"Hey, you guys are here!" Steve welcomed us when we walked through the front door.

"Justin!" A guy yelled over and over from the back of the room in a hooting tone.

"Justin's here? Where?" A girl hollered over the music.

Guys backhanded their oblivious friends while girls whispered until they all turned to see us. Like dominoes, the crowd spread the news of Justin's arrival until every person zeroed in on us.

Justin released my hand and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, hugging me close.

Wrapping my arms around his waist, I realized that every person in the room had literally stopped what they were doing, and most were utterly shocked.

Yep, take us in, people. The most popular guy in school, once deemed unattainable, just walked in with Ember Pearl, the new girl. And, not only was he holding me close, but I was also wearing his crew's sweatshirt.

Needless to say, most of the shocked females quickly transformed into green-eyed monsters. It was the envious glares that brought me back to reality. Now, this was something I was used to. I could wrap my head around mean girls. Their anger was normal territory.

Justin didn't respond to the hoots of appreciation. In fact, he didn't engage with anyone at all or even seem annoyed by the massive amount of staring people as he scanned over the room, looking for someone.

Justin dipped his head, speaking only loud enough for me to hear. "Welcome to my life."

His comment took me by surprise. I found it oddly hilarious as I began laughing. "Oh, my God. This sucks. I'm getting it now."

"It happens every time. They can't help themselves." Justin squeezed my arm as he laughed with me, tugging me closer.

My smile landed on Steve. "So, did you give my room away, or do you still have one left?"

Steve pushed up his glasses as he sent me a wide grin. "Yeah, I saved it. I knew you'd show. I know a partier when I see one, and you're a partier. Come on. I'll show you around."

I smiled at Justin, tugging him along for the grand tour. He grinned and followed me willingly as the crowd parted for us.

"So, this is the main floor, obviously." Steve swept a hand toward the massive room we were already standing in before leading us past the stairs into the kitchen. "And this is drink central."

A crowd of people surrounded the keg, laughing.

A familiar black mohawk caught my attention among some guys talking in a tight circle. Feeling my assessment, green eyes began to glow before they found me. Scanning me from head to toe, his eyes began to shimmer at the sight of their signature hoodie keeping me warm.

I smiled and waved.

Lucas waltzed over to us with a red cup in hand. "Hey, Gorgeous. I'm glad you came. Want me to get you a beer?"

"Hell yeah!" I yelled over the music, and Lucas bit his lower lip as his eyes roamed over me.

"What about you, dude?" Lucas asked Justin.

Justin waved him off. "Water's good."

Lucas studied Justin's face for a moment and sent him a knowing look. "You got it."

Pushing up to my tippy toes, I spoke in Justin's ear. "Water? Again? I mean, it's all good if you don't wanna drink, but at least have a soda or something different than just plain water."

Justin smiled and grabbed Lucas before he walked away. "V8?"

Lucas grinned. "You want a Bloody Mary?"

Justin shook his head and rubbed my shoulder. "V8 straight."

I squeezed Justin's side as I melted back into his embrace. "Yum. I want some. V8's my fave. Now you can't leave my side all night."

"I never intended to," Justin lips grazed over my ear, and those frigging tingles took over again.

"Hey, you guys wanna see the rest of the house?" Steve asked, waving us toward the stairs.

"Yeah, just a sec, dude. My boy's getting us some drinks." Justin said.

Steve nodded, perching himself against the counter. "Have you guys seen Lucy? I was hoping she'd come tonight."

"Not yet, but she should be here around nine." I pulled out my phone to see the time.

It was nine on the dot, and I had thirty missed calls from Josh. My stomach twisted. I was such a bitch. Josh was sitting at home with a broken heart while I was out partying with another guy.

Lightly, I removed Justin's arm, putting some distance between us.

Justin's eyes cut to mine. "Everything good?"

"Yeah, I'm just feeling like an asshole." I forced a tiny smile and showed him the missed calls on my phone. If Justin was an ordinary guy, I never would've done anything like that, but damn, I could only assume he already knew.

Justin's jaw clenched as he dipped his lips to my ear. "We can still leave and go back to your place."

I shook my head and sent him a sad grin for being so understanding. "I'll be alright."

I started texting Lucy just as some dude from Lucas's group waved Justin over. Justin glanced at me for approval and I nodded with encouragement. I was okay with him hanging with his friends. I needed some time anyway.

After I finished texting, I leaned against the counter next to Steve. "So, how long have you been friends with Lucy?"

Steve glanced up at the ceiling. "Since... fourth grade?"

"Really?" I smacked his arm playfully. "That's a long time. You don't have some secret crush on her, do you?"

Steve's eyes shot to mine, wide with fear.

"You do? Holy shit. I was just joking." I bent over laughing.

"You're not gonna say anything, are you?" Steve wasn't laughing. He looked terrified.

My smile fell flat. "No, but I can try to find out if she likes you. If you want?"

