Though I knew he was still worried about his mother, I couldn’t remember seeing him so at ease. He’d even promised not to start preparing for classes until a week before school started back up.
Standing on tiptoes, I pressed a quick kiss to Hayle’s mouth and then Tristin’s. “Okay. You two have fun, then.”
Leo bounded down the stairs. “Ready to paint the town red?”
I reluctantly moved out of Tristin’s arms. “Can we paint it pink instead?”
“Why not?” He shrugged on his fleece jacket. “Our Uber should be here in two minutes.”
“I told you I can drive.”
“Not tonight.” He held out my coat to help me into it. “Drink. Don’t drink. It’s up to you, but this way, you have the choice.”
“Okay.” I didn’t really care one way or the other, but since it was New Year’s Eve, I might partake in something other than Dr. Pepper for once. “But we still need to pick Petra up on the way.”
“No problem.”
Leo practically dragged me out the door while I looked longingly over my shoulder at Tristin and Hayle. Would I ever find college parties—hell, any kind of party—more enjoyable? I found that prospect highly unlikely.
When we arrived at the football house about fifteen minutes later, the street was blessedly bare. Well, not bare, bare. But bare in comparison to the ridiculous number of cars that usually lined the street for these parties. Since classes didn’t start for another two weeks, I assumed that most Harbor U students were still out of town. Thank god.
Petra looped her arm through mine as we traversed the front walkway. “You’re going to let loose tonight, right?”
“By let loose, you mean what, exactly?”
“Oh, you know. Shots. Dancing on the table. Flashing the entire football team. That kind of thing.”
“Then, yes. All of that.”
Leo choked out a laugh from behind us. “You’re not flashing the team.”
I twisted to bat my eyelashes at him. “Why ever not? Are you saying my boobs aren’t flashable?”
His gaze settled on my chest, though it was barely visible beneath my puffy coat. “Oh, no. Your boobs are the most flashable, which is why none of those horny idiots are allowed to set eyes on them.”
Petra snickered. “That’s oddly sweet. He wants to keep your boobs all to himself. Well, and his brothers,” she added with a whisper.
“I heard that,” Leo said, moving to my side to wrap an arm around my shoulder and tug me into him. “Don’t tell me you’re scandalized by the thought of three brothers admiring their stepsister’s glorious rack.”
“Oh my god.” I elbowed him in the ribs. “You are seriously not allowed to start that whole stepsister thing again.”
“Stop killing my Game of Thrones fantasy.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Stop being creepy.”
He laughed. “Fine. No more stepsister talk.” Then, under his breath, he added, “Tonight.”
Before I could devise a response, he’d opened the front door and dragged me inside the house. The lights were low, and relatively chill music played in the background. Groups of people were gathered in the living room and kitchen, and I immediately spotted Lincoln manning the keg.
He hollered Leo’s name, then waved us over. “Thea.” He moved around the keg to give me a side hug. “How’s the leg? It’s good to see you without your crutches.”
“Much better, thanks.”
Leo made a show of hauling me away from his friend’s hold. “None of that. You can find your own girlfriend.”
Lincoln’s face transformed into what would have been an unattractive grimace on most people. But I seriously doubted even contracting the plague would make this guy any less drop dead sexy. “Dude. You know me better than that. Girlfriends are not a part of my current life plan.”
“Even girlfriends, plural?” Petra asked, stepping forward to insert herself into the conversation. I wasn’t sure if the two had ever met, but it didn’t really matter. She’d never met a stranger, and I was pretty sure the same could be said of Lincoln.
He shook his head. “Hell to the no. One girlfriend would require too much effort, much less multiples.”
“Maybe you should share a girlfriend with a couple of your buddies,” Petra suggested, her tone a little too innocent for my liking. “I hear sharing is the newest trend.”
Lincoln gave her an obvious once-over. “Oh, yeah? Are you interested in being shared, munchkin?”
She scowled, and I had a feeling that if she’d been able to produce claws on demand, he would have ended up with a scar down