Page 60 of Under the Lights

“You scared the shit out of me.”

“Youobviouslydon’t have any siblings — or maybe it’s just little brothers who are that annoying. Dom used to try to scare me every chance he got. I’m basically immune to this shit now.”

“Well, good for you. I’m not. I sleep like the dead, but when I’m awake, I’m very easily startled — as you can see.” I glared at her, which in no way correlated with the mention of her brother and me picturing his brilliant smile now.

Not at all.Goddamn it.

Ella flashed me a grin, unconcerned. How did I not see the resemblance even in their behavior before? Between the two of them, I wondered if I’d ever be taken seriously again.

“Yeah, I saw that. Anywaaay,” she pointed at me, her eyes widening slightly, and her smile getting even wider, “You. Me. Tonight. No arguments.”

“Didn’t know you felt that way about me,” I deadpanned.

She stopped short, her brows popping up for a second, then giggled. “Youdohave a sense of humor, good to know. I mean, you’re coming out with me tonight. There’s a party, and you’ve been holed up in this place all summer.”

“I’ve been going out,” I said defensively.

“Yeah, to the weight room and to practice. Not what I’m talking about, babe. You need human interaction. You need to have some fun.” Leaning her shoulder against the doorframe, she shot me a pointed look.

“I have plenty of fun. And I don’t need human interaction. Humans suck.”

“Like what?”

“What do you mean?” I furrowed my eyebrows.

“Like, tell me about those things youallegedly,” she made air quotes with her fingers, “do for fun.”

Now I pointed at her. “I’ll have you know, I’m…well, I… I mean, I see the girls from my team a lot. And I coach! That’s fun!”

Fuck, why couldn’t I think of asinglefun thing I’ve done in the last few weeks?

Ella raised her brows, her lips pursed.

“That’s what I thought. All you’ve done is work out, go to practice, or hang out here. You need to get out.With people your own age. End of story.” She gestured at me, motioning up and down my body. “Get ready. You’re coming with me tonight.”

“Where the hell are we even going?” I sighed, shaking my head in resignation. Then I held up a finger. “I’m telling you right now, if it’s got anything to do with frats or my old sorority, I’m out. I’m not setting foot in that pit of vipers again.”

She recoiled slightly. “Tell me how you really feel. Seems like there might be something to unpack?”

“Nope. Nothing to unpack. I’m fine. Everything is fine.” My voice sounded hollow even to my own ears as I shook my head vehemently.Yeah, really convincing, Sierra.

“Riiight. Uhm, okay, some other time then. But, no, it’s got nothing to do with either of those. Think casual house party. Nothing too flashy, but wear something cute.” She turned on the spot and marched off with a finger wave over her shoulder. “Move your booty, you got an hour!”

With a groan, I fell back onto my bed and just stared at the ceiling. I really, really didn’t feel like going, but unfortunately Ella was right.

God, it was hard just tothinkthose words. Ihatedbeing wrong.

The last time I could remember truly having fun was the night I met Dom. He made me forget everything, even myself. And there he was again, making himself at home in my mind.

I also hated that I couldn’t stop thinking about him.

Yeah, that was definitely hatred, scorching my insides.

Nothing else.

A few minutes later, Ella poked her head back in. “Hey, um, do you think my eyeliner looks weird? Like, does it make my eyes look small?”

I propped myself up on my elbows. “Come here.”

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