Page 26 of You Belong With Me

She purses her lips and nods. “Yeah, it was. But…” She shakes her head, and I can see unshed tears pooling in her eyes. “I’ve always kinda known Lucas had a thing for you.”

I blink at her. She’s the second person to say that to me today. And it’s so weird because I never saw it. I still don’t. He’s just so angry—even more so now that Gabriel is back.

“So, um are you back with Gabriel now, or…?”

I detect a note of hope in her voice, like maybe with Gabriel back, she can slide back into Lucas’ good graces, and reclaim the title of Queen Consort.

Honestly, I’d hand the title back to her on a silver platter if I could. But it’s not my decision to make. I can’t even tell Lucas I don’t want it. That’s not how this works. The Sacred Sons decide what happens, point blank, period. The bylaws are pretty clear on that. Free will isn’t a thing in a centuries-old secret society like the Burning Crown.

I shrug and take another healthy sip of my whiskey. It feels like swallowing fire, but the burn feels good. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen. It’s complicated, I guess.”

She takes a sip of her own drink. “Yeah, I believe that. Everything with the Sacred Sons is complicated.”

“You know, Ash seems like an okay guy…” I say. “I mean, he seems like the most normal out of all of them, and he doesn’t have a consort yet…”

Ava smiles, and touches the tip of her finger to her nose, then points at me. “I like the way you think.”

The music kicks up again, and I can feel the whiskey moving through my system, warming my blood. The song switches to something upbeat, and I put my cup down, then I take Ava’s canout of her hand and set it down, too. “Fuck the boys,” I say. “We should dance.”

Several other girls are already dancing, their short skirts riding up their thighs, hips swaying to the beat of the music. I pull Ava out to the center of the room, and we join them. I’m already buzzed, and I move my body to the music, lifting my arms, gathering my hair up, my hips jerking in time with the bass.

At some point, I lose Ava. She’s dancing with some guy and they get swallowed up by the crowd. Doesn’t matter. I’m just enjoying the feeling of freedom. Gabriel would die if he saw me dancing seductively like this, but he’s busy being worshiped in the other room, and I'm going to take full advantage of his absence.

I’m sweating now, the music moving through me. I’m only vaguely aware of the crowd surrounding me as I close my eyes and swing my hips. People bump into me, and a couple of guys stop to dance with me, but it’s short-lived. Once they get a good look at my face, they move on pretty quickly. No one wants to invite Lucas’ anger by dancing with his queen—and after the beating Kai took, I can’t really blame them.

About halfway through the next song, some brave soul comes up behind me and presses their body against mine. I can’t tell if it's a guy or a girl, but at this point, I’mwaytoo buzzed to care.

I push back against them, my ass swaying. A pair of strong hands grip my hips, and the person’s head dips, so their mouth hovers next to my ear, their warm breath sending ripples down my spine. I don’t dare turn my head to see who it is. Doesn’t matter. Not now, with the energetic beat moving through my veins. I could dance like this forever, and just let everything else fade away…

After a few minutes, the mysterious stranger—who I’m guessing is a guy—grabs my wrist and pulls me out of the crushof people. That’s when I finally see who it is. Lucas. Of course. I can only see his back as I follow him out of the living room, and into the hallway.

He releases my wrist as he turns to face me. I scrunch my nose because I just realized I left my drink on the pool table, and something tells me Lucas won’t allow me to go back in and get it.

Thankfully, someone is heading into the living room with a tray filled with red solo cups, and I grab one, draining it. It’s something sweet. Lucas just glares at me, but I’m too tipsy to be bothered by his disapproval.

The music is still pretty loud out here, so I start dancing all by myself, continuing right where I left off. Fuck if I’m going to let Lucas ruin myonefun night.

Reaching out, he grabs me by the arms, stopping my one-woman dance party. I scowl at him, my head spinning. I blink to bring him into focus. “You are no fun, do you know that?” I say in a lecturing tone, only slurring slightly. It was barely noticeable. I’m sure he didn’t even catch it.

“You’re drunk,” he says.

Okay, so, maybe he caught it.

Whatever.

Being drunk at a party isn’t illegal. Except, well, I’m not actually twenty-one until next summer.

Lifting my finger, I move it toward his face with the intention ofboopinghis nose. But my aim is off, so I end upboopinghis cheek instead. “You areso cutewhen you’re angry.” I straighten. “Wait,whyare you angry, again? I forgot.”

“I haven’t told you.”

“Oh, right. So tell me.”

As he glares at me, I rub my temple with the tips of my fingers. That whiskey must have been strong as fuck, and I have no idea what was in the drink I just shot back. It tasted like some kind of fruity mixed shrink.

“Wyn, what the fuck are you doing?”

I indicate our surroundings. “I’m celebrating.”

---