The rest of the week passed without too much drama. Summer didn’t have any more outbursts, Dad was MIA most nights, and I rode to school with Kyle. Laurie and Autumn treated me like one of their oldest friends, and I avoided Maverick and Macey as much as possible. Which was pretty easy given their complete lack of interest in me.

But something was missing, and I felt restless. It was like living a split life. The kids at Wicked Bay High got the mysterious girl from England who smiled at the right times and laughed when someone cracked a joke. Then behind the closed doors of the pool house I became withdrawn and sombre. Dad’s absence didn’t help. He was the only person I had to talk to about anything here. Laurie had good friend potential, but it was still new. She didn’t know me—didn’t know about what I’d left behind in England. Dad was the only person who understood, and his answer was to bury the pain and throw himself into work leaving me to fend for myself. He might as well have thrown me to the wolves.

So, I did what any seventeen-year-old with a shed load of emotional baggage did. I pulled on my favourite outfit, smudged some gloss over my lips, and headed to another party.

“You look hot,” Laurie smiled as I ducked inside her car. 

“Thanks. So, remind me whose party this is.”

“JB Holloway's, the football captain; and his sister, Caitlin. She's a junior with us.”

She was? I must have missed that memo when Laurie was giving me the who's who of Wicked Bay High.

“Right, and the team will be there?”

“Yeah, it's like their pre-season party. The Holloways are rich, their house is like a freakin' palace. Seriously, the pool, ugh. I told my dad we needed something that size in our life and he told me to keep on dreaming...” She kept going but I tuned out. I was only here because it beat spending another night in the pool house alone. 

When her car rolled to a stop, I immediately saw what Laurie had been talking about. The two-storey house resembled a mansion with imposing alabaster pillars and a second-tier wraparound balcony. Holy crap. It was like something straight out of a magazine minus the streams of kids coming and going. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any more extravagant here, it did.

“Come on, let's find the others.”

I followed her up the winding driveway, my eyes dancing over the house. Surrey had some pretty posh estates, especially in the countryside, but this place was ridiculous. Laurie guided us around the side to a wrought iron gate and we slipped inside. Music blared out of the speakers positioned in the corner under a wooden gazebo, and a boy I didn't recognise stood behind a laptop bobbing his head to the beat. The huge pool had been turned into a water polo match and half-naked boys jumped and lunged for the ball while girls huddled at the edge in little bikinis shrieking every time the water splashed up around them.

I suddenly felt very overdressed in my jean shorts and sparkly vest top, and very out of my depth.

“This is crazy,” I murmured under my breath sticking close to Laurie. People waved and smiled at her, maybe at us. It was impossible to tell amidst the chaos. 

“You came,” Devon grinned sloppily when we reached him and Autumn.

“You're drunk,” I said poking him in the chest. He stumbled back and chuckled.

“Busted.” It came out slurred.

“Where's Liam?”

“Around.” Devon answered Laurie, but his glassy gaze didn't leave my face.

“Do you want a drink, Lo?”

A drink sounded like a very good idea. Anything to tamp down the nerves vibrating through me. I nodded at Laurie and she disappeared. 

“Come sit with me.” Devon dropped onto a big chair. “Whoa, is everything spinning?”

Autumn rolled her eyes. “I can't believe you're already wasted. It's not even eight-thirty. Ignore him, Lo, he's a goofy drunk.”

Devon caught my arm and pulled me down beside him. The close contact startled me. Sure, we'd hung out at school and chatted some, but this felt a little too close for comfort. “Devon,” I scolded, my hand pressing against his chest as he tried to wrap his arm around me. “Not cool.”

He immediately backed up giving me room. “My bad, maybe I drank more than I thought. Someone get me some water.”

“Here.” Laurie arrived with drinks. A cup of something for me and her and a bottle of water for Devon.

“You read my mind.” He swayed as he reached for the bottle.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have come if you were going to get like this.” Laurie narrowed her gaze on him and I got the impression I was missing some piece of the drunk-Devon puzzle.

“I’m good.” He waved the bottle. “This’ll sort me out and I’ll be fine. Don’t sweat it.”

“Whatever.” Laurie turned away to face the pool and Devon squeezed his eyes shut. I threw Autumn a ‘what the hell’ look, but she pursed her lips with a quick shake of her head.

“Eloise is in the house,” a voice boomed across the pool and Kyle sauntered over to us as if he owned the place. I groaned into my hands.

“I can still see you,” he said with a hint of amusement.

“Seriously, Kyle, do you have to do that?” I peeked up at him. “I’m trying to blend.”

“Why? You’re like the new shiny toy everyone wants to play with.” He arched his eyebrow toward the drunken boy who sat beside me.

