Chapter 58
MUSIC BLASTS FROM THE MEYERS' place. The street is packed with cars on either side and scattered around are pairs or groups of partygoers with cups in hand. It took us nearly ten minutes of circling the block to find a spot that's close and still, there's a short distance to walk.
In the five minutes we've been parked, I had the time to watch a jeep pull up to the party house and out from it spilled four boys from the football team. Among them was Blake, his injured right hand wrapped thickly in cloth bandages, the wraps thicker around his three broken fingers.
His shoulder's been popped back into place.
I should have broken his fucking leg and jaw. If he can't walk, he can't leave his house. If he can't speak, he can't provoke Jace.
But this will work.
It brings no pleasure to be here at the Meyers' place for this event but it's important to Jace.
The party is similar to a rite of passage: the former captain of the basketball team passing the torch to the new captain, a celebration of Jace's time with the team, and a welcome for Ashton Meyers to the position.
Knowing either Blake, Harper, or Katy will be here – inevitably – I appointed myself Jace's personal bodyguard and driver.
A personal driver bearing in mind his illness and how it affects him.
It was an agreement David and Kathyrn Conner settled on at breakfast yesterday morning when I put forward the suggestion.
After that, I drove him to Ashton Meyers' house and returned for him when he called.
I think it pleased Kathryn by a landslide learning how serious I am about Jace.
"Are you going to be all right?"
He's half-turned his body to face me, elbow resting on the compartment by the handbrake. Despite the urge to drive off and go anywhere else, I give him a teasing smile.
"You're not angry with me anymore?"
It's the first time he's spoken to me since we left the waterfront restaurant after he succeeded in coaxing out of me how much I spent on our date.
He went through a range of emotions: first shock, next disbelief.
Third came anger and him reprimanding me for ten full minutes about casually spending over $130,000 on the first date while I grinned unapologetically throughout the whole ordeal.
I'm never not going to spoil him.
When I admitted so, he shut down and didn't speak to me during the stroll on the boardwalk.
He resorted to texting me:
Our date officially ended on The Boulevard, a hot spot where food truck and stall vendors line both sides of a street near the town's park. To prove a point, he paid for his own food and scarfed it down at one of the umbrella tables in front of the food truck.
I made a mental note: Baby doesn't like fine dining. Small portions make him angry.
He scoffs, pointing a reprimanding finger mere inches from my face. "I am still mad at you. But...less so."
Kissing the tip of his finger, it doesn't escape my notice how his eyes dilate tracking the movement though there's nothing sexual or lustful about the intimate gesture.
"You'll get used to it."
"I seriously doubt that."
I tilt my head. "You're so certain, Conner?"
"Is that even normal?" he whines in exasperation. "What's the pointing of spending so much on a gift and a date?"
"Because I love you."
Instantly, he deflates. His cheeks bloom red and he hides his face, turning away to lean against the door.
"I hate you," he murmurs against the smile in his voice. "That's cheating, Daniels."
His reaction makes me laugh. "It's the truth."
When he finally sobers, his cheeks are still a shade of pink, and the corners of his mouth are curled in a blush he's desperate to control. His gaze remains trained on the Meyers' front lawn where more partygoers are loitering.
"Don't change the subject," he argues, bringing the conversation to what prompted him to break the silent treatment. "Will you be all right to go in?"
"As long as those assholes don't bother you."
His fingers brush my jaw, prompting me to look at him. "Please try not to fight anybody. We'll stay for an hour but at the first sign of trouble, we'll leave."
"I make no promises." Jace narrows his gaze and I laugh. "I'll try."
He's not pleased with the answer but after considering it for a beat, he shrugs. "It's better than nothing."
Together, we get out of my SUV and head for the Meyers' property.
Though I'm certain that after Friday afternoon, half the school knows there's something going on between us, it doesn't stop the curious glances that flit our way.
Most I ignore, but the ones who stare easily get under my skin.
Especially the ones who duck their heads to whisper to their friends, their eyes following Jace as we march up the strip of concrete pathway to the front porch.
More people are gathered around the porch. Some guy takes notice of us and immediately ducks inside the house. A feeling churns my stomach, the hairs on my arms rising because I vaguely recognize the boy as one who started hanging around Jace's former friend group sometime last week.
