got published made it impossible. For the moment.
Candy bounced down the steps of the front porch as I locked up the house, and Matt stepped out of the car and catcalled loudly. “Lookin’ good there, Candle. When am I finally gonna get a piece of that?”
She stopped in front of him and adjusted her black tube top over her ample chest. “Eat your heart out, Crowley. I’m saving myself.”
“For who?”
“For someone who’s not you.”
Matt grabbed her and pulled her into a bear hug, purposely mussing her hair as she squealed and tried to squirm away. “You’re full of shit. You know I haunt your dreams, Waxman. Now say it!”
Normally I would have found their antics hilarious, but tonight nothing seemed amusing. “Knock it off, you two,” I said as I approached the car. “Let’s get this over with.”
Matt and Candy climbed into the backseat of Ryan’s Camaro, and I could almost feel the look they exchanged at my comment. Or, rather, Matt’s look of What’s up her ass? and Candy’s responding shrug.
I smacked a kiss on Ryan’s lips as the car door slammed behind me.
“Hey. What’s that all about? You don’t want to go?”
“Not in a party mood, I guess.”
“Is it because that kid’s gonna be there? Has he been bothering you?” It was about the hundredth time that week Ryan had asked if David had been bothering me. Like he was dying for me to say yes, and to finally have a real reason to kick his ass.
“No, Ry. He didn’t bother me today, or the day before, or the day before that. Like I keep telling you.”
“Just making sure.” He squeezed my knee and put the car in reverse, then hit the brake when he looked up at my darkened house. “Wait. It’s Friday night. Where is everybody?”
“My dad’s doing signings and stuff in New York this weekend, so Mom went with him. Miranda’s sleeping at a friend’s house.”
His hand crept over to my thigh and he gave me a sly grin. “Then maybe we should have our own party here.”
Exactly why I hadn’t told him. Wasn’t in the mood for that kind of party either.
A cacophony of gagging sounds rose from the backseat, followed by Candy saying, “Sorry, Romeo, I’m staying with her tonight.”
I smiled over my shoulder at her, grateful to have her as my friend. Then Ryan slipped his hand beneath mine and lifted it to his lips, kissing it with a sweetness that made me melt, and I sighed. It felt so good to be reminded of the things and the people I was lucky enough to have in my life. Especially when everything else had started to feel like I’d been flipped to an alternate universe.
For all her talk of epicness, Violet’s party wasn’t much different from any other Clayton High party. She’d covered all the bases: tiki torches lining the wrought-iron fence around the inground pool, music turned up too loud, an illicit supply of beer and alcohol probably procured with a fake ID, and the obligatory beer pong table, topped with red plastic cups, set out on the manicured lawn.
“Hey, guys!” Violet chirped as we walked into the kitchen. “People will be here any minute! This is going to be great!” David stood next to her, muscles straining beneath the sleeves of his T-shirt from the bags of ice he held in his arms. Like she’d already put him to work.
I was so surprised to see him that I blurted, “Your car wasn’t outside.” I knew immediately it was the wrong thing to say, because Ryan would take it to mean I’d been looking for it. I hadn’t consciously looked for it, but David’s beat-up Chevy Cavalier was kind of hard to miss, especially around the expensive cars my friends drove.
“I’m driving my grandfather’s car now,” David said. “I got rid of that other one.”
Something inside me twinged. Did he get rid of it because of what happened the last time we were together?
“Boys,” Violet interrupted, addressing Matt and Ryan. I could have hugged her. “I need your muscles. Can you go down to the basement and bring some more drinks outside to the deck? David was just about to put ice in the coolers.”
“Better do that before my arms go numb,” David said, moving toward the door that led from the kitchen to the deck. His eyes darted to Ryan as he stepped past us, and I knew Ryan must have been sizing him up, which he seemed to do