“Wow, Lo, I had no idea. I'm so sorry, I just thought that perhaps they'd separated and you didn't want to talk about it.”

“Yeah, well.” My gaze lowered, matching my voice. “It’s not exactly a conversation starter.”

“I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine…” Laurie’s voice trailed off. “I’m here, if you need anything, okay?”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” I smiled at her but felt the sadness in it.

I'd left the restaurant and called Laurie to come get me. Now we were at school for the opening game pep rally. Girls had painted their faces red and white, the team colours; and the crackle of anticipation and the sound of blow horns filled the air. It was like nothing I'd ever experienced. Back home, school sports teams were lucky to pull a crowd of twenty, but from the sea of kids in their war paint it looked like everyone had turned up to show their support for the football team. I was just relieved it was outside and that we weren’t all crammed into the gym.

“Come on, let's find the others.” Laurie grabbed my hand and pulled me through the crowd. A couple of people smiled and said hello, their faces vaguely familiar from classes.

We reached Autumn and the others just as the band burst into chorus.

“Wow, its loud,” I yelled, earning me an eye roll from them.

“No band in England?”

I shook my head, jamming my hands into my lightweight jacket. “Not like this, no.”

From our position in the bleachers, we had a good view of the football field where the band marched in neat rows while the cheerleaders did their thing. I spotted Macey then Caitlin Holloway. Her blonde hair whipped around her face as she twisted and twirled revelling in the attention. Macey looked less enthused but still moved gracefully. Organised sports were never really my thing, and my eyes moved on to the sidelines where the team were gathered in full kit.

“There's Kyle.” Autumn nudged Laurie, with a giggle, and even I could appreciate their infatuation. The boy looked good, the whole team did. Until my gaze landed on JB and a shudder worked its way up my spine. Laurie had told me he was harmless, but there was something about him. Something that made my skin crawl.

The band finished and a man in a red and white baseball cap, emblazoned with a W, stepped up onto the podium, silencing the crowd. Laurie elbowed me and winked and went back to watching. He talked about team spirit and hard work and kicking ass and by the end of it, the crowd was in a frenzy again. Even Autumn and Laurie were bouncing on their feet, cheering and chanting. 

I didn't understand a lot of what Coach Munford said, but it was hard not to be swept away with the atmosphere. I felt it, the thirst for the win. It oozed from the team, reflected back at them from the crowd. Dad and Stella Drake became a distant memory as I watched Kyle jump on his teammates, enacting some kind of male bonding ritual. A hand slipped through my arm and Laurie nestled closer. “And now,” she said, “we party.”

~

This party was different to the previous two I'd attended. Girls were dressed down in team colours, some in football jerseys. But even though the dress code was lower key, it was just as crazy. It was at a boy called Brendon Palmer's house, right next to the ocean. I'd thought it couldn't get much more extravagant than the Holloway's, I was wrong. His house backed onto a private part of the beach and there was a big bonfire. Laurie informed me his family were huge football fans and it was customary for the Palmer's to host the opening game party. The youngest of four brothers, Brendon lived, breathed, and slept football, and his parents were all too willing to host. 

“Aren't you even a little bit curious?”

“Huh?” My head snapped over to Laurie's. We'd found a few lawn chairs and dragged them to the edge of the beach. 

“Where Devon is.” Her brow lifted a little.

“Hmm, where is Devon?” It hadn’t even crossed my mind he wasn’t here, but then since walking away from him at school the other day, he’d been avoiding me.

“Giving you space.” She smirked. “After your little outburst the other day.”

“Oh, come on.” I kicked my legs out in front of me and leaned back. “You deserved it and you know it.”

Laurie held up her bottle. “True, but you underestimate your cousins’ position in Wicked Bay High. Look around you, Lo.” She swept her hand through the air. “It’s always about money in Wicked Bay. Who’s got it, who hasn’t. But it’s more with your cousins. Because of Alec Prince. Because of who he is. Our parents want to be in his circle and their kids want to be in Maverick’s.” 

“I don't want to talk about them. Or my dad. Or anything that reminds me this really is my life now. I just want to drink and dance.” And forget.

Her eyes flashed with mischief. “That, we can do. But not too much, Kyle will—”

“Laurie!”

“Fine, fine. No more talk of them tonight. Just don't let me get drunk and go with him, okay?”

“Promise.”

I still hadn't cleared the air with Kyle. But I had bigger problems to deal with—like Stella Drake. Ugh. Annoyed at myself for letting my mind go there, I tipped back my beer and finished it off, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “I need another.”

