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I don’t answer Sarah. I down the chilled liquid, making a face at the taste as it burns its way down my throat.
“Let her have some fun, Sarah. She’s had a rough few days,” Brooke says.
The roughest.
“What else do you have?” I ask Chase. He grins.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
WESTON
“Yo, Cole, you in?” Chris calls as we head out to the parking lot.
“Yeah, sure,” I respond, loosening my tie as I head toward my car. “I’ll meet you there.”
I’m glad I drove separately since my parents bailed on the awards ceremony early for an “important work event.” I’m guessing that wasn’t entirely accurate, based on the hard set of my mother’s mouth all night, but for once I’m not focused on my parents’ fucked-up relationship.
I’ve got my own to worry about.
Just as I climb into the driver’s seat, I feel my phone vibrate. I pull it out, expecting it to be Chris asking me to pick something up on my way over.
It’s not. It’s her.
My pulse quickens as I unlock my phone. It’s been radio silence from Maeve since I showed up at her soccer practice. Based on the rumors swirling around Alleghany, I’m guessing there’s some speculation about us flying around Glenmont now, too. I don’t want to be, but I’m curious about what she has to say.
It’s gibberish.JI muss uou.
I think it’s entirely nonsensical at first. But, as I study the jumbled letters more closely, I realize that’s not true. She sent me a garbled version ofI miss you. And there’s only one reason I can think of why she would have sent me an error-ridden version of it. I tap her name, but her phone rings and rings without her answering. I try again; same result.
“Damn it.” I slam my palm against the steering wheel, trying not to imagine all the possible scenarios she could be in right now. Drunk for the first time. Alone, at the lake, with another guy… “Fuck!”
I open the location sharing app. She still shows up, so she hasn’t blocked me. And she’s showing up at a house in Glenmont. I’m tempted to take another swing at my steering wheel. I know I’ll never forgive myself if I go to Chris’s right now and something happens to her, no matter how angry I still am.
It doesn’t take long to plug the address into my GPS, and then I start driving.
Belatedly, I wonder if I should have asked Chris or Charlie to come with me. Our make-up game against Glenmont is in three days, and I’m about to show up at one of their parties looking for Liam Stevens’ sister. I’ve never even interacted with anyone from Glenmont besides Maeve outside of football before.
I know other guys who have gone to parties in Fayetteville, but I’m the Alleghany quarterback. I don’t have the luxury of anonymity. The only high school party outside of Alleghany I’ve been to is the one my cousin threw my freshman year. Where I first met Maeve.
I cross the boundary line into Glenmont and drive another ten minutes before I park haphazardly in front of a large, white, Colonial-style house. I can hear music playing loudly inside as soon as I climb out of the car.
I don’t bother knocking; I just walk inside.
There are only a few people standing in the front entryway when I enter the house, and all three of them stop talking and stare as soon as they see me. I keep striding forward, into what I quickly realize is the kitchen. The crowded room falls silent when I enter it, but my gaze is fixed on Maeve.
She’s leaning against the marble kitchen counter, laughing loudly with a brunette girl. I can’t help but drink in the sight of her as I walk over. She’s drunk, no doubt about it, but she also looks happy. Carefree. Her blonde hair is loose, and the light gray sweater she’s wearing is hanging off of one shoulder.
The shift in the kitchen’s atmosphere eventually reaches her, and she turns toward me right as I stop a couple of feet from her.
Startled green eyes meet mine.
“Wes,” she breathes. “What are you doing here?”
“You texted me.”
“I did?” She looks bewildered.
“You did,” I confirm.
