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“Don’t even think about stealing my Cheerios,” I yelled to him as I passed. They were my favorite thing to snack on after a run.
Parker grinned wickedly at me before returning his focus to the cupboard. He was definitely going to steal my Cheerios now. I should’ve just stayed silent. But I couldn’t be bothered tussling over cereal right now, so I continued upstairs to the bathroom.
Rock music was blasting loudly from Cammie’s bedroom, so I assumed that meant she was already home. Mom must have been out; otherwise, she would have already asked Cammie to turn it down. I wasn’t nearly brave enough to tempt Cammie’s wrath. Besides, she was a lot like Parker and would probably turn it up to spite me.
Cammie was feisty both on and off the ice. With her attitude, she would have made a brilliant hockey player. She’d always been an incredible skater, far more talented than the rest of us. But, while Dad tried to get her to join a team when she was younger, she’d insisted that figure skating was for her.
She’d been obsessed with the sport since the moment she’d donned her first pair of skates. But while the other girls she trained with were all sweet, cute, and friendly, Cammie was a little bit cutthroat. She expected nothing but the best from herself and the guys she skated with, and as a result, she had a knack for tearing through partners. By this point, it was a miracle anyone was brave enough to skate with her at all. But she was that damn good they would have been idiots not to at least try and test her patience.
I hopped in the shower and had barely rinsed my hair when a loud, repetitive banging sounded at the door.
“Reed, I need the shower!” Cammie shouted.
“Give me five!”
“I don’t have five. Gabby’s coming to get me!”
I tried my best to ignore her. I just needed a few minutes to wash my hair, and then the shower was all hers. But Cammie didn’t take no for an answer, and she started pounding on the door again. “Reed!”
“Okay, fine!” I shouted back as I turned off the water. There was little to no chance she’d leave me in peace. I quickly wrapped a towel around my waist before I opened the door.
Cammie gave me an angelic grin as though she hadn’t just been trying to beat down the door and rattle the very walls of our house with her shouting.
“Thanks, Reed,” she chimed before she dashed past me into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
“You owe me,” I shouted through the door. But the water was already running again, so she probably didn’t even hear me.
I went to my room and opened the closet but paused before I pulled out my sweats. I was still thinking about Violet. I kept wondering if I’d made a mistake by rejecting her invitation to go into the party with her. No, I was being stupid. It was a Sunshine Hills party, and going inside truly would have been a mistake. There was no way in a million years I’d ever be welcome. That didn’t stop me from thinking about it though. From wanting to see Violet again.
My phone rang as I stared blankly into the closet. I was surprised to find it was my dad.
“I’ve just finished unhooking your friend’s car,” he said when I answered. “Looks like she left her purse on the front seat. Do you think she needs it?”
“Uh…” I had no idea whether Violet needed her purse or not, and I couldn’t exactly message her to ask, but this gave me the perfect excuse to go to the party and see her.
“Yeah, I think she will,” I replied before the little voice of reason in my head could remind me what a terrible idea this was. “I’ll swing by the shop and grab it for her.”
“Okay, son. I’ll leave it in the office.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
I was smiling again as I threw on a pair of jeans and a Henley. Going to a Sunshine Hills party was madness, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
Parker was still in the kitchen when I got back downstairs, his hand deep in my box of Cheerios. I chose to ignore him and, instead, focused on Grayson who had apparently finished sunbathing in a blizzard and was now making himself a sandwich.
“Can you pass me my keys?” I asked, pointing to where they sat on the bench next to him.
He frowned as he glanced up and saw what I was wearing. “You headed out again?”
“Yep. Keys?”
Grayson picked them up off the bench but didn’t immediately hand them over. “Where are you going?”
“You don’t want to know.”
I attempted to grab the keys, but Grayson quickly pulled them out of reach. “Well, now I definitely want to know,” he said, waiting for an explanation.
“Even if it’s something crazy?”
