Chapter 16
TROY
My shoulder is bothering me again, but I keep the discomfort to myself.
I got a ride with Andreas, and I don’t need him to get angry all over again over my accident.
He hasn’t brought up Charlie at all today, but despite his easygoing personality, he also has a mean streak.
Mess with him or his friends, and he’s out to get you.
We stopped by Zuko’s Diner to grab dinner, and during the entire time, Andreas blabbered about a set of twins he’d been screwing—not at the same time, he made sure to point that out.
In fact, it seems they don’t know he’s been tapping them both.
He plans to propose a ménage soon, but I told him it would backfire royally.
In his usual fashion, he wasn’t worried about it.
We’re ten minutes from the house when I receive a text from Charlie.
A surge of excitement runs through me just seeing her name pop up on my screen.
We’re no longer fighting like cats and dogs, which means my previous assessment that I enjoyed my fights with her because of the rush was false.
It’s her that gives me the high. And I have no clue what to do about it.
If it’s only a physical thing, then it should go away as soon as we bang. If it doesn’t, then that’s a problem.
“Who texted you?” Andreas asks.
“Charlie.”
“What does she want?” His tone turns dark. Yeah, he’s still not over Charlie’s part in my accident.
“She wants to know if she can host a game night at our place.”
“And what did you say?”
“I haven’t texted her back yet.”
“Say no just out of spite.”
“How old are you? I’m not going to say no.”
I text her back with a No problem , then look out the window, thinking about the conversation Brooke interrupted. Where was I going with it?
“Fine. I’m curious to see who her friends are. It’ll probably be fun crashing her party.”
“You’re not coming in unless you promise to behave.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t treat Charlie bad or anything. In fact, I’ll be so sweet to her, she’ll get a toothache.”
I glance at him, narrowing my eyes. “Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.”
He doesn’t offer another comment during the rest of the drive, and when we park in front of the house, his grin makes me suspect he’s up to no good.
I get out and head to the front, not bothering to wait for him.
He doesn’t follow me right away, but when he catches up with me, he’s whistling.
I notice the backpack strap hoisted over his shoulder.
“What are you doing with that?”
“I missed my gym session this morning. I figured I could lift some weights.”
“I thought you said you wanted to crash Charlie’s party.”
“That too.”
I’m not sure what he’s planning, but he’d better not pull some crap tonight. I throw him a meaningful glance before opening the front door.
The scene I walk in on makes my steps falter. I see Charlie and two guys I’ve never met, plus my sister, Jane, animatedly speaking at the same time. They’re so into their conversation that they don’t notice we just walked through the door.
“Jane?” Andreas says.
The conversation ceases in an instant.
She looks at us, smiling broadly. “Hey, you’re home. Hi, Andy.”
“What’s going on here?” he asks as if he lives here and not me.
“Dude, chill out,” I tell him.
“I came by to see how Troy was doing, and then Charlie invited me to play a game while I waited,” Jane explains.
“Oh, cool. What are you playing?” I ask.
“Betrayal at House on the Hill,” she replies.
“I didn’t know you were into board games.” I walk closer, not glancing at Charlie on purpose. I’m afraid if I do, it’ll show on my face what she’s doing to me.
“I’ve always wanted to play, but no one in my circle cares for them.”
“It’s because your friends are all lame.” The dude with spiked green hair bumps my sister’s arm with his elbow, making me frown. A bit too familiar there.
“Who are you?” Andreas asks, not hiding the aggression in his tone.
I whip my face to his, hoping he can see the warning in my eyes, but he’s not paying any attention to me. He’s staring at Charlie’s friend.
Shit . His beast mode is activated.
“You just got here. Shouldn’t you be introducing yourself first?” the guy sitting next to Charlie retorts.
Andreas snorts. “Like you don’t know who I am.”
“Why should they? You’re not a celebrity,” Jane replies, making my jaw slacken. Ten minutes of hanging out with Charlie has put sass in my sister. I’ll be damned.
Andreas seems to be at a loss for words as well. He simply stares at Jane, bug-eyed.
Charlie points at her green-haired friend. “That’s Fred, and this is Blake.”
I don’t miss when she touches the dude’s arm. She’s standing way too fucking close to him, and I don’t like it.
“How do you know Charlie?” I ask.
“I met Charlie through LARPing,” Fred replies. “But she and Blake have known each other for like forever.”
Crossing my arms, I look at her. “Is that so?”
“Yeah, I’ve known Blake since we were in kindergarten.”
I sense the guy staring a hole through my face, so I move my attention to him. Looking closely, I realize he seems familiar. “I’ve met you before.”
“Sure have. Ludwig dragged me to one of your games. He introduced us.” I try to rescue the memory from the depths of my brain, but before I can, he continues, “I’m the editor of the Rushmore Gazette . Let me tell you, I loved getting censored by the school administration because of you.”
Ah fuck . That explains why he’s shooting daggers at me.
“You shouldn’t publish garbage then,” Andreas pipes up.
Charlie whips her head around so fast, her ponytail slashes across the air. “My article wasn’t garbage.”
“What’s going on?” Jane asks, confused.
“Nothing is going on,” I butt in before things get out of hand. “Charlie and I have settled our differences. Let’s just keep the past in the past.”
My remark seems to mollify Charlie.
When she looks at me, her eyes aren’t crackling fire anymore. “Right. We’re no longer archenemies, unless Troy decides to join us for game night. Then all bets are off.”
Her lips curl into a mischievous smile that sets my body ablaze. I’m lusting for this girl badly.
“That’s an unfair challenge. I’ve never played that before.”
“And you’re not going to. I’m not about to waste another twenty minutes explaining the rules,” Blake grumbles.
“Hey. It didn’t take me twenty minutes to learn,” Jane complains.
“I know, but I’m going out on a limb here and guessing your brother will be a more challenging case.”
“Blake! Stop it.” Charlie hits him on the chest with the back of her hand.
I wave her off. “Nah, it’s okay, roomie. Cheap insults like that don’t bother me. But if you want to beat me in a game, I have Monopoly lying around somewhere.”
Blake makes a face of disgust, but his friend perks up in his seat. “Oh, I haven’t played Monopoly in ages. Let’s do it.”
I glance at Charlie. “What do you say?”
She smirks. “Oh, it’s on. And so you know, you’re going down.”