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“Me too,” he said. “Tell me about the last time you went.”
She couldn’t remember an adult ever being so interested in her. She was flattered.
“A week before I moved here,” she said and the memory fell upon her, heavy and tangible. “My friends, my ex-boyfriend, we all went to this beach that you kind of have to hike to—”
“Sounds incredible.”
“It was a perfect day, not too hot, and there was all this driftwood on the beach, so we made a fort, like a little structure, and a fire. We swam and got tan and I even fell asleep and took a nap. Have you ever taken a nap on the beach in the long part of the afternoon?”
Shesoenjoyed talking to him. It was as though all the pleasure from that day was surging back to her. No one had ever made her feel so utterly fascinating before.
“It soundswonderful.”
“We stayed there until the sun went down. I never wanted to leave, but it gets cold on the beach at night, you know? Windy and cold, and our bathing suits were wet.”
Where had all the words come from? And the vivid imagery?
Derek gazed at her like he was absorbing every single thing she said, like it was the most interesting conversation he had ever had in his life. His eyes were silver-gray and seemed lit from within.
“Have another drink,” he said, and it was then she realized that, somehow, her glass was empty.
Her vision began to dissolve at the edges, everything in the beautiful house taking on a sweet, lovely glow. The girls she’d come with, whoLozenhad so disliked—why had she disliked them so much?
They werebeautiful.
Everyone at this party was beautiful, kind, everyone waslovely.
Lozen. WherewasLozen? She wouldloveit here. Anyone would.
Saber looked over and saw Sophie on a couch between a couple, a dark-haired man and blond woman who looked like they were maybe in their thirties. They were kissing her softly on the neck, on her shoulders, and Sophie had a dreamy, ecstatic expression. Saber felt a flood of heat. She wanted to be kissed like that, too. The man reached his hand up Sophie’s sweater, and she kissed him hard on the mouth.
She looked at Derek, who was watching her.
She felt her phone buzz.
“Do you want to go upstairs with me?” Derek asked her.
“Yes,” she said. “Just one second.”
She looked at her phone.
A text from Lozen.
Where are you?
What the fuck, Saber, I’m worried.
WHERE ARE YOU?????
She had seven missed calls.
“Hold on,” she said to Derek. “My friend is worried about me. I need to call her.”
“You won’t get service,” he said casually, easily. “Your friend can wait.”
Her friend could wait. She believed him.
But.
