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“Guys, these are the siblings I was telling you about,” Casey announces as we reach the fire. “Everyone, this is Piper, my bestie, and her boyfriend, Tyler.”
“Why am I always introduced as the boyfriend?” Tyler asks.
Casey ignores him and then turns toward the blond from earlier, now holding a bottle of tequila.
“You kind of met Jaxon, but he’s our resident punk mechanic.”
“Merde, why are all of the guys here so hot?” Leon says under his breath.
“Then, lastly, we have Mister Flirt over there, Oliver.” My pulse quickens as my eyes dart to the driftwood log. A guy with shaggy brown hair stands up, and my mind must betray me because his eyes glaze over all my siblings but linger on me.
Oliver?
Couldn’t be. Could it?
Out of anyone in this town, he would be the one to recognize me.
He flashes us a smile, but his eyes stay on me. I’m thrown back in time because this is my Oliver. The hero that shut out my parents’ screams until I was whisked away.
He walks into the light of the fire, his sea-green eyes glowing with the embers flying around the empty space. I remember those eyes like I just saw them yesterday.
The thought of running into his arms and screaming, I missed you! flickers through my mind. I can’t do that. Can I? Maybe he won’t even recognize me, and I’ll just be the crazy girl who hugged a stranger.
“How long are y’all in town?” His deep voice sends a shiver down my spine. I left before puberty hit for either of us. Thank you, puberty, for hitting Oliver with a bus.
I can’t breathe, much less answer him.
“Just a few weeks to handle some family stuff,” Ella speaks up.
“Well, might as well party like you’re leaving tomorrow.” Jaxon pulls up a bottle of tequila, raising it up and then taking a pull before shaking his head and letting out the most dude-bro sound I’ve ever heard. “Who’s up next?”
“Me!” Cheers Leon, walking forward as Jaxon hands him the bottle.
I cringe. Leon can get out of hand sometimes.
“Leon,” Ella warns.
“Oh, come on, Ella, right?”
My sister nods. “Ella, let the boy live a little.”
Leon doesn’t wait for Ella to say anything as he takes a long pull of the tequila, nearly choking on the liquor.
“Hell yeah, that will put some hair on your chest!” Jaxon cheers, wrapping his arm around my little brother’s slender shoulders and pulling him in tight. “I like you already, little dude. You’re up next.” He hands the bottle over to Ella.
She examines it for a minute before taking the bottle. “Fuck it.” She takes a swig before coughing. “God, I hate tequila.”
I stop paying attention as my eyes and mind drift back to Oliver standing in front of me. Suddenly, a blonde girl is at his side, and my stomach drops as she traces his bicep with a finger, but then his eyes land on me again, raking his gaze up and down.
I don’t know what to do. His stare freezes me in place, but then he looks at the blonde girl and gives her a dazzling smile.
I can’t breathe.
“I need some fresh air,” I say to no one. “I’ll be right back.”
Not waiting for a response, I make a beeline for the lake.
I can’t leave Alliance until I figure out what to do with the house, and I can’t do that without finding the letters. Everything else is just complicating the matter and should mean nothing at all.
