When both containers have been emptied, she swipes the back of her hand across her mouth. “I don’t know who you think you are, Brett Wentworth, but you’re not the boss of me!” With that, she spins on her heel and shoves her way through the crowd.
Fury simmers in my brother’s eyes as he watches her stalk away. An irritated growl slides from his lips as he takes off after her. He doesn’t get more than three steps before grinding to a halt, swinging around, and stabbing a finger at me. “Stay right where you are! I’m going to find Lizzie and then take you home!”
The guy needs to take a chill pill. I’m eighteen years old. I’ll be leaving for college in three months. I can handle a party with older kids who are drinking.
I’m tempted to argue, but one look at his face has me rethinking that decision. When I remain silent, he jerks his head into a stiff nod before stomping off. Sure, I knew he might spaz out if he found us here, but I didn’t think he would totally go off the deep end.
Left to my own devices, I glance around, looking for a friendly face in the sea of people that surround me. Most I recognize from school, but I don’t know any well enough to go up to and say hello. Without Lizzie by my side, I’m alone and out of my element.
When my gaze collides with a blond giant, he gives me a wide smile before sauntering over.
“Hey, look who it is! Little Wentworth. Glad you could make it.”
I’ve known Chad Miller for most of my life but haven’t seen him since he graduated high school. He and my brother played little league together for years. He’s always been a laidback kind of guy. It wasn’t much of a surprise when he fell in with the potheads and bought a VW bus.
When he’s no more than a foot away, Chad pulls me in for a hug that lasts a little too long for comfort. Pressed against his wide chest, I’m inundated with the skunky scent of weed. Looks like somethings never change.
I hold my breath and fight my way free, needing distance before I get a contact high. “I heard this is a going-away party.”
“Fuckin’ A right, it is.” He beams another smile at me. “I’m a little burnt out on the whole college scene, so I decided to drop out and take a little time to find myself. I’m volunteering with Habitat for Humanity.” He shifts his weight. As he waves his hand, I realize he’s holding a joint. “You know, building houses and all that shit.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, the old man wasn’t thrilled with the change in plans. He wanted me to apply to law school this fall and follow in his footsteps.” Chad shakes his head. “The corporate ladder is for money-hungry yuppies. That’s not me. All I want to do is chill out and help people live their best lives.”
“That’s really cool.” As much as I admire him for following his passion, there’s no way I’d drop out of school with only a year left. Plus, my parents would probably kill me.
“For sure.” With a nod, he lifts the rolled marijuana to his lips and inhales deeply, holding the smoke in his lungs before releasing it. “Sorry, where are my manners?” He offers me the joint. “You want a hit?”
As I shake my head, a muscular arm snakes around my waist and hauls me against a hard body. A jolt of electricity sizzles through me as I glance up and find Ty frowning at Chad.
“Hey, man.” The blond guy’s affable grin intensifies as he plows a hand through the long strands of his hair. “I was just offering little Wentworth a party favor.”
“For fuck’s sake, Miller,” Ty mutters, “she’s not into that shit. Brett would beat your ass if he knew you were offering his sister drugs.”
“You think so?” He scrunches his face as if seriously contemplating the possibility.
“Um, yeah.”
“What can I say? I was just trying to be a good host.” He cracks another high-wattage smile before holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “My bad.” His strung-out gaze meanders to me again. “You want a drink instead, little W?”
“Chad,” the guy at my side growls, “she just graduated from high school. Look at her—she’s a kid.”
His snapped-out retort has everything inside me wilting. No matter what my age, Ty will never see me as anything more than Brett’s little sister.
From within the shadows of the trees at the edge of the property, someone hollers Chad’s name. With a quick wave, he takes off, disappearing from sight. The moment we’re alone, I push out of Ty’s arms.
“Hey, are you all right?” His brow furrows as he searches my eyes in the darkness.
