breath, fighting the moisture in my eyes and the pressure building behind my nose.
I’m not that girl. I’ll never be that girl.
The crowd seems to thicken the harder I try to push myself out of the maze.
So what if Dan insisted I celebrate his first win as part of the team?
So what if I didn’t want to go back home for Dad to force me into a dinner with Victoria?
Coming here was a big freaking mistake.
Or maybe it wasn’t.
Maybe I had to see Nicole between Levi’s legs to finally snap out of whatever madness that’s taken over me.
Still, my chest aches so much, it’s a struggle to breathe.
Why the hell does it hurt this much?
“Here’s my girl!” Dan enclasps me in a hug out of nowhere, reeking of alcohol. “Ro, Xan, did I introduce you to my BFF?”
“Why, hello there.” Ronan — number thirteen — grins with sparkling brown eyes. “Why have you been keeping such a good-looking lady to yourself, Danny boy?”
“Yeah, Danny. Sharing is caring,” Xander grins and it’s too sickeningly charming. He has classic pretty boy looks, blond hair, blue eyes all complete with dimples.
“I’m Ronan.” He takes my hand in his and places a kiss on the top. “Don’t believe everything you hear about me.”
“It’s usually much worse,” Xander finishes for him.”
“Now, hands-off, Astrid, you pigs.” Dan swats them away as if they’re flies. “She doesn’t like sex.”
I jab him, an involuntary blush creeping along my skin as I mutter, “Thanks for broadcasting that, bug.”
I should probably take him away before he spills all my secrets. Dan is a chatterbox when he’s drunk.
“Wow, okay.” Ronan fakes a gasp. “We need to fix that. I volunteer, mademoiselle.”
Xander pushes him out of the way. “I’m a month older than you and therefore, can go first.” He smiles. “If the lady would have me, of course.”
“My house. My rules.” Ronan puffs his chest then looks at me. “Why don’t you choose?”
I’m speechless, not knowing what to say to that.
“How about a drink instead?” Dan shouts.
“Hey, I’m a drinking king.” Ronan pats his chest. “No one can beat me.”
“Astrid can.” Dan massages my shoulders. “She has a weird high alcohol tolerance.”
That’s it. I’m taking a taxi and hauling Dan’s arse home.
Ronan eyes widen. “My hero.”
“Wait.” Xander gets impossibly close until I smell blueberry pie on him. “You’re that girl Captain brought into the pool house at the beginning of summer, aren’t you?”
Yup. The night I ruined my invisibility.
Why did I have to stumble into Levi back then?
“Oh. That one.” Even Ronan’s smile falls and the air shifts from playful to tension-filled.
“She’s an artist and hates athlete so screw off, Ro, ” Dan continues in a half-slur.
“My mother is into collecting,” Ronan offers with a half-smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Do you want to see?”
“Dan?” I ask. I need to talk to him and stop him from broadcasting my damn life to his football friends.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Ronan directs us while Xander disappears with one of the girls. They all seem to be throwing themselves at the football team tonight.
Like a certain Nicole.
No. Nope. My mind isn’t going there.
Pressure perches on my chest whenever that image pops back in my head.
Dan leans on me, laughing and hooting whenever one of his teammates pass by or waves at him.
We go inside the room Ronan directed us to. It’s an office with a mahogany desk and chairs. All the walls are covered in impressionist artwork sorted from lighter to darker. All of them are shades of white, grey, and white.
Interesting choice of colours for a woman. Ronan’s mother must be alpha to the bone.
“What is it?” Dan blinks, fingering a Buddha bronze statue.
“Can we go home?”
“Now?” His brows scrunch. “The party just started.”
I want to mention that he’s been getting into too many parties lately, but I don’t want him to think I’m making all of this about me again.
“I know you don’t like these scenes,” he approaches and clutches my shoulders. “But it’s our last year, remember? We’re having all the fun so there will be no regrets. Wait.” He wipes under my eyes. “Were you crying?”
“No, yes, I don’t know.” I bite my lower lip and then I just blurt it all out, from this morning about my fight with Victoria and Nicole straight to when I found the same Nicole sucking Levi’s dick.
“Fucking Nicole,” he breathes out. “I can’t believe he took the exhibition off the table.”
My head bows as Dan stands against the desk with me.