Chapter Twenty
Parker
I hadn’t been able to answer her calls for days. As the party came closer, I started to feel like more and more of an idiot, but still, we didn’t speak. I spent my days going to class and working out, and my nights in the library until it closed, blocking everything out, desperate to pack as much of a real student’s life into my last weeks of college as I possibly could.
She stopped trying to text after the first day. I pretended I was ignoring them until she told me she was hopping on a plane to make sure I was all right. So I responded. “I’m fine. I’ll see you at the party.”
I can be one hell of a date.
I didn’t even pick her up. When I arrived at the venue, she was waiting in the parking lot. I felt the guilt trying to get in, but when it slammed into whatever barrier I’d managed to erect and trying to press its way through, it just got altered into anger.
“Are you okay?” she’d asked when she saw me.
I’d already had a few drinks, and I guess it showed. I held up my hands in a defensive gesture. “Hey, I told you I’m a man of my word. I’m not going to break our deal, but I’m going to have some fun first.”
I forced myself to ignore the way she looked. I wouldn’t even meet her eyes.
“Parker, I just, forget our deal, I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about you. About us.”
I scoffed. “You’re good, lady.”
“Are you already drunk?” she asked.
“I am just getting started.”
I got her through the security entrance as my plus one, and in a few strides I ditched her, feeling guilty the entire time. I managed to keep myself under control with Tristan, but barely heard a word he said. When I saw Grogan, my mind flashed to him giving those girls that damned gigantic white rabbit, and I suddenly had the urge to make everything right with him, which meant, of course, I came on like the old ton of bricks, and even I could see how uncomfortable he looked. It just made me try harder.
In other words, I was a wreck.
Most of the night is a blur. Grogan managed to shed me pretty quick, and whenever I saw the flash of black and gold that was Lily’s dress, I managed to zoom toward one exit or another and make my way through the mansion.
If I wasn't such an impossible jackass, I might have noticed how incredible the party was. The Thorne Enterprises annual bash had earned its reputation. Aside from the main hall where most everyone was having a blast, the entire mansion—castle, really—was laid out in different ways. It would be wrong to say different rooms had actual themes because that didn’t do it justice. Everything seemed to just flow into another place to have fun. Some rooms were smaller and still had an A-list celebrity performing. There were pop, hip-hop, country, rock, rap, and genre-busting shows, all intimate, all with space for dancing and different kinds of food and drink placed in perfect spots and served discreetly. One place was serving carefully cut bites of a perfect hoagie, or offering the whole damned sandwich if a guest preferred. That barbecue joint had trays flowing through the party all night long, and at one point when I was dodging Lily, I went outside and saw that they’d brought in an enormous portable red brick oven, and had a permanent line outside. I heard some British accents and thought I recognized a world-famous soccer player or two as they held fish’n’chips served inside a cone of newspaper.
I wanted to stop and talk, get to know new people, but I was too drunk. Instead of grabbing a bottle of water and eating a little more, slowing down so the party could catch up, I just let a cute bartender with breasts so large her buttons looked like they were about to go flying pour vodka through an ice sculpture right into my mouth.
Then I saw Grogan with a few other lineman. A group of waitresses seemed to be dancing around them in a circle. They were so small next to those oafs they could have been magic fairies out of a cartoon. Each of them carried platters of something different and delicious, and I guessed Tristan or someone in charge of the party had thought it would be fun to treat those people who could truly enjoy the massive variety of offerings without getting full too soon. The girls in their skirts and tux tops smiled and informed the big men what they were eating and generally charmed them so much I could see their grins spread and hear their laughs boom, and I had to get the hell away before my jealousy, and whatever other brewing bullshit, made me do something stupid.
I wandered and found my way into a grand library.
There was nobody in there except Amy Nolan, looking fine, talking into an earpiece with a wraparound mic.
“Tell DJ Spludge that if he really will not perform without his entourage getting into the party then he can kiss the chance at a future invitation goodbye and our professional photographers will not be taking any pictures of him for our social media distribution service. All right? He will? That’s fine. No, do not pass on Tristan’s thanks. He’s lucky to be here. Right, good.”
“Hey.”
She turned around and smiled at me, but held up a finger, with her other hand still to her ear.
“What do you mean the chef can’t find the fish? We flew it in from Maine just today, I made sure it went to the south kitchen. Why is he looking in the west walk-in? Who told him to go there? No, it’s in his own kitchen. Sitting on ice, upright, the same way it swims in the water, just like he requested. It was fucking swimming in the water six hours ago. Tell him. Yes, you can use the word ‘fucking’ if you think it will grab his attention? He’s English? Then definitely say ‘fucking.’ Say it twice. Yes, I’m waiting.”
She smiled at me again.
“You look amazing,” I said to her. “Hey, can you take a break and hit the dance floor?” I didn’t really know what I was saying; it just came out. The room was wobbling a bit. She looked at me as though I’d burped and let out a fart.
