Dylan
Zoe keeps ahold of my hand the entire walk to Trevor’s house. Her smile and laughter are a welcomed change from the last week. Though as soon as she spots the porch full of people at the party, she slows down and her mood changes. “This is bigger than I thought it would be,” she says with a voice full of nerves.
She’s so anxious she’s squeezing the hell out of my hand. I can’t blame her, though, this isn’t her scene. The only reason she came was to make me happy. “Don’t worry. We can leave whenever you want.”
Trevor and Josh spot us first, and they both yell my name loud enough to draw attention. I give them a silent nod back, making sure Zoe’s okay.
“Dylan, they’re staring.”
“Because you’re so hot.”
She rolls her eyes but loosens her grip. This isn’t the kind of party she’s used to, Trevor’s parties never are. But she seems okay with the drinking and the smoking. Or at least she doesn’t comment about it. The dancing is a different story. That she looks the most unsure of.
She pulls on her strapless pink shirt, trying her best to put material where there isn’t any. “We’ll get a drink and go downstairs. It’s chill down there.” She doesn’t say a word, just continues to trust me as I lead her into the kitchen. We should have come in the other door because Letty’s standing next to the bar, her outfit consisting of a black lacey bra and skin-tight pants that make her look cheap.
Zoe fidgets and runs her fingers through her hair even though it looks fine. “Don’t,” I whisper in her ear.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t compare yourself to her. That’s not what I want.”
“I’m trying,” she says. And then she stares at the stack of cups on top of the speaker. As far as I know, Zoe hasn’t had a drink since she got wasted with Kyler.
“You don’t have any powder in your pocket do you?” I ask her with a smirk.
She punches my arm and shakes her head. “Dylan, I’m not like that. Well, not unless your name’s Chaz.”
“Just checking,” I tell her as I pull a plastic cup from the stack and dump two ladles of spiked punch inside.
Letty saunters by the drink table and Zoe’s eyes follow. Zoe takes the cup from my hand and dumps vodka, straight from the bottle, into the cup.
“Don’t,” she says when I raise my eyebrows.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were about to.”
“Have at it. It’s a party.” Maybe I’m a shitty boyfriend for not stopping her, but if she wants to get drunk, I’ll stay sober for the both of us.
“If you’re okay with it, why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what, Zo?”
She hesitates and then says, “Like I’m making a mistake.”
“Because that cup in your hand is angry—because of Letty.” How many times is that girl going to get in our way? Zoe has to believe me. I don’t want Letty. I never have.
Mentioning her name was the wrong move because Zoe hands me the drink and takes another cup off the stack. This time, she uses less punch with way more vodka.
“Are you trying to make yourself sick?”
“It wasn’t angry enough,” she says as she sips the punch.
Fuck me.
I shouldn’t have brought her here. We’ve only been talking for less than twenty-four hours. Granted it had nothing to do with Letty this time, but there’s bad blood there, and Letty can’t come between us again.
“Come on, Zo.” The basement is mellow compared to the scene upstairs. Trevor’s playing pool and some others are playing video games on the far side of the room. Music fills the space and Zoe takes a seat on the sofa, tucking her legs underneath her as she cradles the cup in her hands. Her drink must taste like shit because her face twists after every sip.
Trevor tosses me a pool cue. We normally play when I’m here because I sure as hell don’t dance. That’s Letty’s territory. “Zo, come sit by the table so we can talk.”
“I will in a minute,” she says as she rubs her arms to warm up. There’s no heat down here.
She’s never worn a shirt like the one she has on. Her exposed shoulders are sexy and the sparkles from her lotion line her collarbone. While I love that she’s trying something new, something outside her comfort zone, she doesn’t need to wear less for me to want her more. Nothing about her wardrobe will change my feelings. It’ll only get me into a fight if someone looks at her the wrong way, appreciating what’s mine.
Like right now, three guys by the window are checking her out. Just so there’s no confusion about who she came with, I lean down and kiss her shoulder and then her mouth. She groans against my lips and nibbles at my bottom lip.
