Page 14 of Finding Delaware

After that, I stopped messing with him for about a month. Then, there were more bruises to hide, and whatever cease-fire that Huck and I had seemed to reach crumbled to pieces. Even when I’m not living under the same roof as my father, I can’t escape.

“Hello? You in there,hombre?” Christian’s fingers snap in my face, bringing me back to the present, and I flash him a sheepish grin.

“Sorry, what were you saying?”

His brows furrow, a slight look of concern on his face. “I said my mom’s working, so we have all night. You sure you’re up for it?”

Opening my mouth to assure him that I definitely fucking am, a voice cuts me off from behind.

“Up for what?”

Shit. I hadn’t even heard him sneak up on us.

“Fuck off, Huckslee,” I mutter in annoyance, not even bothering to look at him as I jerk my chin to my best friend. “Let’s go.”

Jesus, just like his dad, he’s everywhere. I used to dream up creative ways to piss him off on the weekends when we didn’t have school, but now that I can easily ruin his day from morning until night, I just want my space.

Christian raises a brow, glancing between Huck and me curiously before thumbing his throttle. “Meet up at my place to get ready. Party starts at eight.”

I nod as he starts his bike, Tatiana’s eyes soaking me up when he pulls away. She mouthssee you tonight,and I scowl.

After they’re far enough in the distance, I pull out my phone to send her a text before getting onto my bike.

Me: You gotta stop eye fucking me, or he’ll know something’s up.

Am I a bad friend? Probably. Do I feel guilty? Christian slept with Salem three months after she and I started dating, so no. Not that I ever held any ill feelings toward them. It was a one-night thing—they both got it out of their systems, and that was that.

“You’re going to a party?”

For the second time in five minutes, I’m pulled from my thoughts as I blink over at Huck standing beside me. His curls are damp from his shower, flopping to one side of his face, and his forearm flexes as he pushes them back.

“What about it?”

“Can I come?”

I stare at him blankly for a few minutes, debating it. “Doesn’t your daddy give you a curfew?”

“We both have a curfew,” he drawls, rolling his eyes. “And they’re going on a date tonight.”

Even better for me.

“Nah, no pussies allowed. You’re not invited.”

Whatever he replies is drowned out by my engine, and I do a burnout, my back wheel smoking before speeding away.

This party is starting to get out of hand.

And not in a fun way.

Everything spins as I fly through the air, my bike beneath me. My legs leave the seat when I bring them up to wrap around my arms, tapping my feet together in a Heel Clicker, rotating my body around and around until I land with an oomph upside down in soft foam. It’s a collision that isn’t pleasant but not painful either. Nothing like the bone-jarring impact of landing a bike on hard dirt after a jump.

“Ay Dios mío, that was almost three backflips!”

Damn. Almost? I’d been aiming for three. Only issue, though, is the world’s still spinning even though my body is not.

Crawling up through the foam, I claw my way to the edge of the pool and haul myself up over the lip just in time to rip my helmet off before projectile vomiting onto the ground. It stings my throat, the taste of Kraken rum burning my nostrils along with whatever the fuck I ate earlier to soak up the alcohol. Clearly, it hadn’t worked.

“Nasty, dude.” Christian yanks me out while our friends Matt and Xed fish my bike from the pit, laying me on the ground, and I flop over onto my back.

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