Instead of admitting the truth, I plaster a smile on my face and pretend my heart isn’t shattering into a million pieces. “Yeah, it’s all good. I really need to find Lizzie. She took off a little while ago, and I haven’t seen her since.”
I take another hasty step in retreat.
“Do you want me to come with you?” His gaze drifts over the sea of people before returning to me. “Brett wouldn’t want you wandering around by yourself.”
The implication leaves me bristling.
Because I’m a kid.
A baby.
“Nope, I can find her on my own.” I shake my head and hold the forced smile in place. “I’ve already run into my brother; it’s all good.” That might be something of an overstatement.
Before Ty can detain me any longer, I spin away, pushing through the crowd. My fingers rise to the delicate ballet pendant that rests against my collarbone. How stupid was I for thinking there could be anything romantic between us?
Clearly, that will never happen.
Ty
Danielle weaves her way through the press of bodies before disappearing from sight. Why do I get the feeling that I just fucked up majorly? I do a quick mental rewind, replaying our conversation, but I can’t put my finger on anything specific that would have rubbed her the wrong way and sent her packing.
Frustration bubbles up inside me as I plow a hand through my hair. Maybe I offered up Brett as an excuse, but I’m the one who doesn’t like the idea of her wandering around this party alone. There’s a lot of drunk assholes here. And I should know, I graduated with most of them.
With the passing of every second, my agitation grows.
You know what?
Fuck this—I’m going after her. Maybe I’m nothing more than her older brother’s friend, but that’s more than enough for me. I take a step only to grind to a halt when someone slides in front of me and blocks the way.
“Hello, Ty.”
I stifle a groan.
Heather Reynolds.
My ex-girlfriend from high school.
We dated on and off our senior year before calling it quits a couple of weeks after leaving for college. Now, every time we run into each other at parties, Heather ends up getting drunk and teary-eyed, crying about our breakup and how it was the biggest mistake of her life. The problem is, I don’t feel that way. By the time we pulled the plug on our relationship, I was more than ready for it to be over. I have zero interest in reigniting anything with her. I wish she would get the hint and move on.
“Hey, Heather,” I force myself to say in greeting, hoping this will only take a moment. “How have you been?”
There’s no pretense of her trying to hold it together. “Missing you,” she whispers with a slight slur.
Awesome. It’s only ten o’clock, and she’s already plastered. That doesn’t bode well for me.
“Oh.” I search the surrounding vicinity, hoping to find a friend to pawn her off on. “Ummm...”
No such luck.
When I remain silent, she whines, “Don’t you miss me, Ty?” There’s a beat of silence as I decide how best to answer that question. As much as I want to be honest with her, I know it will only send the situation spiraling. Been there, done that. “We were so good together, weren’t we?”
Maybe in the very beginning. After that, she got clingy and jealous. There are times when it felt like I was being suffocated. It was a relief when I left for college.
“Sure, but that was a long time ago.”
Heather shakes her dark head as her tongue peeks out to smudge her red-slicked lips. When I don’t immediately shut down the conversation, she takes a step forward. Her palms flatten against my chest as she stares up at me from beneath a thick fringe of mascara-laden lashes. “We could be good again, Ty.” A mixture of hope and excitement light up her eyes. “I could even transfer to State next fall! How much fun would it be to spend our senior year of college together?” She waits a beat before adding, “It would be just like the good old days.”
Hell, no. The thought of us attending the same university has me breaking out into a cold sweat. Before I realize what’s happening, her fingers dig into my shirt as she throws herself at me. With her lips pressed to mine, she shoves her tongue down my throat.
Danielle
I’m halfway across the lawn when I stop and inhale a deep breath before slowly releasing it. Did I make a colossal mistake in walking away from Ty? Maybe I should have taken a chance and told him the truth.
What’s the worst that could have happened?
