Chapter 18
Dove
Afew shots of tequila later, the girls have styled me to perfection with a silver bubble-wrap mini dress that comes off looking fancy as fuck and futuristic. Not cheap, to my surprise. My hair is out and hanging down my back in loose waves and my make-up is all shiny silver.
Shea grabs my hand as we walk down the long, steep driveway to the house on Main Street in Deadwater Bay so I don’t tumble over in the extra-tall silver heels she let me borrow. “Who did you say was hosting this party?” I ask, my anxiety getting the better of me being back in this town.
“Some surfer Carla met yesterday.”
Carla shrugs. “Don’t remember his name, but he was cute, sandy-blond man bun and ink, you know the type.”
Goosebumps skate over my skin. Yeah, I do, and it better just be the type and not the man I know. I’m sure I’m being paranoid. Those boys kicked me out. I’m sure Slater hasn’t thought of me since.
Music is blaring from the house before we even step foot in it.
Bodies have spilled out onto the driveway as well, some backing out, some just drinking and chatting.
We push our way through the crowded doorway and move through a sea of bodies dancing in the front room, staying close to each other.
Everyone looks so cool in their creative costumes, ideas I would never have come up with.
The boring ones are in plastic garbage bags with masking-tape belts, but they are still funny at least. We move right through the house and out to the back deck that looks out over the beach where it’s not quite as loud.
Carla drags me in the direction of a bar.
“Can you make margaritas?” Shea flirts with the dude behind the bar, grinning and tossing her hair over her shoulder.
“Sure can.” He smirks back at her.
“Three, please.” She turns back to us. “Okay, so we have a quick drink then we dance.”
“Sure you don’t want to hang by the bar?” Carla laughs, motioning to the cute bartender she was flirting with.
“No, it’s a girls’ night, we need to show Dove a good time.”
“I’m already having fun. Dressed in plastic and drinking tequila, how could I not be? You do what you need to, girl.”
He makes fast work of mixing our drinks and slides them across the bar. “Enjoy, ladies.” He winks in Shea’s direction.
With a giggle I take my glass and move over to the other side of the deck with the girls, leaning into the banister rail as I take a large sip.
It’s super strong, just what I need to wipe my memory of the last week.
Salt spray licks at my skin as I watch the waves tumbling in.
This house is the perfect spot for a party.
Shea’s fingers wrap around my arm, and she leans in. “Don’t look now but there is some hot dude checking you out.”
I take another sip of my drink. “You know as soon as you say don’t look, I want to.”
She laughs. “He’s gorgeous, girl, tall, dark hair, broad shoulders. His costume’s shit, though. He’s in a button-up and slacks. Maybe he didn’t get the memo.”
“Fuck, now I have to look.” I move subtly, turning just enough I can see the direction she was looking, but I can’t make out anyone by that description.
“You just missed him; he must have stepped inside or something.”
I polish off my drink. “Let’s go dance.”
Carla squeals, throws back her drink, and grabs my hand, dragging me back inside where the music is pumping.
I lose myself to the music, swaying along to the beat like I don’t have a care in the world.
This is what I needed. To stop running for long enough I can just live like a normal twenty-five-year-old.
Even when I was back in Breakers Point, I felt so on edge all the time that I couldn’t relax and be me.
Song after song, we move and laugh until my feet can hardly take it anymore and my cheeks are aching. “I think I need water.” I laugh. “This plastic dress is like a sauna.”
“I hear you, girl.” Shea wipes the sweat from her arms. The shower curtain would be just as bad.
We head into the kitchen where another bar is set up and grab a couple bottles of water. I throw it back quickly. My head is spinning, but this is the most fun I have had in so long.
“There he is again.” Carla whacks me in the arm.
“Who?” I squeak, grabbing hold of the bench beside me to stop from toppling over.
“The guy who was checking you out earlier.”
This time I’m faster to spin round. Too fast. “Fuck,” I mutter when my blurry eyes focus in on him.
“Fuck, he’s hot or fuck, get me out of here?”
My heart thumps in my chest, not sure what part of her question is truer.
Yeah, the man is hot, there is no denying it, but Kasen Throne is not who I wanted to see tonight.
But there is something in the air. Maybe it’s the tequila, but I don’t want to run away from him.
I’m not letting him ruin my fun with my new friends. “It’s fuck, I need another drink.”
