And then the song ends and I look up again, like a fool.

Anna and Kope are facing each other, leaning against the rail, looking bashful. I shoot my hearing up to them.

“. . . very much like to know your story,” Kopano is saying.

Oh, I bet he would like to know her “story.” On the outside, Kope is a smooth-talking picture of perfection, but I know what he’s like on the inside with his rare double curse. He’s bound by both lust and wrath. I’ll just bet he’s thinking he’s finally met his flawless match and he’d love to unleash all that withheld aggression on her.

When they stare at each other, standing far too close, and she doesn’t move away, I am overcome with deranged jealousy. Naturally she looks down at me at that very moment and I’m unable to school the expression from my face.

She sucks in a breath and looks down at her hands. My eyes move to Kopano as he looks at me, and I glare back. Disappointment seems to flash across his face as he catches my “back off” vibes.

That’s right, mate. Back. Off.

I’m all too keen to get to the party after the gig so I can stake my claim. Before I get out of my car I pull a fifth of Jack from under my seat and drink a healthy bit to hide any bond Marna and Ginger might see between Anna and me. It’s none of their business, and I don’t want to hear any ribbing.

I think of Anna’s voice mail as I approach the party, and I imagine her running up to me, throwing her arms around me.

But it doesn’t happen that way, does it? Girls run up to me, but none of them is Anna. I spot her through the crowd and what’s she doing? LEAVING THE ROOM WITH KOPE.

Bloody hell! The cheek of him!

I am wound tightly with fear and anxiety as the worst possibilities overcome me; did she come tonight, not to see me, but because the others forced her? Worst of all, is it possible she no longer loves me, and she fancies Kopano instead? After all, he’s everything I’m not. Would Kope plan a trip to seduce her, and then toss her off at the airport the moment things get heated?

No.

I don’t want to listen, but I feel compelled. I shove my hearing through the walls and hear Anna and Kope bantering, and then he’s telling her the story of how he abandoned his life as a Neph and got into Harvard.

God damn it, I feel ill. I need a drink.

I’m greeted at the kitchen counter by a platinum blond with a bottle of tequila. That’ll do the trick. The tequila, I mean. It’s loud in here. I glance through the crowd to see Anna hanging on Kope’s every word in his oh-so-charming African dialect. She glances up and sees me as I take the shot handed to me. Then she turns her back to me as if I mean nothing, and my vitals plummet.

I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe I let myself care this much for someone. I should be glad she’s out of my hair. She can be Kope’s problem now, not mine, but I’m not glad at all. I’m so fucking sad it’s pathetic.

On the heels of my sadness comes anger, crashing through. I never would have expected Anna to be so fickle. To love me one week and forget about me just as quickly.

I’m going to need a bit more tequila.

“Mind if I take this for a moment, luv?” I ask the blond.

“Only if you promise to come talk to me later.” She smiles up at me.

I touch her chin and say, “Deal.” Then I grab the bottle, lime slices, and shot glasses, and head across the kitchen to where my mates are gathering with Anna and Kope. When I’m standing right next to her I’m struck again by a sensation of betrayal. She’s acting sweet and innocent here with Kope, but I’ve seen her high and desperate for more drugs. I’ve heard her begging me to keep going. I know her. I know her when she’s sweet and I know her when she’s salty. I notice the way her eyes dart to the bottle with longing, because unlike the others, I’m watching for it.

“Tequila, anyone?” I say to her.

She squirms uncomfortably as others call for drinks and I hand them out.

“Kope?” I say, because I haven’t forgotten how he ignored my warning to back off. “Anna?” I want to call them both out for pretending to be perfect when they’re just as fucked up as the rest of us.

They just stare at me, clearly unhappy. Good.

“Oh, that’s right,” I say. “I nearly forgot. The prince and princess would never stoop so low. Well, bottoms up to us peasants.”

I’ve made everyone uncomfortable, and I don’t care. I want to laugh. It’s all a big joke, isn’t it? This thing called life, where we hurt, where we work so hard not to care, and then a bit of feeling creeps in and people use it to hurt us further.

We take our shot and it burns through my chest. I can see Anna gripping the counter, trying not to look at me as she craves the liquor in my hand.

“How’s your soda, princess?” I ask her.

“You don’t need to be hateful,” she whispers.

Her words are like a sharp pin to my inflated chest, and I feel like shite for half a second.

“If you ask me, I’d say the princess prefers a dark knight,” Ginger says.

If I’m the dark knight, Gin is wrong. “She only thinks she does,” I respond, but I’m not so sure she prefers me over Prince Kope at all. I can’t even look at Anna’s reaction.

We end up out back, and I tip up the bottle, chugging the pungent alcohol when nobody’s paying me any mind. I leave the empty bottle on the deck and head for the yard under the trees with the others. I sit heavily in a flimsy lawn chair and lean back, switching my gaze between Kope and Anna, who won’t look at me. If the two of them want me out of the picture, I’m not going to make it easy on them. It’s not how I work. I’m not a gracious loser.

Marna suggests a game of Truth or Dare, so I decide to cut to the chase.

“I’ll go first. I dare Kope to kiss Anna.”

It’s like a monk kissing a nun. Brilliant. I lean back and cross my arms, enjoying their shifty-eyed embarrassment. Anna suddenly stands, I’m assuming to get far away from me, but instead she heads straight for me and kicks my chair up. I lose my balance and topple backward like an idiot. But when I look up and see her standing over me with eyes ablaze, I can only grin.

There’s my girl. I’m relieved I’ve made her feel something.

Ginger and Blake are cracking up as Anna storms away. Jay goes after her, and then Marna trails him. I try to push my hearing out, only to realize I’m too drunk to do so.

Kopano is glaring at me hard. I get to my feet.

“Is there a problem?” I ask him, holding my arms out. I sound like my bloody father. Kope only sighs, as if disappointed.

Before he can respond, Marna is yelling my name. Excitement clutches me as I forget about Kope and head for the side of the house. Marna and Jay pass me, but I ignore them because all I can see is Anna standing there with her arms crossed and her head down. I move to stand in front of her, and my anger is smothered by a blanket of her softness. I’m at a loss. I know I’ve been a prick.

“Sorry,” I whisper, shocking myself.

“I’m sorry, too, about the whole chair-flipping thing.”

“No, I deserved it.”

She looks at me, and the world clears a bit. Just standing here, the two of us, makes me feel secure. I know it’s stupid and fleeting, but I can see in her eyes that she still feels for me, and that is all I needed.

I can’t let myself sober up while the twins are around. I can’t allow anyone to know how I feel, so I pull the flask from my pocket and take a long drag. Ugh, bourbon and tequila are not a good combination.

I’m not quite as drunk as I was ten minutes ago, but I have to keep a good buzz going. I walk with Anna back to the group. When we sit, I get a strange sensation up the back of my neck, and I turn to look for whisperers. The others are laughing and playing Truth or Dare for real, but I can’t shake the feeling something’s off. My hearing is still wonky from the alcohol, but I hear a girl near the back door say my name, and when I look up I see the platinum hair through the window.