AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was a lie. Our tardiness was entirely orchestrated because I hadn’t wanted to be one of the first ones there.
He nodded as if he understood, and when Ethan sidled up beside me, his gaze zoned in on us, scrutinizing as he glanced back and forth. “Right. Well, have fun,” he said, clinking his cup to mine. “Party games start in five.” Then he left, heading back into the living room.
“Wow. That was pretty civil,” Ethan said. “Maybe you guys have finally called a truce. See? Trying to strangle him worked to your advantage.”
I gave him a sidelong look, and he laughed, but I couldn’t help a little twinge of disappointment that Carson hadn’t stayed to chat longer.
“Hey, Ethan, what’s up, man?” Jake Brown, another junior, came up beside him, then offered him a fist-bump.
I sighed inwardly. Great. Drake was on the football team with Ethan, which meant if they stood there for any length of time, they’d start talking sports and never stop.
“I’m glad I’m not the only junior here,” Drake added, then glanced down at me, needling me in the ribs. “I’m surprised to see you here though, after the basketball incident and everything,” he said, gesturing toward my eye.
“Right.” I nodded. Even the junior boys knew about it. “Well, Carson and I have to work on the Angel Program together, so we’ve kind of been forced to get along. He probably invited me to be nice.”
“Okay,” Drake drawled like he didn’t believe it.
“Seriously,” I said because the more I said it, the more authentic it felt. Carson was simply being cordial.
“Yeah. I believe you.” He shot Ethan a look that said he didn’t believe it at all.
But I wasn’t about to let it go.
“What? What was that look?” I said, pointing between them.
Drake shifted on his feet then ran a hand through his bleach blonde locks. “It’s just . . . Carson’s kind of a pot-stirrer. He likes shaking things up, giving people something to talk about. You two usually don’t get along. I’m just saying that if he invited you, he probably had a reason.”
My throat instantly dried. It hurt to swallow.
What if Carson did invite me there in some epic plan to embarrass me?
I glanced toward the living room, my gaze latching onto Carson, who was chatting up Olivia. I hadn’t even seen her come in.
Lauren’s words from Monday came back to me.I heard Olivia’s on the prowl, and she plans on crashing.
Great.
I groaned inwardly, trying to ease the nerves jumping in my belly. He barely said two words to me when I came in, but there he was, bent forward at the waist, so Olivia could whisper something in his ear. He frowned as he listened, then suddenly, his eyes lifted to mine, and my stomach dropped. A wink nearly sent me into a tailspin.
I snapped my head back toward Ethan and Drake, cheeks flushed. Maybe this hadn’t been such a great idea, after all. I had the terrible urge to leave. Coming suddenly seemed like a horrible idea. What had I been thinking? Now that Carson and I were working on a project together, we could somehow be friends and get along? And why did I even want to?
I turned and focused back on Ethan’s conversation with Drake. I tried to follow along, but they were using football-speak, and I was lost.
I sipped my drink—probably a little quicker than I should’ve—but it dulled the edge of my nerves, and before I knew it, the party didn’t seem so bad. The slightly fuzzy feeling in my head had me more relaxed than I’d been in weeks, maybe months. Until Carson’s voice rose above the music.
“Truth or dare,” he yelled. “Starts in two. Let’s go.”
“I think that’s our cue,” Drake said. “We’d better get in there. Mandy Peters is here, and I’m hoping to ask her to the Snowflake Ball. I’ve been dragging my feet and I’m, like, the last person I know to get a date.”
“Not the last,” Ethan muttered under his breath, which earned him a jab to the ribs.
He laughed and said bye as I muttered, “Thanks a lot,bud.”
With a chuckle, Ethan grabbed me, pulling me into a headlock. “Don’t worry, you’re going to that dance,” he promised.
“So you say.”
As he dragged me toward the living room, I asked, “Do we have to do this?”
