Page 81 of Foolish Games

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“Wanna tell me about this party?” Sebastian asks, picking up a DVD case and turning it over to read the back. “Am I crashing? Is your lawyer daddy going to arrest me if I show up without an invite?”

“No one will arrest you,” I assure him, snuggling into his side. “And I’m your invite.”

“It’s not just for founding families?”

“There are only, like, twenty-five founding heirs in high school and college,” I point out. “And we’ve all known each other since we were born.”

“So?” He sets the movie down, and we move along the wide, brightly lit aisle of Hastings, where we came after watching a movie at the theater. It’s been a few weeks since the birth control appointment, and let’s just say, we’re putting it to good use.

“This is a masquerade ball, so the point is to have some mystery, which would be impossible if it were just the founding families,” I explain. “Plus, it would as boring and stuffy as the Founders Ball if we kept the guest list that small.”

“So how many people are on this guest list?”

“I’m not sure,” I admit, sliding an arm around his back when he wraps one around my shoulders. “Each founding family throws at least one function every year. The Delacroixs host the Garden Club’s charity event in May. The Darlings host the annual New Year’s Eve party, so they’re in charge of the guest list.”

“It’s like you’re in a secret society that the rest of the town doesn’t know about.”

“Kind of,” I say with an awkward laugh, since my father is, in fact, in a secret society with the men from the other founding families.

“But this one isn’t like a Garden Party or that Founders’ Ball, right?” Sebastian asks, leading us into the comedy section. “It’s a real party, like a postgame party, but with costumes?”

“Basically,” I say. “But you don’t wear a costume. You wear a tux and a mask. All the founding heirs have an invitation that includes a guest, and everyone thinks we’re together, so you have an invite. If you want to go as my guest, that is.”

My heart does a little drop as I wait for his answer.

He smiles down at me, a gleam in his candy-apple eyes. “Are you asking me out?”

“I mean, sort of,” I whisper, glancing around to make sure no one from school is within earshot. A few people from FHS work here, not to mention it’s a pretty popular hangout. “We’re not really together though. But I’m sure Chaz will be there.”

“Then I’ll be there,” he says, tightening a possessive arm around me. He leans down and steals a kiss while we’re alone.

Of course he said yes. He just got invited to the most exclusive party in town for New Year’s Eve, and if there’s one thing Sebastian likes to do, it’s have fun.

“Okay,” I say with a relieved little laugh. “Thank you. I normally don’t go to this one, but Nana’s been on my case about how it’s my senior year and I’ll regret it if I don’t do everything, like I can’t have any fun after high school.”

“You should listen to the wisdom of your elders,” Sebastian says, nodding solemnly.

“Shut up,” I say, stifling a giggle. And then, because this thing is delicate and depends on keeping things light, casual—at least on the surface—and in the present moment, I steer the conversation away from graduation. Asking him to a party in two weeks is already a risk. Thinking about what happens in five months reminds me that I’m not just starting a new life when I go to college. I’m leaving this one.

I’m leaving him.

A knot forms in my throat at the thought, and I throw my arms around him, pressing my ear to his chest and hugging him hard.

“What’s that for?” he asks, laughing.

“I just hate the thought of going alone,” I say. “So, I wanted to say thank you.”

“If you really want to say thank you, I believe that is best done on your knees,” he murmurs against the top of my head. “It’s called swallowing.”

“Sebastian!” I try to pull away, but he presses his nose into my scalp and inhales deeply, his chest swelling in my arms as he fills his lungs with my scent.

“One of these days I’m going to wear you down,” he says, planting a kiss on the crown of my head before pulling back and offering me a wicked grin. “You can’t call yourself a bad girl until you know how to suck it down like a milkshake.”

“Gross,” I sway, swatting his arm.

He swats my ass in return, then swipes for me, but I dart away. He chases me along the next aisle, until we almost collide with an elderly couple at the New Release display. Sebastian grabs me at the last second, keeping me from knocking over the woman’s walker, and yanks me back into his chest.

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