Page 86 of Remember Us This Way

“I know,” she says with a heavy sigh. “But you’re still going, and you’re going to have a great time, and when we get home, you’re going to spend every last minute loving me.” She rolls her tongue over her bottom lip, hunger flashing in her eyes. “You’re gonna love me in the back of your car. In my bed. Up against the wall. And maybe if you’re lucky, I might even let you love me right here on the floor.”

I groan. Her words only make me want to stay home with her more. “Okay, fine,” I finally tell her, taking her hand and pulling her into me before leading her out of her room. “But we’re staying for an hour, tops. I don’t want to waste what’s left of tonight on them when I could be with you.”

A soft smile spreads across her lips as we make our way downstairs, and as usual, she gets a lecture from her mom about underage drinking while Hazel goes out of her way to offer me a plate of food that looks far too suspicious to be innocent.

Once Zoey’s convinced her mom she’s not about to turn into a sloppy drunk, we get going, and she remains silent the whole drive out to the lake. “You good?” I ask as I park and get out of the car. I walk around the front and meet her there, taking her hand and leading her toward the party.

“Yeah, fine,” she finally says, glancing around. “Just want to get this over and done with so that I don’t have to share you.”

I give her a tight smile, about to tell her that we’ll leave right now, when I see the guys from the football team bounding across the shore of the lake to tackle me away from Zoey. As they pull me away, I glance back, and she gives me a small smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “I’ll be fine,” she tells me. “Go have fun.”

I hold her stare a little while longer, not wanting to leave her alone, but she trails off to get herself a drink and smiles at a few girls. They seem to welcome her in, and when she starts laughing with them, my chest eases, and I allow the guys to drag me away.

They’re talking shit and having a few drinks, but I don’t touch the drinks table. I’m not willing to put myself in a position where I have to drive drunk and potentially ruin another family’s world the same way mine was.

Girls throw themselves at the guys, and Liam goes as far as allowing some chick to suck his dick right here in front of everyone while saying something about how college is going to be amazing. I shove a few girls off me, each of them suggesting they could give me something Zoey never could, but they have no fucking idea just how much she gives me. Shit, without her, I simply couldn’t breathe.

People race into the lake, squealing as they splash water at everyone, while some couples take to the nearby woods for some alone time. Not that a few trees in front of them conceal them from the party.

Music blasts across the lake, and as I glance back to check on Zoey, I find her with a cup in her hand, only it doesn’t look like she’s actually drinking anything. A girl stands in front of her, and there’s something eerily familiar about her, but I can’t put my finger on it. “Yo,” I say to Liam when he’s finished with the girl on her knees. “Who’s that girl talking to Zo?”

Liam’s brows furrow, and he looks out across the lake, scanning the faces before finally finding them. “Oh, I’d recognize that ass anywhere,” he says, a smirk stretching across his face. “That’s Shannan. You know, the cheerleader you all but condemned to hell.”

I scoff, sneering at the girl’s back, remembering the fresh hell she put Zoey through. “Okay, but what the fuck is she doing talking to Zoey?”

“Who knows,” he says, shrugging his shoulders. “Probably staking her claim for when school goes back.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Liam gapes at me. “Shit, man,” he laughs. “Are you so fucking wrapped up in your girl you haven’t heard what happened? Are you living under a fucking rock?” I give him a blank stare, and he visibly swallows before finally telling me what I need to hear. “Shannan flunked out. She didn’t graduate and will be repeating her senior year.”

My stomach sinks, and I turn back to the girls, finding horror flashing in Zoey’s eyes. I’m sure she’s just learned the same thing.

This isn’t good. The hell Shannan put Zoey through at the beginning of her junior year is going to look like child’s play compared to whatever bullshit she’ll rain down over her, and what’s worse, I’m not going to be there to put a stop to it.

“SHIT!”

I make my way toward them, ready to put this shit to rest before it even starts, when Liam captures my elbow, pulling me back. “Don’t get in the middle of it,” he warns me. “That’s only going to fuel Shannan. Besides, you’re not going to be there this time. Zoey needs to figure out how to do this on her own. Stepping in for her is only going to hinder her more.”

Fuck. I hate it when this asshole is right. It’s rare, but occasionally it does happen.

“She’s going to tear Zoey to shreds.”

“Mm-hmm,” Liam agrees, but I keep my eyes on Zo, watching as she glances over Shannan’s shoulder to find me, and I don’t know what she sees in my eyes, but whatever it is prompts her to throw the contents of her cup all over Shannan.

I hear Shannan’s scream right across the lake, and as people turn and start laughing, she quickly runs away, leaving the few girls she was talking to fawning all over her. Zoey glances back at me, and I arch a brow, silently asking if she’s alright. She shrugs her shoulders before a ridiculous grin stretches across her face. I can just imagine how good that felt. She’s been waiting for that moment for almost a year, and it came at the perfect time.

Someone rushes over with a new drink for her, and she gingerly accepts it, but only to be polite. She won’t drink anything at a party unless she is the one to make it.

Realizing she’s going to be just fine, I drop back into my chair, chilling with the guys just a little while longer, promising myself that I’ll give it only another thirty minutes before getting my girl and taking off.

Lucas and Cameron fall in beside me. Lucas sits back with a beer in hand, watching the bikini-clad girls in the water, while Cameron gazes back at the party with one of the cheerleaders in his lap.

“Fuck, man,” Liam says to my right. “Senior year was epic. We fucking ruled that school.”

“Damn straight we did,” Lucas agrees, holding up his beer toward me. “Wouldn’t have been the same without you.”

“Yeah,” I scoff. “None of you assholes would have scholarships or a fucking championship trophy.”

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