I fucking love when she does that.
“What was that for?” she says when I pull away. I could ask her the same thing. She was leaving her mark just as much as I was leaving mine. Her pupils are so dilated, her eyes are on fire, and it has nothing to do with the alcohol.
“If I want to kiss my girl, I’ll kiss her.”
Her smile doesn’t last long because Letty’s cackle knocks it off her face. Zoe watches as Letty takes her time walking down the basement stairs, demanding attention with her grand entrance. Once she reaches the bottom, her eyes land on me.
Zoe takes a couple gulps of her drink, and I hate that she needs alcohol to get through the night. This party was the wrong choice. “Do you want to leave?”
“No,” she says as she gags a little. “I’m fine. Go play your game.”
I take off my button-down shirt and hand it to her. “You look hot as hell but put this on if you’re cold.”
Her dark eyes peer over the top of her cup, and I can tell the alcohol will be working in my favor when I get her home. “Thank you,” she whispers.
Those brown eyes stay on me, watching as I take each turn. I glance in her direction, just to let her know I’m thinking about her and that I feel her from across the room. But she knows. She’s always known.
“Yo, pay attention, fool.” Trevor digs in his back pocket and pulls out a folded-up piece of paper. “I had to show you this killer deal I found.”
It’s a brochure for an all-inclusive in Mexico. The resort we’ve talked about since freshman year. We couldn’t afford to go someplace every spring break and figured we’d do it up big before college ended.
Life was different as a freshman, though. I didn’t have Zoe. And I wasn’t paying for a place to live. “You still want to go?” I ask him.
“Josh’s sister works for some travel agency now. The rates she got us are killer.”
“I haven’t thought about spring break. I’ll probably stay local and visit my mom.”
“You have to come,” he says. “We’ve been talking about this trip for four years.”
Letty joins the conversation and peers over my shoulder as she says, “I’ll be there, Dylan. Come. Unless your girlfriend won’t let you.”
“I don’t need permission, Letty.”
“Good, so it’s settled. You’re staying with us. It’ll be even cheaper that way.”
“Define us,” I tell her.
“Me, Trevor, and Josh. We need a fourth. There’s two bedrooms.”
It doesn’t surprise me Trevor’s down with Letty staying with him. I see the way he looks at her, like she’s so close to being his. This trip is an opportunity for him to snag the girl. I get it. I used to look for those opportunities with Zoe all the time. But either Trevor’s blind, or he’s ignoring the way Letty looks at me. And it bothers me none of my friends considered Zoe or that I’d want her there.
“Trev, I can’t go. It’s not the right time.”
“What the fuck?” he says as he stuffs the brochure back in his pocket. “It’s Mexico.”
Out of respect for Zoe, I say nothing else about the trip. And then I take my next shot.
As soon as the ball’s in the corner pocket, Trevor starts up. “I know you love her, but this is it, man. The last spring break we’ll ever have together.”
“If I asked you to go someplace with me and leave Letty home, would you?”
He takes a step back when he realizes I have a point. “No, I wouldn’t.”
“And I wouldn’t leave my girl home, either.” This stupid conversation has me worked up, and I miss the next shot by a mile.
Trevor sinks his last ball in the side pocket and sets his cue on the table. After draining his beer, he pops the top on another. “Are you sure this is a forever thing? I like Zoe, but her sister’s the fun one. I still can’t figure out why you dumped her.”
“Trevor, I’m warning you. Stop before you say something you’ll regret.”
“I’m just saying, Zoe’s sitting over there like she doesn’t want to be here. Keely would be the life of this party.”
“That couch is the only place to sit in the goddamn room.” I toss my stick on the table. I’ve had enough.
Trevor’s in my face again, trying to stop me from leaving. “I know you care about Zoe, but this is the last time we’re gonna get to do this. I’d hate for you to put a girl before this trip and your friends. Because what are you going to do when the relationship’s over?”
Over.
