out of my pussy, he was even more closed off than usual. But some good had occurred, too. Four had qualified for her license, and Vaughn had finally come clean about his plans to play for USC.
I still didn’t know why he’d kept it a secret, but I wondered if it had anything to do with his father threatening to kill him. I shuddered. What kind of father did that to his son? Or was the man more monster than father?
“So, where is this party occurring?”
“The beach house,” Jamie answered as if it were obvious. Maybe it would have been if Vaughn hadn’t gone MIA on me again.
“The beach house?” I echoed, frowning. “You’ve spoken to Vaughn?”
Jamie shrugged in response like it was no big deal while Bee bit her lip nervously when she noticed my ire. “A couple of hours ago. The party was his idea.”
Believing I owed it to my sister and father to clean up my mess and try to start over, I’d been planning to blow off tonight despite Jamie’s attempt at coercion. I guess that was why plans were never written in stone. At the drop of a dime or swift change of the wind, they altered.
The heels killing my feet and the dress squeezing the air from my body didn’t seem to help build my confidence as I pushed inside the beach house later that night. Apocalyptica’s “End of Me” was competing with the pounding of my heart as I searched for Vaughn in the crowd. The party was in full swing, yet I was all alone. Four and the others hadn’t arrived yet, so I didn’t have anyone to distract me from the bad feeling in my gut, the one telling me to turn and run. Maybe Vaughn already knew what I’d done, or perhaps fate would be kind and allow me to come clean on my own. I thought about Selena and what she would do in this situation. She was fearless in ways that I might never be, but maybe just this once I could channel her.
I kept going.
The beach house wasn’t anything extravagant, not compared to the literal castle Vaughn lived in, so there were only so many places to look. The living room turned out to be a dead end—almost literally since the space was so packed, I couldn’t get more than a foot inside. The kitchen was also packed to capacity as everyone crowded around the kegs and stray bottles of liquor on the countertops.
Still no Vaughn.
I forced back the urge to stomp my foot in frustration. If there was one thing Vaughn enjoyed imbibing more than me, it was beer. Where are you?
My phone vibrated in my hand, and I wasted no time checking the notification. Disappointment and relief flowed through me when I saw that it was a message from Four.
Best (old phone): Parking. B there in 5.
If I weren’t so on edge, I would have cheered at her refusal to use the iPhone Ever had gifted her. The controlling asshole still refused to remove the tracking app from her phone. She could have figured it out herself or gotten any of us to show her how, but I think it was important to her that Ever give in and learn the error of his ways.
“Hey.” The cloying stench of too much alcohol followed the greeting, and I turned. I didn’t even try to mute my sigh or hide my frustration when I found one of Vaughn’s old teammates hovering over me. I think his last name was Scott, but I was blanking on his first name since I’d only ever seen his surname printed on the back of his jersey.
“Hi.”
“I know you,” he slurred. “You’re Vaughn’s chick, right? Your name’s Tina.”
“Tyra.”
He actually looked offended as he wrinkled his nose. “That’s what I said.”
“Right. Can I help you?”
“No. Unless…” I barely resisted the urge to hold my nose when he tipped a little closer and flashed his idea of a flirtatious smile. “Vaughn’s done with you?”
I silently hoped not, although I wouldn’t blame him if he were. I don’t regret Franklin knowing about my feelings for his son, but I did regret taking the decision from Vaughn to stand up to his father and admit his own. Even more confusing was Franklin’s lack of anger. He seemed to almost relish the thought of his son being in love with me. None of it made sense, including why Vaughn had lied to me.
“He’s not.” I was proud