Chapter 22

I turned and spotted Derek, barreling through the back entrance. He looked like a man on a mission, assuming the mission was to kill someone and hide the body.

Next to me, Joel said, "Let me out."

I was sitting on the end of the booth, with Joel squashed in beside me. My gaze remained on Derek. "What?"

Joel gave me a nudge. "I said, let me out."

"Why?"

"You've gotta ask?"

Derek's angry gaze bounced around the room, as if he were searching for something – or more likely someone – in particular.

I felt myself swallow. Me?

From the look on his face, I sure hoped not.

I looked to Cassie. "Do you think he's here for the party?"

"I don't know." She gave Derek a worried glance. "You're the one who said he wouldn't show."

I looked back to Derek, only to feel myself freeze. He was staring straight at our booth, looking angrier than ever. Almost before I knew it, he was pushing his way through the crowd, heading in our direction.

Next to me, Joel muttered a low curse. A moment later, I felt movement beside me and turned just in time to see him shoving himself up and jumping onto the table. His heel bumped an empty daiquiri glass, and it fell sideways – not breaking, thank goodness, but making me nervous, just the same.

I stared up at him. "What are you doing?"

Ignoring me, he stepped across the table and jumped casually onto the floor.

My mouth fell open. "Are you leaving?" With all the drama, I guess I couldn’t blame him. In fact, I decided, maybe that was the smartest thing. "On second thought," I said, "that's probably a good idea."

Joel gave me a look. "The hell it is."

Now, I didn't know what to think. Unsure what to do, I slid out of the booth to stand beside him.

He asked, "What are you doing?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "The same thing you're doing, I guess."

His jaw tightened. "Sit back down." He paused. "Alright?"

Before I could even consider it, I heard Derek's voice, calling out over the distance. "Hey! Asshole! I hope you like jail, because you're fuckin' going!"

I whirled to look. Suddenly, I couldn’t see Derek at all, because Joel had moved to stand in front of me.

Confused, I peered around his back, only to realize something that I should've picked up on earlier. The way it looked, Derek had been yelling at Joel.

My stomach clenched. Derek was one of my oldest friends. And Joel was – well, I didn't know what he was exactly – but I definitely didn't want trouble for either one of them.

I shifted forward and tried, unsuccessfully, to put myself between the two guys. But no matter what I did, Joel moved with me, blocking my path, even as Derek continued to plow forward.

I made a sound of frustration. "Stop that."

Over his shoulder, Joel said, "No way."

"Why not?" I asked.

"You know why."

Okay, maybe I did. It was the sight of Derek, who was still shoving his way forward. A moment later, Derek stopped, directly in front of Joel and demanded, "You hear what I just said?"

Joel gave something like a laugh. "Dude, the whole place heard you." He glanced toward the nearest exit. "You wanna take it outside?"

I blurted out, "No!" I lunged around Joel and placed myself not exactly between them, but close enough to join in their discussion, assuming you could call it that.

Both guys turned to look. Neither one looked happy with the move.

Derek glared at me. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Cassie jumped to her feet. "We're here celebrating her birthday, not that you seem to care."

"Yeah?" Derek said. "Well, maybe I've got more important things going on."

Cassie glared at him. "Or maybe, you're being an ass."

Ignoring Cassie's insult, Derek turned back to Joel and said, "The cops are on the way, so I suggest you stick around."

Joel looked utterly unconcerned. "Yeah? Why's that?"

"Three words, asshole." Derek straightened. "Grand theft auto."

My stomach sank. Oh, God. I should've known this would happen. I should've made Joel return the Camaro before anyone spotted it.

Instead, what had I done? I'd let him leave the Camaro at my place while he drove me here in my dad's car.

I froze. My dad's car.

Joel laughed in Derek's face. "That's the best you got?" He spread out his arms. "You wanna hit me? Don't be a pussy. Bring it on."

I spoke up. "Wait!"

Again, they both turned to look.

Dreading what I had to say next, I looked to Derek and said, "By any chance, you don't mean the Porsche, do you?"