“T-thank you.”
Footsteps pound down the stairs before Reid’s friend from the party the other weekend appears in the doorway shirtless with his pants undone and his hair sticking up every which way.
“You alright, man?” he asks, looking between the two of us, clearly expecting us to be fighting.
“Yeah,” Reid grits out. “You remember JD, right?” he asks me.
“Uh… yeah. How’s it going, man?” I ask, although I don’t need to. It’s obvious he’s good from the state of him.
More footsteps follow, only softer this time. A hand snakes around JD’s side before a woman appears, clearly dressed in the shirt he’s missing.
“You okay?” she asks, staring directly at Reid.
The tension in the room instantly ramps up and I can’t help but feel like I might have just outstayed my welcome.
“I’ll be in touch, Lee,” Reid says coldly, pushing up from the couch and marching over toward the woman. “JD will see you out.”
I can’t rip my eyes away as he steps right up to her, threads his hand into the hair at the nape of her neck and crashes his lips down on hers.
She squeals as he lifts her. Her bare legs wrapping around his waist before he marches them both from the room.
“What did you say to him?” JD asks, amusement dancing in his eyes.
“I… uh… asked a favor.” I shrug.
A door slams and he looks over his shoulder.
“Huh. Well, are you done?” He nods to my now empty mug and I stand.
“Yeah, I got what I needed.”
He leads me toward the front door and in seconds, I’m back at my car, staring up at the imposing house with way more questions about the ongoings inside that place than I did before I entered.
6
Macie
I lay on my bed staring up at the ceiling as the sounds of the others getting ready for their night out stirs around me.
They begged for me to come but I’m not interested. I would rather be in my own room, curled up and watching Netflix.
I’ve easily reverted back to my old reclusive life, but I can’t find it in me to care.
The Macie I was when I was with Leon wasn’t the real me, I rationalize. He made me crazy, pulled me from the place I feel safe—my comfort zone. I spent so much of my life not knowing what’s around the corner and where the next hit is going to come from that I’m more than happy being locked away and being completely in control.
The music from the living room is so loud that I have no idea we’ve got visitors until someone knocks on my door.
“Macie?” Nate shouts, and I wince.
Earlier it was hella awkward. I appreciated his concern, his need to go and hurt Leon for what he’s done, but what I really didn’t need was for him to step over the line like he did.
I’ve never felt that way about him, and I was under the impression he didn’t feel that way toward me either. But now, I’m wondering if that’s not the case.
I want to think that he was just feeling sorry for me, took pity on me for being screwed over by the first guy I ever let close but I’m terrified it’s more than that and the friendship that I’ve valued since starting here is about to be destroyed because of it.
“You’ve got visitors.”
My heart jumps into my throat as the first face that pops into my head is Leon.
I know it’s stupid. There’s no way he’s going to seek me out after everything but my stupid, naïve little heart can’t help hoping.
“Okay, hang on.” I roll off my bed and pull on an oversized cardigan over my shoulders before heading to the door.
“Hey, what’s—oh,” I breathe when I see more people than I was expecting, only one of which I recognize, standing behind Nate.
“I hope you don’t mind us gatecrashing but I had a feeling you might need some fun.” Letty smiles as she steps around Nathan and invites herself into my room.
“Uh…”
“You were in bed at seven pm on a Saturday night, weren’t you?” she asks, seeing the messy sheets.
“Um…”
“You definitely need us.”
Dumping two bags onto my bed that I didn’t realize she had carried in, the others step around a confused looking Nathan and they join us.
“You okay?” Nate asks, ignoring the newcomers and looking directly into my eyes.
“Y-yeah. I think I am.” I have no idea what Letty is planning. But I trust her. I know she only has my best interests at heart.
He hesitates for a couple of seconds as Letty and the others pull drinks and food out of the bags they brought with them and begin making themselves at home.
“Okay, well… we’re heading out in a bit.”
“Have a good night.” I smile at him, but it doesn’t come as easy as it used to and I hate it.
I see the same hesitation on his face too.
“We’re going to be okay, right?” he asks, clearly feeling as uneasy about this as I am. “Earlier, I didn’t mean for it to—”
“We’re fine, Nate. Promise,” I say, hoping that I’m right. It would kill me to lose him because of this.
With a smile and nod, he slips from my room.
“He was hot,” one of the girls says.
“Hands off, Vi. He’s a freshman, you’d eat him alive.”
“He looks like he’s man enough.”
“Ignore them,” Letty says as she and the one with pink hair step up to me while the other two continue to bicker. “That’s Ella,” she says, pointing to the petite blonde. “And the one who wants to screw your roommate is Violet.”
“And I’m Peyton. It’s nice to finally meet you,” Pink says, shocking the hell out of me by pulling me in for a hug. “I’m so sorry,” she whispers in my ear. “If we had any clue then—”
“It’s okay,” I tell her.
All of this is no one's fault but my own. I knew from the first time I looked into his eyes that I was making a bad decision. If only I’d listened to myself.
“So we thought you might need a night full of distraction. We’ve got drinks, food, face masks, the works.”
My smile almost splits my face as I look between the four of them.
“I’ve never had a girls’ night in before.”
“Well you’re about to have one. Boy talk is banned, in fact, from this moment on, the male species doesn’t exist.”
“What the hell will we talk about? Anyway, I want to know if Leon Dunn is as good in the sack as everyo— ow, what the hell was that for?” Violet sulks as Letty throws her cell at her. “What? I’m just curious.”
“I’d love to tell you,” I say, swallowing down the emotion her question drags up. “But I don’t have anything to compare it to.”
“He made you scream though right.”
“Jesus,” Peyton mutters. “You need to get laid, Vi.”
“It’s like you’re forgetting that you got railed by a frat guy last night,” Ella mutters. “And—” she adds before Violet gets a chance to argue. “I heard it all so don’t even try to deny it. What was his name? Peter, Percy…” Letty, Peyton and I snort with laughter as Violet’s face twists in horror.