I nibble at my lower lip before throwing a cautious glance over my shoulder. Ever since I can remember, I’ve crushed hard on Ty. I’m tired of hiding the way I feel about him and keeping it buried deep inside. More than likely, he’ll never return the sentiment, but I won’t know for sure until I take a chance.
Those thoughts have a fresh wave of nerves exploding in my belly. Decision made, I whip around and march back to where I left him standing. Lizzie and I arrived about thirty minutes ago, and in that short span of time, the crowd has swelled in size. There are probably twice as many people partying it up as there were before. My fingers shake as I fight my way back toward the firepit. Every step has my anxiety ratcheting up a couple of hundred notches until it feels like I’ll burst right out of my skin.
My head is on a swivel as I search the throng of people. I’m pretty sure this is where I left Ty, but there’s no sign of him. After I worked myself up, prepared to lay it all on the line, disappointment rushes in. I have no idea if I’ll ever work up the courage again to pull him aside and tell him the truth. Just as I’m about to give up, I swing around, only to catch sight of his dark head. My heart swells as I take a step forward before faltering when I realize he’s not alone.
There’s a girl pressed against him, and they’re kissing. Sharp shafts of pain flood through me as I stare. After what feels like an eternity, they pull apart, and I realize it’s Heather, the girl he dated in high school. Every bit of cautious hope filling me bursts like an overinflated balloon. For all I know, they’ve been together this entire time.
Thank God I didn’t get a chance to reveal my true feelings. Can you imagine the embarrassment that would have followed?
An image of Mike pops into my head. I’ve known him forever and have never thought of him as anything more than Lizzie’s kid brother. When he’d asked me out earlier, I had wanted to ruffle his hair and tell him that he needed to find a girl his own age.
A knot of nausea grows in the pit of my belly.
Is that how Ty sees me?
As nothing more than a silly kid with a crush?
Hot licks of humiliation burn at my cheeks.
I swing away before he catches sight of me. Finding Lizzie now feels imperative. I need to get out of here. I throw a quick glance around, scanning the immediate vicinity, but don’t see her anywhere. Even in the darkness, she’d stick out like a sore thumb in that neon green tube top.
And where the hell is Brett?
He was supposed to find her. I’m more than ready for him to make good on his threat and take us home.
Unwilling to stand around and wait for them to resurface, I push my way through the press of bodies, putting as much distance between Ty and myself as I can. After about five minutes of searching, I come across a couple of Brett’s friends from high school. Even though they’re drunk off their asses, I ask if they’ve seen my brother. The first two shrug and shake their heads. The third one chugs his can of beer before pointing to the boathouse, saying he saw Brett disappear in there with a girl.
A girl?
I want to roll my eyes.
He’s supposed to be searching for Lizzie, not getting it on with some chick.
Ugh.
Carefully I pick my way toward the shoreline until reaching a wooden pier that stretches thirty feet over the water. A small boathouse sits midway out. There are a few couples sitting on the dock, dipping their feet in the lake as they talk. The door to the structure is closed, making me wonder if it’s empty. I press my ear to the wood and listen for any telltale signs of life. When I’m greeted with silence, I knock before pushing it open and peeking cautiously inside. Without the silvery light of the moon filtering into the space, the room is swathed in blackness. I blink until my eyes adjust.
Even though I’m pretty sure it’s empty, I whisper, “Brett, are you in here?”
Stillness settles around me. My guess is that his friend is wrong, and my brother was never here.
“Brett?” I repeat loudly. As I take a step in retreat, a head pops up from the other side of a couch on the far side of the room.
“Dani?” comes the scrape of a familiar voice.
Everything inside me loosens. Well...at least I found one of them. That’s half the battle, right? “Yeah, it’s me.”
“What are you doing here?”
Seriously?
I’m the one who should be asking that question. That’s all it takes for my relief to vanish and annoyance to rush in and fill the void. “Um, hello? You’re the one who disappeared on me. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“Oh.” A few seconds tick by. “Right.”
