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We were smiling as we stepped off the stairs onto theback patio next to the pool. Everyone seemed noticeably stiff.Strange.
I introduced Peter to Amber and Zach, who were standing a little apart from everyone else. Zach was staring toward the other medical students.
“Wait,” I said to Zach, forcing him to focus on the people standing in front of him. “You’re a medical student, aren’t you—do you know Kate and her friends?”
He flushed. “Yes, of course. The program is small enough that all the faces are basically familiar.”
Peter picked up the conversational ball and got Zach talking about his career path. There was something happening under the surface with Zach and the other students and I didn’t like it. Amber wandered off toward the food tables and I followed.
“Are you okay?” I asked. “Is he making you uncomfortable?”
She huffed. “I shouldn’t have brought him. Just wanted to give it one more chance, you know?”
I did and I didn’t, but I nodded sympathetically. The more time I spent around him, the more I really didn’t like Zach for Amber.
Zach wandered off toward the other medical students. I pulled Peter and Amber into a game of racquetball, after stopping to say hi to Dillan and his friends over by the basketball court. I managed to rope one of Layla’s friends into playing with us, so we had even sides. Amber and I matched up against Peter and the giggly girl, as I came to think of her. I’d thought Zach would join us, but he never did.
Antonio was intensely focused on finishing the grilled food, so I excused myself to check on him and see what else needed to come down from the kitchen. He sent me off with urgent orders for this platter and that plate of warmed bread.
I trotted up the outside steps and brought everything down in a jiffy, scanning the crowd for Zach, who’d been missing for a while. Thankfully, Amber was engrossed in another game of racquetball, both girls against Peter—who was very adroit with a racquet.
I went through the downstairs part of the house to grab a few more things for dinner. Eyes blinking in the dimmer light, I let myself into the entertainment room. Everyone was outside so it was empty.
The laundry room, however, had happy slappy bodies happening inside. The door was closed. I stood there, arms crossed, and waited.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
After another minute of muffled moaning, it was over. I knocked on the door. They gasped and shuffled around while I stood there tapping my foot. There really were drawbacks to having a nice laundry room.
Impatient and afraid that Amber, or Antonio, would walk in and the barbecue would be ruined, I opened the door. Kate had her back turned, adjusting her clothing. Zach stared down at his hands in his pockets.
“You two are trying to ruin my party and I don’t appreciate it. You’re not welcome back here, Zach. I’d like you to leave. Right now. I’ll talk to Amber.”
“She drove,” he whined.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake call a ride, you flaming idiot. Out of my house. Now.”
He slumped off. I slammed the laundry-room door and marched upstairs to make sure Zach was gone. Last I saw of him was his back going down my driveway, his hands in his pockets. There must have been something special about that guy, to have both Amber and Kate on a string, but I sure didn’t see it.
I took a deep breath, smoothed down my skirt, washed my hands, then grabbed a pile of napkins and a carafe of water to take downstairs. Antonio was carving slices of meat off the long metal skewers he used on the grill, while most of the party filled their plates at the tables. I exhaled when I saw Amber smiling at Peter, relaxed and chatting while Antonio piled sliced meat onto their plates. I plastered a pleasant expression on my face and went to join the party.
Flitting around, I tried to smile at or say hello to everyone. After they’d all dished up, I got my own plate and chatted a bit with the friendly people, stretching out the time before I had to break the news to Amber. As much as I loved her, and would do anything for her, I hated that I was about to disappear early at my first barbecue in my new house. It’s not that I held it against her, it’s that I was trying to salvage my first social gathering before I rudely disappeared.
“Have you seen Zach?” Amber said as soon as I walked up to her and Peter.
“I think he’s not feeling well.” Hopefully it was true on some level. “Upstairs.”
Amber stared at the house, frowning. “I’m going to head in there and check on him.”
“Yep,” I said. “I’ll be upstairs too in a minute. See you up there.”
She glanced sharply at me then said a distracted goodbye to Peter, her shoulders stiff.
“What do you think of this beef?” I asked Peter as Amber made her way to the house.
“Very good. What’s going on? Your smile is a little forced.”
I took a deep breath. We were apart from the rest of the people and Amber was in the house. “My friend’s boyfriend just cheated on her in my laundry room. I kicked the bastard out. That dang laundry room is seeing way too much action.”