That's the first sign of trouble and Jace hasn't met Meyers yet. Bodyguard duty goes into effect right now.
Inside the house, base vibrates the hardwood floor. The living room and front door are separated by a narrow hallway acting as a foyer where a few people are talking quietly between themselves. To our left, a couple is making out.
At the door, a girl with a red cup in hand is propped against the wall next to a small table with a drawer. She's from the cheerleading team. The girl looks up from her phone and flashes us a beaming smile, setting her cup on the table.
"Hey Jace! Sky! You guys came!" she shouts over the music. "Host's rules. You have to leave your keys with me." She holds out her hand and I shake my head.
"I'm driving," I shout back.
The girl casts a doubtful look as if she doesn't believe me but after a moment, she shrugs. "Okay," she returns, wagging a finger at me. "But I better not see you drinking anything."
"I'll keep him in check, Jane," Jace promises.
Jane holds up a hand. "All right. You guys have fun!"
Out of view of the crowd, Jace slips his hand into mine and pulls me deeper into the house.
The living room has been turned into a temporary dance floor.
The lights are turned off, the space illuminated with string lights and battery-powered lanterns strategically placed around the room to maximize lighting while giving the illusion of a nightclub.
Peering out at the crowd of dancing bodies, I have to do a double take and almost trip over my feet. My jaw nearly unhinges.
"Holy shit!" Jace exclaims. He tugs on my arm pointing at a couple across the room. "Is that...Dale and Laken?"
The two are in the corner near the kitchen bar counter. Dale never goes to parties so while him being here – because of Laken, no doubt – is surprising in of itself, it's the fact that Laken has Dale pinned against the wall, kissing without a care in the world that has me speechless.
What is this scandalous behavior from my future alphas?
Parties.
Public affection.
They're both wasted.
And that's worrying because we have incredibly fast metabolisms. The amount of alcohol that would hospitalize a human makes us tipsy at best. Which means they've got wolfsbane in their system – the non-lethal, painless kind.
The kind that's prescribed for medicinal or therapeutic purposes.
It's when I survey the room further and find Carter and Ash in the middle of the dance floor, arms around each other's shoulder, screaming the lyrics of the EDM song blasting through the speakers that I understand it.
Carter.
He's the only one of us who's routinely prescribed wolfsbane as a therapeutic drug to keep his animal instincts docile if he feels control slipping. I would not put it past him to sneak some to our friends.
He's done it before.
Fuck, I've taken from him.
Before I think better of the situation, Carter himself spots us across the dance floor. He says something to Ash and then they're both looking toward me and Jace, hooting and hollering as they navigate through dancing bodies.
Carter makes a beeline for Jace, stumbling once. A giggling, drunken mess, he pulls Jace into a crushing embrace. I give Ash a half-concerned, half-accusatory glare.
He and Carter have been getting closer lately and I half-suspect it's got to do with Ash not having found his mate. With Dale preoccupied with Laken, and I with Jace, that leaves Ash his only trusted, available option.
That, and Ash might be more lenient than the rest of us.
Meaning Carter could get away with a lot.
Ash quietly shakes his head. He's not nearly as inebriated though his eyes are somewhat droopy and cheeks rosy. He mouths one name.
"Kelly."
Fuck. They fought again and now Carter's drinking. This is never a good combination, but I won't stop him either. Not tonight when obviously, he needs it – to drink, have fun, and get out of his mind for a while.
"Look out for him," I tell Ash when he sidles closer to hear me.
"You know I will. Keep your phone close, though," he replies, his words slightly slurred.
I know what he means. There's a pattern we have recognized over the past year.
Carter and Kelly are doing great, and it lasts anywhere between days to weeks.
They fight. The fallout is bad.
Carter resorts to drinking and keeping himself drugged on prescribed wolfsbane until he decides to deal with the turmoil head on.
Then he's an asshole to everyone until he calms down again.
If he's in this condition already, the final step in the cycle may not be far behind and it's the version of Carter that worries us all.
Because when he's an asshole, he's downright nasty.
Cruel, even. And it's usually when he hosts parties at his family's beach house where his Fight Games take place.