I narrow my eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of the girl my brother has been making out with, but the interior is too dark. “Did you ever find Lizzie? I haven’t seen her, and I’m ready to take off.”
He plows a hand through his short blond hair. “Give me a moment, and then we’ll get out of here. Okay?”
“What about Lizzie?” I shift my weight. “We can’t just leave her here. She’s supposed to spend the night.”
“We’ll find her,” Brett snaps as if I’m being a nuisance. “Just go.”
Irritated with his behavior, I straighten to my full height. As much as I love my brother, there are times when he can be a real jerk. Clearly, this is one of them. “Fine.” Not waiting for a response, I spin on my heels, slamming the door shut behind me.
I’ll keep searching for Lizzie and hopefully, Brett will wrap up whatever he’s got going on. A handful of minutes later, I spot my bestie’s dark head in the crowd. Relief pumps through me as I push my way toward her.
“Hey! Where have you been?” Before she can respond, I throw my arms wide. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
“Oh, sorry!” She bites her lower lip and glances away. “There are so many people here; I got a little lost in the crowd. I shouldn’t have left you like that.”
Her apology has my irritation draining away. Now we can get out of here. The last thing I want is to chance another run-in with Ty, especially if he’s making out with Heather.
Or any girl, for that matter. All it will do is drive the knife further into my heart.
With a tilt of my head, I inspect Lizzie a little more carefully and realize how disheveled her appearance is. Her hair isn’t as fluffed up as when we arrived, and her lipstick has been chewed off. My eyes narrow. It’s almost as if she’s been—
“Are you two ready to leave?” my brother asks, appearing out of nowhere.
“Yeah,” she blurts, “this place is lame. I’m ready to go.”
I’m glad we’re both on the same page.
Yesterday, I had been looking forward to the long summer stretched out ahead of me. But the last thirty minutes have changed that. I can’t wait to get out of here and meet some new people. More than anything, I want to forget all about this stupid crush. The only problem is that Ty also attends State. Luckily, it’s a
huge campus. With a little careful planning on my part, I should be able to avoid him for the foreseeable future.
As crappy as this night turned out to be, maybe it’s the kick in the teeth I needed to face facts and move on with my life.
Ty will never see me as anything more than Brett’s little sister.
And there’s nothing I can do to change that.
Danielle
Since Lizzie downed a couple of drinks earlier, Brett insisted on driving us home from the party in the family station wagon—or the woody—as we fondly refer to it.
“Sorry for ruining your night,” I mutter from the backseat.
In answer, he jerks his shoulders into a tight shrug, continuing to stare at the black ribbon of road stretched out in front of him. Honestly, I’m a little surprised he hasn’t chewed my ass out for showing up at his friend’s party. Instead, he’s remained stoically silent.
My attention swings to Lizzie who sits next to him in the front seat. As soon as we reached the wagon, she called shotgun, beating me to the punch. She, too, has been strangely quiet which isn’t like her at all. Lizzie is usually a chatterbox who talks a mile a minute.
When neither fills the uncomfortable void, I clear my throat and direct my attention to her. “You never mentioned where you disappeared off to.”
Lizzie’s gaze flits to mine in the rearview mirror before darting away. “Oh, nowhere in particular. I was just mingling.”
When she says nothing more on the topic, I raise a brow. Yeah...I don’t think so. My guess is that Lizzie was making out with someone, and I’m dying to know who the boy in question was.
“Really? Is that why your hair is a mess, and your makeup has been rubbed off?” Give me a break. “From mingling?”
Her hand rises to her dark hair before running a palm over it, trying—and failing—to smooth it down. She shoots a glance in my brother’s direction, but he continues to stare at the windshield as if he’s not listening to a word we’re saying. Which, in all likelihood, he’s probably not. He doesn’t give a damn about girl talk. I’m used to him tuning me out and pretending I don’t exist.
Crazy for You: 80's Baby Series Page 3
