Page 13 of Until the Ribbon Breaks

When I nod, she adds, “And that one time when we snuck into my mom’s closet and stole her high heels—”

“Yes!” The memory brings a smile to my face. “We were dancing in your room when she busted us. She was so mad because they were her designer shoes.”

Emily laughs. “It wasn’t our fault we had good taste in fashion.” Our smiles slowly fade, kind of like our friendship did. “We used to have so much fun together.”

It only takes a second to remember all of the good times with her, but the commiseration ends when her boyfriend busts through the door with an obnoxious, “State champions!”

He runs and cannonballs into the pool, splashing all of us. I jump to my feet and back away as Brent kisses Emily before grabbing her hips and tossing her into the air. She squeals until she hits the water and goes under, only to pop up and slap his arm. “I didn’t want to get my hair wet.”

All the guys head for the water except for Sebastian, who flops down on one of the lounge chairs and takes a swig from his water bottle. I sit on another chair that’s a decent distance away. Kassi steps out of the pool, wraps a towel around her hips, and settles herself next to him.

“What the fuck are you staring at?” he sneers, and I quickly dart my eyes elsewhere. “Who invited Cricket?”

“Don’t be a dick,” Emily defends from the water, and Brent reacts with a mocking laugh, teasing, “What, are you two girlfriends now?”

She slaps his arm again.

I look to Annie, who’s chatting with one of the other girls, and wonder how much longer she’s going to stay because I’m ready to leave.

“You smell like alcohol,” Kassi whispers loud enough for me to hear.

Glancing over from the corner of my eye, I watch Sebastian grow irritated with her. “Are you my babysitter?”

“No, I’m your girlfriend.”

He tugs her arm to bring her down to him, and when he tries to kiss her, she pushes against his chest. “Stop,” she warns under her breath. “You’re wasted.”

Her attempt to keep their spat on the low backfires because he just gets louder. “Why do you always have to be a buzzkill? It’s annoying.”

“Lay off the guy,” Brent calls out. “He’s just celebrating our win.”

“You want to take this celebration to my room?”

Kassi huffs and turns away from him. In the pool, the other guys are being extremely loud, roughhousing and disturbing the peaceful night with their bellowing cheers, still reveling in their win. My attention turns back to Kassi just as she takes a sip from Sebastian’s water bottle and then immediately spits it out.

“Are you kidding me?” she screeches, wiping spittle from her chin. “Why didn’t you tell me this was vodka?”

He laughs, but everything falls silent when one of the hotel’s staff walks out with Coach Lipscomb.

“Coach!” Brent exclaims, shooting his arms in the air. “Let’s celebrate!”

“We need to shut it down, boys. A couple of guests have complained about the noise.”

Everyone groans.

“Come on,” Coach tells them, “everyone out of the pool.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Sebastian complains. “We’re just having a little fun.”

He stands and stumbles a bit before catching his balance. Coach walks over to him and grabs the clear plastic bottle from his hand. Unscrewing the lid, he takes a whiff and then shakes his head in disappointment.

“It isn’t a big deal,” Sebastian says.

Coach, however, disagrees. He looks pissed as he shoves a finger against Sebastian’s chest and grits out a soft but angry, “You made me a promise.”

“I know ... I’m sorry.”

“You’re coming with me.”

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