I toss the word around in my head. Not once did I consider Zoe wouldn’t marry me someday. I assumed that’s what we’re working toward. But I am Zoe’s first boyfriend. What if she doesn’t want to settle down with the first guy she dates?
Na, not us. We’re solid. There’s too much on the line to be messing around with one another.
“I appreciate your concern, Trev, but Zoe and I are serious. You don’t have a clue what we have. I think it’s time we leave.”
“I’d have to agree with you because it looks like your girl already left.”
I turn around and the couch is empty. What the fuck?
I scour every inch of the basement, but Zoe’s not down here, so I charge up the stairs and run straight into Letty at the top. Her hands land on my chest and mine on her waist to keep us both from falling. “We should meet like this more often,” she says as she licks her lips.
“Have you seen Zoe?”
“She’s with Chris.”
“Chris?” All Chris does is smoke and get high. He’s always plastered.
Letty wraps her arms around my neck and smiles.
“You need to stop touching me.”
“You don’t mean that,” she whispers. “You want me, too. I feel it.”
“I love my girlfriend, Letty.”
“Dylan, come on. We’re going to Mexico.”
“You’re going to Mexico with Trevor. So, I suggest you figure your shit out before you come home and stop fucking around with him. He’s a good guy.” He’s being a dick tonight, but he’s still a good person.
“I’ve always wanted you, Dylan. Why do you think I moved next to your best friend?”
“What the fuck, Letty,” Trevor says as he stands at the top of the basement stairs, behind us. If what she said wasn’t enough to break his heart, her wandering hands are. He’s too good for that girl.
I look at both of them, so there’s no confusion, and say, “I’m not interested. Figure your shit out because I’m tired of it.”
Letty breaks down into tears, but I don’t have time to get in the middle of that mess, so I check the bathroom and the dining room. Zoe’s not there. This old house has a ton of places to hide, and she’s not in any of them.
Outside, I scan the lawn, spotting Chris sitting in the middle of the sidewalk. He’s probably too high to remember his own name, but according to Letty, he’s my best shot at finding Zoe.
“My man, Dylan. Long time no talk.”
“Hey, Chris, have you seen Zoe?”
“Zoe?”
“Pink shirt, long hair, brown eyes.”
“Dude, you described like half the chicks at this party. One hauled ass out of here about five minutes ago. Maybe she’s yours.”
Zoe wouldn’t leave without telling me. There’s no way she’d walk all the way home in the dark, but I have no clue how much she overheard. Trevor was spewing so much shit, it wouldn’t surprise me if she took off.
My call to her phone goes unanswered, and if she’s still inside, it’d be too loud for her to hear it, anyway. Maybe she’s in the backyard, the only place I haven’t looked.
I’m almost to the deck when my phone rings and her name lights up the screen. “Baby, where are you?”
“I think I’m lost.”
“Lost? What are you near?”
“I needed air because you were right, my drink was super angry. It went straight to my head, and I was afraid I couldn’t keep it down. But this weird kid was sitting outside, and he kept trying to grab me—something about trolls capturing us.”
“Trolls? That sounds like Chris.”
“I ran the other way when he tried to haul me into the car in the driveway. It’s so dark, I got confused and I think I went the wrong way.”
I’m jogging out front when I ask her, “Did you go right or left?”
“Left.” The wrong way.
“Okay, don’t move. I’m coming.”
I shove my phone in my pocket and dart across the street.
Look both ways. It’s a simple concept engrained into every kid’s mind from the time they’re old enough to put one foot in front of the other. But tonight, getting to Zoe overrides everything I’ve been taught.
She’s alone in a shady alley.
She’s scared.
And all I care about is getting to her.
The bright light blinds me and the piercing horn that follows makes my ears ache. But it’s the blow to my side that knocks me off my feet and onto my back.
I roll onto the ground, choking on blood as it pools inside my mouth and trickles down my lips. I try to spit, but end up crunching glass between my teeth, slicing my tongue open.
The blood is suffocating, and the silence deafening. My whole body is numb.