Page 102 of Ecstasy
My stomach flips as the memory plays in my head. And he’s in this house. I wonder who he’s with. There are over half a dozen cars here, and more along the road. Could be anyone.
Alex is silent, and he’s made no move to get out. I get the distinct feeling he wishes he was anywhere else.
“Look, if you don’t want to go—” I start to say, but he turns to glare at me in the dim light of the Jeep.
“We’re here, aren’t we?” he asks, his fingers still on the steering wheel.
I look out my window, stare at the trees lining the property. The moon overhead. “Didn’t go well with your parents?”
“My mom wasn’t home.” It’s an agitated growl, that voice, but it’s an admission, too. It’s why he’s so upset.
“Where is she?” I don’t look at him as I ask the question. I just keep staring at the window, which is rolled up now. And I remember looking out of another pane of glass. The one in Alex’s kitchen. Seeing Rihanna Martinson floating in that pool.
“Fuck if I know.” He opens his door.
I open mine, too, and we step out of the car, closing the doors behind us.
We meet at the back of the Jeep, and he grabs my hand, pulls me close to him. He’s so hot to the touch, and his jaw is set even as he laces his fingers together behind my back, drawing me to him.
“Let’s have fun tonight, yeah?” he asks me, his words at odds with how he looks, which is mainly pissed off. “Let’s have fun tonight, and in the morning, we can work this out, okay?”
I swallow, averting my eyes for a second. Thinking about Eli.
God, if Alex fucking knew.
I look up, meet his eyes, force myself to nod anyway.
Then I jerk my head toward the trunk. My overnight bag is in there. And even though I told myself I wouldn’t do it, there’s some E in there I’m definitely going to take.
Alex stares at me a long moment, and then he lets go and opens the trunk. I shoulder my bag, and together, we head for the winding wooden deck that leads up to the door of the beach house.
34
Eli
I seeher before she sees me.
I’m on the couch in the living room, my arm around Kaitlyn, a beer in my other hand. Dwight, Alex’s friend, is sitting on the opposite end of the couch with his girl, Nadia, and at the table a few of my teammates and some girls are playing Jenga. It all goes to shit when I hear the blocks scatter and everyone laughs, one lone voice calling out, “Jenga!”
The lights are low, the music on, Kamaara,Techno Thot!, and I see her come up the stairs opposite the couch, arm in arm with Alex.
Who, as usual, looks pissed.
“Alex!” Dwight calls out, shrugging his arm off Nadia, who takes a drink from her cup. “You made it!”
Alex doesn’t bother putting on a party face. He just flicks his brows up in acknowledgement of Dwight, then, arm still threaded through Zara’s, he steers them both down a little hall to the left of the stairs, toward the kitchen.
They disappear beyond it, and Dwight rolls his eyes, turns to me. “What’s buggin’ him?”
Nadia shifts on the couch, curling into Dwight. She tucks a strand of long black hair behind her ear. “Alex is always buggin’.”
Kaitlyn laughs into her cup.
I keep staring down the hall toward the kitchen, waiting for them to come out.
Kaitlyn shifts a little toward me, putting her hand on my thigh. I didn’t invite her, but then again, I don’t usually invite most people that come here. It’s my dad’s place, but more than out of respect for him, I just don’t like most people. This shit is always Alex’s idea.
“You got a light, E?” Dwight asks me, and I force myself to look away from the kitchen. I move my arm from around Kaitlyn, pull my black lighter out of my jean pocket and hand it to Dwight.
