Page 61 of Every Broken Thing

“Hey.” Ben met me halfway down the drive and gave me a cursory once-over, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “You look nice.”

I nearly tripped over my own feet at that, but I caught my balance before I smashed right into him. “Um, th-thanks. You too.”

And he did. His flannel jacket hung open over a light blue button-up that matched his eyes perfectly, and his jeans were snug enough to frame his ass just right. I didn’t say the last partout loud, thankfully, but Ben still had a smug spring in his step as he fell into step beside me.

“Oh, keys.” He held out an expectant hand. “I’m the DD, so no one holds keys but me.”

“I’m not gonna drink,” I said.

“Cough ’em up. Or I’ll take them by force,” he threatened playfully.

Just to be an ass, I said, “I’ll hide them in my underwear.”

Something complicated crossed his face, but then he stepped in closer, until we were nearly nose-to-nose. “Try me.”

Heat clawed up my neck, but instead of calling his bluff, I tugged my keys out of my pocket and handed them over. He grinned triumphantly.

“Good choice.”

We all piled into Kim’s SUV as Ben climbed behind the wheel. “Okay, keep your phones on you in case we get separated, and don’t eat, drink, smoke, or swallow anything someone else gives you.”

“Okay, you heard Ben,” I announced to the back of the vehicle. “Spit, don’t swallow.”

“Spit, don’t swallow!” they chorused, and Ben sighed, long and drawn out, like I was making his life incredibly difficult.

“What?” I asked innocently. “I was just showing you how good of a listener I am.”

“Sure,” he deadpanned.

By the time we arrived, the party was already in full swing, and Ben had to park nearly a block away. Alice lived in one of the richer neighborhoods, and we passed more than one gated home before we made it to her driveway.

The music was loud, the lights bright. People milled about outside, even more crowding inside the house itself. Swallowing my trepidation, I followed the others up the drive.

“Just stick close,” Ben said. “We’ll make it through this together.”

“If you abandon me in there, I’ll never forgive you,” I warned.

He bumped my shoulder with his. “I won’t. I need you to protect me from Alice, remember?”

“Don’t worry, Benjamin, I’ll defend your honor with my life.”

Of course, if Alice was set on devouring him as a midnight snack, I didn’t think I’d be able to dissuade her. But I would give it the ol’ college try.

As we entered the house, the temperature leapt, and I shrugged out of my jacket, folding it over my arm. “Holy shit, half the school’s here.”

“What?” Ben shouted over the music.

I raised my voice to match his volume. “Half the—never mind.”

Kim forged a path through the bodies, and we followed her in single file. Ben reached back blindly, palm open, and I took his hand without much hesitation. He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze, and my heart clenched.

When we made it to the kitchen, Kim was already pouring drinks into red, plastic cups. She thrust a beer into my chest, and I took it, if only to stop it from spilling down my front. I sniffed at it, and wrinkled my nose. I’d gotten drunk once with Eli, but I hadn’t exactly enjoyed it. Probably because I hadn’t felt particularly safe with him, seeing as he’d proven himself to be flaky on more than one occasion.

I knew Ben would take care of us to the best of his ability, but I’d promised to stay sober with him, so I sipped gingerly at the beer, planning to make this my one and only for the night.

Our group mostly stayed together as we went from room to room, mingling with people I didn’t really know. Ben knew most of the athletes, and Caroline was friends with the choir crowd. The choir lesbians were there, but they didn’t like me for somereason. So we merely nodded in acknowledgment that, yes, we were part of the alphabet mafia, but that was the extent of our connection.

My beer was half gone when we returned to the kitchen for a third round for the others. Harris was already drunk, and Caroline was getting there. Kim was clearly tipsy, but both she and Jordan held their liquor better. Ben and I corralled them, like the parents to a group of unruly children.

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