Page 18 of Reckless Roses
“Careful, she’s thorny.” Everett smiles tauntingly.
“More like—” Zach starts.
“Finish that sentence, and I’ll slityourthroat,” Everett growls.
“C’mon, Augustus.”Elena loops her arm through mine and drags me into Milo Chavez’s house, our friends at our heels.
I’d much rather spend my Saturday night with a book, Elena next to me in the grass at our secret cliffside, but she’s ragingtonight, and this is the only time she likes to go to parties—she’s angry, she wants to drink, and she wants to make my brother jealous.
She storms right through the front doors, not bothering to knock, revealing the roaring house party inside the giant mansion. I don’t know Milo well, but clearly, he’s rich. His house looks straight out ofTheFresh Prince of Bel-Airor something: massive columns towering over the entry, a foyer with a double staircase leading to an upper landing.
A sea of bodies and a fog of smoke haze the environment as we enter, but Elena beelines straight for the kitchen. After filling both of our cups, she wordlessly grabs my hand and drags me into the backyard. A fire blazes in the pit at the center of the patio, and a few people mingle in the opulent swimming pool, but the music is a dull hum compared to the thunderous sounds inside the house.
“I know you hate loud music,” Elena says as she takes a seat on an empty porch swing.
“Thanks,” I respond, taking a sip of my drink. “But please, don’t feel you need to babysit me all night. I can walk home whenever I want.”
She rests her head on my shoulder. “I don’t feel like I’m babysitting you, Augustus. I just feel better when you’re around. I need the reminder I can have a good time without him.”
“We always have a good time, no matter who else is around.”
“I know.” She sighs. “But Zach thinks we’re boring, always reading or drawing or writing in our rooms and not socializing with other people. He thinks I rely on him to come out of my shell, that I hide inside it when I’m with you.”
“Not everyone can be as social as my brother,” I mutter. “That doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with us. Our version of fun doesn’t have to match his to make it valid, and you don’t need to prove a goddamn thing to him.”
“I know.” She sits up on her knees, the swing rocking rapidly beneath us. Elena steadies herself, bracing her hands on my shoulders, leveling her face with mine. The flashing lights beneath the surface of the pool reflect across her face, casting her in waves of color. “But I want to prove it to him anyway.”
“And that’s why we’re at this party?” I ask.
She nods. “And I’m not talking to him.”
A dry laugh escapes me as movement in my periphery catches my eye. Abby Phillips steps into the backyard, heading toward the area where Elena and I sit. She stops short when she spots us, and I slowly lift my hand to wave at her. She rolls her eyes before stomping back inside.
“I see she hasn’t forgiven you.” Elena chuckles behind her cup.
“I told her it was going to be casual. I made myself crystal clear—I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.”I didn’t want to hurt her the way my brother hurts you, I want to add.
“I think she took your virginity and thought that would mean something to you, even if you claimed beforehand that it wouldn’t.”
“I thought you said virginity was a social construct.”
“Oh, it absolutely is.” Elena snorts, taking a sip of her drink. “But I don’t think Abby feels that way about it.”
I sigh. I may have been quick to throw away my first sexual experience after the only girl I’d ever dreamed about gave hers to my older brother, but the last thing I intended was for Abby to feel used. We’d been study partners all last year, and I had a good time with her. When she expressed interest in wanting more, I explained I wasn’t ever going to date her. I wouldn’t be her boyfriend. That hadn’t stopped her pursuits, though, and eventually, I gave in.
I needed to know if I could find what I craved from Elena in the arms of someone else.
And she never came close.
After a few months, I couldn’t stomach it anymore, couldn’t keep seeing Elena in my head every time I kissed Abby, every time I touched her. I cut things off, and she hates me for it.
“My little heartbreaker.” Elena smiles, patting my cheek. Flames in the distance flicker in her eyes, setting them on fire, and as her full lips split into a wide grin, I think she’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen. “I’m going to go check on Darby and see how she’s doing.”
She downs the rest of her drink before standing from the porch swing.
“You like her, don’t you?” I ask with my own smile.
Elena thinks she’s incapable of forming female friendships, but I can tell she has fallen in with the girl Leo brought into our group a few weeks ago. Elena’s polar opposite in every way, Darby is blonde, innocent, and shy. I think Elena has loved taking Darby under her wing, and I think Darby likes being corrupted a little. I think both of them have had a hard time finding connections with people, and they recognize that struggle in the other.
