Page 60 of Firestorm
I winced hard, and Willow gasped, throwing her arms around me. “I’m so sorry, Skye.” This time, she whispered.
I nodded, averting my eyes so I didn’t see the concerned gaze on my friends’ faces.
“Whatever is fine with me,” I croaked back. “For alcohol.”
Things went back to normal quickly as we stood in the small line, Willow dancing and grinding back and forth on me and Mia. I pushed her away with a laugh, then looked around. I anxiously checked my phone one more time to see Aiden still hadn’t responded.
I glanced around again, my eyes catching on a head of fluffy red waves, not far from me.
I froze.
It was Aiden.
And he…was standing with a girl.
“Is that Carla?” Mia whispered to Willow, but I heard her as if she’d screamed in a silent room.
My heart cracked.
I rubbed at my chest as Aiden turned slightly, throwing his head back and laughing in a way I hadn’t seen before. Yep, it was Carla, and he was smiling right at her while she smiled back. Her back was against a tree, her chest pushed up in a coy pose that any girl could see through from a mile away.
What the fuck, Aiden?I thought.
As if he’d heard me, Aiden turned as he took a sip from his red plastic cup, and he froze.
We stared at each other for a few seconds, his eyes tracking up and down my body in a way that should have excited me, but instead…I felt sick.
Carla gripped Aiden’s upper-arm, drawing his attention back to her. At least, itshouldhavedrawn his attention back to her. Aiden turned slightly and leaned over so she could speak to him, but he kept his eyes on me.
I suddenly felt so stupid in this dress.
“Skye, let’s go.” Willow was in my ear, much more subdued this time. She snuck her arm around my waist and nudged me slightly, encouraging me to move.
Carla noticed Aiden was ignoring her, and she sent me an evil scowl. She jerked Aiden’s arm and he blinked a few times before turning to look at her.
I took off.
I strode away from the bar we’d been waiting at, making my way across the busy bonfire circle and dodging dancing bodies without looking back.
My heart pounded, my legs feeling a little numb from the shock. What the fuck was going on? Why had he invited me and then ghosted me and then donethis? Was he angry at me? Was it because I fought Landon?
“Did I emasculate him or something?” I whispered as I came to astop just within the tree line. I couldn’t come up with another reason why he was being so…weird.
“No,” Mia reassured me with a squeeze to my shoulder. “No, babe. He’s just…I mean come on, he’s a man. They’re fucking stupid sometimes.”
“Most of the time,” Willow chimed in.
“Most of the time,” Mia agreed.
“What do you wanna do, Skye? Should we leave? Should we party anyway? Find a new man?” Willow ticked off on her fingers. “I want you to have fun, still.”
I gave her a weak grin. “I don’t wanna ruin your night.”
“Got it,” Willow said. “I’ll go get us drinks, then. Mia, you’re on Fuckboy Watch.”
Mia snorted but saluted her girlfriend as she twirled away.
This party officially sucked.
