“Happy New Year too, S-S-Sarah. Happy New Year, Hayden.” He beamed at Hayden and took a step closer to him, trying something that resembled a hug, and my jaw dropped. I’d never expected Kevin to act this openly with Hayden, all the more so since he’d just met him. Hayden moved away from him before he could touch him.
“Enough with fucking Happy New Years. All of you sound like broken records,” he snapped and looked at Melissa, who finally separated herself from me. “Where’s your brother?”
“In the kitchen with your dearest friends.” She smiled at me and leaned to my ear. “Where have you two been? Did something happen?” She looked pointedly at the hickey on my neck, and I rolled my eyes.
“You’d like to know, wouldn’t you?” I glanced around us, but I couldn’t spot Jess anywhere. “Where’s Jess?”
Mel’s face fell, and she pursed her lips together. “Right. Jess. She’s in the closet with Blake.”
“What?” How on earth did this happen? Why?
“Did you say Jessica is with Blake? In the closet?” Hayden asked her, looking shocked himself.
“Go figure,” she replied.
I shook my head. “How did this happen?”
“A few people started to play seven minutes in heaven. Stupid, I know. What’s even more stupid is that Jess and Blake somehow got paired, so they went into the closet.”
I dragged my hand down my face. “Where are they now?”
“Still in the closet, but I think seven minutes is about to end.”
I gave Hayden a panicked look. “Blake will do something to her.”
“He won’t. Relax.”
“I can’t believe this! Where is that closet?”
Mel pointed at the white door under the staircase, which was across from where we stood. Just then, it burst open, and Jessica rushed out. Even in the dimly lit hallway I could see tears glistening on her face and her disheveled hair, as if someone had run their hands through it.
She advanced toward the front door with haste, and an acidic feeling settled deep in my stomach. Blake had hurt her. I met her half-way and grasped her shoulders before she bumped directly into me. She flinched when her gaze met mine.
“Jess, what happened? Did Blake hurt you?”
Her red lipstick was smeared all over her swollen lips, which could mean only one thing. They had been kissing.
“I hate him. He’s the most horrible... I hate him!” she snapped through tears.
Mel drew Jess into a hug and remained silent as she held her. Kevin scratched his neck and shifted on his feet, glancing between them and me. I looked helplessly at Hayden, who stood aside observing us.
“I’ll go talk to him,” he said and marched over to Blake, who watched us from the distance with his arms folded over his chest.
“I’ll chop that asshole into tiny parts and feed him to pigs,” Mel hissed and caressed Jess’s hair. “Did you at least kick him in his dick?”
Jessica pulled away from Mel and wiped the dark trails of mascara from her face, avoiding eye contact with us. “I want to go home. Right now,” she mumbled. She moved to the entryway closet before we could stop her.
“Hey, you can’t go home now! We’re all drunk, so we can’t drive,” I told her.
“I don’t care.” She rummaged through coats and jackets.
“We can find a place to crash and go home in the morning,” Melissa suggested, but Jess didn’t even want to hear it.
“No, Mel. I need to go home right this second.”
“Fine. Look, I’ll find Steven and see if he or any of his friends are less baked than us, and we’ll take you home, okay?” Not waiting for her answer, she darted away from us in search of her brother.
Jess pulled her jacket out, and I placed my hand on her shoulder. “Will you please stop and wait until Mel gets back?”
She refused to look at me. “I can’t stay if he’s here too. I need to go outside.”
“Okay. Then we’ll wait for Mel outside.” I signaled to Kevin to look for his jacket as I tried to find my own. I sent quick texts to Hayden and Melissa to tell them we would be outside and shrugged on my jacket.
The outdoor quietude and fresh air were more than welcome, and I took a long inhale. A few people had gathered around the parked vehicles and chatted with cups, cigarettes, or blunts in their hands.
Kevin took Jessica in his arms and patted her head in an uncoordinated but heartwarming move. “It’s going to be okay, Jess,” he slurred.
I rubbed my cold hands together and blew on them to warm them. “What happened with Blake, Jess? Please tell us.”
She separated herself from Kevin and sniffed, keeping her eyes on the ground. “We started kissing, and then he ruined it with an insult. He’s so cruel.”
I frowned. “What insult?”
“Why did, did, did you let him kiss you, Jess?” Kevin asked before she could respond to me, giving her an accusing stare.
She winced. “I know I was wrong, okay?! It’s just that...” She grabbed her head with both hands and let out a loud groan. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“How about you forget about him and have fun with us instead?” an unknown male voice asked.
A short, muscular guy leaning against a black Nissan nearby smirked at us, holding a blunt in his hand. His face was covered with scars that cut across his eyebrows and cheeks, and when he met my eyes, something unpleasant churned inside of me. Everything about him said he was bad, but then my gaze shifted to the tall Latino guy standing next to him, and that churning feeling tripled.
There was something in his stance and appearance that induced primal fear in me. He was calm—too calm—and his perfectly sculpted face hid his emotions. He observed us quietly with his hands in the pockets of his jeans, and I wanted to hide from his unnerving stare as fast as I could.
I caught Jess’s elbow and motioned with my head at the house. “We should go.”
The short guy straightened up and took the last drag of his blunt. He dropped it and put it out with his shoe. “Why are you leaving so quickly? Stay. We can show you a good time.” He gave Kevin a dismissive glance. “You can leave, dude.”
My pulse kicked up a notch, and I recoiled. I didn’t want to know what their version of a “good time” was. I met Kevin’s gaze and said, “Let’s go.”
I managed to take only two steps when the short guy grabbed my upper arm and stopped me. My heartbeat escalated. I pushed against him, but it had zero effect on him.
He chuckled. “Oh come on. Why are you so serious? We just want to have some fun, that’s all.” His breath stunk of marijuana and alcohol.
I tried to yank my arm away to no avail. My gaze locked with the Latino guy, who had approached us, and each cell of me urged me to get away from them.
“Let her go,” Kevin shouted, pale as a sheet.
The short guy glared at him. “I told you to leave.” He slid his lecherous gaze down my body and reached for my face. “I promise it will be worth your while.”
“Get away from me!” Remembering a move I learned in my last Krav Maga class, I struck his chin with the heel of my palm. He growled in pain and released me, but I didn’t stop there, stomping my heel over his foot before I darted away.