Chapter 15
SADIE
“What do you think?” Katrina turns my chair around and finally allows me to see her masterpiece.
My jaw drops. I don’t look like me.
“What did you do?” I ask. “I look so pretty.”
“You are pretty. I just enhanced your natural looks with makeup.”
“My hair feels so luscious.” I run my fingers through it. The blonde seems even lighter.
“That’s the effect of brushing it.” She laughs.
“Hey! I do brush my hair… on occasion.”
“I know. But it’s always in a ponytail.”
“Of course. I’m always training. It’d get in the way otherwise.”
“What are you planning on wearing?” she asks as she collects all her beauty products and puts them away.
I glance down at my favorite pair of jeans and flouncy top. “This.”
She glances at me with an eyebrow raised. “Really? You don’t want to wear a dress?”
“I only own one dress, and it’s boring as hell. I prefer jeans anyway.” I stand and go in search of my shoes.
“How about a skirt? You’ve got those soccer player legs. You shouldn’t hide them.”
I do have nice legs, but I never bothered flaunting them before. I want to look my best tonight though, and it has nothing to do with a certain someone who’s going to be at the party. My pulse accelerates just by thinking about Danny. Crap.
“I suppose I could wear a skirt.” I look in my drawers, remembering I already unpacked my micro jean skirt.
Anika made me buy it on a dare, but I never felt like wearing it, to be honest. It still has the tag on it. I change out of my jeans and into the skirt, then grab my Doc Martens from the closet.
Katrina scrunches her nose. “Are you seriously wearing those ugly boots?”
I press a hand over my chest. “How dare you offend my Doc Martens? They’re classic.”
She shrugs. “If you say so. It doesn’t really matter. No one will be looking at your feet.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not going to this party in the hopes of scoring. I just want to have fun with my friends.”
“And is one of your friends a tall and handsome football player?” She smiles slyly.
I watch her through slitted eyes. “Yes, Danny is one of my friends. And that’s all we are. Don’t get any ideas.”
“So you wouldn’t care if I went after him?”
A sliver of jealousy spears my chest. I can’t help but glare at Katrina, even though I should be keeping my expression neutral.
“I don’t care,” I say through clenched teeth.
“Holy shiiit. That was the most intense death glare I’ve ever received in my life.”
I sit on my bed to put my boots on and effectively avoid making eye contact with Katrina. “Whatever.”
Boots laced up, I jump up with sudden jittery energy and reach for my small purse on my desk. I can only fit my phone, keys, and some cash, but Katrina is driving tonight, so I don’t need to worry about bringing my license.
“I’m ready. Let’s go.”
“Eager, aren’t we?” she teases.
“Yes, I’m eager to mingle with people who are not getting on my nerves.”
“Gee, you’re so touchy. I won’t say another word about Danny. Promise.”
* * *
Good on her word, Katrina doesn’t mention Danny on the drive to the party.
It seems we arrive just when the place is filling up.
We follow the flow of partygoers going into the house, but soon Katrina is swarmed by her sorority sisters.
Not wanting to be engulfed by that sea of high shrieks and phony smiles, I step aside and lose sight of her.
My teammates said they’d come, so I pull my phone out and send a message to our WhatsApp group.
ME: I’m at the party. Where is everyone?
VANESSA: We’re all the way in the back. Beware of the dicks in the kitchen.
ME: You have to be more specific than that.
JOANNE: Nick Fowler and his buddies.
ME: Don’t worry. I can handle a few tossers.
I’m tempted to text Danny too, but think better of it. There are a lot of people here and we might end up missing each other, but I won’t seek him out, no matter how much I want to see him.
I push my way through the throng of people until I finally reach the kitchen.
There is a group of guys huddled together, filling red Solo cups and laughing about something.
They look positively pissed already. I ignore them and continue toward the door to the back.
One of them sees me and steps in front of it, blocking my way.
“Hello, gorgeous. Where do you think you’re going?”
“Taking into account that you’re not my father or anyone who matters, I don’t bloody need to tell you anything. Now move.”
“Burn, Fowler!” One of his friends laughs, and the others join in.
So this is the wanker Vanessa warned me about. His eyes flash with annoyance as he takes a step into my personal space. “Such a bitchy attitude for a pretty face. Don’t worry, I can fix your bad manners in no time.”
“Listen up, creep, because this is the only warning you’re getting. Move any closer and you can forget procreation. Although, thinking about it, I’d be doing humanity a favor by ripping your nut sack off.”
