but you don’t intimidate me, Iris.”
She narrows her eyes at me and takes a step forward. “Careful,” she says while pointing a finger at me. “You don’t know who you’re messing with.” She sways slightly.
I just shake my head. “I think you have it backward.”
She doesn't retaliate like I expect. Instead, her eyes drop, and she almost falls backward. I’m quick to catch her, but she shoves me away.
“Don’t touch me, you witch!”
She spits the words, and I reel back, wide-eyed, heart thumping with a quickening pace. Fear is the first emotion that comes to me. What does she know? Then another emotion creeps in as the blood beneath my skin comes to a boil. Anger. I’m not a witch. Not in the way she means it.
My insides begin to shake with fury, and my eyes narrow hard on her. The look she gives me now is one I will never forget. Terror. She stumbles and falls back, her butt hitting the sand while her eyes stare up at me as if I’m a monster. She starts to crawl backward, away from me, and I instinctively grab my necklace and squeeze it tightly. My next breath is a deep one, and on my exhale, I can feel all the wound-up parts of me start to relax.
“I told you to stop drinking!”
I’m shaken from the blackness when I hear Alec’s voice. I look up to find him and Ava approaching. He walks up behind Iris, grips under her arms, and pulls her to her feet. As soon as she’s standing, she begins to clutch her head as if she’s suffering from a migraine.
Meanwhile, Ava is full of deep laughter. I just stare at them both, taken aback by their behavior. Ava wraps an arm around Iris and pulls her away.
After they’re far enough up the beach, Alec turns toward me. “I think they started drinking a little too early.”
I turn away from their departing figures and frown, still shaken by Iris’s behavior. “That was quite the welcome.”
Alec cringes. “Sorry about that. Was she awful to you?”
I give him a sheepish smile and respond without actually answering. “Are you surprised?”
He lets out a sympathetic smile and reaches for my hand. “No. But for what it’s worth, I’m glad you came.” He tugs me forward and places his hands on my waist. There’s a twinkle in his eyes. “You look nice.”
Charlotte assured me the long orange maxi skirt and white crop tank top was the perfect outfit to wear to a beach party. I’m glad I listened. I look him up and down. He’s wearing navy-and-white pinstriped swim shorts and a navy-blue muscle tank.
“You don’t look so bad yourself.” I can feel myself blush. “It looks like a great party.”
“Yeah, well, some people are having too much fun.” He directs his gaze where Ava and Iris walked off to. “But you made it.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “I did, and now you owe me.”
Alec leads me a short distance to the refreshment table, where a bowl of pink liquid sits in the center. He pours a drink and offers it to me. “A token of my gratitude.” He bows dramatically.
“Funny,” I say as I laugh. I look into the cup, checking out the drink.
As if he can read my mind, he laughs and says, “It’s just punch.” He gives me a boyish smile. “My parents and their friends are all over this joint. I couldn’t get away with sneaking a single ounce of booze. Trust me.”
“But Iris and Ava are getting it somewhere, right?”
Alec shrugs. “They probably brought it. My parents would never say anything to them, though. My parents intensely dislike their parents, so it’s not worth the drama.”
I laugh. “But you’re still friends with them?”
Alec shrugs. “Keep your enemies close, right?” He winks.
“Well, then cheers,” I say, a teasing tone in my voice as I raise my cup in the air.
“Cheers,” he says. “To you for finally escaping from prison.”
We tap our drinks together and take a sip, our eyes never leaving each other’s.
“So, are you free from now on, or does your carriage turn back into a pumpkin at midnight?”
I smile and tilt my head. “I don’t know about tonight, but we can start going running again if you want.”
He grins. “I’ve been training, you know? You’re not going to be able to blow me out of the water this time.”
“Is that so?”
He nods, his confidence bolder than I remember. I think I like it too much.
“I’ll accept that