"I don't know. I don't wanna ruin our friendship." Steve's eyes flicked between mine before a goofy grin crossed his face. "But, I do wanna know."

I squeezed his shoulder. "I'll find out for you."

Steve's cheeks flushed pink. "Thanks, Ember."

I nodded. "I'll see you later on, okay?"

Steve grinned and nodded.

Sticking my hands in my hoodie pocket, I edged around the crowd toward Justin and Lucas.

"Beer?" A guy with shaggy blond hair cut me off, holding out a red cup. "I'm Greg. You're Ember, right?"

Figuring that Lucas had one of his friends bring me the beer, I took it and nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

I chugged half, hoping it would help me relax.

"You made quite an entrance. I can't believe you're already hanging with the big boys. Just a heads up, you don't want to rub them the wrong way, or they'll toss you out like garbage." Greg was standing way too close.

Licking the beer foam from my upper lip, I tried to understand his meaning. "I'm sorry, what?"

Greg smirked. "They're a picky bunch, and I just think you should watch your back. They threw me out on my ass last year, but anyway, do you wanna go somewhere? We could get to know each other."

Glancing down at my beer, I studied it. "If they tossed you out, why'd you bring this to me?"

"Huh? Oh, you looked thirsty." Greg raked his eyes over my body like he wanted to lick me from head to toe.

My eyebrows slammed down. "Thanks for the beer, but you don't get to look at me like that."

"Come on. I brought you a beer. The least you can do is give me five minutes." Greg tried to caress my hand, but I dodged him and bounced off the wall, spilling my beer.

"Whoa. You okay? Here, let's get you cleaned up." Greg tried to grab my bare hand.

"Don't fucking touch me!" I yelled.

Greg's eyes went cold. "Why? You let them have a turn. I deserve a chance to prove myself, and God, you smell so good. I'm totally into your bitchy queen act. You'll—"

Greg was suddenly ripped backward, causing me to tense up until I realized Lucas had him. Greg instantly stopped struggling when he realized Lucas was the one holding the back of his shirt.

Lucas was livid as he glared daggers at Greg. "Don't you ever fucking come near her again, or I'll kill you. Got it, muncher? Even if she gave you a chance, you're not good enough to lick the dirt off her shoes."

Greg's gaze fell to the floor before he disappeared into the crowd.

Lucas's green eyes landed on me. His anger fizzled out before he held out his hand. "Come here."

My response was immediate. I took his hand, and calm swept over me. He tugged me into his chest, whispering in my ear. "Are you okay?"

I nodded, handing him the beer. "He brought me this. I thought it was from you and I drank half. You don't think he'd try to slip anything into my drink, do you?"

"Not if he wants to live." Lucas snatched the beer and threw it in the sink before he grabbed a full beer from the counter, handing it to me. "This is your beer. If I tell you I'm getting you a drink, it means I'm getting you a drink. I'll never have another person do my job, okay?"

"Okay." I bit my bottom lip. "Sorry."

"Never apologize. You didn't know. There's a shitload of people here, and I don't want anyone fucking with you. Besides, I'm the one that should be sorry." Lucas scanned my face before he placed his palm on my cheek, smoothing his thumb back and forth.

Hungry desire fluttered in my belly as I leaned into his palm. I wrapped my hand around his wrist. "No, I'm sorry for what I said today. I didn't mean it. You're important to me. I was just..."

The lime green specs in his eyes began to rotate as he waited for me to continue, but I lost my train of thought. My gaze skimmed over his lips that were hardcore begging me to kiss them. The idea of his tongue caressing mine teased me as my mouth began to water.

One side of Lucas's lips tugged up. "You were just?"

I searched his eyes. "What?"

"You didn't finish your sentence." Lucas chuckled as his thumb caressed my cheekbone. "What are we gonna do about us? We can't even touch without wanting more, and fuck, Gorgeous, I want you so fucking bad right now."

"Me too." The words barely left my lips.

His lips curved into a sexy crooked smile. "You wanna go somewhere?"

I nodded with a little too much eagerness.

Lucas didn't waste any time as he laced his fingers through mine. He grabbed my beer and set it on the counter before leading me up the stairs.

As we ascended the steps, Justin's gaze landed on me. The guys that Lucas had been talking to earlier surrounded Justin as he took a sip from his cup. Justin noticed my hand in Lucas's before he sent me a tight grin.

Justin was trying to be supportive, but the dark look on his face spoke for itself. He was having a hard time with this, which forced my guilt to resurface. What the hell was I doing? I just broke up with Josh.

Feeling my hesitance, Lucas threw me a quick glance, and his smile flattened to a grimace. "You good?"

"What are we doing?" I asked.

"Finding privacy." His eyes roamed over my conflicted face. "I'm not expecting anything. I just wanna be alone with you, but if you don't want to, that's okay."

"Fifteen minutes?" I asked.

"I'll take whatever you'll give me." Lucas grinned.

