Chapter 9 Barn Party
Barn Party
“Let me get this straight,” Kellan said from my bed over the biggest bowl of ice cream I’d ever seen. “You’ve spoken with Grey. Admitted your feelings for him. He’s admitted he has feelings for you. And now you’re going on a date with a girl.”
I glared up at him from trying to pick between three different outfits laid out on the floor. “It’s just a party.”
“But it’s still definitely a date.” Josh lounged on my bed as well.
Somehow my room had become a communal space despite the door having been closed five minutes ago.
“Look, things are complicated,” I said.
“He’s talking about the girlfriend,” Kellan said sagely before shoveling an impressive mound of ice cream into his mouth.
Josh nodded.
“I told him I wouldn’t be his sidepiece,” I said, deciding on the green shirt. I began stripping down to my underwear.
“So, that’s it, then,” Josh said. “No more Eth-rey.”
“What the hell is an ‘Eth-rey’?” I tossed my old clothes into the hamper near the foot of my bed.
“It’s the ship name for you and Grey,” Kellan said a little too cheerfully. “Eth is short for Ethan and Rey is—”
“I understand how shipping works,” I sniped, yanking the green shirt over my head. “My question is why?”
“Oh, we needed something to call you two,” Kellan said.
“You were talking about me that much?” I stepped into a pair of jeans that I knew made my butt look great. Just because this date was only half-hearted didn’t mean I shouldn’t look my best for it.
“Only when we were worried about you,” Josh said.
“So, like, every day.” Kellan laughed.
I zipped up my pants and pinched my nose as Josh joined Kellan’s laughter with his low chuckles.
“Good thing it’s over,” I said. “Eth-rey is a stupid ship name.”
“I’ll have you know I worked hard on it,” Kellan said, feigning insult. “Like at least two and a half minutes were spent coming up with it.”
“Imagine what you could’ve come up with if you had more than two and a half brain cells to devote to it.” Josh shot Kellan a wry smile to which Kellan launched a pillow in retaliation.
I ignored their bickering as I pulled on my boots. “Are you guys sure you don’t want to come? It’ll be a lot of fun.” I said it just as much to convince myself as them.
“I would, but I have—”
“Homework,” Kellan and I finished Josh’s usual excuse.
“What about you, Kellan?”
“Nah,” he said. “I’m already pretty stoned. I think I’ll finish this bowl of ice cream and watch some murder docs on Netflix.”
“Wouldn’t want to get in the way of that,” I said sarcastically.
“Should’ve told me about the party before the edible hit.” Kellan wolfed down more ice cream.
I sighed, checking myself in the mirror one final time. I looked good. Definitely better than how I felt about this whole date-with-Piper situation. But it was too late to back out. “I’ll catch you guys later,” I said. “Do me a favor, and turn off the lights whenever you decide to leave my room.”
Situated inside an old metal barn at the back of someone’s property, the party was well underway by the time we got there.
I could hear the music and smell the drinks and drugs and vomit before laying eyes on a single person.
The land surrounding the barn had been converted into a makeshift parking lot, with cars and trucks sprawled chaotically around us as our feet crunched on dead grass and twigs.
Though I could feel the music’s beat in my chest as we got closer, it took me a second longer to realize what song was playing.
“You’ve gotta know what you’re doing to me tonight.
You’ve gotta know that this is not all right.”
“God, are they playing Dreamscape?” I groaned. Just what I needed, a reminder of Grey’s existence during the date I was using to distract myself from him.
“Sounds like it!” Piper said excitedly.
“Don’t tell me they’re performing tonight.”
Piper laughed. “No, it’s probably just a recording of their demo.”
When I gave her a confused look, she continued.
“Their EP is on SoundCloud right now. You can totally listen to it whenever.”
That was news to me. I had to fight the urge to reach for my phone and pull up Dreamscape’s music. I was trying to do better.
We entered the barn, and the music enveloped us.
At least a hundred people filled the space, all dancing and drinking and laughing.
