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I take another hasty step in retreat.
“Do you want me to come with you?” His gaze drifts over the sea of people before returning to me. “Brett wouldn’t want you wandering around by yourself.”
The implication leaves me bristling.
Because I’m a kid.
A baby.
“Nope, I can find her on my own.” I shake my head and hold the forced smile in place. “I’ve already run into my brother; it’s all good.” That might be something of an overstatement.
Before Ty can detain me any longer, I spin away, pushing through the crowd. My fingers rise to the delicate ballet pendant that rests against my collarbone. How stupid was I for thinking there could be anything romantic between us?
Clearly, that will never happen.
Ty
Danielle weaves her way through the press of bodies before disappearing from sight. Why do I get the feeling that I just fucked up majorly? I do a quick mental rewind, replaying our conversation, but I can’t put my finger on anything specific that would have rubbed her the wrong way and sent her packing.
Frustration bubbles up inside me as I plow a hand through my hair. Maybe I offered up Brett as an excuse, but I’m the one who doesn’t like the idea of her wandering around this party alone. There’s a lot of drunk assholes here. And I should know, I graduated with most of them.
With the passing of every second, my agitation grows.
You know what?
Fuck this—I’m going after her. Maybe I’m nothing more than her older brother’s friend, but that’s more than enough for me. I take a step only to grind to a halt when someone slides in front of me and blocks the way.
“Hello, Ty.”
I stifle a groan.
Heather Reynolds.
My ex-girlfriend from high school.
We dated on and off our senior year before calling it quits a couple of weeks after leaving for college. Now, every time we run into each other at parties, Heather ends up getting drunk and teary-eyed, crying about our breakup and how it was the biggest mistake of her life. The problem is, I don’t feel that way. By the time we pulled the plug on our relationship, I was more than ready for it to be over. I have zero interest in reigniting anything with her. I wish she would get the hint and move on.
“Hey, Heather,” I force myself to say in greeting, hoping this will only take a moment. “How have you been?”
There’s no pretense of her trying to hold it together. “Missing you,” she whispers with a slight slur.
Awesome. It’s only ten o’clock, and she’s already plastered. That doesn’t bode well for me.
“Oh.” I search the surrounding vicinity, hoping to find a friend to pawn her off on. “Ummm...”
No such luck.
When I remain silent, she whines, “Don’t you miss me, Ty?” There’s a beat of silence as I decide how best to answer that question. As much as I want to be honest with her, I know it will only send the situation spiraling. Been there, done that. “We were so good together, weren’t we?”
Maybe in the very beginning. After that, she got clingy and jealous. There are times when it felt like I was being suffocated. It was a relief when I left for college.
“Sure, but that was a long time ago.”
Heather shakes her dark head as her tongue peeks out to smudge her red-slicked lips. When I don’t immediately shut down the conversation, she takes a step forward. Her palms flatten against my chest as she stares up at me from beneath a thick fringe of mascara-laden lashes. “We could be good again, Ty.” A mixture of hope and excitement light up her eyes. “I could even transfer to State next fall! How much fun would it be to spend our senior year of college together?” She waits a beat before adding, “It would be just like the good old days.”
Hell, no. The thought of us attending the same university has me breaking out into a cold sweat. Before I realize what’s happening, her fingers dig into my shirt as she throws herself at me. With her lips pressed to mine, she shoves her tongue down my throat.
Danielle
I’m halfway across the lawn when I stop and inhale a deep breath before slowly releasing it. Did I make a colossal mistake in walking away from Ty? Maybe I should have taken a chance and told him the truth.
What’s the worst that could have happened?
I nibble at my lower lip before throwing a cautious glance over my shoulder. Ever since I can remember, I’ve crushed hard on Ty. I’m tired of hiding the way I feel about him and keeping it buried deep inside. More than likely, he’ll never return the sentiment, but I won’t know for sure until I take a chance.
Those thoughts have a fresh wave of nerves exploding in my belly. Decision made, I whip around and march back to where I left him standing. Lizzie and I arrived about thirty minutes ago, and in that short span of time, the crowd has swelled in size. There are probably twice as many people partying it up as there were before. My fingers shake as I fight my way back toward the firepit. Every step has my anxiety ratcheting up a couple of hundred notches until it feels like I’ll burst right out of my skin.
