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“Why did you text him instead of Eli?” My face scrunched as I took the shot. “God, that’s nasty.”
Sophia laughed. “I wasn’t planning to shoot it, but I guess bottoms up.” She lifted the glass before finishing the liquid.
Immediately, she started coughing. “Shit, that was awful.”
I slammed my hand on her back. “Are you okay?” Sophia had ordered the shots so quickly, I hadn’t considered that she might not be much of a drinker. From the way she was hacking up a lung, I realized she was putting on a front. I didn’t know why, but something told me that Sophia wasn’t a party girl.
“Fine,” she said, standing up, gasping for air. Her small hand went to her chest. “I’m not much of a drinker to be honest.”
“Clearly.”
When she caught her breath, Sophia looped her arm around mine and started to lead me towards one of the corners. “To be honest, I was hoping that you would come here to keep me company.” Her cheeks were flushed from a combination of the liquor she’d drank and embarrassment. “I’m not exactly Miss Popular.”
I smiled. “You know Matteo, and something tells me that he is very popular.” My tongue was heavy as I spoke, and I allowed popular to snake across my lips. Sophia’s shy smile turned into a frown.
“He is,” she told me. “And I’m sure that he’s got his sight set on you. You’re his type after all.”
She wrinkled her nose, and I could tell that something about that bothered her. She liked Matteo. I wondered if she even realized that. From the way he was glaring at her, I suspected those feelings were reciprocated.
“I doubt that.” I reached out and squeezed her upper arm, giving her a smile. “Matteo is a lot different than his brother,” I tried to change the subject. There were plenty of things I didn’t want to talk about, so I wasn’t going to push Sophia.
She cackled at my sentence. “It’s hard to believe that Eli and Matteo are from the same family.”
I agreed. “Yes, one is an asshole, and one is a harmless flirt.”
Sophia’s brow rose. “I’ve never seen Eli flirt with anyone. For most of the time that I’ve known him, he’s had his nose buried in a book. He was one of the only people in the school to get into Harvard.” She giggled. “Some of the legacy admits were pissed, but you know, with all the talk in the news about meritocracy, they weren’t to get in.”
My mouth dropped slightly. Learning that Eli was that smart was shocking. “When I said asshole, I was talking about Eli,” I muttered.
Sophia snorted. “We’ve had very different interactions with the Blanchi boys.”
“Clearly, because I would take a party with Matteo over five minutes with Eli anyway.” I shivered as I recalled the way he told me to obey him. “He’s a dick.”
Sophia giggled. “You know what they say about guys who pull your pigtails?”
“Huh?”
She laughed loudly, drawing a few stares. “He likes you.”
I snorted with laughter. “You are drunk,” I told her.
Her eyes were even more glazed than they’d been when I saw her originally, and I realized that the booze was hitting her hard.
“You aren’t wrong,” she told me. “But neither am I.”
At this point, the party was in full swing. Music was blaring and bodies were starting to writhe as the children of the elite were overtaken by booze and drugs.
The fogginess that came with being drunk started to overtake my mind, and I welcomed it. The sight of the people before me was starting to bring back memories of that night, and that was the very last thing I wanted.
Reaching behind me, I grabbed a stray shot of alcohol, downing it quickly. That was my second or third shot of the night.
For the last few months, I had not had a moment’s peace. Now, that changed. I wanted to forget.
Grabbing Sophia’s hand in my own, I started to drag her out into the middle of the floor. “Let’s dance!”
CHAPTERTWELVE
After leaving my father’s office, I’d gone to the gym to try and blow off some steam. I needed to work my body to death in order to calm my mind. Not that it helped. Thankfully, everyone at home was asleep, and I was able to sneak in without having to pretend to be stable.
