is upset you.” Windsor leans in and skims a kiss to my cheek, making my pulse thunder. When he pulls back, he's grinning, and I notice the other four boys watching us carefully. Their gazes are rife with tender feelings: jealousy, confusion, possession. I just can’t right now.
I grab Andrew by the hand, and take off, yanking him down the steps and into one of the lounge areas, so I can breathe.
“You're the only person,” I choke out, between panting breaths, “that isn't interested in me or interested in someone I'm interested in or … just plain confusing.” I look up and find Andrew staring at me with sympathy, his blue eyes bemused.
“True,” he says, and then chuckles slightly. “Well, okay, I won't lie, I have a huge crush on Windsor York, but my gay-dar says he's as straight as an arrow.” Andrew sighs wistfully. “And besides that, I'm already engaged …” He glances away, his chestnut hair golden in the yellow lounge lights. It's a palace in here, with custom leather couches, a glass coffee table, and a huge statue that looks like it's plated in gold. It's beyond luxe, and it makes me hate Harper's family even more. If they can afford a yacht like this, maybe they don't need to price the epinephrine injector pens they sell so damn high.
“You should break your engagement,” I tell Andrew as I notice Lizzie coming toward us through the crowd. She pauses nearby, almost hesitantly, and as I look at her, I try to decide if she really is as sweet and genuine as she seems, or if she's the greatest con artist amongst them all. “You should, too,” I tell her, deciding that, even if she is pulling the wool over my eyes, I'm only going to speak the truth.
“Should what?” she asks, stepping into our little circle. She changed into this tight, pale blue dress with sequins that makes her amber eyes pop. Me, I'm just rocking the uniform. I didn't bother to change, I couldn't, not with all those boys in my room. Getting naked with just a thin door between them and us … it was too much.
“Break your engagement,” I tell her, feeling this swell of pride and determination in me. I know who I want to be. I want to be the type of person that puts trust in people. I think that's possible, even without being naïve or gullible. Lizzie stares at me like I've lost my mind. “You're not happy with Marcel Stone. From the little you've said about him, and the brief times I've seen you with him, you don't seem very excited to be engaged.” I glance back at Andrew, and he shrugs his shoulders.
“It's not always that easy,” he whispers back, and I realize then that their money doesn't give them the freedom they think it does. Their blue blood doesn't always mean the grass is greener. Charlie would never force me to marry someone I didn't love. And he sure as hell would never predicate his love on an ultimatum.
Then again, I know not all families work the same. Not all families are glued together by love and trust. Some are built on money and expectations.
“No, it's not easy. I bet it'd make your life a hell of a lot harder.” I exhale and look between the two of them. “You just … both seem so sad sometimes.” I shrug my shoulders, and then move over to the bar to grab another can of soda from a bucket of ice. I forgot mine upstairs just now, and I don't trust the other partygoers not to drug my drink. After all, Andrew did it once and succeeded. “Anyway, I just needed a minute.”
“Because of what happened to John and Greg?” Lizzie asks, and Andrew shakes his head.
“No, because of all those fine guys that are crushing on her.” He grins at me as I give him a look. “What? Come on, there's not a straight or bi girl at this school … or a gay boy … who doesn't envy you right now. Five bully boys brought to their knees by a beautiful working glass girl who doesn't take their shit; it's like a fairy-tale.”
“Five boys …” Lizzie starts, and then I can see her visibly gathering herself together as she forces a smile. “It's true. They all have crushes on you, whether they've said anything to you or not. It isn't just Creed and Zack.”
“Windsor?” I ask with