“Disaster waiting to happen,” someone murmured in her ear.
Allison turned to see Matt Ryan holding two full cups of beer. He handed her one, and she pushed his chest with alarm that was only half joking. “Run away before Anders sees you!” she said in an urgent whisper, but Matt just laughed.
“Anders only has eyes for Kayla,” he said, but let Allison lead him out of the kitchen anyway. “I was hoping you’d be here,” he added once they were out of sight in a corner beside the stairs.
Allison looked up at Matt, taking in his flushed cheeks, disheveled hair, and lopsided smile. It looked as though he’d been at Rob’s party awhile. “Thanks for calling about getting coffee,” she said sarcastically.
Whoops. That’s not what she’d meant to lead with. She’d wanted to play it cool, like she hadn’t thought about Matt’s invitation every day since he’d made it. Her cheeks burned, but Matt just grinned. “Come on, you know I can’t call your house. Everyone except you would hang up on me.” He gave a rueful little chuckle. “Well, and maybe my mom.”
“She says hi and hopes you’re eating well,” Allison reported dutifully, then wanted to sink through the floor. Nothing sexier than passing along a message from a guy’s mother.
But Matt just laughed. “I’m not, but don’t tell her that. She’ll probably freak out and ask her sister to come stay with me. The last thing I need is my aunt Paula as a roommate. Hey, you want to play quarters?”
Allison drank half her beer as a stalling tactic. She didn’t, particularly. She wanted to talk to Matt alone, but she wasn’t sure how to make that happen at a party filled with people he knew and she didn’t.
Unless she borrowed one of Adam’s patented moves. Allison fanned herself and frowned. “It’s so hot in here. I was thinking about taking a walk. Want to come?”
“Sure,” Matt said, easily swallowing the line that, Adam liked to brag, had gotten him laid on every beach on Gull Cove Island. Not that that’s what I’m doing, Allison told herself, draining the rest of her beer as she and Matt wound their way through the crowded living room. She just wasn’t good at parties. And even though her brothers had all deserted her almost as soon as they’d arrived, she didn’t want any of them seeing her with fucking Matt Ryan.
Plus there was the problem of Kayla. If she got bored with Anders, she might turn her attention back to Matt. And Allison couldn’t compete.
She’d forgotten how cold it was, though, and started shivering as soon as the front door closed behind them. “Maybe this was a bad idea,” Allison said as the wind picked up and goose bumps sprouted on her bare legs.
“Nah, we just need reinforcements.” Matt unzipped his leather jacket and pulled a small bottle of bourbon from the inside pocket. “Liquid warmth,” he said with a grin, unscrewing the top and handing it to Allison. She hesitated, and he cocked a teasing eyebrow. “Unless you’re backing out on me?”
Allison had the feeling that he knew exactly what had been on her mind when she invited him outside, and her first instinct was to dart back into the bungalow. Until she took a small sip of bourbon, which was so warm and spicy and welcoming that she took a much larger one, and suddenly the last thing she wanted to do was play it safe. Kayla wouldn’t, she thought, and then mentally kicked herself for thinking about Matt’s ex at this particular moment. That girl took up far too much of her family’s headspace as it was.
“Definitely not,” Allison said.
“Good.” Matt’s smile widened as he slipped an arm around her shoulders. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
No matter how many times I stare at my phone, the numbers in my bank account never change.
Checking: $10.71, although that’ll finally go up when I deposit my first paycheck from Gull Cove Resort. Nobody in accounting blinked, earlier in the summer, when I told them to use the name North. “My checking account is under my mother’s maiden name,” I said, and all they cared about was that I returned the paperwork in time.
The number that kills me is my savings account: $0.00. Five months ago, it was enough to cover two years of community college, where I planned to kick ass, grade-wise, while working part-time until I could transfer to a four-year university. I’d become the first college