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CHAPTER7
Evie
Kat lied.
When I wander downstairs the next morning, the kitchen staff turn me away. Okay, to be fair to them, they don’t as much refuse to feed me as direct me to the patio where there’s apparently a buffet spread to graze on.
I pass a crew restoring the mansion to its former glory—people in overalls picking up trash, cleaning the floors, straightening artwork. When I make my way onto the lawn, I shield my eyes from the sun as I try to locate this supposed patio.
A hand claps on my shoulder and gives me a squeeze. “Do you have a name…?”
I turn to the guy behind me, scowling more in anticipation of his cheesy pickup line than at the growing intensity of the morning sun.
“Or can I just call you ‘mine’?”
I barely stifle a groan. It’s way too fucking early to be dealing with this shit. “You can just point me in the direction of the coffee, thanks.”
“Sure.” He points toward a circle of oak trees adjacent to the house and then sticks out a hand. “I’m Will Sterling. Call me anytime.”
I give his hand a disparaging glance before walking away. Whatever I took last night left me with a headache and a horrible, gnawing void in my stomach. I’m not sure if it’s hunger, but I have every intention of stuffing food down my gullet until I find out.
Will catches up with me a second later. “Hey… I know you from somewhere.”
I quirk up an eyebrow, silent as we walk toward the patio together.
“What?” he asks.
“I was waiting for the punchline.”
He laughs, and it’s a surprisingly genuine, disarming sound.
“I go to CA,” I tell him.
He narrows his eyes. “Second year?”
I shake my head. “Freshman.”
“See…but I swear I know you from somewhere. Did you go to Pinecrest High?”
“I’m not from around here.”
He doesn’t get a chance to interrogate me further, because that’s when the patio appears between the trees, and Kat happens to look up and see me. Despite it being only a few minutes past dawn, she’s already sunning herself on a lounge chair, wearing a white bikini with red cherries on it and a pair of ridiculously big sunglasses. There are a handful of students out here, but it seems the other ninety-nine percent of the party already left.
“Noob!” she yells, waving me over. “Over here!”
“Noob?” Will asks through a grin. “Is that your last name?”
I sigh. “My name’s Evie.”
A tall guy standing nearby with a tumbler in one hand and a cigar in the other glances over at us and calls, “Sterling!”
“Duty calls.” Will salutes me. “Nice meeting you, Evie Noob.”
I muster up what’s left of my strength and make my way over to Kat. There’s a splash pool here, two topless girls holding onto the rim as they bake in the morning sun. Since none of the guys standing around are leering at them, I guess this happens often. A long pergola stretches over large stone tiles, shading several sets of rattan armchairs, a freestanding bar, and potted palms.
There’s a buffet table under the pergola, a couple browsing through the vast selection of pastries, cereals, and cooked breakfast food on offer.
My eyes fix on the coffee station, but Kat grabs my wrist and pulls me down onto the lounge chair beside her before I can head in that direction.
