Page 42 of Broken Ties (Rixon High 4)

I let her words settle inside me. She was right, of course she was. Life was short. To waste so much of it loving a boy who would never feel the same seemed foolish. Yet how did you just switch those feelings off?

How did you learn to unlove someone?

“I need a drink, a really strong drink,” I declared.

“The start of every disastrous party story.” Sofia met my gaze again and grinned. “I like it.”

“Yeah. I want to dance and drink and maybe make out with a boy.”

Eli.

It would be Eli.

Because he was nice and cute and he liked me.

“But if I’m with Eli, we need to find a nice guy for you,” I said.

Sofia took the next turn and Deacon’s house came into view. A ripple of anticipation went through me.

“I think I’m done with the whole dating scene,” she sighed.

“Sofe, come on, it was one date.”

“One really terrible date. Tonight is about having fun and letting loose and I don’t need a guy to do that.”

I held up my hand and she high-fived me as I said, “To having fun and letting loose then.”

I couldn’t feel my face, but I felt great.

Better than great, I felt amazing. The music thrummed through me, echoing inside me like a second heartbeat, as Sofia, Ashleigh, and I danced on Deacon’s patio. My skin was slick with sweat, wisps of hair falling into my eyes as I rolled and popped my hips.

“This is so much fun,” I yelled, leaning into the girls. Sofia returned my grin but Ashleigh frowned.

“How drunk are you right now?”

“I can see you perfectly fine, but I can’t feel my face, so I’d say the perfect amount of drunkenness.”

“You need some water,” she said.

“Water smater. What I need is to dance. I love this song.” Throwing my hands above my head, I spotted Eli watching me from across the yard. ‘Hi,’ I mouthed.

‘Hi.’ His eyes drank me in, dropping down my body and taking their time on the way back up. He looked good enough to eat in black khaki shorts and a white polo shirt with a Rixon-blue collar.

Someone moved in front of him, obstructing my view, so I closed my eyes and continued dancing. Eli had given me space tonight. We’d talked earlier, had a couple of drinks together, but I’d told him I wanted to dance with Sofia and he’d willingly let me go. But I’d felt him all night, watching me. His heated gaze following me around the party.

And the drunker I got, the more I liked it.

No one had ever looked at me like that before. Like they wanted me. Like I was the most beautiful girl in the room. It was a powerful thing. An addictive thing, and I wanted more… more… more.

I ran my hands down my waist, swaying my body to the heavy beat. But when I opened my eyes again, it wasn’t Eli my gaze landed on, it was Aaron. He was sitting on one of the chairs around the firepit, sipping a beer, his injured arm still cradled to his body. His head snapped up as if he felt me, and our eyes collided, something inside me tightening.

Why?

Why was it like this?

Why didn’t hearts have a self-preservation setting to ensure they didn’t get hurt? I knew I needed to look away, knew no good could come from it, yet I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him.

I must have been drunker than I realized because I was sure I saw hunger in his eyes as his hand clenched into a fist on his thigh.

---