of my own. “Forget I told you that,” I demand, knowing he probably won’t listen, and when he opens his mouth to respond, I prepare myself for the worst.

“This boyfriend of yours, Ben, what does he do that makes him so worthy of you?” he asks, not a hint of insincerity in sight, and I can’t help but blink back at his question.

“Erm, he’s kind to me?” I say slowly, my words sounding more questioning than I mean them to, and his smirk slowly returns.

“Are you asking me or telling me?” he muses, taking the bottle back from my hand and taking a sip, and my eyes track his every move.

“Telling,” I snap, and there goes that damn chuckle again, so I quickly add, “You’re annoying, do you know that?”

The chuckle turns to a full throaty laugh that has him tossing his head back, and if humanly possible, he looks more princely than ever. “I can’t say I have ever been told that before, love.”

“That’s because I’m sure the girls you usually surround yourself with are no doubt desperate for your attention, and therefore choose to lie to your face,” I reply sweetly, as he takes another sip of the bottle, before offering it to me.

I snatch it back with another eye roll, as he muses, “So you’re saying they don’t think I’m rich, charming, and obscenely attractive?”

He lists off his qualities, which annoyingly are all correct, but I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of agreeing with him. “I think you’re confusing their opinion with your own.”

Intense blue eyes watch me take another sip, before he moves a little closer and asks, “And what about your opinion? Or do you need to confer with your little boyfriend or your sky daddy before you’re allowed to tell me?” His fingers caress my purity ring that is wrapped around the bottle, before I quickly snatch my hand away.

“My opinion is that you’re a self-absorbed jock who thinks he’s a gift to women everywhere and doesn’t take anything in life seriously. You use your good looks, your charm, and no doubt your money to get whatever you want, and aren’t used to being told no. So, no, I don’t need my little boyfriend, or my sky daddy to tell me that I don’t like you.” I ensure to put emphasis on the last four words to really get my point across, yet to my annoyance he doesn’t even flinch.

Instead, he tips his head back and groans. “Fuck, Aubree, you really are trouble.” Then he turns on his heels and storms into the house without another word, as I’m left wondering what the fuck just happened.