Page 5

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Sebastian said, running down the stairs while pulling on his jean jacket.

He only glanced at Dean briefly before looking at me, raking his eyes up and down my body.

I blushed and wrapped my arms around my stomach, suddenly wishing that I’d kept my coat on for longer.

But there was no malice in his eyes, not in the way that I’d come to expect from him.

He just looked interested, like because this was the first time he had ever seen me dressed like this, he wanted to take the time to remember it.

“Well, don’t you clean up nice, Nellie,” he said. Then he flashed me that grin again. The one that made me weak at the knees and butterflies appear in my stomach, even when I told myself again and again that I had no interest in Sebastian Novak in any form.

“Right back at you,” I stammered out.

“Sebastian!” Ainsley screamed from upstairs. Sebastian shuddered.

“Let’s get out of here before I get blamed for something else,” he said, cutting past Dean and me to go for the door.

Imogen reappeared from where she’d disappeared behind a wall and called something after us, but Sebastian was already outside, Dean hot on his heels.

I shot a smile at Mrs. Novak, even though she seemed a little distracted by her daughters, then followed after the boys, ready to go to my first ever high school party.

I was right about Dean having other plans.

The second Sebastian found a place to leave his car, Dean was off like a shot, clearly looking for someone.

I took more time to slide out of the backseat, holding on to the car door for balance as I got used to the feeling of ground under my feet.

Getting out of Sebastian’s car always made me feel like I was coming off a rollercoaster—nauseous, head spinning, and walking on uncertain legs, wondering why I did this to myself again and again.

With it still being so early in the school year and summer holding on, it wasn’t totally dark out yet as Sebastian and I crossed the lawn to the house. The place looked so big and imposing, and seemed to be almost shaking from the loud music and yelling inside.

I was so focused on looking at the house that I almost stepped in vomit while I was halfway across the lawn.

Luckily, Sebastian had better eyes than I did.

He grabbed my elbow and tugged me out of the way just in time, making me stumble straight into him.

He used my other arm to stop me from tripping in front of him, which put us in an awkward hug, with my head smacking into his chin and my hands stuck up against his stomach. His rock-hard stomach.

I knew that Sebastian was a soccer player.

I knew that he trained harder than anyone I’d ever met.

But there was a difference between knowing it and feeling it, and oh boy, did I feel it then.

He smirked down at me, probably wondering why I was suddenly caressing his stomach and said, “You good, Nellie? ”

“Uh-huh,” I said stupidly. Then I realized that I’d been so focused on his abs that I hadn’t noticed that he let go of me so I could step away. I cleared my throat and backed off. “Uh, thanks for that.”

I kept my eyes trained on the ground from then on so he wouldn’t have to save me again, even though I would have loved another chance to be so close to him again like that.

Even though I was right about Dean coming to meet a girl, I was wrong about thinking that we were getting here too early, because the house was already packed with people.

A group of girls was sharing a cigarette on the corner of the porch, and they smiled.

One of them purred, “Hey, Sebastian,” as we walked by.

Sebastian smiled at her but didn’t stop to talk as we walked into the house.

The outside of the house was basic, but inside, it looked like it was a brand new build.

It was open-concept, with furniture and fixtures that made it feel more like a museum than a home.

The floor was already covered in discarded red cups and spilled drinks that I was careful to avoid.

Right inside the door were the stairs to the second story and though I could see some people up on the landing, it was impossible for anyone else to get by because a couple was stretched out across it, making out.

I looked away when I saw the guy’s hand slip down the back of the girl’s shorts, deciding that I did not want to know whatever they were getting up to.

On the other side was the living room, where a group of guys seemed to be playing some sort of drinking game involving cards and a lot of chugging, and past them was the kitchen.

Even though it was the place with the drinks, it seemed the least busy of everything I could see and I immediately decided that was where I would be spending most of the evening.

“So this is a party,” I said, wildly looking around.

I was already sure that I would have more fun if I’d been home.

Sebastian laughed and ruffled my hair, pulling away before I could manage to slap him.

Then he set off, apparently going to find his actual friends and leaving me to stand completely alone with nothing to do and nobody to talk to.

Not until a pair of arms wrapped around me, hugging me tight to somebody’s chest, and the girl’s voice started squealing in my ear about how happy she was that I came. I knew before I even looked that it was Clementine.

“Why you didn’t tell me you were coming?

” she yelled over the music. She was wearing ripped jean shorts and had her pink hair pulled into a messy high ponytail, like she’d only had five minutes warning that she was coming to this and had thrown on the first thing she found and stepped out of the house.

Next to her, my outfit that already seemed bad at home felt downright embarrassing now.

I felt like a scared little kid in a sea of slightly drunk teenagers.

“It wasn’t planned,” I yelled back. For a second, I considered telling her that Sebastian had invited me, since she’d been insisting for months that I should make a move on him, but then decided it was better not to get her hopes up.

“Come on, come on, come on,” Clementine said, grabbed my hand, and pulled me into the kitchen. “Let’s get you a drink.”

“Oh, I don’t drink,” I said as she pulled me forward .

“Okay, well, we’ll get you a...” She spun around in a circle as we got to the kitchen, and then a smile broke out on her face when she spotted a mini fridge under the counter. “They probably have pop, right?”

