Page 21 of New Year

“Hello, Ms. Diaz,” Colin says, dragging her into his arms and hugging her extra thoroughly. “You look more like a young Salma Hayek than ever. Did you get hotter while I was gone?”

“And you came to the door instead of sending a text that you’re here,” she says. “What a gentleman.”

“Nice of you to notice,” he says, releasing her at last and kissing her hand gallantly, making a big show of it. “Maybe now that I’m legal, you’ll let me takeyouon a date.”

“Okay, stop hitting on my mom,” Daria says. “We got shit to do. I mean, shoot.”

She winks at Lily, who giggles. “It’s the beach boy!” she yells enthusiastically, hugging Colin.

He ruffles her hair. “This thing coming with us?”

“Yes, that thing is my sister, and she’s coming,” I say.

“Just asking,” he says, giving me a slow grin, the kind where his eyes linger a bit too long below my face. “You driving?”

“No, we’re all riding with you,” Daria says.

Colin finally pays her some attention, taking in her outfit for a second before hooking his finger into the low neckline of her top and pulling it out to peer down her shirt.

“Alright,” he says, turning away. “Come on then.”

I give Daria an incredulous look but she just grins and does a little joyful skip behind his back as we follow him out.

“Keep it sexy, Mama Diaz,” he yells back from the porch.

When we reach Colin’s Jag, he and Daria climb in the front, and I open the back door for my sister.

“Hello, Tessy,” Oliver says, smiling at me with that adorable dimple.

“Hey,” I say, climbing in and turning away from him to busy myself with Lily’s seat belt. I don’t know why I didn’t think about him joining us, but it’s as painfully awkward as the first time we met. We don’t say anything the whole way to the search location, which is a few miles down the river this time. The drive lasts an eternity. Every time we turn a curve, I feel my weight shifting towards Oliver and I try not to lean against him, and I’m hyper-aware of his arm touching mine when we turn the other way and his weight shifts towards me. I keep my hands sandwiched between my knees and wonder how being with Oliver makes five minutes seem more like five hours.

Colin and Daria are flirting up a storm in the front seat. At the drop location, Lily spots Meghan and runs over with a shriek of joy.

“Shit,” I mutter, glancing back at Colin, who’s too busy flirting with Daria to notice.

I slip away from them and hurry over to Meghan. “Hey,” I say. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“The RA at our dorm has groups volunteering all day,” she says.

“Can I go with them?” Lily asks, clinging to Meghan’s hand. “Please please please?”

“I’m cool with it,” Meghan says. “Who you with?”

“Daria and some kids from school,” I say, gesturing vaguely in the direction I came, praying the Finnegans aren’t standing in plain view and that Lily won’t open her big mouth.

“Cool,” she says. “See you back here in three. I’ll text you if Lil gets annoying before then.”

“Be good,” I say, bending to kiss my sister’s head. Then I turn and hurry back across the parking lot where the search is being organized today. There are maybe a quarter the number of people here, even though it’s a bright, sunny winter afternoon without a cloud in the sky. I guess the novelty has worn off, and people are giving up hope.

I spot Blue with her sister and the blond guy I saw her with on the steps the day I made the mistake of talking to her. Blue’s gaze snags mine for a second, but she turns away to say something to her sister, and the three of them move away without acknowledging me. I know it’s a good thing that she got the message, but I still feel like shit as I pick through the crowd to find my friends. I guess everything has a price, and this is the price of popularity.

As if to confirm it, I see Lindsey has arrived when I rejoin our group. She’s with Chase, along with Todd, Katy, Lindsey’s mom, and a guy I don’t recognize for a second. I have to do a double take before I realize it’s Colt Darling. Every time I’ve seen him, he’s all smiles and teasing, even if he’s as vicious as Preston underneath. Now, he’s wearing a hoodie with the hood pulled low over his eyes, which are hollow and haunted, with circles under them like he hasn’t slept in a week. I can tell he doesn’t even really see me, even when I say hi and he says it back. Somehow I expected all of them to be handling it as flawlessly as Lindsey, but that’s clearly not the case.

“We paired off,” Daria says, hooking her arm through Colin’s. “You’re with Oliver.”

I shoot her a panicked look, but she’s too busy smiling up at Colin to notice. Chase catches my expression and raises his brows in a silent question, but it’s not like I can blurt out to the whole group that I will probably shatter from the tension of awkwardness if I’m forced to be with Oliver for three hours. Besides, the only person I’d rather be with is Katy, since everyone else is a couple or family except Todd, who would be even more awkward.

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