“What do you want, Kyle?” Laurie sighed.

“I miss you, babe. Is it a crime to want to spend time with my girl?” He closed the distance between them, crowding her against the ornate brick wall.

“Kyle.” She slammed her hands into his chest and he staggered back. “Don’t do that, not in front of my friends. You’re drunk. Go feel up some other girl or play beer pong with the guys or whatever it is you do for fun.”

Kyle blinked as if she’d slapped him but his trademark smile slid back into place. “Oh, it’s like that? We’ll see.” He winked at her and then pointed at me. “Don’t be a stranger, Cous.”

“Lo. It’s Lo, arsehole,” I murmured knowing he couldn’t hear me. “Is he always so…”

“Hyper? Annoying?” Laurie said. “Take your pick.”

“He misses you,” Autumn stated. “It’s his way of forcing himself back in.”

Laurie folded her arms over her chest, glancing over at where he stood with a group of girls. “Yeah, well, it will take more than that.”

“Okay,” I said jumping to my feet. “I thought we were here to party.”

I could do this. It was crammed, sure, but we were outside. There was plenty of space and fresh air. Besides, the alcohol had already begun to calm my nerves.

Laurie and Autumn glanced at one another and back at me. “Well, yeah.”

“So, let’s go party. Devon, are you coming?”

He waved us off, looking a little green. “Go have your fun, I’ll be here, puking into the plant pot most likely.”

The girls followed me as I moved through the bodies. The pool was surrounded by a long lawn on one side and a patio area on the other. A huddle of girls had already carved out a dance floor, and I didn’t give myself time to think about it as I moved my body to the beat. Laurie beamed, spinning seductively, dropping down, and gliding back up. Autumn joined us and the three of us danced. I felt the stares from around the pool. Girls green with envy. Guys hot with desire. But I shut them all out, letting myself get lost in the moment. I’d done this plenty of times in the last few months. Gotten drunk or high and partied until the break of dawn. This was different. I’d made a conscious choice to step up next to the other girls dancing. I wasn’t motivated by the need to forget or drown out the pain. Sure, it was still there—it probably always would be—but this was a step toward healing.

To embracing my new life.

I hoped.

A couple of other girls joined us and the five of us danced until my skin had a fine sheen and my muscles ached.

“Water, I need water.” I mouthed to Laurie.

“The kitchen’s in there.” She pointed to a door behind me. “Want me to come?”

“I’m good. I’ll be right back.”

Slipping past the crowd lingering near the doors, I headed inside and found the refrigerator.

“I don’t think we’ve been introduced.” A boy stepped into my view although he couldn’t really be called a boy with so much muscle bulging out of the black tee hugging his body.

“Lo,” I said trying to round him to get to the fridge. But he had other ideas.

“JB, I’m the captain—”

“Of the football team. I know who you are.” I didn’t, not really, but the glint in his eye told me he ate girls like me for breakfast—or liked to think he did.

“Nice,” he smirked. “So, you’re the new Stone kid?”

“If you mean, I’m the girl temporarily living with the Stone-Princes then yes, that would be me.”

“JB, one of your jerk off friends is puking in Mom’s violas.” A petite blonde I vaguely recognised from school entered the kitchen and paused, her gaze landing on me. “Hello, I don’t think we’ve met?” She gave me the once over, the way girls did when they were sizing up the competition.

I went to introduce myself but JB cut me off. “This is the new chick living with Prince.” He gave her a pointed look and her expression slipped.

Interesting.

Something about finding out I lived with Maverick, or Macey, had her attention. I took one guess it wasn’t Macey she was worried about.

Her face narrowed into a scowl. “You’re Eloise Stone?” Despite the surprise in her voice, something told me she already knew exactly who I was.

It was my turn to narrow my gaze. “It’s just Lo.”

“Well, Lo, I’m Caitlin, though my close friends call me Cat.” She dismissed me and addressed her brother. “Please go and do something about your friend, JB.”

He pressed a thumb to his bottom lip, ignoring his sister and raking his eyes down my body. “On it. It was nice to meet you, Lo. See you around.”

Why did it feel like a promise … or a threat?

“One word of advice.” The hostility in her voice caught me off guard and I blinked over at her. “Stay away from JB.” She looked like she wanted to say more, but she smashed her lips together and sashayed out of the kitchen. I shook my head reaching for the fridge door. It really was like an episode of The OC around here. All I’d wanted was a bottle of water.

“Hey, there you are.” I spun around to find Laurie smiling at me. “I was getting worried.”

“Oh, I met JB … and Caitlin.”

She rolled her eyes. “How nice for you. JB is… well, he’s a guy with a dick, but he’s pretty harmless. Caitlin on the other hand, her claws are sharp.”

