5. Ghosts Always Return #2
“Hey lady.” Gina, my brother’s longtime girlfriend, pressed a long-stemmed wineglass into my hand, and her shelf of thick blonde hair fell over me as she pulled me in for a warm hug. “We missed you.”
I shook my head with a laugh. “What’s everybody doing up so late?”
“Waiting for you, of course.” My best friend Sloane answered, her baby blue eyes twinkling as she scrunched her nose and patted the kitchen stool between her and Ariana.
Meanwhile, Gina hopped up onto the counter next to Liam, and stuck her finger out in request. He smirked and paused working on the dessert to pipe a little heart onto her finger.
After she’d sucked her finger clean, Liam murmured, “You going to give me a taste?”
“Only if you come and get it.” Gina giggled, sinking her fingers into his dark wavy hair.
Liam parted her legs and stepped between them, grinning as he hauled her to the edge of the counter and against his broad frame.
He gripped her chin and bent to murmur something against her ear that had her squirming before he chuckled low and deep, and gave her a long, slow kiss.
The second they started making out, I rolled my eyes, because if there was one thing you needed to know about Liam and Gina—it didn’t matter the place or time, they were always all over each other, no matter who was watching.
“How was the drive?” Ariana asked, tucking a strand of her bouncy, strawberry blonde hair behind her ear.
“Long but uneventful.” I sighed, settling into the chair between the blonde duo of my best friends. “Glad to be home.” An understatement.
“Sar, it’s way too late for you to be driving by yourself.” Liam bristled, going all protective. “You should have just let the driver pick you up.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I rolled my eyes sarcastically. “But I’m fine, really. I’m here safe and sound, aren’t I?”
Liam returned to his dessert and started placing edible flowers all over it with a pair of culinary tweezers, not looking very convinced, but he knew I’d never give up driving for the same reason he wouldn’t.
Besides, driving myself meant I could blend in on campus a little easier, and try to enjoy a more normal college experience.
Driving was the last thing I had left, because everything else had basically gone to shit.
It was pathetic, but it was mine, and I wasn’t giving it up.
Liam, of course, had no idea what had happened during my freshman year.
Nobody in this room knew because if they did —I’d be stuck with some stuffy bodyguard glued to my hip, and that was not normal.
I found Liam watching me, and I gave him a big smile and then gulped down a heavy sip of wine, avoiding his discerning gaze.
“How is your women’s charity going?” I asked Ariana, “I heard that you opened up another shelter last week? That’s so great!”
“We’re doing really amazing.” Ariana grinned, “We were actually able to get another investor on board a couple of months ago, and we’ll be opening up several more shelters next year.
” Ariana was one of the Vandenbergh Hotel heiresses, and her latest passion was helping women find housing while they were getting back on their feet.
She was incredibly business savvy and driven, and she’d very successfully managed to step out of the role of socialite and into the role of an activist—something her father wasn’t incredibly thrilled with, unfortunately.
“Ariana, that’s so great.” Sloane exclaimed.
“I know, I’m really excited. I feel like we’re finally starting to get some momentum.” Ariana beamed proudly. “And once we?—”
“ There you are. ” Theo, another one of Liam’s friends, strolled into the kitchen looking grumpy as shit as his dark eyes locked in on Ariana. “I’ve been calling you for an hour, why the hell didn’t you answer?”
“My phone is dead .” Ariana’s eyes instantly narrowed. “And don’t you have anything better to do than continually ruin my social life?”
“Your father is looking for you.” Theo muttered, “Let’s go.”
“Now?” she complained.
“Yes, now. You’re not walking home alone in the dark, and I’ve got shit to do, so let’s go.”
“I think it’s past somebody’s bedtime.” Ariana muttered under her breath to me and Sloane, curling her lip with a face that Theo definitely saw, but pretended to ignore.
“Sorry, I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Ariana sighed, and her shoulders sagged as she threw her arms around me, giving me a hug.
“I’m glad you’re home, Sara. We’ve all missed you. ”
Bye, everyone chimed, and Ariana’s high heels clicked in defiance as she stalked past Theo, not even bothering to acknowledge him.
Theo’s hands curled and uncurled at his sides as he lumbered behind her, and Cade just rolled his eyes at Liam, who shook his head with a knowing look.
“So.” I grinned, kicking my feet up into Sloane’s lap. “How was Paris?! I saw the photos, and you looked amazing .”
Sloane tossed her silky blonde hair to the other side and shook her head with a crazed look in her eye. “ It was insane, you would not believe what happened. ”
An hour later, several more people had shown up, and everyone was still going strong, but I was delirious and in desperate need of some shut-eye, so I dragged myself upstairs and headed down mine and Liam’s wing of the house.
The housekeeper had left my bag in the hallway, and as I pushed into my room and flicked the lights on, I realized why. Jules was already fast asleep in my king-sized bed, her deep auburn-brown hair fanned across the pillow her face was currently smashed into.
“Sorry, Jules!” I whispered, quickly turning off the main light.
She only grunted in response and groggily patted the bed as I shuffled across the room in the dark. As quietly as I could, I rifled through my armoire looking for pajamas and grabbed the first thing I could find, yanking it on.
“Sorry, I smell like paint thinner.” I whispered, crawling between the sheets, too tired to do anything about it.
Jules responded with another sleepy grunt, but threaded her arm through mine, and I smiled because God, it was good to be home, back with my best friends, back with safe people .
I wasn’t sure what time it was when I finally woke up, but the sun was blasting through a crack in the brocaded curtains spanning my bedroom, and the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling was an explosion of rainbows painted across my wallpapered room.
Finding my tongue practically glued to the roof of my mouth, I reached for my emotional support water bottle and groaned when I realized I’d never brought it inside. The bed was empty, and the sitting room was quiet, which meant the girls were probably already downstairs.
With the faint smell of maple syrup in the air, I headed towards the kitchen for liquids and sustenance. My eyes were still half closed as I wandered down the dimly lit corridor, padding over cold marble floors until I reached the silk rugs leading to the main living areas.
Overhead, Christmas music tinkled through the surround sound speakers, and even though Thanksgiving was tomorrow, I knew my mother had probably been playing Christmas tunes since October. She loved the holidays and, maybe even more; she loved hosting parties.
I, on the other hand, loved eating all the delicious food she and my brother Liam whipped up, and this week I was going to do nothing but eat and sleep and be gloriously lazy. A respite I so desperately needed, and I couldn’t wait.
As I rounded the corner into the kitchen, the morning light was a full-out assault to my eyes, blasting through the giant windows that spanned the entire length of one wall.
“Good morning, sleepyhead.” My mother chimed from the stovetop as I stumbled into the kitchen on pure muscle memory. “You got in late last night.”
I grunted and groggily poured myself a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice from the ceramic pitcher we always used at Thanksgiving.
It was one of my elementary school art projects that had unfortunately found permanent residence among our holiday dishes.
Despite being slightly misshapen, with one droopy eye and lopsided feathers, Mr. Turkey had survived, year after year. He was sturdy, I’d give him that.
I took a heavy sip of orange juice, and that’s when I finally looked over the rim of my glass and saw who had been sitting at the breakfast table, watching me , this entire time.
Carter freaking Kensington.
Naturally, I immediately choked.