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Bodies writhed against each other and bubbles from a machine floated through the air.
The partygoers chanted the lyrics to the song, waving their hands in the air.
I watched, completely mesmerized.
To an onlooker, it probably appeared that I’d never seen a party like that before—and they’d be right.
“Hey, hey, hey! If it isn’t my favorite raven-haired raptor!”
My head whipped to the side at the sound of Ollie’s voice yelling to be heard above the music. He stood near the DJ booth with Talia, Liam, and a few other guys.
Talia waved when she saw me, while Liam merely acknowledged my presence with a sweep of his icy gaze. I swore he appeared to be fighting a smile. It was just the barest of twitches of his lips, but at least it was something.
“Ari,” Ollie called, waving me over with his free hand. His other arm was draped over Talia’s shoulders, and her body was plastered to his side.
I reluctantly made my way through the crowd, and while I did, I used that distraction to my advantage by sneaking peeks at Liam as I went.
He wore a pair of black board shorts and a gray, sleeveless shirt. His dark hair was hidden by a backward baseball cap. He was speaking to a guy with dreads and glasses. Another guy seemed to be a part of the conversation and let out a boisterous laugh.
Liam appeared to be intent on the conversation, but since I was watching him I saw the way his eyes flickered toward me and then away, before drifting back again.
I liked his attention, but I also hated that I liked it.
It was quite the conundrum.
I finally reached the guys and Talia and felt like I deserved a medal or something. Getting through that crowd had been no easy feat.
“Raptor, huh?” I smiled up at Ollie.
He shrugged sheepishly. “I like raptors, and I like you.”
“Do you have names for everyone you like?” I laughed at his randomness. Ollie was nothing if not odd, but that was what was so endearing about him.
“Oh, yeah.”
“What’s Liam?”
Ollie’s lips lifted into a calculated grin. “Right now it’s Needs-To-Get-Laid, but most of the time it’s Grumpy-McGrumperstien.”
“I like it.” I laughed.
“Hey, man,” Ollie swatted Liam with his free hand, “we gotta introduce our girl to the guys.”
Liam turned away from the two guys and gave Ollie a disgusted look. “Our girl?”
“Would you prefer your girl? Because honestly, man, in the wise words of my Queen Beyoncé, you should really put a ring on it before you claim such ownership.”
Liam’s lips thinned until they were barely visible. I was learning he did that when he wanted to hide his laughter at something.
“I don’t know what part of that I should be more horrified by, but I’m going with Beyoncé being your Queen.”
“You can’t deny her Queenliness, man,” Ollie drawled lazily.
Liam shook his head, sighing heavily. He did that a lot, especially around Ollie.
His eyes finally made their way back to me, and he pointed to the guy with dreads. “This is Jeremiah. He’s cool. That’s Brady,” he pointed to the second guy, “he’s a douche, so pretend he doesn’t exist.”
“Hey.” Brady punched Liam in
