Page 20 of Little Do You Know

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Despite the party my first night back, I haven’t gone out since. There’s nothing wrong with going out, and I think I deserve a night to let loose after the beach trip failed to do that for me.

Landon and Vera are here with me, and I’ve perhaps been too relaxed with my number of drinks. I haven’t drunk this much since Penelope and I went to Berlin for a weekend. They go hard there.

I recognized most people here, rotating from group to group as I danced. I’m on my way toward the makeshift bar in the house when my waist is caught by Landon, who pulls me against him. “You okay?” he asks, tucking a piece of hair that fell out of my ponytail behind my ear.

I give him a huge smile in response. “Perfect. God, I really needed this tonight.”I’m having so much fun.

“What’s going on with you and Sebastian?”

The music is loud enough that I’m not sure I heard him correctly. Did Landon just ask if Bash and I are together?

“What?”

“Are you and Sebastian together?” The seriousness in his face tells me that he’s not joking.

“No,” I answer automatically.Why is Landon asking me this?

I feel like I’m missing something major here. I realize our close proximity, and how he’s holding me. This feels too serious, and Landon is fun. We have fun, but we’re only friends. His free hand tilts my chin. “Do you want to go somewhere we can talk? I’ve been meaning to ask you—” Holy shit. No, no, no.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t,” I interrupt before he says something he can’t take back.

“Thalia.”

I try to step back, my head spinning with this new information. He doesn’t try to hold me there, letting me slip away from his grip. “Landon, I need you to be my friend and only my friend.”

“Okay,” he agrees, reluctantly forcing a small smile. Fuck, I feel bad. I didn’t know that he felt anything more for me. I probably would have done a hundred things differently if I had suspected it.

I give him a soft smile before slinking back into the crowd. I try a few more drinks that came out over the last year to attempt to forget what Landon thought would happen in that conversation he wanted to have. First year, I might have considered it, but not now. He’ll only ever be a friend. My brain has chosen to be occupied solely by Sebastian Walker. Sober me will deny it, but drunk me is hopeless.

My momentum from earlier in the night is practically gone by this point, and I stumble outside, having gone from playfully drunk to being on my deathbed. I should call someone to get me. That’s the best course of action right now. “Thalia?” A voice says my name, and I turn to find the person it belongs to.

“Eric? Don’t you have a game tomorrow?” I ask, trying to straighten up to act more sober than I am. My goal is to get home and sneak into the apartment, so Bash and Owen don’t kill me. Eric might be my friend, but he’s also on the football team. I don’t know where his loyalties lie.

He holds a water bottle up. “I’m sober; my friends wanted me to come by for a bit.” Oh fuck, I think I’m going to be sick. I hold a finger up to him and stumble away to retch next to a bush. To my embarrassment, he pulls back my hair. “Are you okay?”

“I need to go home.” I groan, spitting in the grass before straightening. Eric hands me his water, which I accept gratefully to swish and spit any remnants of vomit in my mouth. I cannot believe this is happening.

“Do you have someone to call?” he asks. I pull my phone out of my pocket, but it’s dead. Lovely. Just lovely.

“Dead,” I show him, pressing a hand to my forehead.

“Are you okay if I take you? I can call your brother—”

“No! Don’t do that. Whatever you do, you can’t tell him, Eric. I’ll be fine if you can take me back to my apartment. Owen doesn’t need to know,” I plead, and he looks hesitant.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Eric’s car is halfway down the street, and he wraps me up in his jacket. “Are you going to be okay?” he asks, helping me into the front seat of his car.

“I’ll be fine. Boys are stupid.” I fumble with the seat belt before leaning my head against the cool glass of the window.

“I think people are generally stupid, but Natalie thinks boys are stupid all the time,” Eric says, chuckling. I choose not to respond, because the last thing I want to do is throw up in Eric’s car when he’s helping me.

Tonight wasn’t a good idea. I should have stayed home. The two flights are more manageable when I’m not hammered. Eric has his arm looped around me, practically supporting my body with only his arm as we approach the door. “Do you have your keys?” he asks, and I realize I’d given them to Vera to hold onto.Guess I’ll need to get those back at some point.

“No,” I answer reluctantly. “Go ahead and knock; I’ll deal with my consequences like a big girl.”

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