Some girls in the corner of the room sang along to the Dreamscape song’s chorus.
I wrinkled my nose in slight disgust—not because anything was wrong with what they were doing, but because I was frustrated with myself and annoyed that they could so casually enjoy Grey’s music when I was haunted by it.
“I’m getting a drink. You want one?” I asked, not even glancing at Piper. The air had suddenly gotten very thick in my chest, like I was trying to inhale water.
“Yes please!” she called over the music.
I immediately moved toward the drink table at the opposite end of the room, right next to the DJ. I was pouring two cups of punch, one for me and one for Piper, when Grey’s song finally ended, and I felt like I could breathe normally again.
“I’m so glad that song ended,” someone with an all-too-familiar voice said next to me.
Apprehension rising, I glanced over to find Grey standing next to me. He looked incredible, of course. His hair was perfectly parted. His eyes seemed to glow like dark embers in the soft gold light. And his scent was intoxicating. Desire swelled in me, colored over by annoyance at its existence.
“You don’t like listening to your own stuff?” I tried my best to keep my tone light.
“If you listened to each damn track as many times as I do while producing it, you’d be sick of it too.” The corner of his mouth twitched upward. “Listen, about the other day—”
“I’ve got to go,” I blurted. “I’m here with a date tonight.”
“A… date…” Grey repeated, clearly perplexed. “Well, you certainly don’t waste any time.”
“And you certainly don’t give a guy many options except to get over you,” I replied.
Grey winced, and a dark part of me took some joy from that.
The rest of me felt shitty about it. I lifted a hand to place it on his arm and provide some sort of comfort, but I froze, my hand in midair.
What am I doing? Shaking my head, I grabbed both drinks and left Grey at the table.
I couldn’t trust myself to be around him.
Piper waited patiently along the side of the barn, leaning against the metal wall.
She was smiling to herself, clearly enjoying the energy of the place.
My heart panged. Am I a bad guy for leading her on?
Hold on. Am I leading her on? I’d gone on this date with the explicit intent of not thinking about Grey.
Still, that felt a lot like using an innocent girl to deal with my own angst.
“Here you go.” I handed her one of the cups. No use overthinking it now. If and when things became an issue, that was when I would worry about them. As Josh had said, it was a bridge to cross when I came to it.
Piper thanked me and accepted the drink. “Did you see Grey’s here?”
“Why would I care about that?” I asked stiffly.
“Oh, I thought you liked Dreamscape’s music.” Piper frowned. “I mean, we went to a concert and everything.”
My face softened. “Yeah, I do. No, I haven’t seen him.”
She peered up at me. “Are you okay?”
I forced a smile and took a sip of my drink. It was meant to be suave, but I gagged when I realized the punch was strong as fuck. “Jesus, how much liquor did they put in here?” I managed to cough out.
Piper took a sip of her own drink, and her face went instantly red. “I think they’re trying to kill us.”
I laughed, and she joined in. I had to admit, it felt good to just laugh with a person.
It felt good being with a person without them having all the unnecessary baggage that Grey did.
Sure, there might not be the pure electricity with Piper like there was with Grey, but I didn’t care.
I liked being around her, and that was enough for tonight.
“We should just chug these drinks and go dance,” I suggested.
Piper shot me a mischievous smile then tossed back her drink. “Your turn.” She winked.
Shit. I accepted the challenge and threw back my own punch. And boy did it punch. The liquid scorched all the way down. I was pretty sure it could be repackaged and sold as a prescription to clear sinuses.
Setting our cups on a nearby table, Piper took my hand, and we made our way out onto the dance floor.
There, among the people grinding and swaying to the music, I could get lost in the moment.
Piper wrapped her arms around my waist, and we moved our hips back and forth in time to the music.
I wasn’t sure I would call what we were doing dancing, but it was fun nonetheless.
The alcohol was kicking in when I opened my eyes to find Grey dancing with Carina across the room.
He was staring at me while dancing with her.
