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CHAPTER 1
Alix
The very moment which should have been one of the proudest moments of Alix Deroy’s life, was completely ruined by none other than the devil himself. Ross Rivers.
Said devil happened to show up at her parent’s house. It wasn’t really his fault. He was, unfortunately, the son of her parent’s best friends and best buds with her older brother. It wasn’t like it was her college grad party or anything. It wasn’t like she’d worked her freaking ass off for four years to get her degree. It wasn’t like she actually got a say in who her parents invited over.
It apparently never occurred to her mom that Ross Freaking Evil Ex-Babysitter Dip-His-Thingy-in-anyone-and-everyone-breathing Tormenter Of The Year wasn’t a welcome guest on Alix’s list.
If she’d known he was coming, and bringing a matching date- that was, they were both dressed in navy blue with matching pops of red- blue slacks, white shirt, and a red tie for him, a blue slinky dress with a plunging neckline for her, a red scarf tied in her flowing blonde hair for her- she wouldn’t have bothered showing up to her own party.
Damn, it was crap to be home.
“You look like you just sucked a truck of lemons, Alix Bear. Or dipped your tongue in a completely disgusting anus. Either or fits the bill.” Chance’s annoying voice infiltrated her thoughts.
Alix slammed the fridge in the kitchen, where she’d ducked into directly after sauntering down the hall, jetlagged as holy hell, and caught a glimpse of Ross outside. She wanted to be wrong. She wanted it not to be him. Didn’t he have too much money and didn’t that include better things to do?
“What’s he doing here?” she hissed at her big bro. Chance was just about as annoying as Ross was, but he was her brother, so she had to forgive him. “I just freaking got off a plane. I taxied over here, thinking that I’d find you and mom and dad waiting for me with takeout pizza. I didn’t expect a party in full epic swing. Apparently, you couldn’t wait to start without me.”
Chance grinned and punched her arm hard enough that her eyes teared up. She rubbed at the spot, wincing.
“Come on. Don’t be sensitive. Your flight was over an hour late getting in. A few drinks and people were ready to get things rolling. It’s just a group of mom and dad’s old friends and some of our old high school classmates gathered outside. No one has even fallen in the pool yet. That should be proof that things aren’t in full full swing just yet.”
“Still. Why would they invite him?”
Chance rolled his eyes. He ducked past Alix and grabbed a six pack of beer out of the fridge. She glanced over his shoulder to see that the thing was packed. She hadn’t actually taken a glimpse when she opened the door to try and avoid being seen.
“Not everyone knows that you’ve held a torch for Ross since you were old enough to know what a penis was.”
“I didn’t!” Alix gasped.
“Yeah right. You used to just about piss your pants when he’d babysit you.”
“He only had to come over because you weren’t responsible enough on your own. Mom and Dad didn’t trust that you wouldn’t drown me in the pool back then. Or freaking get busy with some chick or your stupid video games and forget all about me even when you were supposed to be pulling my near lifeless body from the pool.”
“Maybe that’s because you were too headstrong for your own good and wouldn’t stay the hell out of the pool.” Chance cracked one of the beers and took a long pull. He belched loudly right after directly in Alix’s face.
She planted the palm of her hand in his chest and shoved him back, though given that her older brother was over two hundred pounds, it was pathetically ineffective. “For the record, I wasn’t headstrong. Mom and Dad seriously only invited any of your friends over as insurance that you wouldn’t forget I existed. You were four years older than me. You should have known better.”
“Thirteen-year-old boys will be thirteen-year-old boys.”
“Thirteen-year-old boys will be assholes and apparently they’ll grow up and stay assholes,” Alix said dryly. “And for the record, I don’t eat ass. Ever.”
“Why would I ever want to talk about you eating ass.”
Alix pressed her lips into a thin, hard line “When you came into the kitchen. You said-”
“Oh, I know what I said. I was just looking to get a rise out of you. It’s been four years since you’ve been back like properly. Can you blame a guy?”
Of course it’s been four years. She had tried to avoid staying in the house as far as possible during the short breaks when she had taken back to San Jose. I’d rather be anywhere in the world other than where Ross Rivers is.