I stood up and Laurie's eyes bugged. “Lo,” she warned. But I was already moving. Maybe it was foolish breaking the one promise I'd made Dad before moving here. But he'd broken promises too. Besides, Kyle wouldn't be far away, lurking in the shadows, spying on my every move. 

The path up to the Palmer's house was littered with empty cups and I wondered who would clean up tomorrow. Although they probably had a cleaner too. From the size of their house, they probably had a whole team of them. 

“Stone,” a deep voice said as I reached the back door. I swung around with a sigh, my eyes landing on JB as he sat on a low wall, clutching a bottle in his hand. “Didn't expect to see you here.”

I don't know if it was the adrenaline from the pep rally or the couple of beers in my system, but I closed the distance and tilted my head to one side. “Well, here I am.”

A wicked grin tugged at his lips as he stood up, his biceps straining underneath his jersey. “Here you are indeed.”

“Well, thanks for the chat,” I said. “But I need a refill.” I waved my empty at him and turned on my heels.

“Stone, wait up.” He was behind me, huge and imposing. I went rigid. Shit. Why had I engaged? His fingers swept my hair off my shoulder, lingering. His touch felt violating. I couldn't explain it but it felt wrong. About to shirk him off and get the hell out of there, a saccharine sweet voice called, “JB, come swim with us. We need warming up.”

I rolled my eyes, stifling a groan. He didn't move straight away and, for a second, I thought he might turn them down in favour of me. To my relief, he didn't. “I'll be right in,” he said in a husky voice.

It was my signal to get out of there. My body lurched back into action, and I slipped into the house. The kitchen was full of bodies, and every surface was covered with drinks or snacks. Dragging air into my lungs, I pushed forward, helping myself to a handful of crisps as I scanned the room for beer, but someone stepped in front of me. “We need to talk.” Kyle grimaced.

“No, we don't. I'm here to party, not talk.”

His eyes narrowed. “Are you drunk?”

“No,” I snapped, barging him out of the way and helping myself to a beer. 

“Lo, come on. This is me.”

“If she wants you to know, she'll tell you. Give her time.”

“Seriously? She's fifteen. If he did something—”

“Kyle.” I swung around almost colliding with his solid frame. “You're only a year older. Did you forget that in the middle of your knight in shining armour quest?”

“Yeah but she's a girl.”

“I'll pretend I didn't hear that.” I moved around him and headed for the door, but he was quicker and cut me off at the end of the island. 

“She's really okay?”

“She'll be fine. And maybe if you tried talking to her instead of treating her like a child, she'd come to you with stuff.”

He raked a hand through his hair and nodded. “Okay, okay.” His gaze slid to my drink. “Now, how many of those have you had?”

“Bye, Kyle.” I ducked my head and hurried out of there. He was worse than... well, worse than a dad who actually cared. I hadn't heard from my own father since I fled the restaurant. 

I swallowed a mouthful of beer, letting the sharp taste wash away my own feelings of bitterness. It wasn't that I didn't want Dad to be happy, of course I did. But he’d lied, and for all I knew, this whole move was a sham. It wasn't a fresh start for us—it was a chance for him to move closer to his new whatever she was. 

Something pricked at the back of my mind.

What if—

No.

He wouldn't.

He loved Mum.

They were happily married. 

But this was all so sudden. Much too sudden for a man grieving. 

Oh, God. 

I ground to a halt and downed the rest of the bottle. Beer wasn't going to cut it, I needed something much, much stronger.

~

“Kyle help me...” the girl sounded annoyed but I couldn't figure out why. My head lolled backwards, smacking against something hard, and a groan of pain gurgled in my throat.

“She weighs a ton, what the fuck did she drink? And why weren't you watching her?”

“Seriously, Kyle, I'm not her keeper. She wanted to cut loose, and I don't blame her after what her dad did.”

“What her dad did?”

My body felt like it was being dragged in two. 

“Oh crap, maybe I shouldn't have said anything.”

“Laurie...” Now the boy sounded annoyed. Did I know him? Was that Kyle?

“Kyle.”

“Ssh, Lo, we've got you. Just sleep it off, okay.” 

“Sleep, I like sleep.” The words came out slurred and someone chuckled. 

“Okay, get the door.”

I landed with a thud against soft leather and alcohol sloshed around in my insides. “Ugh,” I groaned, clutching my stomach. “I don't feel so good.”

“If she pukes back there, you can clean it up.”

“Me? It's not my fault.”

“Did you try to stop her?”

“You have met her, right? She's not one to fall in line, Kyle. And she was hurting, so back the hell off!”

