Fractured Things - Samantha Lovelock Page 0,67

to be from this town.” The air has gotten colder, so we move closer to the fire. Just as I’m about to answer, I see Hali come around the corner and sidle up to one of the guys standing a little further apart from the main group. She leans in, pressing her tits against the guy’s arm, and gives him a simpering smile, oblivious to anybody watching.

“Hali fucking Torsten,” Noli says with disgust.

“I see you share my opinion of her.” I turn to her and laugh, deciding not to share the fact that she’s technically my half-sister.

“Doesn’t everybody? That girl is a walking, talking nightmare. She’s also the reigning queen of the Hum and Coke.” Nudging me with her elbow, she points my attention back to Hali and the nameless guy. I watch as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a tiny plastic baggie half-full of white powder. Hali goes for it, but he holds it out of her reach, his eyebrows raised questioningly at her. She licks her lips and nods in response, a grotesquely greedy smirk sliding across her face. He hands her the baggie and, taking her by the arm, leads her off to the shadowy tree line along the edge of the property.

“What was that?” I ask, curious.

“That was the intro to the Hum and Coke.” At my blank expression, she chuckles and clarifies. “Hali has gobs of money. More than enough disposable cash to pay for her habit. At these parties though, she likes to pretend otherwise, probably for the attention. Girls like her always seem to have daddy issues.” I snort out a laugh at that.

“You truly have no idea how accurate that statement is,” I say.

“She’ll find Lex or Bodhi and arrange a trade for some coke. A hummer for a baggie. A blow for some blow.” She takes a swallow of her beer. “Tonight is Bodhi’s turn, I guess. The joke’s on her, though. Both Bodhi and Lex keep a special little baggie set aside for Hali when we come to Folkestone parties. After all the shit it’s cut with, the powder in those bags is probably only five percent coke. The rest is a little aspirin, some laxative, and a whole lot of baking powder, and the chick is too stupid to figure it out. Either that or she has figured it out and just wants to suck dick.”

I didn’t think Hali could fall any further in my esteem, and yet, she just did. My phone trills in my back pocket, and I pull it out to see a text from Sunday.

“Hey, I should probably go back in. The girls I came with are looking for me.” Stuffing my phone back into my pocket, I grin. “It was nice to meet you, Noli. Thanks for the company.” I start to walk away and turn around. “See you at the next party?” She smiles and lifts her beer in a cheers.

“Yep. Nice to meet you too, Stella. See you around.”

Back on the front porch, I suck in a breath and square my shoulders.

Here we go.

The party has thinned out a little, and the noise level has gone down by a decibel or two. My eyes find Sunday’s silvery hair, and I start across the room toward her. Three-quarters of the way there, I’m suddenly shoved sideways by a blonde who’s bent over and busily grinding her ass into the crotch of the guy she’s dancing with. Giving me the stink eye, she snarls at me.

“Move, bitch,” she spits. Her partner reaches forward and grabs her around her waist, pulling her fully upright.

Again with the tattoo.

Following the ornate design up his forearm, my eyes lift to meet Poe’s, and I can’t decide if I want to cry, throw up, or punch his perfect white teeth in. He arches an eyebrow at me, his eyes flat and cold, then grabs the blonde’s arm and drags her further into the crowd, her whiny complaints about him twisting her arm trailing after them.

I’m having trouble taking a breath under the crushing weight in my chest. My eyes fill with tears, and not wanting anybody in here to see me cry, I turn and push through the group of people between me and the front door. Back outside, I run for my car, the tears finally breaking free and flowing down my cheeks.

Fuck him. Fuck him and his tattoo and everything he’s ever said to me. He’s a fucking liar.

Yanking my driver’s side door open,