"Where's Tyler?" It was odd that I still hadn't seen him. I scanned the crowd from my new vantage point as we walked upstairs. I could see almost everyone, but Tyler was missing.

"Who knows?" Lucas's tone of voice made me uneasy as he tugged me up the stairs. "What you said earlier really got to him. He's probably just blowing off some steam."

I studied the back of Lucas's shoes as I thought about the horrible things I said to Tyler. "Blowing off some steam?"

Lucas's hand tightened around mine as he led me down a hallway. "Yeah, you know. Just being Tyler."

Just being Tyler? I knew exactly what that meant. I pulled my hand away from Lucas. "Where is he?"

"You don't wanna know. It's only gonna make you angry." Lucas's eyes dimmed to their normal green as he threw a glance down the hall where multiple closed doors could be hiding my... no... not my... just Tyler.

Refusing to get angry with Lucas, I released an aggravated sigh and stalked past him, weaving around countless people.

"Ember!" Lucas hollered at my back.

I wanted to turn around, but I couldn't. I had an asshole to find. I knew he was making out with a girl somewhere. This was partly my fault, but when I got upset, running to other guys wasn't something I did. Unfortunately, running to other girls was Tyler's coping mechanism, and I had to put a stop to it.

Opening the first door on the left, I found Missy and my hate club. I froze as they registered that their worst enemy had just walked in. "Sorry. I thought this was the bathroom."

Missy's anger was instant. "What the fuck do you want? We have no more guys for you to steal. Get the fuck out!"

"Damn! I said I'm sorry." I yanked the door, slamming it shut.

Releasing a heavy breath, I turned to open the next door. The room was dark, and I could hear panting. Flipping on the light switch, the panting stopped as I realized it was some couple nearly having sex, but I'd never seen them before.

"Sorry. I thought this room was empty." I quickly shut the door.

Okay. This search was going to be awkward as fuck.

Four rooms later, I was about to give up since my search only landed me in wildly awkward situations, but I only had two more rooms to go. I could do this.

Barging into the next room, I was happy to discover that the light was on until my eyes landed on a familiar guy's muscular shirtless back.

I glanced at the side table, spotting a black hat. Then my gaze shot to the black hoodie and shirt on the floor. Tyler.

My eyes skimmed up to the bed. His mouth was attached to the mouth of a pretty girl. His jeans rode low on his hips while he dry-humped the girl underneath him. Did I mention she was only wearing her panties?

Tyler and the girl kept going at it like I'd never walked into the room. Angry pain that I'd never felt before erupted in my heart.

Tyler stopped moving.

"What the fuck?" I yelled. "You're the biggest fucking asshole I've ever met in my life! I thought maybe I'd find you making out with some random girl, but no, you're about to fuck a random girl, you piece of shit."

With a quickness, Tyler got to his knees, but he didn't look back. "Who the fuck cares? You hate my guts anyway."

Eyes wide, the brunette struggled to pull up the blanket as her beautiful face flushed pink. She managed to cover herself before balling up and hiding her face under the comforter.

"I was trying to find you to say I'm sorry, but you know what? I'm not. I was right. You're a fucking... God, I can't even look at you." I spun as my throat closed up. Pressing my forehead to the wall, angry tears burst into existence.

Damn it. I couldn't cry over this. Pull it together, Ember.

I was so stupid. I thought this was some amazing fated relationship, and that they were all mine.

I'd thrown Josh away for them. What the fuck was wrong with me? I was the stupidest person alive.

Tears streamed down my face, dripping off my chin. Glancing down at Justin's tear covered sweatshirt, I struggled to rip it off just as Lucas and Justin burst into the room.

I shoved the sweatshirt into Justin's chest. "I'll find my own ride later. Whatever I thought was going on is over. I don't need any of you."

Justin's eyes glazed over as he took in my words. He grimaced and nodded.

Lucas didn't look at me as he glared at Tyler. "You motherfucker! You couldn't keep it in your pants for one fucking night? We fucking talked about this."

Refusing to look at us, Tyler crawled off the bed, grabbed his shirt, and pulled it over his head. "I'm sorry."

"You should be. I should've known you'd do this, but I was stupid enough to trust you, as usual. This time I won't be so lenient." Justin's face was stoic as his fists pulsed. "You have no idea what you've done."

Tyler's eyebrows shot up as his gaze landed on Justin. "She doesn't fucking want me. What the fuck do you expect me to do?"

"She wants you! She always has! Look at her." Lucas hollered.

Tyler glanced at me, and his tight features softened at my wet cheeks. "Shortie?"

Wiping the tears from my face, I clenched my jaw before I forced out my next words. "I-I don't need you. I-I don't need anyone. Stay the fuck away from me and stay the fuck out of my head. All of you. I mean it. I don't need this shit. I wish I'd never moved here."

Refusing to listen to any more of their bullshit excuses, I slipped out of the room. And, damn it, I couldn't help but feel their eyes on me as I shut the door.

!

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