“You found it?” she said, obviously talking to someone through her mic. “He’s happy? He what? Wants to have a shot with you? Go ahead if it’s not going to hurt your work. Just one. I’ve got eyes everywhere. All right.”
I was having trouble catching up to the fact she was talking on her headset, and was kind of mesmerized, I guess. I hadn’t heard the doors open or people come in. I was just looking at this beautiful lady taking control of the entire party—and like a little kid, I wanted her to pay attention to me.
“Hey, come on,” I said, “let someone else worry about that shit. You look beautiful. Let’s dance.”
Then a little hand came out of nowhere and inserted itself in hers. I was—God help me—I was jealous for one stupid instant. This little girl in a striped dress got to hold her hand, and Amy stopped everything. She knelt down low and gave the girl a squeeze.
“Hi, April,” she said. “Are you having fun?”
I started to speak as Amy looked up and must have seen something behind me because she turned, so April was completely hidden from view for a moment.
Then the words started coming out of my mouth. “What the fuck is a little kid doing here—”
Tristan’s hand spun me around, and his fist popped me so hard in the nose the next thing I remember was falling on my ass. I saw Amy looking over her shoulder at me. Then a lot of things happened at once.
I was embarrassed to see Drake and Grogan looking at me, standing together. Drake seemed to be wondering if I was about to get up and fight. Grogan had taken a half step toward Tristan, and I could tell the big lineman still thought of me as a friend, because his protective instincts had made him wonder if he should look out for me, even after all the shit I’d managed to pull. He did, however, look completely disgusted with me.
Tristan hadn’t said a word but flew toward the doors to shut them again. Lily, looking gorgeous and fearsome, was rushing toward the doors.
“No press!”
She ducked under his arm so quick that his only choice to stop her would have been to shove his elbow down in her face. So, he closed the doors after her and turned around. “Lily, goddamn it, leave him alone. The draft is coming up. This was a family thing.”
She looked around the room, then came over to me. But this time I’d managed to get back to my feet.
“You’re the one who punched him, Thorne. You leave him alone. Can’t you see when someone’s messed up?”
I looked at her. She’d gripped my arm and I swear she’d have taken Grogan out right then if he made a move toward me.
Drake grinned and took a breath like he was about to say something funny when Peyton elbowed him so hard in the ribs that he yelped.
Then Peyton came over, ignoring me and looking at Lily. She didn’t look angry, she looked concerned. “This isn’t about a story,” Peyton stated matter-of-factly.
Lily spoke quietly, but everyone could hear. “No, it’s not.”
I’d had enough. “Damn, Tristan, that’s a sweet jab you got. Guess I needed that.”
I looked around. There was Amy, with April holding her hand, and suddenly I remembered hearing something about Tristan being out of the office with a cousin who’d been through some kind of tragedy. I held my hand to my face so she wouldn’t see. Tristan handed me a handkerchief, and I wiped away the blood, then I went over to the little girl.
“Hey, I’m so sorry, I was being a jerk.”
She just looked at me. Tristan took a step forward, but then April asked me a question. “Were you angry?”
I knelt down, then just sat on the floor cross-legged in front of her. “I was, but not at anybody here.”
“Who?”
I didn’t know what I could tell her except the truth. “It—it was an old friend of mine, named Jason. He left and never came back.”
“Did he die?”
I nodded.
“My parents died,” she said, “but I’m not mad. They couldn’t help it.”
I heard three women sob softly.
“You’re right,” I said. “I guess I didn’t handle it very well. Did you see Tristan? Instead of staying mad at me the first thing he wanted to do was take care of me.”
I looked up at Tristan, and he just smiled, standing close to us both but giving us our space.
April nodded. “He takes care of me, too.”
“I know it.”
“Did you say you wanted to dance?” I asked her.
“I did. I like dancing.”
“Me, too.”
I held out my hand, and she took it like it was the most normal thing in the world. I looked at Tristan as I stood up and he nodded.
“I think we should all dance. There’s got to be a band around here somewhere.”
April giggled at that and began to lead me out of the room.
Drake patted me on the back gently enough not to disturb April, but it still felt like a piece of lumber had tipped off the wall and landed on me. He and Peyton got behind us, and so did Grogan and Lily. I looked at Lily, and she just smiled and nodded at April, letting me know we could talk later. Tristan and Amy were holding hands and fell in behind us all. And this tiny little angel in her dress took us down the hall, and right to what I assumed must have been her favorite band in the whole place. She let me teach her a few moves before everyone started trading partners.
Lily folded into my arms as big Shawn Grogan taught April how to roll her shoulders just as a break in the music allowed her giggle to bounce off the walls like a hundred balloons. It made everyone laugh.
I looked at Lily. “Lily, I’m so—”
She interrupted me. “Are you ever going to kiss me?”
Of all the stupid things I’d done, at least I managed not to have to be asked twice. As we kissed we could hear April giggle again, even with the music, and I felt Lily’s lips soft and firm at the same time against mine, and it felt like an invisible iron clamp I hadn’t known was there suddenly let go of the back of my neck and just floated away in the night.