Chapter Eleven
Parties. I wasn’t a big fan of them. I knew Emma wasn’t either, which was why I chose to bring her to one. I knew she would feel uncomfortable, awkward and out-of-place, and that’s exactly how I wanted her to feel. Not only because I experienced great pleasure in watching her squirm, but also because I wanted to toughen her up a little bit.
As soon as we walked in, I saw her tense up and freeze in place, like a deer caught in headlights.
This was going to be fun.
I hadn’t shown Emma the list on my phone earlier, because so far, the only thing on that list was this party. I figured I would wait and see how things went before bothering to come up with anything else. I had to know for sure that she was going to be able to step out of her comfort zone without having some sort of monumental panic attack or something.
Absent-mindedly, I reached out my hand and placed it on the small of her back. My sudden touch made her jump.
She turned to look at me and for a split second, I regretted bringing her. She looked almost…scared. Fragile. If we were friends, I would have wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close and whispered into her hair that everything was going to be okay.
But we weren’t. So, I didn’t.
“Hey,” I said, leaning in closer so she could hear me over the music. “There’s no need to freak out, alright? This is just a party with a bunch of kids you go to school with. No big deal.”
She gave me a look that clearly said, “Yeah, right.”
“So, what’s the plan?” she asked, glancing nervously around.
“The plan,” I replied, “is we stay here for a little while. I bring you around to a few people—specifically Matt and his friends—and then we can leave.”
Her eyes widened. “Matt? You’re going to bring me to Matt?”
“Yes, I’m going to bring you to Matt. Why wouldn’t I bring you to Matt? He’s the reason we’re here.”
“But I’m not ready for that,” she said softly.
I threw her a curious look. “You’re not ready for what? To talk to him? I hate to tell you, Emma, but when you start dating him, you’re going to have to talk to him.”
Emma narrowed her eyes at me. “When I start dating him? That’s a little presumptuous, don’t you think?”
“Not at all. I know what I’m doing.”
She shook her head in disagreement as we began to make our way through the crowd. I grabbed her hand so I wouldn’t lose track of her and she immediately yanked it away. Okay, apparently, she didn’t like to be touched. That would be another thing we’d have to work on.
I was scanning the living room looking for Matt when a hand clamped down on my shoulder.
“Dude!”
I recognized the voice as belonging to the party’s host, Justin Daniels. Justin was one of the most popular guys at our school. Football player. Class President. Last year’s Prom King. And he was also a womanizer. A player. A giant tool. He and I weren’t close, we just ran in the same circles, and had some of the same friends. I never made it a habit to hang out with him, because for the most part, he sucked.
“Hey, man,” I said. “Nice party.” That’s how our conversations usually went: three or four words each and we were done.
“Thanks,” he said with a grin. His gaze flickered over to Emma and something changed in his expression. And whatever it was, I didn’t like it.
Instinctively, I moved to block her from his view, but he gave me a playful shove, moving me out of the way.
“Emma Dawson, is that you?”
“Yeah,” she answered in a voice so small, it could barely be heard over the music.
“Wow.” He blatantly began to check her out, his eyes lowering to her chest and staying there for a moment before taking in the rest of her. I was surprised he didn’t ask her to turn around for him, so he could check out her ass too. “Damn, girl, you look good.”
Her face grew pink at his compliment. “Thank you.”
Justin briefly returned his attention to me. “Heads up, bro. Your girl is making her way over here and she looks pissed.”
I groaned. ‘My girl’ was Grace. I knew she would be at the party—she was at all the parties—but I guess I hadn’t given any thought to the fact I’d have to face her. Or maybe I knew I’d have to face her, but I felt it was safer to do so in a crowded area. Where there were plenty of witnesses.
“Logan,” I heard her voice call out behind me. I closed my eyes and breathed in slowly, holding my breath until I began to see stars.
After counting to five, I turned around and found myself face-to-face with my sometimes-girlfriend.
She looked hot. Hotter than usual. Maybe it was the fact I hadn’t seen or talked to her in a few days. Or maybe it was the fact she knew I would be at this party and she wanted to make sure to look her best so she could seduce me into being “on-again” with her. Either way, her appearance instantly made me forget the reason I was there in the first place.
“Hey, Grace,” I said casually. I couldn’t let on that I was aware she was angry. It was best to pretend like I hadn’t done anything wrong. Otherwise, she would smell my fear and use it against me.
She stopped about a foot away and put her hands on her hips. She glared up at me and said, “Logan, where the hell have you been? Why haven’t you been answering any of my calls or texts?”
She was incredibly sexy when she was angry. “I’ve been busy.”
“Busy?” she echoed. She flipped her hair over her shoulder—something she often did right before she attacked. “Doing what?” Her gaze flickered over my shoulder. “And what are you doing here?”
