“We’re going to get drinks.” Finley took my hand and dragged me mercifully away.

“Gee, I can’t imagine why you don’t like them,” I said. “And they really seemed to like me.”

Finley smiled. “Hey, if they didn’t insult you then you should be worried. Just the fact that they took notice of you means they consider you a threat.”

We reached the bar and a tall, thin guy with a pair of thick rimmed glasses smiled down at us. “Hey, Finley, long time no see. What can I get you girls?”

“I’m not much of a drinker,” I whispered to Finley.

“Something sweet with not too much alcohol,” Finley told the guy. She glanced around casually and then she grabbed my hand so tightly her nails dug into my skin. “There he is.”

I glanced in the direction she was looking and found a guy who matched her description of Max perfectly. He seemed to sense we were staring at him and looked over with a friendly wave. The bartender pushed two icy drinks our way.

I leaned over to Finley. “This is your chance. Go talk to him before you lose him in the crowd and before you draw blood from my hand.”

She looked down at the death-like grip she had on me and laughed. “Sorry about that.”

“Go talk to him. I’ll wait here in the shallow end.” I lifted my glass. “I’ve got my floaties, and if I stay close to the side, I’ll be safe.”

I felt a bit like a nervous mother watching her child go off to school for the first day. I definitely wanted things to go right for Finley. In fact, I worried what may happen if it didn’t.

“I was beginning to think you weren’t going to show.” Jude was standing so close I could feel the heat of his body on my back.

I decided it was safer not to look at him. “Haven’t you heard the phrase fashionably late?” I glanced around at the crowd and realized Jude had instantly become the center of attention. Particularly with the female guests, and in particular, the two girls who’d I’d already met.

Jude pulled out his phone. “It’s eight minutes after ten.”

“I’ve already been here for at least five minutes.”

“Fine, then we’ll make your start time three minutes after.”

The two girls were making their way toward us. I looked back over my shoulder at Jude and wasn’t prepared for how close his mouth was to mine. It seemed to take us both by surprise and a heated hush fell between us.

“Here come the viper twins.” The words cracked out of my suddenly dry throat. “You’re on your own.” I picked up my glass.

“Jude,” the one with the nose diamond spoke using the same fake tone she’d used with Finley. “Cole said you weren’t going to show.”

I scooted away with no particular destination in mind. I could tread water for fifty plus minutes just to win the bet and then head back upstairs to the security of my room. Finley’s white blonde hair was easy to spot. She was standing next to Max, looking up at him with pure admiration. She seemed relaxed and thrilled to be standing there with him.

I peeked back through the crowd. Jude had vanished, but the two girls had been left behind. The only other familiar face in the crowd was Cole. He smiled and waved from across the room but appeared to be surrounded, and not surprisingly so, by a group of girls.

“And what is your name, beautiful?” I didn’t recognize the voice, but the mouthwash was definitely beer.

I turned around reluctantly. The guy was broad shouldered, semi-handsome, and completely drunk. And he was obviously not going to leave until I told him my name.

“I’m Eden.” I leaned out of the path of his toxic breath.

“I’m infatuated.”

I wondered how long he’d worked on that impressive little introduction. “Well, good for you.”

He stumbled closer. I took several steps back and glanced around for an escape route. Fortunately, Cole came to my rescue. “Hey, Mike, why don’t you slow it down? It’s early and you’re already shit-faced.”

The guy completely ignored Cole and leered hungrily at me. “Who’d you come here with?”

One match and I could have blown up the whole room fueled solely by his breath.

Cole took my arm and led me away and as slurred as Mike’s speech was he was able to pronounce the word bitch quite clearly.

“Sorry about that,” Cole said. “He wasn’t really invited. In fact, he’s never really invited, but he shows up anyway. His father owns a record company so most of us with family in the business just accept his presence. The dude really needs to go to rehab though. His liver is going to be toast before he’s thirty.” Cole walked me over to where his groupies were waiting anxiously for his return. They looked less than pleased to see me. I guess one more girl just meant one more competitor. “Hey, everyone, this is Eden. She’s a friend of the family’s and she’s staying with us this summer.” I guess it made complete sense that he’d made up a reason for my presence other than the true reason. But it was hard to know if he was doing it to protect Finley or himself. Surely other people in the room had to know that Finley had problems. For one, it would be ignorant for people in this kind of party hardy society to not notice that she never left the house. On the other hand, they all seemed so enamored with themselves, it was entirely possible they’d never taken note of it.

I nodded politely at Cole’s friends and then sipped my drink to keep from having to converse. The girls had no problem ignoring my presence until I asked a question that seemed to peak everyone’s interest.

“Where did Jude go?” I asked Cole.

“He rarely shows to my parties.”

“He was here just a second ago.”

A wave of pretty, powdered faces turned my direction. “Jude was here?” one girl asked. There was a glimmer of hopefulness in her tone.

“For a second,” I repeated and now regretted bringing it up.

One girl laughed. “I swear that boy does this just to torture us.” She looked at me and took the time to check out my shabby outfit before speaking again. “If you see him, you tell him that Kiley and her friends are waiting to see him.”

Cole threw me a small, almost imperceptible shrug.

I smiled back at the girl. “I will definitely tell him that. Cole, what time is it?”

He pulled out his phone. “It’s twenty-five after. Do you have some place you’ve got to be?” he asked with a grin. He caught sight of something over my head and motioned me to look that direction. Finley was sitting with Max on a small couch. She looked extremely happy and completely oblivious to her surroundings.

“Do you think she’ll be all right?” I asked.

“Yeah, she’ll be fine.”

“Who?” Kiley asked nosily.

“Our cat. She wasn’t feeling great this morning,” Cole answered.

“You know,” I said, “it’s kind of stuffy in here, Cole. I think I’ll step outside for some fresh air.” I plastered a smile on my face. “Nice meeting you all.”

I stepped outside onto the small patio off the party room. There were several people sitting out there on chairs, so as far as I was concerned, I was  technically still at the party. And according to my estimation, I had about half an hour of the drudgery left. Hopefully, Finley wouldn’t be too upset if I left early. A hand took hold of mine. My thoughts seemed to have conjured her.

“Eden, I feel bad. I hadn’t meant to abandon you like this. It’s just that I haven’t seen Max in so long.”

I held her hand in mine. “Finley, please don’t worry about it. I can handle this alone, but I’ll probably turn in early if that’s all right with you.”

“See, you’re bored. I knew you would be.”

“Really, Finley, it’s fine. I’ve never been much for big parties. I’m just glad you’re having a good time.” I smiled. “So do you still like him as much?”

Her blue eyes sparkled beneath the fringe of white bangs. “I do, Eden. He’s gotten even better, if that’s possible. And it looks like he’ll be sticking around town longer now. He’s going to work with his dad.”