There was a distant grumble. It reverberated into my body. Another door slammed and everything went black.

“What the fuck happened...”

I teetered on the edge of darkness. Something had pulled me out of its claws. Strong hands cushioned my head and slid underneath my legs.

I was floating.

Up.

Up.

Up.

“Drank too much.”

“You don't say.”

“Maybe I should—”

Growl.

Did someone growl?

A door slammed. And another. The noise trying to drag me back from the darkness. But it was no use. I gave over to it once more.

“Do you want me to—”

“I got it.”

“Whatever you say, Prince.”

Prince? There was a Prince here? I hope I looked okay. 

“What am I going to do with you?”

Who?

Me?

Darkness.

The hands disappeared and my body began to fall.

Down.

Down.

Down.

Until my back hit something soft. I sighed and then hiccupped. 

Gross.

“Jesus,” a voice said. Was that the Prince? I really should have made more effort to speak. Say something, anything. But my lips wouldn't work. They felt detached from my face.

“Lo? Do you need something? Water?”

I tried. Imagined opening my mouth, saying the words... but nothing happened. I no longer had control over my body. 

Someone smoothed my hair out of my face. There were fingers. Long, deft fingers. I blinked my eyes open trying to fight my way through the haze. Two inky black pools shone back at me. Then I was moving, being dragged onto my side. 

“I'll be right here, okay?” Warmth connected with my forehead. Soft and lingering. 

Then the Prince was gone.

~

I woke with hair matted across my face, dribble crusted on the corner of my mouth.

Ugh.

My head splintered into a thousand pieces as I opened my eyes and tried to get my bearings. What the hell had happened last night? I expected it to all come flooding back but it didn't. The memories were there, I felt them, but they remained tightly locked behind the haze of an epic hangover.

Slipping my hand under the covers, I made a tent and peeked down. Still fully clothed, I breathed a sigh of relief. Clothes were a good thing. Or were they? Had I gotten so drunk that someone had to put me to bed? 

Shame washed over me, and I flopped onto my back and listened for any signs of life, but was met with eerie silence. Sunshine poured into the room through the blinds and I rubbed a hand across my eyes vaguely able to recall the night before.

There had been dinner with my dad and a woman? St… Stella Drake.

My stomach rumbled and then churned violently. I threw off the covers and staggered into the small bathroom, dropping to my knees.

Oh God. I remembered. 

Dad had taken me to a fancy restaurant and ambushed me. 

I retched into the bowl, dry heaving until my throat burned. But nothing came up as I remembered clearly the way he'd looked at her.

Stella Drake.

The woman my father was in love with.

I slipped off the bowl and laid face down on the cool tiles, pressing my cheek to the marble. 

Dad was in love.

How had this happened?

More importantly, how had I not known?

My phone blared from somewhere inside my bedroom but I didn't move. I couldn't, as I tried to piece together the rest of the night. I'd fled dinner. Laurie picked me up. There was a pep rally at the high school. A party.

Lots of beers at the party.

It all came back like a bad home movie. I'd been on a mission to forget. Laurie watched on as I drowned myself in beer after beer until hitting the strong stuff. 

But the memories fluttered away into oblivion like a piece of string in the wind.

How had I gotten home? 

Another thought crossed my mind… did I want to know?

After another few minutes, I finally dragged myself off the bathroom floor. I splashed some water on my face and brushed my teeth, swilling my mouth twice for good measure. What I really wanted was a shower, but my legs were like jelly, barely able to support my body as I shuffled around the bedroom. So, instead, I opted for a change of clothes, swapping my jeans, sheer blouse, and vest top for sweats and a clean t-shirt. Running a brush through my matted hair, I swept it up in a ponytail and sat on the edge of my bed, scrolling through my phone. 

 

Kyle: How's the head?

 

I swallowed my pride and texted Kyle back asking if he knew how I got home. His reply came straight through.

 

Kyle: That's for me to know and you to find out 

 

Ugh. I was too broken to play games so I moved onto Laurie's text message.

 

Laurie: Hey, just wanted to check you're okay? Sorry I let you get so wasted.

 

I texted back.

 

Lo: You didn't let me do anything, I'm a big girl. Guess I just needed a blowout. No more though. I think I burned away my stomach lining. 

 

Laurie: Ouch. We’ll see you at the game, right?

 

Lo: Maybe. I'm not sure I'll make it out of the house today.

 

There was a good chance, I’d need a whole day to recover. Possibly two.

 

Laurie: You have to come. Call me later xo

 

I ignored the two text messages and one missed call from Dad, and went in search of fried food and water.