Once he was out of the kitchen, she could literally feel the air lighten, as if his very presence was suffocating. The next two people got their beers just as Genevieve Montgomery walked in.
Queen bee.
Head cheerleader.
Bit of a bitch, if Keira was being honest.
But she supposed you had to be slightly cunty at her social status. She cut in front of the line, grabbed a beer, and walked away as if she had some kind of VIP pass to tell everyone “fuck you.”
God, I hate these people.
And she did. If she had a choice, she would have gone to a public school, not something as prestigious as Black Mountain. But she came from money, and because her parents had a high-class social standing, the circles they ran in were unfortunately with these types of people.
She finally got another beer and made her way back to the living room, where Molly was standing with a group of people. Keira saw Molly laughing at something Michael “Big Mike” Huntington said, the jock easy on the eyes, but his personality could lean toward the asshole side at times.
She stood by Molly, and her friend glanced at her, giving her a wide smile before turning her attention back to Mike.
Keira didn’t know how long she stood there, the noise fading in the distance, and she thought about how she was ready to go if she didn’t have Reese to stare at. This was not her scene.
And then as if her thoughts conjured the very boy himself, Reese came into the living room. His eyes were red-rimmed, his gaze kind of glossy-looking. A combination from the booze and weed, no doubt. She shouldn’t stare, especially not after he caught her, but she couldn’t help herself.
She wanted him in the worst kind of way.
Everything about him turned her on, the pull she felt toward him so strong Keira felt her body heat to embarrassing levels. He was so different than these rich pricks. His clothes weren’t designer, his car not a luxury one. He wasn’t born with a silver spoon shoved in his mouth, wasn’t handed everything to him like he deserved it. His hands looked stained with grease, as if he worked hard and did manual labor. And his expression… it showed that he’d experienced the darker, uglier side of life.
“Keira? Hey?”
She looked at Molly, who stared at her expectantly. “What?”
“I called your name like three times.” Molly's brows furrowed, and she glanced at where Keira had been looking. She noticed her friend’s eyebrows rise when she saw Reese just a few feet away, talking with Nate Black, the only person Reese seemed to let in as a friend.
“Really?” Molly asked, and Keira snapped her head in her direction.
“Really what?”
Molly lifted another eyebrow and tipped her chin in Reese’s direction. “You got a thing for the new guy?”
God, her face was on fire. She shook her head too quickly. “What?” she asked again. Keira took her beer and started guzzling it. She was nervous and knew it showed.
“What’s up?” Big Mike asked, and Keira waved his question off.
She stared at Molly hard, telling her without words to keep her mouth shut.
Molly’s eyes narrowed. “It’s nothing, Mike. Girl stuff.”
He shrugged and went back to talking to a couple other people who stood nearby.
“Keira, why didn’t you tell me you’re into the scholarship kid.”
God, this was getting worse. And because she felt defensive, she said something she shouldn’t have. “I don’t see you very forthcoming about information on Ian.”
Molly’s lips thinned, but she didn’t press her again.
An hour later and two beers down, Keira was ready to call it a night. She’d successfully avoided looking for Reese again, not wanting to cause any more attention to the subject. That was a disaster waiting to happen with a houseful of assholes who were drunk.
The heat in the house, coupled with the fire in her body and alcohol running through her veins, started to make Keira feel a little woozy.
She leaned toward Molly’s ear and said, “I’m going to get some water.”
Molly turned around, and one look at Keira’s face had concern moving across her features. Maybe she looked as gross as she felt?
“Hey, you okay?”
A few girls from their school stood around them. Keira knew them but didn’t know them, which meant to them she was Molly’s stage-five clinger.
“I’m good. It’s just stuffy in here, and the alcohol went to my head. I just need some water.”
“I’ll come with you—”
“I’m fine. I promise,” she cut Molly off and offered her a smile.
What she wasn’t telling Molly was that she wasn’t fine. Her mind was a jumbled mess, and she was too afraid, uncomfortable, and just plain awkward to confide in her best friend.
4
Keira made her way into the kitchen before Molly could say anything else or follow her. There were a few guys playing some kind of intense drinking game at the dining room table. A couple of them had their back to her, the others loud as they shouted and laughed. A deck of cards and a line of shots sat between them. She didn’t recognize the ones she could actually see, so they were either in college or drove out from another school.
After getting a glass of water and guzzling that, Keira filled it up again and turned around to lean against the counter. This new position let her see the guys who’d had their backs to her. She hadn’t even recognized one of them was Reese. He now sported a baseball cap, the brim low, so it was hard to see his eyes.
He sat at the table, cards in his hand. There were a few girls hanging around. Chay, one of the cheerleaders and known for being “friendly” with all the jocks, sat on Braxton's lap. She also had the body of a goddess, which shouldn’t have made Keira feel less than sure, but when she glanced down at her chest, her boobs three times smaller than Chay’s, that unwanted jealousy rose up.
Hell, Keira felt like she had the body of a twelve-year-old boy. Zero curves.
Chay’s boobs spilled over the top of her baby doll tee, and she was drawing so much attention that half the guys couldn’t even focus on their cards.
I guess that’s the point of wearing that outfit.
Keira’s face heated as she watched Chay start nuzzling Braxton’s neck, and when he whispered something in her ear and she giggled, Keira glanced away.
She could only imagine the fiery things they said to each other. Or maybe no one but her would feel like this? Maybe because she had zero experience in trying to seduce anyone, even watching two people eye-fuck each other was enough to have her face turn beet-red.
Keira glanced at Lindy, another cheerleader who had a body that should have been displayed on one of those swimsuit or lingerie magazines. Keira didn’t miss how Lindy kept looking at Reese, and that had unjustified jealousy moving through her.
Reese wasn’t hers, and no part belonged to Keira, so getting jealous that Lindy—who could absolutely get him to bone her upstairs no problem—was eye-fucking him was only making Keira miserable. Hell, Lindy had slept with at least three football players this year alone.
She knew how to work it to her advantage.
She was also a bitch.
Keira glanced away, or that had been her intention, but of course her gaze landed on Reese. And then their eyes locked.