“Ready for what?”
“The party?”
He scoffs. “You’re not invited inside.”
“But—”
“Just hang here, I’ll get away as soon as I can,” he says, cutting me off. I frown at the casual way he says it, and thedisappointment of my plans not going the way I thought they would.
“I thought you wanted me to come…”
He laughs, and it sounds mean. “And have the rest of the team think I’m hanging out with a loser like you? Fat chance. You wait here, and I’ll be back.”
That’s all he says before walking away, leaving me standing against some rich asshole’s house on Halloween.
Our anniversary.
I guess he didn’t remember after all.
I don’t know what time it is.
My phone died around midnight, so I know I’ve missed my curfew. The music from inside has been off for a long time, and the stream of people going in and out has slowed to almost nothing. A group of drunk teenagers pile out the front door, and I press back against the side of the house so they don’t see me.
This is so fucking stupid.
I know I should leave.
I keep telling myself I’m going to.
But I know Jason. I know how he gets when his friends are around, how he performs for them. It’s not real. He doesn’t mean to be that way. He’s scared, and when he’s scared, he lashes out. And I accept it because underneath it all, I know he cares about me.
He’ll come.
I wrap my arms around myself, the October breeze turning colder and colder as it gets later into the night.
I hear him before I see him, heavy footsteps on the grass, and when he comes around the corner, he’s got a beer in his handeven though he clearly doesn’t need it. His eyes find me, and he smiles. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him smile atme.
“Hey, there you are,” he slurs, coming straight for me.
I push off the wall, my legs hurting from standing so long in one spot. “I think I’m gonna go. My phone is dead and Nate’s probably pissed—”
His mouth is on mine before I can get another word out, wet and sloppy, his body pressing me against the wall, and I go still because Jason doesn’t kiss me. He never has, not once in the entire four months we’ve been doing this.
This is my first kiss, and the only thing I can focus on is that it tastes like beer.
I put my hands on his chest and push back, but he doesn’t budge. “What are you—”
“Missed you,” he murmurs, attacking my lips again. I couldn’t keep up if I tried.
“Jason.” I push harder, and he stops long enough for me to speak this time. “I want to go home. I’ve been standing out here for hours, and it’s freezing—”
“I know, I know. Olivia wouldn’t let me go.” He takes a long drink of his beer, crushing the can and tossing it to the side when he finishes. “She made me fuck her.”
“She—” The words sink, poison to my heart. While I was standing out here, freezing my ass off, waiting for him, he was in there… “Youjustfucked Olivia?”
“Uh, yeah? She’s my girlfriend, what was I supposed to do?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe say no?” I don’t bother concealing my hurt, but he’s too drunk to notice.