I can see Nick is not taking my threat seriously by the way his lips curl up in amusement.
Sometimes, words aren’t enough; people need to be shown you mean business.
I really wasn’t looking forward to getting into a brawl with anyone tonight, but hell, I’m not going to be coerced by an asshole who thinks a penis gives him the power to say and do whatever he pleases.
“Hello, party people!” a male voice shouts from behind me. “Welcome to La Casa Pike.”
Nick looks over my head and twists his face into a scowl. I half turn to see who came in. There’s a guy wearing a paper crown on his head with a pretty blonde who doesn’t look too happy to be standing next to him.
“Hey, Leo,” one of Nick’s friends says. “You’re out of booze, man.”
“Only because you drank it all, jackass.”
He staggers forward in my general direction. His eyes are glazed over, and to avoid getting pushed right into Nick, I jump aside. Leo’s drunken antics distract Nick enough to allow me to shove him out of my way.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” he asks, grabbing my arm.
In a knee-jerk reaction, I kick back, hitting his shin hard. He releases my arm and curses.
“Fucking bitch!”
“I warned you, arsehole.”
I’m out the door before he can say anything else.
My heart is racing as I stride through the backyard.
I didn’t expect such a high-intensity situation tonight.
It wasn’t the same, but it put me back in the evening in London when Anika and I were accosted.
I hate that someone like Nick Fowler made me relive my darkest nightmare. Fucking hell.
There’s a bonfire going, but I don’t see any of my teammates near it. I do see Danny though, talking to some girl I don’t know. I get jealous all over again, and that just adds insult to injury. This evening is turning out to be a total bust, and I’m a second from going home.
I pivot, changing my course of direction, and end up bumping into someone else I didn’t care to see tonight.
Danny’s ex.
“Watch where you’re go—oh, it’s you.” Her lips twist into a malicious grin. She looks over my shoulder, probably in Danny’s direction, then back at me. “Ah, it seems you’ve been replaced already. Too bad.”
“Piss off, psycho.” I push her out of my way, seeing nothing in front of me. My temper isn’t rising—it’s already reached boiling point. If I bump into another annoying person, I might punch them in the throat.
“Sadie! Over here.” Vanessa waves at me.
I walk toward her and see she’s hanging out with Melody and Joanne. No sign of the Three Musketeers.
“Jeez, what happened to you?” Joanne asks.
“I’ve met the dick, the witch, and now I need a drink.”
“Oh my God. She’s spewing bad poetry. Give her a beer already,” Melody tells Vanessa.
“I’d prefer something stronger.”
Melody raises an eyebrow. “Sorry, sugar. This isn’t a bar. We only have beer.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
Vanessa shoves a bottle of Corona in my hand. “Don’t listen to Melody. Here, drink this. It’ll take the edge off.”
“Thanks.”
I twist the cap off and take a couple big chugs, emptying half the bottle. Then I wipe off my lips with the back of my hand. Classy I’m not.
“Better?” Vanessa smirks.
“Not yet, but I’ll get there. You weren’t kidding. Nick Fowler is a major arsehole. I had to kick him to get rid of the wanker.”
“You kicked Nick?” Joanne asks. “Where?”
“Please tell me in his junk,” Vanessa pipes up.
“I got his shin. Sorry to disappoint.”
I drink some more, then ask, “So this is it? We just hang out here and drink beers?”
“For now. Why? Too boring for you?” Melody retorts.
“No, I’m just wondering. There’s music inside. I don’t mind dancing.”
Vanessa opens her mouth to reply, but then something behind me catches her attention. “Ah shit.”
“What?” I turn and see the blonde girl who came with Leo into the kitchen marching in our direction.
“It’s my twin sister, Heather.”
“Oh.”
A moment later, Heather joins us, and Vanessa asks, “What’s up, sis? Got tired of your boyfriend already?”
“Leo is a jackass. Can I have a beer?” She reaches for the cooler next to Melody without waiting for an answer.
“Hold on a second, honey. This is for Ravens only. Why don’t you go back to your flock?”
“Mel, come on. Let Heather have a beer,” Vanessa chimes in.
“Fine.”
“Thanks.” Heather takes a bottle from the cooler and, just like me, drains half of it in large gulps.
“Whoa. Slow down, Heather,” Vanessa says.
