Page 3 of His Secret

A minute later, we’re in the living room where a group of guys are surrounding an out of place table. They’re drinking out of plastic cups and then flipping them over.

“What’s going on?” I ask, leaning closer to Adrian.

“It’s a race. The guys on this side versus the guys on that side. You drink the beer inside, then put it on the edge of the table and flip it until it lands right side up. Then the next person goes. Whichever side gets to the last person first, wins.”

“Wins what?”

He laughs again. “Just wins.”

After the game is over, a couple of the guys turn around and start talking to Adrian. I try not to be as awkward as I feel and take a sip of my water.

“Hey, guys. This is Matías. He’s in my project management class. This is Frankie and Tyrell. But I call them Barlow and Johnson. They’re on the football team with me.”

“Hey, nice to meet you,” I say, inclining my head slightly.

“You wanna play?” Frankie asks, gesturing to the table.

I let out a nervous chuckle. “Oh. No thanks. I’ll watch.”

Instead of forcing me or making me feel lame for not wanting to play, they accept my answer and gather some other people around for a new game.

“You survived,” Adrian whispers, amusement in his eyes.

“Just barely.”

He shakes his head and heads toward another group of people that are mingling near the TV.

“Kennedy!” the guy shouts, lifting his cup in the air. “Great party, man.”

“Thanks, D,” he says. “This is my friend, Matías. This is D, Penelope, and Lara.”

I smile and say, “Hey,” and they do the same.

“I haven’t seen you at one of Adrian’s parties before,” one of the girls says.

“We haven’t known each other for long,” I reply. “Are you Penelope or Lara?”

The girls laugh, then the redhead speaks again. “I’m Penelope.”

I nod and take another sip of my water.

“Kennedy, we need your help real quick,” someone yells.

He leans into me. “I’ll be right back.”

I want to say,no, please don’t leave me here, but I simply nod and stand there with the group of strangers I was just introduced to.

“So, Matías, right?” Penelope asks, and I nod. “Are you a senior?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Yep. Thank god. I’m so ready to be done with college.”

I nod in agreement before looking around to see if Adrian is on his way back. D walks away, and Lara is engrossed in her phone.

“This isn’t really your scene, is it?” Penelope asks.

I give her a small smile. “Not really, no. In fact, definitely not,” I say with a laugh.

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