Page 111 of The Breaking Point

“I realized tonight that Sean isn’t who I want. He’s a boy.” Grace stepped closer, nearly touching me now. “You’re a man.”

Oh God. Fucking, fucking hell. Was this some kind of erotic dream? It had to be. There was no other way this could be happening.

“You’re insane,” I said hoarsely.

“You’re not saying no, either.”

We gazed at each other, the tension building. My body was on fire. Grace was so close; it’d be easy to kiss her. I leaned toward her, my lips nearly brushing hers—

I heard something. Someone coughing? But it was enough to make me jump away. I had to grab my towel so I didn’t flash Grace.

“This isn’t happening,” I said, turning back to the mirror.

Grace’s expression was mulish now. But when she seemed to realize I was serious, she deflated. “We’ll see,” she said and finally left the bathroom.

I let out the breath I’d been holding once the door clicked shut. I locked it quickly, terrified that Grace would try something else.

Terrified? Or excited?I didn’t know the answer anymore. I was panting like I’d been running. Desperate, I hopped back into an ice-cold shower to get my brain in order.

After asking Mrs. Dallas if I could take her car, I headed off to the bonfire Ben was attending. There was no fucking way I could stay in that house tonight. Not with Grace about to beat my door down.

I couldn’t believe she’d done that. Had she seriously asked me to take her virginity? She’d lost her mind.

Had somebody dared her? Now I wondered whether the whole thing hadn’t just been a prank. I gritted my teeth, anger rising inside. If it had been a joke, Grace had seemed completely serious.

I pushed all thoughts of Grace aside when I got to the lake. It was easy to find the party. About thirty people were hanging around, and the huge bonfire was bright in the desert night. A few people recognized me and said hello, asking me how college was going.

I found Ben on a log by himself. It didn’t seem like he was drinking, unlike everybody else.

“Brady,” said Ben, smiling. He got up and gave me a hug. “Nice to see you, man.”

“Same.” I grabbed a beer from a nearby cooler. “Want one?”

“Sure.”

We drank in companionable silence for a bit before we started talking about college, hockey, and any other interestingupdates. Ben told me all about his last hockey game and how his team had lost to their rivals. He seemed depressed about it.

“I can’t believe I missed that goal,” he said, shaking his head. “Fucking rookie mistake.”

I decided not to mention how my team had just won their latest game. It seemed like rubbing salt into the wound. Instead, I told Ben all about Wisconsin and a few of the crazy fraternity parties I’d attended.

After we’d finished our beers, I went to talk with a few hockey guys I’d played with back in high school. An hour later, we were reminiscing about our high school days when Ben came over.

“How did you get here, anyway?” Ben asked.

“Your mom let me borrow her car. Why?”

“Oh, good. I need to use it for a beer run.”

I hesitated, but then shrugged. Ben wasn’t the type to drink and drive. He’d had only one beer, as far as I knew.

“Here,” I said, handing him the keys.

“Thanks. I owe you one.”

When people started going home, I decided to catch a ride with Jordan, one of my friends from high school. He lived nearby to the Dallases. I texted Ben, wondering whether he’d just decided to go home, too. Or maybe he’d decided to go to another party.

Ben had always been like that. He tended to fly by the seat of his pants. As teenagers, we’d party-hopped on weekends. Sometimes we’d end up in the most random places and houses, making me wonder how Ben had even heard that this random house in the middle of nowhere was going to have a huge party.

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