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"Ugh, pull yourself together," I whisper-hissed to my vagina, which didn't get the memo that we weren't interested in Christian. "You do not want to fuck him." I was not going to be another conquest conquered by Christian Chandler.
The smell of food and voices pulled me out of my trance, and instead of obsessing about Christian, I was focused on food as I stepped out of the bathroom.
Christian, Aiden, Lincoln, Sebastian, Julian, and Maverick were all piled into the kitchen around the large island in the center, shoving pizza in their mouth and joking around with each other. My senses were in hyperactive overdrive, focusing on the pizza.
"You better hurry up, Harper," Lincoln said, handing me an empty plate. "It will be gone if you wait too long."
Completely lost on what to do, I stood staring between the pizza and Christian. We rarely had food at the house, but if there was food, it was Noah's, and he would break my fingers if I touched it. I had to work for my food. I didn't want my fingers fractured tonight.
A burst of laughter escaped Christian's mouth, startling me to reality. Still deep in conversation, Christian reached into the box, pulled out two large slices, and slapped them on my plate, and then I remembered Christian was not Noah.
Not long after I finished eating, groups started showing up for the party. The music blared, and people covered the property from the lake to the pool house.
"Hey," I said, tapping Christian on the arm. "Can I go now?"
"No." He laughed, sinking into the couch.
"Why not?" I muttered. "A Valley party isn't my scene." Not that I really had a scene, but this wouldn't be it if I did.
"You're my beer runner tonight."
"Seriously?" He was going to make me fetch him beers all night?
"Yeah, why don't you go get me one now." I wanted to tell him where he could shove his beer, but my body still hadn't recovered from earlier. I was sure I couldn't handle a round two, and who knew what that would entail?
By the time I returned with the beer, Christian was surrounded by girls. The exact girls I wanted to avoid, Valley Girls. Not all Valley Girls were horrible, but very few were friendly to anyone outside the Valley, especially someone from the Villas.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed through the crowd of girls and handed Christian his beer, hoping not to draw attention to myself.
"Ew, who invited the Villa rat?" Ava said, referring to me. I wanted to avoid this—having to defend myself in a house full of Valley brats. Her lip curled into a snarl, and I rolled my eyes. Ava was a typical Valley Girl. She was tall, thin, and tanned, with a perfect body. She had long white blonde hair that I was sure wasn't her natural color and dark brown eyes. She was always dressed in the latest expensive fashion trends with jewelry that cost more than my entire house.
"I did," Christian said matter-of-factly, standing and pressing two fingers against her forehead with a shove. "But I didn't invite you, so why don't you fuck off?"
"I didn't realize you were slumming it with the trash," Ava snarled, her dark brown eyes flicking up to meet mine. She wanted to make sure I knew she was talking about me. I opened my mouth to defend myself, but Julian cut me off.
"You know the Valley's full of rats too," Julian said, bumping my shoulder—a smile twitching at his lips. My brows pinched together. Was he defending me?
"Whatever, Julian. If you guys want to put your dicks in the trash, go for it but don't be surprised if you come out with worms."
Without a word, Christian snatched Ava up by her forearm, dragging her out the front door. His eyes went dark, his face red, and his nostrils flared. Everyone followed, so I did too. It wasn't every day Ava Miller got thrown out of a party.
"You will never talk to her like that again," Christian said through gritted teeth, his face pressed to hers. "Now fuck off and don't come back." With a firm shove, she shuffled away.
In my entire life, no one had ever stood up for me. Ever. Even before my mom disappeared, leaving me with Noah, she never stood up to them when they put their hands on me. But most of the time, she was too far gone on the drugs to care or notice. Even back when alcohol had been her substance of choice before she'd got hooked on the hardcore drugs, she'd never defended me against the men she'd brought home.
Lost in my thoughts, I stared blankly into the blue water of the pool while the party continued around me. Everyone else had gone back inside or scattered throughout the property, but I was still trying to think of a time when someone had stood up for me.
"I thought you bailed," Christian said, pulling me out of my thoughts. My gaze flashed up to him standing beside me, staring into the pool.
"No, I'm still here," I answered. "Thank you for earlier."
"Earlier?" he asked, his brows pinched. He had no idea what he did. Of course, he didn't. He didn't know anything about me. He didn't know that my mom would get drugged out and leave me with men that would hurt me. He didn't know that I had no one.
"With Ava." I forced a smile.
"Ava's a bitch." He shrugged. "Don't go all soft on me, Brooks."
I opened my mouth to change the subject but was thrust into the cold blue water of the pool. Chlorine burned my nose as I came up for air. Christian slicked his wet, dark hair back before wiping the water off his face. His tanned muscles glistened against the blue lights of the pool.
