in case, but Jonas was still talking and laughing with a group near the keg.
When I glanced back, Ace continued to stare at me with that serious expression.
“Why do you look so intense?”
He let out a breath. “You’ve had a lot to drink, huh?”
“Are we back to this?”
“No. I’m not gonna play big brother,” he said. “But I have a question.”
“What?”
“Did you want me to hook up with Tracy? Is that why you brought her here?”
I took a step back. “What? No.”
“Why did you think we’d hit it off?”
I wet my lips. I felt like he was looking for something, some answer in the subtext of what I said. But subtext was a bit beyond me right now.
“You’re both beautiful people,” I said with a shrug. “It would make sense.”
“You’re beautiful too,” he said quietly.
My heart skipped. “Uh, no…” I laughed. “Not like you guys.”
“You are,” he insisted, stepping closer. “We need to talk.”
“We are talking.”
“I have something I need to tell you. I’ve needed to tell you for a while, and I don’t know how you’ll feel about it.”
“Okay. So, tell me.”
He took a deep breath. “Just spit it out, huh?”
“I mean, or swallow. Whatever floats your boat.”
Ace gave a strangled-sounding laugh. Before he could continue, a cup was shoved at me. “I’ve made it back,” Jonas said. “Do I get a reward for hunting and gathering?”
He pursed his lips and closed his eyes, and I laughed, shoving his face away. I was not kissing him in front of Ace. “You’re crazy.”
“Crazy for you.” Jonas batted his eyelashes. He was pretty funny when he wanted to be. He was definitely the life of the party, a huge extrovert with a lot of friends. It was difficult to picture how we’d mesh in a normal setting. He’d been cool the night I’d shown up at the frat with my sketches, but our conversation had been a bit stilted, mostly because of me. Showing him my art had been a way to pass the time without awkward silence.
“Benji, could we maybe finish our conversation?” Ace asked.
I turned back. “You had something to tell me?”
He glanced at Jonas. “Yeah, just you. Maybe we could go inside and—”
“Ace!” A beefy guy smacked his shoulder. “There’s a girl puking in the bushes out front. Take care of it?”
“For fuck’s sakes!” Ace growled as the frat brother took off as quickly as he’d appeared.
“Better you than me,” Jonas said cheerfully.
Ace shot him a dirty look, then glanced back to me. “Sorry. I have to deal with this. I’m DSS tonight.”
“What’s that?”
“Designated sober schmuck,” Jonas said with a grin.
“We try to make sure things stay safe and under control, so someone’s always assigned to stay sober and keep an eye out, so I’ve gotta…” Ace gestured with his thumb toward the front of the house.
“Yeah, go. It’s cool.”
“I’d still like to finish our talk. Find me later, or I’ll find you?”
His eyes held mine until I nodded, and then he hurried around the side of the house. I watched him until Jonas spoke.
“How do you feel about dancing?”
“Not great,” I said. Walking was enough of a challenge with this much beer. “I’d feel great about finding a bathroom, though.”
He laughed, and I could tell he was drunk, but he was steadier on his feet than I was. “All right. You wanna brave the line or find a spare patch of grass.”
I glanced around at the crowd. Half the party seemed to have moved outdoors. There was no way I could go with an audience. “The line,” I said. “Sorry.”
“It’s cool,” he said, guiding me back indoors. “You go. I’m just gonna go say hi to some friends. Maybe get my dance on while you’re waiting.”
“Okay.”
The idea of him dancing without me didn’t even faze me. It was a relief. I didn’t want to keep him from having fun, but I didn’t want to embarrass myself on the dance floor. I wasn’t great with rhythm in general, and I was pretty sure the half-dozen beers hadn’t helped.
“The bathroom is right up those stairs,” he said, pointing me in the right direction. “I’ll teach you how to kick ass at beer pong later.”
An hour later, I discovered that beer pong was fun as hell. Eventually, I even let him talk me into dancing like a loon.
Who knew? Parties were fun. By the time we flopped onto the sofa, the room was spinning, I was sweaty, and my stomach was questioning my life’s choices.
And that’s … the last thing