NINE
WILLOW
Everywhere I turn at the party, there are reminders of Dante, or my nightmare himself looking my way. Each time our eyes meet, my heart gives a pathetic twinge.
I didn’t like the way I felt when I saw Eliana cozying up to him, and felt even weirder when he jumped to defend me against what his friends said about me.
What is wrong with me?
I can’t like him. I don’t want to like him.
Without meaning to, I seek him out at the other side of the fire. The dancing flames paint his handsome chiseled features in sharp relief. He’s in a thousand yard staring contest with the burning logs framing the bonfire and I wonder if he’s regretting what we did. As I study him, I also wonder how the hell anyone could treat a family member the way his grandmother treats him.
A sympathetic frown tugs at my mouth. I’m his only outlet for what I imagine is a lot of pressure built up and thrust on his shoulders because his home isn’t a safe space. I don’t know how he manages to keep his friends in the dark about what’s really going on with him.
I’m still annoyed about the pranks and the notes, but knowing what the root of his problem is, it’s hard to hold on to my anger as tightly as I have since he started lashing out at me.
Maybe there’s a way to make up for the failed essay before graduation. If it’s cleared from his academic record, his grandmother would have to stop being horrible.
Shaking my head to clear Dante from my thoughts, I try to enjoy the party. Luna’s actually pretty cool, although I could take or leave Chad. He doesn’t seem like the type of guy Luna would go for.
Case in point, he’s finally managed to make a move on her. I curl my lip at the way he grabs her ass and speaks too low for me to hear in her ear. She laughs, but there’s a line of tension in her shoulders as she nudges at his chest in a silent request for space.
“Chad, could you let go now?”
she asks evenly.
“Come on, babe. You’re killing me. All this flirting.”
He leers at her. “A man needs some action. You keep giving me the look.”
“What look?”
A hint of incredulity creeps into her calm tone.
Reading her body language, I prepare to grab the nearest drink, throw it on the guy, and help her shove him off, but Phoenix shoulders past me.
“Hey!”
he barks. “Get your hands off!”
“Phoenix!”
Luna twists in Chad’s arms. “Wait, he wasn’t—”
It’s impressive how quickly he gets between them, drawing her behind him protectively. She curls her fingers in the back of his hoodie.
“What the hell were you doing?”
he demands.
“Chill, bro. I don’t see your name stamped on her ass. She’s my date tonight. You can’t piss on her as your territory if she’s not your girlfriend or you’re not fucking her.”
“Hey!”
Luna shouts.
Phoenix narrows his eyes and punches Chad. It’s an impressive punch that lays him out with one hit. Luna seems unsurprised, but I jump. A couple of Chad’s football buddies come over, but they aren’t quick to jump to his defense with him knocked out and Phoenix looming over him.
“Don’t hurt him,”
she says. “He’s just drunk. He wasn’t going to do anything. I had it all under control.”
“He disrespected you,”
he growls in a dangerous tone.
“I…”
A complicated mix of emotions crosses her face. She blows out a breath and addresses the football team. “Can you guys take him to your cabin and make sure he’s alright? There’s ice in a cooler by the one we set up for a medical station.”
We all watch as they do as she says, carting Chad away. Phoenix flexes his fists and grits his teeth, standing over her like her guard.
“I need to talk to you.”
He catches Luna’s wrist in his grasp and leads her away.
“I’ll be back in a bit, Willow,”
Luna calls to me apologetically.
Once they’re gone, I swallow. I’m left alone. People have been shooting me surreptitious looks since Lowell announced to the whole party what happened in the cabin. I almost laugh. For once I’m not being judged for my personal style, but because I’m going down as the slut of the party for sleeping with Dante.
Girls shoot me jealous looks and guys eye me like a piece of free meat.
Ugh. I don’t want to spend the rest of my night being stared at. I put my skewer in a bucket of used ones, intending to go find an empty cabin to chill in.
“Here.”
Daniel appears at my side, startling me.
“Daniel.”
He offers a drink. After staring at it for a beat, I take it with a smile that doesn’t reach my eyes. I feel a bit like I’m under a microscope from the way he stares at me until I take a sip. My nose nearly scrunches—I don’t like vodka or juice, preferring rum and Coke.
Like the drink Dante made.
No. That needs to stop right now. I can’t keep comparing every guy to Dante.
At least it’s weak. Daniel’s cheeks tinge and he peers into his cup like it will tell him the answers to the universe.
“Thanks.”
An awkward silence blankets us and I cast around for something to talk about. “So, your poem was cool in class today. I liked the imagery.”
Daniel perks up. “You did? I was inspired by yours. Everything you write moves me.”
Keeping my polite smile in place becomes difficult. He doesn’t hold up the conversation. After a few agonizing minutes of silence, he mumbles something I don’t catch and walks off.
With a sigh, I dump the drink Daniel gave me and head down to the lake edge to get away from the party again. It’s peaceful out here.
Before long, it becomes clear that a peaceful place to think is the last thing I need. My thoughts return to the cabin with Dante more than once until I’m irritated with myself. Why can’t I stop thinking about it?
A twig snaps. My heart skips a beat. I didn't realize someone was following me, but I sense their presence behind me. The slightest hint of woodsmoke touches my nose and my shoulders shake with a quiet laugh.
Dante.
It’s ridiculous how being alone with him fills me with a warm glow.
Does he feel how the weird connection between us has pulled tighter tonight? At the bonfire he kept to himself, but maybe he saw me leave and came after me. We can’t ignore this. It’ll be better if we talk. We’ll work out our issues and I’ll help him with what he told me if he promises to stop leaving me notes.
The corners of my mouth curl as I turn around.
“Let me guess, you caught me slipping away, so you came out here to pull another pr—”
The rest of my sentence catches in my throat and I pull up short when I don’t find Dante lurking behind me.
It’s Daniel.
Disappointment twists my stomach.
“Willow,” he says.
His voice is strange. Like it’s charged with an electric current. Serial killer-esque, if I’m being honest.
“Daniel, hey. Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”
“Him?”
The way he sneers it makes my heart skip another beat. “Him who?”
“Don’t play coy. I know you don’t with him.”
He takes a step and I retreat warily. “You have to know, he’s no good for you.”
“I don’t know who you’re talking about,”
I lie. “Want to go back to the party?”
Daniel shakes his head vehemently. He keeps advancing on me. Chills rush over my skin and my uneasiness bubbles to the surface.
“He doesn't see you like I do, Willow. None of them do. But I see you. I watch you all the time.”
I gulp. “At school?”
“I always watch you,”
he says with an unsettling reverence. “Always. I leave you notes.”
“Notes?”
I interrupt. “You’re the one leaving me those notes?”
Daniel nods with a hum that makes every hair on my body stand on end.
Holy shit. It wasn’t Dante trying to mess with me. All this time it was Daniel.
Freaking me out. Stalking me.
The notes have been everywhere—all over school, in my car, in my house. Bile rises in my throat and a splash of water has me craning my neck. My boot is at the edge of the murky water. He’s herded me to the edge of the lake.
“And you came tonight.”
He sighs happily. “We can finally be together.”
I look around for an escape. “Listen, I’m not—”
“Willow.”
Daniel’s features collapse into a vicious scowl and he whirls around.
A breath stutters out of me. I’ve never been so relieved to hear Dante’s voice.