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Closing my eyes, I turned away and fled from his house. I almost tripped on the steps, and instead of going down the concrete driveaway, I cut through the yard, my shoes sinking into the wet grass. Embarrassment and hurt burned my cheeks, and I felt tears sting my eyes as I jogged back to Zada’s house. That would teach me never to walk unannounced into people’s homes.
My night at work was hell. I kept screwing up on the register, and Shauna, the girl I was working with, was being a total bitch about everything. By the time I clocked out a little after midnight, I was exhausted with everything.
I couldn’t explain it. Seeing Aiken with another girl had hurt me, which made no sense. We weren’t together. We weren’t anything. Half of the time, he was rude to me. I meant nothing to him, and he wasn’t supposed to mean anything to me, and yet, my heart felt bruised.
It started to drizzle as soon as I passed the neighborhood entrance sign. When I stepped into the house, my hair was wet, and I was cold since I had forgotten my jacket. The clock on the wall said twelve forty-five, which meant it was officially my birthday.
I was eighteen. I should have been happy, but as I stared in the mirror on top of Zada’s dresser and changed into a dry shirt, I couldn’t help but feel sadness.
I could hear the music thumping from Aiken’s house in Zada’s bedroom. Since the cops had shown up at The Strip, the crews were staying away for a bit, which meant parties happened on Friday nights and Saturday nights now. I looked out the window and was surprised to see Zada’s car parked in front of Crow’s place.
She wasn’t with Reggie. She was at the party. The last thing I wanted to do was see Aiken, but I couldn’t find it in myself to sit in Zada’s house alone all night. Not when she was there. It was late, and the party would be winding down soon, but what the hell.
I left Zada’s place a little after one. I walked down to Crow’s house and slid past the parked cars in his yard. I went inside without knocking, knowing this time there wouldn’t be anyone on the couch getting a blow job.
“There she is!” Zada called out, turning everyone’s attention my way.
She had been drinking all night.
“Do a shot with me!”
I waved her idea away. I had never had anything to drink.
“Come on, please, Everly! It will be fun.”
She rushed across the room with two shot glasses, and a little of the clear liquid sloshed over the sides when she tripped over the rug in the living room.
“I can’t,” I said when she tried to hand me one of the shot glasses.
“Come on, babe. You never do anything fun. One shot won’t kill you.”
I shook my head, laughing at her when she ran one of the shot glasses under my nose.
Taking the glass, I rolled my eyes when she began to cheer. She held her shot glass up, and I copied her.
“To you, my friend. Let’s get this party started!”
She clinked her shot glass against mine and tossed it back like it was nothing. I did the same except the liquid went down the back of my throat like a blazing fire. I coughed, leaning over to catch my breath. She laughed and patted me on the back.
“There you go,” she said, laughing. “You got this, girl.”
I held up a thumb’s up sign and chuckled through my choking.
The second shot didn’t burn as severely, and by the fifth shot, I found myself dancing in the middle of the kitchen with Zada. Relaxation swam through my veins, and I felt free of panic and anxiety. No wonder people drank and did drugs. Not that I was going to make drinking an all the time thing, but for the first time in my life, I understood.
As I danced with Zada, I felt eyes on me. If it was Aiken, I wanted him to think what I had walked in on earlier didn’t bother me. I laughed and shook my ass, and when I looked in the direction of the person staring at me, my heart dropped when I saw it wasn’t Aiken.
I smiled in his direction, and he grinned back at me. As if taking my smile as an invitation, he started in my direction. Losing my nerve, I turned and faced Zada, and when she looked behind me, and her eyes went wide, I knew he was still coming.
He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. At first, my body went tense. I took a deep breath and tried to relax against him.
“You’re a pretty little thing, aren’t you?” His warm breath tickled my ear, and I shivered and giggled.
“What’s your name, baby?”
“Everly.”
“My name’s Stryker, and I want to kiss you. Would that be okay?”