“I knew you were running from some dude. Shit, girl, he’s gorgeous as well.”
“Shea,” Carla chastises her friend. “What did he do to you? Do we need to beat him up?”
I motion to the bartender for three drinks, who cares what we get. “Nope, we need to stay away from him. I’m here to dance with you girls.”
They both look puzzled but don’t push it. I throw back my next drink as soon as I get it, and they do the same. Then we move back onto the dance floor, resuming our place in the sea of sweaty bodies.
A hand lands on my lower back, and I feel hot breath on my neck. “Never knew bubble wrap could look so fucking good, but you pull it off like no other, baby.”
I stiffen, River’s voice doing things to me it shouldn’t, like light me up inside. And his touch might be soft, but it ignites flames within me. The girls both give me what-the-fuck looks.
I turn in his arms, my breath hitching when our eyes lock. He has on normal slacks, but his chest is mostly bare with just a few caution tape pieces running over it that don’t cover up anything. “You didn’t try very hard with your costume,” I snip, my resting bitch face firmly back in place.
He shrugs, his smile charming as ever. “Glad you did.” His hand runs down the length of my short dress until he’s trailing his finger along the hem where he pops a few of the air pockets.
“What are you doing here, Riv?”
His grin widens. “Could ask you the same, baby, this is our party.”
I take a shaky step back. What? It’s then I spot Slater clinking his bottle of beer with Kasen, and a white-hot fury erupts within me. Because I know I’m not being paranoid. I lean back to the girls. “That dude over there with the man bun, the guy that invited you?”
“Yeah, girl, hot, right?”
“No.” I suck in a sharp breath and push away from the girls and River, marching my way across the room toward the two assholes now watching my every move. “What kind of game are you two playing?” I yell over the music.
They give each other a look like they have no clue what I’m on about. “No game, birdie, you showed up at our party after telling us you wanted nothing to do with us anymore. Maybe it’s you playing games.”
My hands fly to my hips. “We both know it’s not.”
“Maybe she missed us already.” Slater laughs.
“That’s what I’m thinking.” Kasen leans in closer. “You miss me, sweetheart?”
I blink back at him. Sweetheart? What the hell is this shit. “What is wrong with you?”
His hand moves to my lower back, and in one move, I’m spun round so my back hits the wall.
He leers down at me. Slater is right there with him.
I feel the pressure of his eyes on me as well, but I don’t dare look away from Kasen.
“Looks like you’ve made some new friends.
How cute, settling into life back here already. ”
“I…” I glance back at the girls, who have moved back to the dance floor with River. He twirls Shae, and she giggles up at him. Oh, dear God, what is actually happening here? My glare flicks back to Kasen.
His lips turn up at the sides. “Don’t you think she looks happy, Bodhi?”
“She sure looked like she was having a good night to me. Did you have a fun couple of days with your new friends, birdie?”
My heart leaps into my throat. Do they know the girls already? Am I losing my mind? “Did you two set this up?”
“What?” Slater chuckles. “Why would we do that?”
I look between them, a weird uncomfortable feeling sinking under my skin.
“I don’t know.” I step away from them. They are so intense like this, all calculated control, and I’m not thinking straight.
I need air. Noise and moving bodies blur past me as I walk back through the house.
The cool air of the night is a refreshing change as I hit the balcony.
I take off my heels and descend the stairs, but I don’t stop there.
I keep moving until my feet are touching the damp sand.
I slump down, collapsing onto the sand, letting it squish between my toes as I stare out to sea, a calm washing over me with the constant rumble of the waves.
These fuckers are playing with me, I’m sure of it.
I don’t know why they would bother, what they are getting out of it?
But they have been weird since I got back.
Nothing feels like it should, and it’s confusing.
Maybe this is my dad sending me a sign. It’s weird, but for the first time in days I know what I need to do.
Stay and get answers. Like where the fuck is Jay?
Or did they know Keller was having an affair with my mum?
They might not know how she died, but I would bet my left tit they have all sorts of secrets they are hiding from me.
If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be acting the strange way they are.
When I have wallowed in my own self-pity long enough, I stand and brush the sand off my dress, a fresh wave of determination coming over me.
I turn to see the three of them at the bottom of the stairs.
My fists ball at my sides. They couldn’t even leave me alone down here, they have to stand there watching me like creepers.