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In fact, I feel so tired and worn out that when I close the front door behind me and my eyes fall on the unopened bottle of white wine sitting on our kitchen counter, I stroll over, open it, and pour myself a big glass.
“Long day?” Olivia asks.
I almost choke on my first sip. “Shit, Liv,” I gasp. “I didn’t see you there.”
She’s stretched out on our living room loveseat, her legs dangling off the armrest, her phone now lying on her chest as she looks at me with a crooked grin.
“Beelining it straight to the alcohol without even noticing your best friend in your own living room,” she says, her voice laden with sarcastic concern. “We might need an intervention.”
I roll my eyes, my lips twitching into a smile as I walk to the living room. Olivia sits up and crosses her legs while I plop down onto the other cushion. “It’s Sean,” I say in explanation of my mood. Then I take a big drink of wine to wash the taste of his name out of my mouth.
“Ugh,” my roommate groans. “If you need me to beat him up for you, just say the word.”
I chuckle. “Why is everyone offering to beat up Sean today?”
Olivia quirks an eyebrow, her face perking up with interest. “Hm? Who else is offering to beat up Sean?”
“Uh … no one.”
Olivia leans across the distance between us and pokes me in the side. “Who, Summer?”
“Just the guy I sit next to in English. He was only kidding.”
“The guy you sit next to in English? You mean the tatted up, gigantic hockey player jerk who you were just partners with on a project?”
I take another long sip of my wine.
Olivia hums amusedly as I continue to put off answering. “Interesting,” she drawls. “Very, very interesting.”
I respond by taking another sip.
After a couple beats of silence, I blurt out, “Let’s go to a party this Friday. I need to blow off steam.”
Olivia’s thankfully wrapped up in whatever she’s doing on her phone again so has desisted from teasing me. For now. “Yeah, sounds good,” she agrees.
“Somewhere Sean definitely won’t be,” I add.
“Hm,” Olivia muses. “I heard about a big party planned for this Friday that’s totally not Sean’s scene.”
“Yeah?” I ask, interested. “Who’s throwing it?”
Olivia glances up from her phone, her lips twisted into a wry grin. “The hockey team.”
10
HUDSON
The house is full of people. You can hear the buzz of excited, animated conversation even over the pounding music that blares in the living room. People are dancing, taking shots, a few couples are making out discreetly or not-so-discreetly, shouts from the beer pong tournament going on in the backyard carry through the open doors. Everyone is letting loose, having a good time, and unwinding from the stress of an early-semester week of classes.
I want to go to my room.
I don’t, though. I know I need to spend more time with my teammates, and that means not being an anti-social jerk and holing up in my room while everyone else is mingling at the party.
I take another sip of my beer, letting my eyes roam around the room. I’ve been hoping that my gaze will fall on a girl who sparks my interest. I’ve been feeling tenser than usual lately, and maybe working out that tension in a no-strings-attached hookup—preferably with a girl who doesn’t mind it a little rough—is what I need.
But no luck so far.
Rationally, I know that this party is full of girls who are knockouts, many of them wearing outfits that leave very little to the imagination.