It took me a second to realize she was talking to Emma. I’d almost forgotten she was still there, standing silently behind me, probably wanting to crawl into a hole somewhere.
Emma’s eyes widened and opened her mouth as if to respond, but Grace didn’t give her the opportunity.
Returning her full attention to me, Grace said, “Did you come here with her?” She thrust an accusatory finger in Emma’s direction.
Justin, who was also still standing there, draped an arm around Emma’s shoulders and said, “We’ll leave you two alone to talk.”
Emma shot me a look of panic over her shoulder as Justin began to lead her away. I sort of shrugged, not knowing what to do. I had to stay and talk to Grace. If I’d tried to follow Emma and Justin, she probably would’ve literally tried stabbing me in the back.
“Well?” Grace said, now folding her arms across her chest. “Explain yourself.”
I sighed. “Look, Grace, I’m sorry I haven’t been answering your calls or responding to your texts. To be honest, after the fight we had the other day, I wasn’t sure what the status of our relationship was, and I wanted to make sure you had a few days to cool down before we talked.”
Grace softened slightly, but I could tell she still wasn’t happy with me. “I would have thought you’d like to know how the date with my match went.”
Here was where I had to put my acting abilities to the test. I had to act like I cared how her date went, or who the date was with. “How did it go?”
“Horrible!” She threw her hands up in exasperation. “My match was Owen Lockwood!” She grimaced.
“What’s wrong with Owen?”
“He’s a jerk!” she exclaimed, scrunching up her face in disgust. She could have done a lot worse than Owen, who was another one of the most popular guys in our class, especially with the girls.
“I’m a jerk, too,” I pointed out.
“Yes, but you’re my jerk.” She pouted slightly. “So, who was your match?”
I stiffened, not knowing how to answer that. But I didn’t have to. As soon as she asked, my gaze instinctively flew over to Emma, who was now standing all alone in the crowd, looking miserable as she glanced around the room, probably in search of a familiar, friendly face. She was unlikely to find one.
“No. No way.” Grace shook her head vigorously back and forth. “Emma Dawson was not your match.”
“Actually,” I said, “she was.”
Grace’s jaw dropped. “That’s impossible! How did you get matched up with her? You two have nothing in common!”
“Apparently, we do.”
She looked horrified at the possibility. “So, what, are you dating her now or something?”
I almost wanted to say yes. I almost wanted to make her think that Emma and I were dating. After all, wasn’t that the whole point of lying on that test? To make Grace think that she and I weren’t compatible? To make her think that maybe my taste in women had changed so she would give up on me?
But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t tell her the truth either, so I instead opted to go with, “No, I’m not dating her. I’m helping her out with something.” I figured I might as well go along with what Emma had told her dad earlier. At least then our stories would be straight.
“What could you possibly be helping her out with?” Grace asked, undoubtedly confused by all of this.
“It’s a long story,” I said, hoping she would drop it.
Luckily, she did. With a sly grin, she placed the tip of her forefinger on the center of my chest and batted her eyelashes up at me. “Well, then, if you’re not with her, what do you say we take this conversation to an empty bedroom upstairs? I put one on reserve with Justin earlier, in case you showed up.”
Before I could respond, Grace lifted herself up on the tips of her toes and pressed her lips against mine in a soft kiss before whispering into my ear, “But we don’t have to talk, if you don’t want to.”
I could feel her lips forming into a smile and I swallowed hard in an attempt to tamp down the sudden feeling of desire that washed over me. With a low groan, I carefully pried her off me.
“As nice as that sounds, I should go check on Emma,” I said.
I knew right away that was the wrong thing to say. The smile vanished from her face and was replaced by a scowl. Her eyes narrowed and her face reddened—most likely from anger, but also most likely from the embarrassment of me turning her down. I’d never done that before.
Grace pushed me away and stepped back, her hands forming into fists at her sides. “Are you seriously choosing that nerd over me?” Her voice was dangerously low.
“She shouldn’t be alone,” I said. “She’s never been to a party before and I don’t exactly trust any of the guys here.”
“And since when do you care, huh? You hate Emma. How many times have you whined and complained about her to me? And now, suddenly you’re bringing her to parties and worrying about guys hitting on her?”
She had a valid point. But even though Emma and I weren’t friends, I’d brought her to the party, so I was responsible for her. I promised her father I’d bring her back unscathed.
“Logan,” Grace said, softening her tone just the slightest. “Forget about Emma. She’ll be fine.” She took hold of my hand and pulled me toward her. “I want to show you how much I’ve missed you this last week.” She lifted herself up again and ran the tip of her tongue lightly against my bottom lip before taking it gently between her teeth.
