was no way I was staying at Wade’s or leaving my car there.
After donning a tight denim skirt, ripped over one thigh, I tugged on a gray sweater with the Rolling Stones printed on it, then stole a pair of Mom’s black Manolos. I looked casual but dressed up enough to seem like I didn’t care what anyone thought. Perfect.
The Uber driver dropped me off in the middle of the street, and she whistled. “Banging party, kid.”
I handed her a twenty. “Let’s hope so.”
Pulling down my skirt after I’d stepped out of the car, I glanced around the dark street teeming with teenagers. The stars were fading behind dark globs of clouds, and the moon was but a slice of silver in the sky. There were more cars and more people here than I’d seen since the first time I’d attended one of Wade’s parties, but I tried not to let that throw me off.
It didn’t matter who was here. All that mattered was that I was, and I was going to have some fun.
The drinks were easy to find, and find them I did. I nabbed a whole bottle of Johnnie Walker and drained as much as I could without making my makeup run. My hand dug into my hair as I started swinging my hips to the sultry R&B bass that was thundering through the house. Following the music into the living room, I waved at some people who offered me a smile and ignored the curious glances from others.
I started slow, drinking and bopping around as people sprawled over the couches and danced over the coffee tables and jumped up and down on the floor.
A guy with venom tainted eyes had his hand wrapped tight around the neck of a bottle of Jack, and I squinted at him, trying to place whether I’d seen him before or not.
I hadn’t. Wade must have invited the whole town, and that was why there were so many people.
I kept drinking, and his head tilted as he watched me down the burning liquid. It soon caught fire and spread through my limbs. The sigh that left me had my eyes shutting as I slouched back into the wall.
When I opened them, the guy from the couch was there, leaning against the wall next to me. “Name?”
“Does it matter?” I licked my lips. He had nice eyes. Dark, depthless, and framed in a thick layer of black lashes that matched his cropped hair and the stubble peppering his jaw and thick neck.
His thin lips met, then opened as he smiled, flashing me a glimpse of his teeth. “I suppose it doesn’t.”
I could hardly hear him, and I’d lost interest in dancing. I crooked a finger at him to follow me, knowing he would. I was probably a sure thing to him, and that was precisely what I wanted him to think. We moved to the stairs, and the sight of Raven talking to a caramel-skinned guy who sometimes rode with them had my ankle almost rolling.
He looked up, his brows rising and my name on his lips.
Not wanting to cause any alarm, I waved, smiling easily, then continued up the stairs.
“Know him?” the guy trailing me asked as we neared the top.
I grabbed the railing as a group of guys raced by, throwing themselves down the stairs and leaving us in a dust of laughter. “Raven? Yeah. You?”
He shook his head. “New to town. I haven’t seen you at school.”
“I go to Magnolia Cove Prep.” I took another swig of whiskey as we meandered by a couple of girls making out in the hall, then headed toward the upstairs living room.
The guy said nothing, and sick of calling him guy, I gave up the lame attempt at remaining mysterious. “I’m Peggy.”
His shirt pulled taut at his arms as he swung them and surveyed the half full room before looking at me. A smile bloomed as he said, “Todd.”
We sat on the floor by a long-arched window, and I listened as he told me about where he’d grown up and how he’d had to move here due to his mom’s job transfer. She was a nurse, and he was hoping to head to medical school after college.
“What about you?”
I’d kept drinking as he’d talked, my head spinning as I stared at plastic cups getting kicked around on the marble floor in front of us. I hadn’t wanted to know about his life, but as he spoke, I found his deep voice a nice