Page 79 of Unsteady

“The figure skater?” the guy asks, sounding puzzled with my correction.

“Yeah.” I breathe. “Who is this?”

“Bennett Reiner. I’m Rhys’ friend. We met once at the coffee shop.”

I nod, even though he can’t see it. “I remember. Bennett—what’s, I mean… Why are you calling me?”

He takes a deep breath, seeming to struggle to get his words out. “I didn’t want to call you unless I had to, but I think something’s wrong with Rhys.”

My stomach drops, a flare of heat over the back of my neck.What’s wrong? Is he okay? Is he hurt? Did he have another panic attack?

“Why are you calling me?” I finally blurt, anxiety mixing with anger—not at him, but ateverything.

He’s not mine. We aren’t dating.

“I thought look, I don’t know what’s going on between you two—”

“Nothing is—”

“—but I know that Rhys isn’t okay. I don’t think he’s been okay for a while, and for some reason, I think you know that. So, if he’s told you or confided in you, it’s notnothing.” He spits the last bit out, like he’s angry with me for calling it that.

“Bennett, I can’t—”

“You don’t have to date him or whatever it is, but please, can you just come help him? I can’t get him to leave and he’s locked himself in a bathroom and said only Sadie can come in. If he doesn’t want people to see him like this, he needs to get the hell out of here and none of us can drive.”

Oh my god.

Rora cocks her head at me, and I know the call is loud enough that she can hear at least some of it. She shrugs, letting me know it’s my choice.

“Send me the address. I’ll come take him home.”

* * *

We look terribly out of place; Rora in her blue and white striped silk pajama set—because the girl doesn’t own a simple t-shirt, and me—swimming in an old ratty band tee that comes down mid-thigh, covering my shorts entirely.

After I park the Jeep, we both hop out and walk the short distance from the street parking to the bumping, loud, aptly namedhockey dorms. Rora crosses her arms, hands gripping her shoulders self-consciously. It doesn’t help, especially with her hair piled into a pretty ribbon-bound ponytail, all bare tawny skin.

Still, she braves the murmurs when we walk the stone steps to the porch and front door, where a few stragglers are talking and laughing. Walking through the opened door, I look around for the mountain that is Bennett Reiner.

I see far too many familiar faces, a few brave my angry bare-faced stare to tell me they're happy to see me or glad I’m back on my “usual shit.” Shoving past them all, I’m a second away from calling him when a shoulder slams me hard enough to toss my bodyweight into the wall.

“Nice outfit, Aurora,” a snarky voice taunts.

I’m spinning around, ready to knock him on his ass before I can blink, but Rora stops me, stepping in front of me to block my path to Tyler. He’s flushed, clearly more than a little drunk and something about it makes me nervous.

“I can deal with this,” Rora tells me calmly, but her eyes are dilated and there’s gooseflesh across her bare skin. “Go find Rhys.”

“I won’t leave you here—”

“It’s fine.” She smiles. “I can handle him. Besides, we’re in the crowded front room at a party. What could happen?”

A lot. I want to argue, but I catch a familiar set of bodies approaching from the back of the room near the kitchen. One, hulking and decked in a long sleeve and jeans, backwards baseball cap and a scowl. The other, slightly shorter, but still out-measuring most of the guys in the room, dressed in his usual Matt Fredderic fashion: a semi-unbuttoned shirt and the glint of the same chain around his neck.

I head towards them, pushing through the throng of people surrounding every corner.

Bennett spots me first, both of us now heading towards each other, cutting the distance in half. Matt comes too, but his eyes aren’t really focused on me, he keeps glancing behind.

“Your friend okay?” he asks when we’re close enough to hear.

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