“I suspected as much.”

“She dated Maverick.”

That had my attention. “You’re kidding?”

“For almost a year. They broke up just before his junior prom. She’s had a hard time letting go.”

It explained the insta-hate radiating from her. I might have been ‘family’ but I still had tits and an arse. I knew the drill. To her I was a threat. She’d underestimated one thing though—Maverick’s anger at my arrival. Then a sinking feeling washed over me and I quickly did the math. A year?

“They were dating last summer? Funny, Kyle never mentioned her,” I tried to sound casual.

It wasn’t funny. Not since he’d failed to mention anything about his stepbrother at all. The more I thought about it, the more I realised what a strange situation it was. I’d spent almost two weeks with the Stone-Princes last year. Hanging out at their house. Visiting the local sights. And not once had I seen a photo of Maverick or heard them talk about him. Other than to tell us he and Macey were away for the summer with their dad.

“They got together at the start of Maverick’s junior year.”

After we’d almost spent the night together.

Fuck.

 “I feel like I’m in the middle of a bad soap opera,” I groaned.

She laughed. “Welcome to my life. Come on, Devon finally revived. He’s making a fool of himself on the dance floor.”

I grabbed a bottle of water quickly and followed her back outside, pushing thoughts of Caitlin and Maverick and their drama far out of my head.

~

“I can’t believe I almost missed my chance to get up close and personal with you,” Devon whispered in my ear as he pulled my body back against his chest. We’d been dancing together for the last couple of songs. The boy had moves.

I looked back over my shoulder at him and smirked. “Keep your hands to yourself.”

He grinned, running his hands up my waist. So, it was a little closer than I intended, but I was actually having fun. Devon felt safe—despite the vibes he was giving off. Maybe it was the fact he hung around with Laurie and Autumn or he didn’t look at me as if I was his next meal, like some of the boys at school.

“I need to pee,” Laurie announced and Autumn offered to go with her. I waved them off, sliding my fingers into Devon’s and waving our hands in front of my body, rolling my hips to the beat.

The sun had set a while ago, but the amber glow of lamps hanging around the place illuminated the Holloway’s garden. It was easy to get swept up in the moment. And when Devon turned me into his arms and his eyes dropped to my mouth, I almost let him kiss me.

Almost.

I turned my head and his lips grazed my cheek. “Burned,” he murmured as his eyes shuttered with embarrassment.

“No hard feelings.” I punched him in the chest. “I want to go slow.” The words sounded like a promise I wasn’t sure I was making, but I felt the prickle across the back of my neck. Of course, he had to pick this exact moment to arrive.

“Prince is throwing us daggers.”

I let out a heavy sigh and bowed my head. “I don’t know what his problem is.”

“Well, I do.” Devon dipped his head and slid his finger under my jaw, bringing us eye-to-eye. “You’re his now.”

“What?” I reared back.

“You’re one of them. Like it or not, he owns your ass now. He closes rank, it’s always been that way.”

“Devon, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I detangled myself from his grip. Aware we probably looked like a couple on the verge of a fight. Just what I needed. “I’m nobody’s.” I said, the defensive lilt in my voice obvious. “Definitely not a family that I just met.”

And definitely not the boy who looked at me like I was nothing more than dirt on the bottom of his shoe.

He didn’t look convinced as he raked a brisk hand over his hair. “Whatever. I need a drink. See you later, okay?”

I watched him leave. I’d been here a week and Maverick Prince was already screwing things up for me. My blood boiled, and I spun on my heels ready to march right up to him and give him a piece of my mind, but someone had beat me to it. JB was up in Maverick’s face, speaking to him—and only him—as everyone else watched on. His face gave nothing away, a steel mask, but I saw the quiet storm brewing. His fists clenched at his sides and I knew he was one second away from losing his shit. I’d seen the same look in my brother’s eyes more than once, usually right before he kicked someone’s arse.

I don’t know why I did it but I rushed over to them, acting as if I couldn’t see the hulk of a football player glaring at my step cousin. “Maverick, can we go? I need to get out of here. Like now.”

His eyes flashed to mine, and I saw confusion there. But then his cool exterior slammed back in place and he nodded tightly. “Go get in the car.”

“But…” I glanced between the two guys.

“London.”

It was a warning. Shit. Did I go and risk him getting into a fight or did I stay and risk making things worse?

I clutched my stomach and groaned dramatically, “I’m really not feeling well, can’t we just go.”

“If you need some help, I’d be more than willing to assist,” JB’s voice dripped innuendo and I felt Maverick tense beside me and felt sure the shit was about to hit the fan. But then his hand wrapped around my arm and he was all but dragging me out of the Holloway’s yard.