I’m distracted when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around and stare right into Danny’s eyes. The breath whooshes out of my lungs. I wasn’t expecting him and therefore didn’t put up my shield.
“Hey,” he says.
“Hi,” I squeak.
“Did you just get here?”
“Uh, no.”
“Hello, Danny, how are you?” Melody says in a mocking tone that indicates she caught on to his rudeness. He didn’t acknowledge any of them.
“Oh, hi, girls,” he replies sheepishly, then turns his attention back to me. “You look nice. Nothing at all like a lost pageant contestant.”
“Yeah, Katrina did a good job.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen your hair down.” He reaches over to take a strand between his fingers.
Fuck a duck. What the hell is he doing?
I clear my throat. “It’s not like we hang out all the time.”
He drops his hand as his expression becomes more serious. “True. Well, I’d better go look for Puck and Paris.”
“What? Andy and Jane aren’t coming?” Vanessa asks.
“Ah, not tonight. They’re still in the honeymoon phase.” He shrugs. “Well, I guess I’ll see you guys later.”
“Sure,” I try to reply, like I don’t care, but I think I end up sounding a bit snobbish. Shite.
Once Danny is out of earshot, Joanne says, “Was that weird or what?”
“I don’t know if it was weird, or he simply felt that Sadie’s cold behavior was too much like Siberia,” Vanessa replies.
“What are you talking about?” I look at her, genuinely surprised.
“You acted like you couldn’t wait to get rid of the guy,” Heather replies, then takes a sip of her beer.
“I did not!”
“Uh, you kinda did.” Joanne nods.
Stumped, I glance in the direction Danny went. Fuck. Did I mess up already? I didn’t mean to act like a cow.
“Ah, who cares? He’s just another dude who thinks he’s the king of the world because he has a sausage between his legs,” Melody butts in.
“Danny is not like that,” I retort. “Shite. I have to talk to him.”
“You do that,” Vanessa says, smiling from ear to ear.
I don’t have time to dissect that expression.
I finish the rest of my beer and head after Danny.
He went back into the house already, and I can’t find him that easily.
It’s too busy. Come on, now. He’s tall. It shouldn’t be that hard.
I wind up in the main room where the DJ is set up.
People are dancing to an upbeat tune that, at any other time, I might appreciate.
But I’m too concerned about Danny to care.
Bloody hell. A dude is making me act like a deranged twat. What the actual fuck? I’m doing exactly what I said I wouldn’t do.
I stop in my tracks, but the crowd’s motion pushes me forward until I’m right in the middle of the dance floor. I don’t know how, but someone managed to ride the wave of writhing bodies while carrying a tray of shots. He stops in front of me and hands me one.
“What is it?” I take the small plastic cup.
“Tequila.”
All right. I can use that. I toss the shot back, then take another cup from the tray. Why the hell not?
It doesn’t take long for me to feel the effects of the drink.
My body relaxes, and I forget Danny for a while.
I dance and dance, losing track of time.
And when “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd starts to play, I close my eyes and let the music take control.
All my problems evaporate into thin air and nothing matters besides the beat of the song. I’m definitely buzzin’.
I feel hands touching me, pulling and pushing in different directions.
Even with my eyes open, I can’t make out the faces of the people around.
The room is spinning, and everything is blurry.
Maybe I drank too much, but hell, I’ve never gotten that drunk after a couple shots of tequila and a beer.
I decide that maybe I need fresh air and some water.
Moving through the crowd isn’t as easy as before, and my legs don’t seem to want to cooperate.
Vertigo hits me, and I end up staggering forward and bumping into a body.
Arms circle around my waist, and I’m pulled closer to a bloke who is smiling too broadly and smells of beer and sweat.
I try to push him off me, but he only keeps his hold on me tighter.
“Not so fast, sugar. We have a score to settle.”
“Let me go,” I say feebly.
I push against his frame, but it’s like my arms are made out of cotton candy. With me firmly in his grasp, he steers me farther away from the dance floor. I have no idea where he’s taking me. I just know I have to get away.
“Sadie,” I hear someone call out, but I can’t pinpoint the direction the voice came from. Everything is so damn loud.
A second later, I’m pulled from whoever was holding me into the arms of another person. At this point, dark dots are clouding my eyesight, and I feel like I might pass out at any moment. There are shouting and angry words exchanged, but I’m too far gone to distinguish the words.
Then my legs seem to vanish from under me, and everything is pitch black.