She dropped to her knees and started digging through it with a focus that only a drunk person could have on such a meaningless task.

I rubbed my sweaty palms along my skirt and looked around nervously.

I couldn’t remember the last time I was in such a big crowd of people outside of school and I wasn’t loving the whole Lord of the Flies feeling that was going on in here.

I didn’t hear Clementine as she stood back up, so I jumped when she suddenly appeared in front of me again, shoving a can of pop into my hand.

“Non-alcoholic,” she said, with a little salute. She tilted her head. “Are you driving home?”

I hadn’t really thought through my ride home, honestly.

I assumed that I was just going to come home with Sebastian and Dean, but I realize now that the fact that I lost both of them immediately suggested that maybe that wasn’t going to happen.

I wasn’t sure what their plans were either.

Were they planning to go back to Sebastian’s house, or were they just going to crash here or in Sebastian’s car?

I really should have nailed down those details before I agreed to come here.

“You can catch a ride with me if you need,” she continued on, probably seeing the sudden panic on my face. “I’m getting a ride from Reese and there will be enough space.”

Driving home with her was probably the safest option for a thousand reasons.

She would probably be the one by my side all night.

She was my alibi to my parents, so getting out of her car wouldn’t be suspicious.

And it meant that I could have some distance from Sebastian and my brother, which was probably for the best. Maybe it was good for both of them to see that I could be independent and not rely on them for everything.

“That would be great.”

“I’ll let her know,” Clem said. I figured she was going to pull out her phone but she started to move toward the back door. “And I’m gonna grab another drink, okay? Don’t move, I’ll be back in two minutes!”

Even though she said two minutes, she held up four fingers and I stifled a laugh as I watched her stumble out the back door.

Luckily, I was standing close enough to the window that I could see her moving around in the yard, so I wouldn’t lose track of her if she forgot to come back for me in two minutes like she’d promised.

I’d never spent much time around a drunk person before, but it seemed safe to assume that they weren’t the most reliable.

“You’re wearing denim.”

I swear Sebastian appeared out of nowhere. One second I was alone and watching Clem out the window, and the next, he was standing in front of me. When his words registered in my brain, I looked down at my jean skirt then back at him.

“Yes, I am,” I said.

“I need to kiss you.”

I was sure I misheard him. The music was loud and people were shouting and it was easy to misunderstand somebody’s words.

Maybe he said something that rhymed with kiss, like miss or…

well that was all I could think of. I need to miss you?

I wasn’t sure what that would mean, but somehow it seemed more plausible than him mentioning me, him , and kiss all in one sentence.

“Huh?”

“People bingo.” He held up a small piece of paper with a bingo board printed on it, but instead of numbers, there were phrases on it.

I caught a couple of them—red sunglasses, dyed hair—and the title KISSING BINGO before he stuffed the paper in his pocket again.

“You’re wearing denim, so I need to kiss you.

And Josh will take a photo.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at a boy I recognized from the soccer team but had never met before.

“He’s wearing denim,” I said, pointing at Josh’s jeans. “Why don’t you kiss him instead?”

Josh quickly took a step back while Sebastian smirked at me. “Josh and I don’t really know each other like that.”

“But we do?” I wanted to sound cool and flirty but instead my voice came out all squeaky and fully cracked on the last word.

“Well we…” He trailed off and glanced at Josh, like there was something he wanted to say but didn’t want Josh to hear it. “Have known each other for a long time.”

I could read between the lines of what he wasn’t saying: Josh didn’t know I was Dean’s sister and Sebastian didn’t want him to find out.

I wasn’t sure what rules Dean and Sebastian had about dating each other’s sisters, but with how much Dean tried to keep me away from his friends and absolutely forbade me from dating them, I thought Sebastian might feel the same the other way.

“Only my face needs to be in the photo,” Sebastian continued, “so nobody will know it’s you. ”

“Unless they recognize my hair and outfit?” I asked, gesturing over myself.

“Well, yeah,” Sebastian admitted. “But there are so many people at this party, who would notice anyway?”

“I still don’t understand this,” I said.

Sebastian stepped toward me, fully entering my personal space, and I leaned back against the island counter I was pressed against, torn between wanting to step away and being desperate to be this close to him.

It was just like it had been on the front lawn, when he’d pulled me into him, except there was no puke for me to be avoiding this time.

“Please, Nellie,” he murmured. Had his voice gone down a few octaves? I didn’t remember it being so deep before, but it sent shivers up my spine now. “I really want to win. Could you just do me this favour?”

A conversation like this had been in my daydreams for years.

Sebastian Novak standing so close to me and whispering words for only me to hear.

Sebastian Novak asking to kiss me. But this wasn’t where I imagined it happening.

And I didn’t imagine it happening with a camera trained on us, either.

But was I really going to let this opportunity pass me by?

“I…” I felt incapable of forming any other words as I stared into his eyes.

The colour of them seemed to change in different lighting, varying from blue to green.

Today, his shirt made the blue in his eyes pop, and I had to hold myself up with the counter behind me to stop myself from fainting straight onto his feet.

Sebastian Novak wanted me to kiss him.

And the only word I could get out was, “Okay.”