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“I haven’t seen him,” Mia said. There was, at least, a hint of sympathy in her voice.
“Me neither,” Nicole added.
“He must be here somewhere. I should go find him.” I poured myself another shot and quickly downed it. That was the one advantage of my car breaking down tonight. I no longer had to drive home.
Nicole also had another shot before she hopped off the kitchen counter. “Well, if he’s in the basement, I’ll let you know. I’m going down there to see if the boys are still playing poker.”
“Try not to steal all their money this time,” Mia said with a shake of her head. “You were getting filthy looks for weeks after the last time you played poker with the boys.”
“It’s not my fault they suck at cards.” Nicole shrugged. “I’ll see you guys later.”
As Nicole headed off in search of her poker game, Mia jumped down from her spot on the counter and grabbed my arm. “Okay, Vi, let’s dance.”
“No, Mia, I need to find Jeremy.”
She huffed. “Jeremy can wait. Plus, if he’s here, you’ll only be on the dance floor a few minutes before he gets jealous and comes to drag you off. Don’t waste your time searching for him. This will be way quicker.”
I ignored her dig at Jeremy. He wouldn’t be jealous. Especially not if he was as upset with me as I expected.
"Come on,” she purred at me. “You’ve had a shitty day, but you’ll feel a lot better after a quick dance. And then we’ll look for him together.”
Dancing did sound a lot more appealing than confronting an angry Jeremy. “I guess we could have one dance.”
“That’s the spirit.” Mia didn’t give me a chance to reconsider as she pulled me toward the large open-plan living room where everyone was dancing. We squeezed into the middle of the crowd, and I quickly realized Mia had been right about one thing; it was fun to let loose on the dance floor, and it was a welcome distraction from the anxiety I’d been feeling ever since I’d realized we were going to be late for Jeremy’s game and my day started to go rapidly downhill.
Jeremy didn’t show up to sweep me away, despite Mia’s prediction, and we ended up dancing for song after song. A few guys tried to dance with Mia, but I was almost completely ignored. It was hardly surprising. I felt completely invisible to the male population of Sunshine Hills. No one was willing to cross my boyfriend.
It was fine by me as I was finally enjoying myself. But when I noticed a few Saints hockey players nearby, I was reminded about Jeremy. If they were here, he surely wasn’t far away. I’d put it off long enough. It was time I found him and checked he was okay.
Before I could say anything to Mia, I felt a shift in the atmosphere of the room. The lively and carefree energy turned tense, and a sense of unease rippled across the dance floor as the people around me seemed to freeze in place. It felt like a storm had just rolled in, bringing ominous clouds that cast a shadow over everything and everyone. The people around me were fixated on something behind me.
“Oh my god,” Mia gasped. “What are they doing here?”
Following her gaze, I turned and found Reed Darling staring across the room at me. My stomach dropped at the sight of him. He was standing near one of the entrances to the living room, flanked by two guys who were just as tall and imposing as he was. There was no question their presence had caused the apprehension that was now suffocating the room, and a space had formed around them as everyone shrank back.
I swallowed because the friendly expression that had been on Reed’s face when I’d met him earlier was nowhere to be seen. There was nothing kind or playful in his eyes now. Standing there, with his gaze intense and his muscles rippling beneath the fabric of his shirt, he exuded a threatening aura. And the two guys beside him only heightened the sense of danger.
The one on his right towered over everyone in the room, his expression as dark as a cloud full of rain and thunder. And while the guy to Reed’s left looked slightly younger, there was a menacing glint in his eyes and a subtle curve to his lips that suggested he was enjoying the reaction their arrival had caused. I could certainly understand why the three boys had forced everyone to take an instinctive step back. But, as Reed continued to watch me, his mouth twitched as though he was fighting off a smile.
“Why is Reed Darling looking at you that way?” Mia hissed.
I didn’t get a chance to respond as she grabbed my wrist and yanked me away. She pulled me across the crowded dance floor to the door on the opposite side of the room from Reed, which led out to the corridor. I could hear people chattering about the boys’ dramatic arrival as we passed.
“What are the Darling Devils doing here?” one girl gasped, peering past me toward where Reed had made his entrance.
“It’s probably to deal drugs,” the guy next to her said.
“Nah, they like to show up at parties like this to intimidate their competition,” a guy I recognized from my math class replied. “I bet they’re here to make sure our star players can’t play this season…”
“Either that or they’re done with the girls at their school and have come to steal all of ours,” his friend grunted. “Have you heard the way they fly through women?”
“They can steal me,” another girl said with a giggle. “Especially Reed. He’s so hot.”
“Bethany!” the first girl shouted at her.
We moved off before I could hear anything else, but, by the sounds of it, everyone had a theory about Reed and his brothers, and not one of them was good. It was only once we were deeper in the house that Mia slowed. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, finally let go of my wrist, and turned to me.
“Mia, what the hell?” I said, rubbing the skin she’d been grasping so tightly.
