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“Huh,” was all I could find to say. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up.
“Oh, crap,” Amber said, turning to grab her iced tea. “I just saw Marcus.” She smiled up at me in a forced but still winsome way. “I think he’s staring at me.”
I smiled too, so she wouldn’t look odd. “Yep. He’s got his shirt off for you.”
“Dang it. Too damn soon.” She stood up. “Can we go find a stiff drink?”
“Sure thing, shug.”
More people were pouring in from the side yard. I gulped and fingered Tyrese’s card—no doubt I should call him, but he would be taking over my life soon enough…
We took the stairs up to the main level and went into thekitchen. I pulled out the cold bottle of wine I had waiting in the fridge and cracked it. Amber picked up her glass and took a large swallow. “He’s so handsome.”
“F-boys usually are.”
Her eyebrows twitched. “At least he didn’t love bomb me.” She sniffed. “Exactly.” She put a hand over her eyes.
I bumped her shoulder with mine. “Hang in there. It’s all gonna work out.”
Dillan’s head popped up in the stairwell. “Hey. The invitation is blocked.” He put his thumb up in front of his chest then disappeared.
We went back down to the pool, where Antonio was grumbling and helping Forest to cook hot dogs on the parts of his grill not taken up by our dinner. Club music was on and there was a little dancing here and there. There were more people in the yard than ever before, making it very apparent school started the next day and the college kids were back in town.
Amber and I played badminton, entering a tournament Dillan set up. After a while Marcus ambled over to smile and cheer whenever Amber hit the shuttlecock. She grinned at him—so distracted she missed the shot that flew over her head. We lost our round.
“Lookin’ fly out there,” Marcus said, his pectoral muscles flexing.
“Oh.” Amber bit her lip. “I can’t believe I missed that last one.”
“Me too,” I said, crossing my arms.
“Play a round with me,” Marcus said to Amber, grinning.
I smirked—well, wasn’t that just the subtlest innuendo ever. Amber’s ears were red. “I’m gonna go check on dinner,” I muttered and walked away.
Antonio slammed the lid of his grill shut as I walked up tohim. “What is happening?” he hissed at me. “This is no good for us. These people are all over the house.”
I nodded once. There was no way I was going anywhere near the laundry room. “What do you want from the kitchen?”
He threw up his hands. “I am not emptying my kitchen to feed them. But, for us, there are two salads in the fridge and fresh bread in the pantry.”
With my orders, I went upstairs and paused in the doorway, my mouth dropping open. There were a whole lot of people up there. Everyone was basically behaving themselves, but I went to my bedroom and locked the door then the office too.
Before grabbing the food, I texted Hazel to beg her to help with the cleaning aftermath then I headed to the pool yard. Antonio and I dished up plates for our coterie.
Amber was standing in a little nook with Marcus by the back fence, and he bent over and kissed her briefly on the lips. I set her plate by the grill then picked up mine, turning toward Kate sitting at the little table on her patio.
Except my skin was prickling.
I turned in a slow circle, glancing over the crowd. Forest and Layla were over on their patio, on the other side of the house, with a big group around them holding hotdogs. Forest had on his Superman apron with an arm slung around Layla’s shoulder. Dillan was over on the basketball court with a bunch of guys, sweaty and focused on a half-court game.
Then my eyes caught on a guy staring at me, walking in through the side yard between Layla’s patio and the basketball court. His clothing hung off his thin frame, old and stained. He had very pale skin and a red Cardinals ball cap on.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
His upper lip pulled back in a sneer. Keith Miller turned toward me.
My plate and wine glass slipped out of my hands and smashed on the ground. Miller kept moving, one of his hands going into a bulging pocket.
