Page 63 of Eye Candy

Kelly clapped and turned around to make herself another.

“So, what was it like?” the girl who hadn’t asked me about my hair spoke, earning herself a glare from the other one. The question sounded so innocent, and yet I detected an edge to her voice.

“What was what like?” I asked, eyebrows coming together.

The other girl tried to elbow her, but that didn’t stop her friend from clarifying, “Being kidnapped. What was it like? I mean, two whole years… no offense, but you seem pretty well-adjusted. When Kelly told me you were coming, I figured you’d be a nervous wreck, surrounded by all these people you don’t know.”

Kelly finished making her own drink, stepping in between the two girls—who I still didn’t know the names of—and quickly saying, “Ignore her. I told her not to bring any of that stuff up.” She said that last part while glaring at her friend.

But her friend was unaffected by the glare, and she just shrugged. “I’m just curious.”

The music from the living room sounded like it was far off in the distance now; I hardly heard it. I stared at Kelly’s friend, internally struggling. Not because I wanted to break down, but because I was trying to hold myself back.

Who was she to ask me those sorts of questions with such an innocent look on her face? What if ithadbeen a traumatic experience and I didn’t want to talk about it? What if her stupid questions made me relive it all over again?

They didn’t, but I still felt like it was a bitchy move.

“I’m sorry,” I told her, giving her a tiny smile, “but I don’t really want to talk about it.”

Kelly hooked an arm through mine. “Which is exactly why I told her not to bring it up. Come on. Let’s go dance.” She dragged me out of the kitchen, and her two friends followed suit. We walked down the hall, arm in arm, returning to the living room, where we found our own area of the room and started to sway to the beat.

Well, they did. I, on the other hand, clung to the wall and watched.

I’d say there were at least twenty people crammed into the living room, but it was a far cry from the club. When I’d had both Kieran and Mike with me, when I’d gotten jealous that I’d seen Kieran dancing with Kelly… when the reality of it all had finally hit me.

If I was a normal nineteen-year-old girl, I’d probably be used to parties like this. I’d have a better taste for alcohol. Maybe I’d even have a boyfriend. I’d have a whole roster of classes I went to, thinking that this campus and all of the people within it were my whole world.

But I wasn’t a normal nineteen-year-old girl… and I think that fact was starting to sink in.

After a while, a group of three guys approached us. They seemed to know Kelly and her friends; they talked like they’d had conversations before. Kelly and her friends were flirtatious and all smiles, welcoming the attention. I didn’t know what to do, so I kept nursing my drink.

I think my taste buds were seared off, because now I could hardly taste how strong it was.

Kelly was pulled to the side by a tall guy with blond hair, while her two friends had started to dance with other guys. That left me with no one—which was probably a good thing, since I was feeling the need to make some mistakes tonight.

Everything in my life was weird as hell. I didn’t trust anyone. Kieran was in the hospital, in a freaking coma, Mike was acting like nothing had happened between us, and Fang… well, he was all too willing to declare himself for me even though he didn’t know me. And that said nothing about my Devil, who, after texting me that one night, never messaged me again.

It was like all the guys in my life, even my fucking dad, wanted to play with me, and I was so tired of it.

“I like your hair,” a guy’s voice spoke behind me, and I turned away from Kelly and her friends to look into the dark brown eyes of a rather tall, handsome guy who had to be at least a few years older than me. A senior, maybe. Maybe a fifth-year senior.

“Thanks,” I muttered, dropping my gaze to the floor between us.

“You don’t go here, do you?” It sounded like he had no idea who I was, and that, I realized, was perfect. Just a regular college guy, thinking I was someone visiting one of her friends or something. “You crashing a college party?” He let out a grin, and even though that grin did nothing in particular for me, I found myself smiling back.

At least he was a distraction from everything. That’s all I wanted tonight.

“What makes you think I’m crashing?” I asked, leaning against the wall. I noticed the guy didn’t have a drink. His hands hung at his sides. I wondered what those hands would feel like on me: rough, smooth, somewhere in between?

“You look like you’re still in high school,” he said. “Your eyes are pretty cool, though.”

I chuckled again. “I’m not in high school.”

“Good,” he was quick to say, “because I don’t do high school.”

“What do you do?” I meant the question to sound flirty, trying to steal a page out of Kelly and her friends’ book, but I worried it came out sounding straightforward, like I was asking him if he had a job or something. Ugh. I literally could not be lamer, even if I tried.

He flashedme another smile. “I’ll let you know. What’s your name?”

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