against it, realizing how thin he'd have to spread himself.
Brad's preppy face wrinkled with disbelief. He couldn't understand why someone wouldn't want to expand and make more money, even if it meant sacrificing the quality of the product. But I knew it wasn't something I could explain in a way he'd understand, so I didn't try.
“How'd you meet Andrea?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Well, we kinda met twice. Once outside of a show in the city, and the second time, in the hospital.”
“Ah, right. She said your father was a patient.” He nodded. “Makes sense.”
I narrowed my eyes at the remark. “Makes sense? What do you mean?”
Brad laughed and I could smell the bourbon on his breath. My mouth watered as desperation slowly crept in.
“Oh, I didn't mean anything by it. It's just, well, you know. I can't imagine where else she would have met you.”
“Hm,” I grunted, pursing my lips. “Well, I better go find her. Nice chat, Brad.”
I walked away before he could reply and I could once again catch a whiff of the booze on his breath. I searched the yard, peeking into clusters of well-dressed people. Nobody said a word to me or acknowledged my intrusion. It felt like being invisible, and I didn't like it.
I found Andy in a garden, with a glass of wine in her hands. She never drank alcohol around me until now, and while it had never been a stipulation of mine, I was surprised to find that it hurt me, just a little, to see her take a sip.
“What are you doin' over here all by yourself?” I asked, approaching with my hands stuffed in my pockets.
I startled her, as I emerged from the shadows to stand in the glow of well-placed lights. She smiled bashfully, holding up her glass.
“I'm sorry,” she said. “I-I figured you wouldn’t like me to drink around you, but I had to. This party is ...” She shook her head, casting her gaze toward the large gathering only feet from where we stood. “It's a freakin' chore.”
“Then,” I took a step forward to stand beside her, “why are we here?”
She laughed, raising her glass and gesturing with it toward the party. “They're my family! I have to be here!”
“What does family have to do with it?” I challenged, narrowing my eyes. “My mom walked out when I was five years old and never came back. You think she gave a shit about family?”
Andy's glass lowered, hovering over her heart, as her eyes filled with sympathy. “Vinnie, you know—”
“Sweetheart,” I said, pulling the pack of Marlboros from a pocket along with my lighter. “Don't look at me like that. I want nothin' to do with your pity.”
“I'm not saying I pity you,” she insisted. “I'm saying, you know it's not the same thing. You can't compare. I have a good relationship with my family. We get along and I love being with them.”
Holding a cigarette between my teeth, I lit it with a flick of the lighter, then said, “You don't gotta justify anything to me.”
“I know,” she said, nodding and wrapping an arm around herself. “I know that.”
“Then, what's wrong?”
“Nothing,” she insisted, sipping on her wine.
I imagined the way it washed over her mouth, sliding down her throat and diving deep to warm her belly. That one sip relaxed her, I saw it in the sag of her shoulders and the drop of her chest. Every drink she took left her a little more unraveled as it stained her tongue with its flavor, and I craved its taste.
“Nothin', huh?” I inhaled the tobacco and nicotine and exhaled a plume of smoke into the air. “You know I know when you're lying to me, right?”
She released her lip from between her teeth. “I'm not lying.”
“No?” I turned to step in front her, blocking her view of the party. “Tell me why you're really over here.”
A flame ignited in her eyes as she stepped backward and pressed her body against a tree. She lured me with her eyes, daring me to acknowledge the line she had cast. Daring me to bite.
“I told you, to have a drink.”
“You could've had a drink inside with your sisters,” I pointed out, taking another puff from the cigarette as I stepped forward, assuring her that I'd taken the bait.
“I don't want to be with my sisters right now,” she admitted, speaking lower and huskier, as my body pressed against hers.