If I had a drink, I would’ve choked. That was such a ridiculous request. “Um ... I graduated from high school, went to college, wrote two books, and now I’m back here.”
“I know that. I want to know the nitty-gritty. I’ve always found you fascinating.”
That was news to me. “I’m not all that interesting.”
“I beg to differ. You’ve always been fascinating. Isn’t that right, Hunter?”
I froze when I realized someone else had joined the party. Very slowly, deliberately, I glanced over my shoulder and found Hunter with Monica glued to his side. I forced myself to swallow because my mouth had gone suddenly dry. “Hey.”
“Hello.” Hunter’s tone was cool. I didn’t miss the icy glare he lobbed in Tristan’s direction. “I didn’t realize you two were spending time together.”
“We’re not,” I offered hurriedly. “I’m here with Alice.”
“But she’s trading up in the world and hanging out with me,” Tristan said pointedly. “We had a charming interlude this afternoon at the basketball courts.”
Hunter’s eyes narrowed. “The basketball courts?” I could practically see the gears of his mind working.
“I stopped by looking for Bobby Buttons,” I explained. I didn’t owe him any justification for my actions, yet I couldn’t seem to shut my mouth. “I ran into Tristan.”
“It was fate.” Tristan’s grin was wide. Unfortunately, the smile had very little to do with me. I realized that almost immediately, because his attention was fixated on Hunter. This was all about him.
“Oh.” I exhaled heavily, realization dawning. “I get it now.”
“What do you get?” Tristan asked, jerking his eyes to me. He looked ready to throw down, which I found interesting ... and mildly distressing. Monica also seemed to sense trouble. She’d begun tugging on Hunter’s arm in an effort to snag his attention.
“I get that ... Alice has my beer.” I was on my feet as fast as I could manage and swooped toward Alice. She seemed surprised by my excited approach. “Thanks so much.” I sucked from the cup, trying not to make a face at the taste of the beer. “Is this Milwaukee’s Best?”
Hunter smirked. “We’re classy. What can I say?”
“It’s terrible, but beggars can’t be choosers,” Alice said, taking the seat I’d just vacated without asking. “What are we talking about?”
“Stormy was going to tell us what she got. She said ‘I get it now,’ but didn’t say what it was that she got,” Tristan prodded.
“Like anyone cares,” Monica muttered, staring into the distance.
Hunter slid her a dark look but said nothing. I was looking for an escape. I caught sight of Bobby.
“I see someone I need to talk to.” I flashed a smile at Monica while steadfastly ignoring Tristan. “It was great seeing you again, Monica. You look really lovely.” With that, I spun on my heel and took off in the opposite direction, leaving Alice to clean up my mess. I knew she would complain about it when next we crossed paths, but I didn’t care. Getting away from Tristan was the most important thing on my immediate to-do list. I could only hope he would find someone else to focus on in my absence.
Bobby was tipsy when I caught up to him.
“Hey.”
He jolted at the sound of my voice, almost tipping over with a clumsy turn. “Um ... hi. Do I know you?”
It wasn’t the greeting I expected, but it was an opening. “Stormy Morgan. We went to high school together. You were a year ahead of me.”
“Oh, right.” Bobby nodded, as if he recognized me, but the vacant expression in his eyes told me that I was just one of many faces he couldn’t put a name to this evening.
“You should probably sit down.” I grabbed Bobby’s arm and led him to a fallen tree, pushing his shoulders so that he sat. “I wonder if they bring water out here.” I was talking more to myself than him, but he answered.
“Water?” He made a face. “Who wants water?”
“I think you should have some water.”
“I think I need some beer.” He made to stand but fell backward with a grunt as he hit the ground.
This wasn’t how I saw the evening going.
“What were you thinking?” Alice hissed as she appeared out of nowhere, making me jump.
I looked over her shoulder to make sure Tristan hadn’t followed. Thankfully, she was alone. “I’m not sure what you mean,” I lied easily.
“Oh, don’t even.” She narrowed her eyes to dangerous slits. “You know exactly what you did.”
“I’m sure you’re mistaken.” I moved around to the other side of the tree and stood over Bobby, who had given up trying to right himself. He remained stretched out on the ground, his legs still propped up on the tree, staring at the darkening sky.
“Sunsets are really pretty,” he noted, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “You’re really pretty, too, Sally.”
“Stormy,” I corrected, pinching the bridge of my nose.
“Is he already drunk?” Alice asked, moving to my side. She seemed to have forgotten she was angry at me in the wake of Bobby’s graceful showing.
“Apparently so, but I don’t see how that’s possible. The party barely started twenty minutes ago.”
“Yeah, but he doesn’t have the best reputation.” Alice hunkered down and pressed her finger to the spot between Bobby’s eyebrows, laughing at the way his eyes crossed as he tried to see what she was doing. “This is fun.”
That was so not the word I would use to describe what was happening. “We need to sober him up if we expect to get information out of him.” I would never talk about someone directly in front of them — that’s just bad manners — but it was obvious Bobby wouldn’t remember anything we’d said. He was five quiet minutes away from passing out.
“I thought we wanted him drunk so he would talk,” Alice argued.
“There’s drunk and there’s drunk.” I inclined my head to where Bobby was moving his hands as if making snow angels. “We need him moderately drunk, not doing ... whatever it is he’s doing.”
“I’m making grass angels,” Bobby announced, grinning.
His response was enough to make Alice laugh. “I see what you mean. I’ll see if I can round up some water.”
“And I’ll see if I can get him in a sitting position.” I grabbed Bobby under his armpits and tugged, easing up when something occurred to me. “Did Hunter say anything after I left you guys?”
Alice was already five feet away but she stopped and turned, the impish dimple in her cheek coming out to play. “How much is it worth to you?”
I scowled. “A real friend would tell me without the blackmail.”
“Hey, you made me come out here against my will. Now you’re making me sober up that idiot. I deserve something for all this effort.”
She had a point. “I’ll take all the morning shifts next week.” Sure, Grandpa had already told me I was stuck with the earliest shifts until I passed probation, but she didn’t need to know that.