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Just what I need after getting berated by dear old Dad about it.

I roll up the sleeves of my button-down shirt, which was freshly ironed by the house staff before they shoved me out the door to a spontaneous meeting with Dad’s business partners this morning. His stern warning still echoes in my ears.Don’t embarrass me. You’re a Barron.

Yeah, yeah. How could I forget?

If I’m lucky, I can avoid running into any of the drunk idiots I call brothers and crash before this headache splits my skull open.

The party’s in full swing when I step inside, music pounding from the speakers as people grind on each other in the living room, and the stench of cheap beer and sweat assaulting my nostrils. I keep my head down, pushing through the drunken crowd, trying to get upstairs.

My bed calls me.

“Yo, Bash!” Brandon calls out. “Where you been, man? We got freshmen at the table tonight. Cute ones.”

I spot him and Connor at the beer pong table, facing off against a couple of chicks. One of them, a petite brunette. Dark, straight hair spills halfway down her back, contrasting with her pale shoulders left bare by the little black dress she’s wearing. She’s concentrating hard, her brow furrowed as she lines up her shot.

I’m about to brush past, mumble some excuse, but then she throws. The ball arcs through the air and lands cleanly in the center cup. A genuine smile lights up her face.

“Take that, assholes,” her friend says.

Is that Ju?

I move closer, leaning against the wall.

At first, I didn’t recognize her, but no one else would taunt the guys like this.

“That’s my girl.” She hugs her brunette friend. “You guys are going down.”

Brandon lines up his next shot, his usual cocky grin plastered on his face. The ball lands with a little splash inside a cup.

The brunette’s face falls. She eyes the beer in the cup like it’s a vat of toxic waste, her nose scrunching up. I have to squeeze my lips together to keep from laughing out loud. So she’s not much of a drinker.

Slowly, reluctantly, she picks up the cup, tipping it back and taking the tiniest sip possible, her face contorting in disgust.

“Chug it!” Brandon yells.

The people around them hoot and holler.

“C’mon, you can do it!” Ju jostles her shoulder.

The brunette grimaces and starts chugging, her cheeks puffing out like a chipmunk’s. She surfaces, gasping for air, and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Good job.” Ju pats her shoulder.

The brunette shakes her head, looking a little green.

There’s something endearing about her, trying so hard to fit into a scene she clearly doesn’t belong in. Where did Ju pick her up?

Should I go over… and what? Introduce myself? Offer to get her a real drink? I don’t need to get involved. I should head upstairs, forget I even saw her.

She picks up the ball for her next turn, tucking that dark hair behind her ears while her pink tongue pokes out the corner of her mouth.

Don’t think too much.

She tosses the ball, and it sails through the air, bouncing right off the rim of the cup and dropping onto the floor.

Her cheeks flush pink as Brandon and Connor whoop and high-five. Connor sinks his next shot easily.

Ju empties the cup and throws an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “We need a new strategy.”

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