His Gold ✓

37| Fighting Bryce

     It's the first party I've been to in a while. Arriving is like stepping through a portal to another dimension where time is irrelevant. It's only relevant to a certain few kids with curfews.

Couldn't be me.

    Everyone else is free to party how they please.

     Seth and I come in, hair freshly blown-out from the wind. My eyes are bright from the adrenaline rush of the ride here. It makes people look at me for longer than normal.

     I see Mandi and Hailey drinking with some of the squad. They usher me over. I shake my head no, until they yell at me to join their spin the bottle game.

   "Spin the bottle?" Seth laughs from beside of me. He twists his body to where he's speaking into a space so close only I can hear. "how middle school." He chuckles.

    "What do you have better to do?" I shoot back with a grin.

"You make a good point!"

So we run over to see.

    "Glad you could join us." Mandi growls in a laugh when we settle into the circle. She starts the bottle spinning, surprised when it lands on another girl.

    She shrugs, and they lock lips.

A weird feeling shakes me at the sight of their passion. I look at Seth. "This is intense." I whisper.

It's something I'm no longer sure I want to be a part of... not with everything that's been going on.

   He sweeps a strand of long hair out of his eyes and nods to me like he understands. From the corner of my eyes, I see Mandi watching me. "Want to give it a spin, Caroline?" She speaks up.

     "No." I answer politely.

    I expect her to say something, push me to go against my will, but she shrugs and someone else spins it. As the bottle rotates, I notice we're all being watched by a figure from across the room- relaxed against the wall.

    I look back at the game quickly. To my surprise, Seth starts to spin the bottle.

    "I'm hoping for someone good," he chuckles before adding, "so, any one of you will do."

He laughs at his joke. My face is unchanging. I notice the figure against the wall has disappeared into the kitchen.

    Suddenly, I feel parched.

"Caroline, are you-"

    "I'm going to get a drink of water." I tell Seth before abruptly leaving the game and disappearing into the small kitchen.

   The kitchen might be small, but the layout is still spacious enough for a billion bottles of beer lining the counters. In the corner of the empty room, Bryce holds a bottle and observes it in his hands. He doesn't see me yet.

     He doesn't drink. Concern pricks me.

    I snatch a bottle from the counter. It's cold in my hands. I muster a breath to speak.

     "Do me a favor and open this for me, will you?" I approach him slowly. His gaze on the bottle in my hands is hot.

    "Why the hell do you have that?" His head doesn't move when his eyes look at me.

    "I could ask you the same question." I'm honest.

  I notice the black eye looks worse in the shadows, "maybe I'm backsliding."