Page 18 of Your Side of the Offense

"Summer, we haven't even been here that long," she whines.

"It's almost midnight."

She's been having too much fun that she hasn't noticed the time, but I have. I have counted every minute and every hour. But she is also tipsy so I can't leave her. Fuck my life.

She pulls me to go to the room and freezes as I do. I feel her tremble next to me and I see her gaze fixed on…Harvey. Is Harvey the most gorgeous guy on campus? Well, shit. I try to pull her to the direction of the house and avert their gaze.

"Sunshine." Jaden is the first to speak.

Hazel gawks at me and I want to roll my eyes.

"Let's go." I pull her to the direction of the house, but she doesn't budge. The bitch.

"You're being rude, Sunshine," she says to me, and I hear chuckles from the other side.

"We didn't know you were coming to this party, Peach. We could have gotten you," Archer says. They are facing away from the light – so they just look like shadows, four imposing shadows – but something is different about them.

"You guys know her?" Hazel asks like I am a troll who lives in a swamp, and they are princes.

"She hasn't told you about us?" Jaden says with a smile I want to wipe with a slap.

"One of them an ex?"

"No. Just people I went to school with," I say.

The idiots chuckle.

"Introductions?" Caleb says looking at me.

"This is Hazel, my neighbor…"

"And current bff…" she interjects, and I roll my eyes.

"Hazel, this is Caleb, Archer, Jaden and…" I blow a breath. "Sorry, I forget your name, sir."

They all laugh, even him.

"I'm Harvey," he says coolly. "And don't pretend like you've forgotten my name, D." he looks me right in the soul and my insides solidify a little.

"Well, this has been great but…"

"Yo, there you girls are." Logan comes from the direction of the house. I want to high-five him, I'm so relieved.

He comes behind me and throws his hands over my shoulder, the air changing immediately. Why the fuck is he doing this? I don't look their way. His arm feels like it is made of fire, and not the sexy kind. I want to throw it away because it feels wrong.

But I'm not with them. I'm single. I'm single, right?

"I see you already met the next kings in line for the throne." He looks down at me as he gestures to them. I don't look at him or them. I want to be out of here.

"You know Summer?" I hear the dark note in Harvey's voice, and know this isn't going to go well.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm her knight for tonight." The grinning, drunk idiot says.

Right then I chance a look at Hazel, and I find her basically eye fucking Harvey and I don't fucking like it. I know she doesn't know about our past and I feel crazy because I have no claim to the guy anymore, but I didn't like how that felt.

I remove Logan's arm from me.

"I have to go. I have an early class. Hazel, we leaving."

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