She knew that was a weakness of mine. She was evil.
Placing a hand at the back of her head, weaving my fingers through her beach-waved hair, I pulled her face closer to mine and kissed her—hard, fast, deep, and she returned in kind.
I guess I’d kind of missed her this last week as well.
But I couldn’t forget why I was there. Leaving Emma alone at her first high school party, with guys like Justin on the prowl, wasn’t fair to her. And I couldn’t risk it traumatizing her to the point where she no longer wanted anything to do with my plan.
So, I used every bit of willpower in my body to remove myself from Grace. “I’m sorry.”
Her face twisted into a look of pure disgust as she placed her hands on my chest and attempted to give me a shove. “Go to hell, Logan. We’re through—for good this time.”
I’d heard those words so many times in the last year, but something about the way she said it now made me think she was serious this time.
“Grace,” I said weakly, reaching out to her.
“Don’t,” she spat, swatting my hand away. “You were right, Logan. You are a jerk.” She glanced over my shoulder and added, “Oh, and you might want to go rescue your new girlfriend. Looks like Justin’s trying to get her drunk.”
I whipped my head around in time to see Justin returning to Emma’s side and handing her a red plastic cup. “Oh, I don’t think so,” I muttered to myself. As I began to move, taking long strides through the crowd in hopes of making it over to Emma in time, I heard Grace yell out after me.
“Screw you, Logan!”
A small group of kids standing nearby heard her and turned to glance curiously at me. This wasn’t the first time my relationship with Grace had created a spectacle at a party, so they were all used to it. They turned back to their own conversation as if nothing had happened.
I made it over to Emma just as the rim of the cup met her lips. “I’ll take that,” I said, grabbing it out of her hands before she had a chance to take a sip.
Justin scowled at me. “Whoa, what the hell, Logan?”
“Emma’s not interested in getting drunk, Justin.”
“It’s just Coke,” Emma said, all innocent and naive-like.
I snorted. “Just Coke my ass.” Justin could have put anything in that drink, and if the stories I’d heard about him at past parties were true, he probably had.
“Emma,” I said, grabbing her arm. “We’re leaving.”
She stared at me in confusion. “What? Already? Why?”
I ignored her questions as I began to lead her away. Away from the creep standing in front of us. Away from this stupid party. What was I thinking, bringing her there?
As soon as we were outside, I dumped out the drink and tossed the cup into the bushes.
“What was that all about?” Emma asked as we made our way to my car. “Justin was just being nice.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. “What, are you into Justin now or something?” I was suddenly more annoyed with her than usual.
“Of course not.” She frowned. “Are you okay?”
I raked a hand through my hair. “I’m fine. Grace dumped me and I’m not in a great mood.”
“Oh.” She bit her bottom lip. “I’m sorry. What happened?”
I didn’t feel like getting into the specifics, especially not with the girl who technically was the reason for the break-up. “She got upset about something, and then I didn’t do or say the right thing, so she dumped me.”
Emma remained silent for a moment, deep in thought before saying, “Why don’t you go back in there and try talking to her? Apologize for whatever you didn’t say or do? She’s crazy about you. I’m sure she’ll take you back.”
Except, I didn’t want her to take me back. Grace and I had been playing this game with each other for a year now, and I was tired of it. She was fun and hot, but girls like her were a dime a dozen.
“Nah,” I said as I began walking again. “I’m done. I don’t need that kind of drama in my life, you know?” I glanced down at her with a sympathetic smile. “Sorry I didn’t get a chance to bring you over to Matt.”
Emma shrugged. “No worries. I have no idea what I would have said to him, anyway.” She gave me a sheepish grin. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I can’t seem to formulate words when I’m around him. At least not ones I can get to come out of my mouth properly.”
I chuckled as we approached my car. “I’ve noticed. But don’t worry, that’s what I’m here for—to be your own personal Cyrano de Bergerac.”
Emma laughed. “I don’t think I could trust you to be my Cyrano.”
“Why not?” I playfully nudged her.
“Because you’d probably have me say something stupid or embarrassing.”
“I would never,” I said innocently, but we both knew I was lying.
“Hey, you want to go grab a quick bite to eat?” I asked her. “Then maybe we can head over to my house and we can flesh out this plan of mine a little more? Obviously, I could use a little help, considering how much of a bust tonight turned out to be.”
She seemed surprised at my suggestion. “Um, sure,” she said, after what appeared to be careful deliberation.
I opened the passenger door for her and she climbed into the car. When I turned to make my away around to the other side, I could see Grace standing in the doorway, staring out at us with fierce disapproval.
A brief feeling of dread washed over me as I got in the car beside Emma. Something told me I’d made a huge mistake with Grace…and she was no doubt going to make me pay for it.