Anger turned my vision red. I wasn’t sure who I was madder at—me or him.
I was mad at myself for yearning for him so badly that I had to force myself not to run across the barn and kiss him.
And I was angry at him for pushing me to this point, for pursuing me even though he was taken.
Piper reached up for my face with her hands. “What’s wrong?”
I could tell from the slight tilt in her voice that she was feeling the alcohol as well.
“I think they put Everclear in the punch,” I said. “I feel way more drunk than I should.”
She smiled. “Same.” Then she rose onto her toes, and her lips found mine.
I froze in shock for a moment. Her lips were so soft and squishy and slick. I didn’t know if I actually enjoyed kissing her or not, but her lips were there, so I kissed her back. Because why shouldn’t I kiss her back? She was an attractive girl, and we were drunk at a party, swaying to music.
Still, my eyes flitted open only to make eye contact with Grey, who smirked at me as if to say, Oh, so this is what we’re doing? The next thing I knew, he was pulling Carina’s face to his as he gave her a slow, passionate kiss, never breaking eye contact with me.
Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I watched Grey kiss Carina.
Grey’s eyes bored into mine as I deepened my kiss with Piper.
As if in response, Grey’s hand reached up to pull Carina into him.
He smirked at me as he nibbled on Carina’s bottom lip.
Her response was to wrap him in her arms and pull him closer to her.
Flashbacks to my dream of Grey bearing down on me played across my mind.
I could practically taste him, though it was Piper in my mouth.
I could imagine what that kiss must be like—how rough his hands would feel, built up with calluses from playing the guitar.
His lips were probably firm, too, strong and unyielding, an unstoppable force that had they been directed at me, would’ve come up against an immovable object.
Piper groaned, but I didn’t really hear her.
In my head, it was me across the room, tangled up with Grey, having his hands trail down my spine, raising gooseflesh wherever he touched.
It was him pulling me closer, tongue playing with my lips.
It was Grey who filled my nostrils—vanilla and spice.
And it was him who moaned with pleasure from my kiss.
And the best—or worst—part was his eyes told me he felt the same.
Though he was glued to Carina, he was with me in his mind’s eye.
Then the music stopped.
The tension rising within me shattered in an instant.
Piper pulled away from me, and we looked around, trying to figure out what was going on.
My face was flushed, and blood slammed through my chest. I was dazed, still hungover from Grey’s intoxicating eyes.
Every time I blinked, I could see him, watching me kiss Piper while I watched him.
“The cops are here!” someone shouted into the crowd.
It was enough to clear my head. Pandemonium erupted inside the barn. People ran for the exits, shoving past us to get there. Someone pushed themselves between me and Piper, forcing us apart.
“Ethan!” she yelled over the panicked cries of the partiers.
“Meet me outside!” I shouted back before the rush of people swept her away from view.
A guy shoved me in his mad dash to escape, and I slammed into the barn wall.
I tried to pull away but was immediately shoved back against the cold, hard surface.
I felt a pop in my rib cage as something hard rammed into my side, and I gasped in pain.
No one seemed to notice me pinned there as person after person ran past, even as some tripped over my feet and legs in the process.
I’m going to die here. What a stupid way to go, plastered to the wall in a barn, drunk on Everclear punch. Then my overdramatic ass realized the much more likely possibility was that I would be arrested by the cops everyone was fleeing from.
Just as I began to accept my fate and give up, Grey appeared. Like an angel sent from above, he was there, holding out a hand to help me up. I accepted his hand gratefully, wincing in pain as he made room for me to pry myself away from the wall. Even through the pain, my skin prickled at his touch.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I think I broke a rib,” I said.
He frowned. “You should go to the ER.”
“I’m sure several cops would be totally willing to drive me there.” I rolled my eyes.
“Fair point,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.”
He was still holding my hand. I kept thinking he would let go, hating that somehow it felt like that would be the worst thing to happen, but he didn’t release me. Instead, he gripped my hand tighter in his and led me out of the barn to safety.