The Entitled (The Entitled Duet #1) - Cassandra Robbins Page 0,15
his mirror.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” I sneer at him. Maybe Jax is right. I probably shouldn’t go out tonight, seeing how I’m ready to kill Jay and all he did was ask where she was.
“Don’t you say a word.” I look over at Jax. He frowns at me.
Rolling his eyes, he grabs one of the bottles of bourbon I swiped and takes a swig. As I wait for him to pass it back to me, he looks out the window.
“Are you going to share?”
“Nah, I think you need to go slow tonight. I can already feel your anger. I don’t want to have to call Dad tonight to bail us out of jail.”
This makes me smile.
Zack’s parents are out of town, so he has the entire apartment to himself. Zack comes from old money also. Not as old as my family’s but old. My great-great-great-grandfather was a duke in England. He gave everything up and moved his family to America, and our fortune hasn’t gotten any smaller. Every generation seems to expand the Saddington empire. I don’t even know what we don’t have a piece of.
Zack’s parents’ penthouse is a perfect place to let loose completely. His mom is into art deco crap or maybe it’s modern. Whatever, it’s easy to clean up. A lot of metal pieces with dark colors and ugly-but-sturdy furniture. I would probably take down some of the art. After all, a Jackson Pollock hangs across half the main wall, but hey, that’s his deal.
Zack’s older brother, Jason, is home this weekend from Yale. Hence the party.
I get along better with Jason, probably because his vocabulary consists of more than “damn” and “dude.”
Music bounces off the walls so loud it pulses in my chest. We must not be that early because the place is surprisingly full of classmates. Most of them are carrying red plastic cups.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.” Zack gives me a bro hug and takes our bourbon. “Dude, since Tess isn’t coming, we could…” I must look threatening because he holds his hands up.
“Damn, Reed, calm down.” He shakes his head. “Jax mentioned it. I thought as the host, I’d give you a heads-up. Tiffany has been asking all kinds of questions.” Thankfully the music is loud. Otherwise it would be uncomfortable.
Zack frowns. “You okay, man?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I answer, forcing myself to chill. “Tess is sick—that’s why she’s not here.”
Why the fuck did I say that? Looking over at the Pollock painting, I wish I could smoke some weed and spend the rest of the night staring at it.
Jax walks up and hands me a plastic cup filled with beer.
“Oh… dudes.” Zack pats Jax on the chest. “Look at what my brother is bringing in.”
Jason and his buddies are carrying another keg into the kitchen. A bunch of girls trail after them.
“Holy shit! Look at the tits on that redhead!” Zack is nearly drooling like a kid in a candy shop as he gawks at the college girls.
“Pull it together, man. They’re just girls,” I say with a snort before I drink half my beer.
Zack looks at me like I have two heads. “Dude, if I could get my hands anywhere near one of them, I would die a happy dude. Excuse me, ‘host duty’ calls.” He air quotes and backs away to look for his brother’s entourage.
I circle back to Jax, whose gaze is fixed on the redhead with large boobs. “Did you tell Zack that Tess and I had a fight?”
He looks at me, then back at the redhead, taking a sip of his beer.
“Did you?” I hiss.
“Reed… why did you come tonight?” Like I’m an annoyance. “You of all people know I don’t discuss your shit with anyone. I’m starting to get pissed. This is not my fault that you lied to Tess.” He drinks his beer.
I almost slap it out of his hand but control myself. “He said you mentioned it. What the fuck does that mean?”
“What is wrong with you? He asked me if Tess was coming. I said no. End of story.” That sounds like something Jax would say.
“Hi, Reed. Hey, Jax.” Tiffany slithers up to us. Her brown haircut is exactly like Tess’s. Pathetic. I don’t have the patience for her on a good day and certainly not tonight.
Groaning into my cup, I say, “What’s up, Tiffany?”
“Where’s Tess?” Her eyes are gleaming like she knows a secret.
“She’s sick.” Fuck, I never should have come without her.