I don’t even lift it to my nose. “What it is?” Knowing the relationship that the two of us have, it’s probably strong liquor.
“Lemonade. You didn’t strike me as the kind of girl to want a beer.” He gestures at my cup and I sniff it. It smells like lemonade, so I take a tiny sip, keeping my eyes on him to see if he reacts. All he does is raise his eyebrows. “You like it?”
“It’s fine.” I clutch the cup hard, bending in the sides with my grip, but there’s no way I’m going to drink more of it. I can practically hear my mom yelling at me now about taking drinks from strange boys.
“Great. Why don’t you and I dance then?” He angles his body so that he’s cutting Madeline off. I see her move towards me over his shoulder, but he shifts position. It’s like he knows exactly where she’s going to be and how to make sure that she can’t get to me.
I’m a bit unnerved.
“I don’t dance.” It’s a lie, and he can see it written all over my face.
“With a body like that? I’m going to call bullshit. Come on, Abigail. Let’s see you shake your ass for me. I’d like to know what I won with the bet.”
The bet. For just a moment I’d managed to forget about the stupid fucking bet, but as soon as he brings it up, I feel my stomach twist. I don’t want to think about the fact that I made a bet with my virginity and lost, and when he brings it up, I want to be sick.
“Not a chance. Let me go.” Pulling away from him, I try to get him to let me go, but he just snakes his arm tighter around my waist.
“Don’t be such a prude, Abigail. I want to see you dance.” Any humor is gone from his eyes. They’re now darker than I’ve seen before. I was wrong to compare them to the ocean. They’re murky and with unfathomable depths that give me chills. I can only imagine how many people have lost themselves in his eyes and I don’t want to be one of them.
“Back off.” When he doesn’t let me go, I do the only thing that I know will work. Without really thinking about it, I reach up and tip my lemonade over his head. It splashes down around his shoulders, dripping down his face. There’s a look of shock written all over his face, but it quickly disappears.
“You bitch.” He lunges for me and I step back, my ankle twisting a little in the high heels Madeline convinced me to wear. Even though I know that there are other people at this party, I can’t tear my eyes away from him.
Quinn is gorgeous, no doubt, but right now he looks downright murderous. I have to get away, and I turn, looking for the path that brough us to the clearing.
The music has stopped and everyone stares at us, but nobody moves to help me. Madeline calls my name, but I ignore her, kicking off my heels and running for it. The ground is cool under my feet and, for the first time since I came to the party, I feel grounded.
I have no idea how fast Quinn is, but I’m not looking over my shoulder to find out. He’s going to catch up to me if I’m not careful, and if he does, then I’m really and truly fucked.
In more than one way.
There’s a rock in front of me, but I leap over it easily, trying to ignore the way my dress pulls up around my ass when I do. There’s a whoop behind me and cheering, but there’s no way that I’m turning around now. Not when I know that Quinn is probably fast on my heels, and gaining.
As fast as I am, my feet are no match for the hard ground. I step on a hard rock and wince, almost falling as the point digs into the bottom of my foot. I have to figure out where I’m going or he’ll be able to easily chase me down as I run around the clearing.
Panting hard, I look around me, trying to tell at a glance which way I should go. I know that we came down one path and that there was another that Quinn was standing by when we got here, but now I’m turned around.
Dammit. Both of the paths off of the clearing look the same. Pausing, I consider my options, but I don’t want to wait long. I’m barely dressed as it is, and I’m sure that right now I’m just temping fate, especially considering the stupid bet that I made with Quinn.
Crossing my fingers, I choose a path and dart down it. Almost immediately, I know that I’ve made a terrible mistake. The path doesn’t flatten out and get wider like the path we came in on. Instead, it drops steeply down and I feel my feet slide from under me.
Windmilling my arms, I reach out to try to grab onto something – anything – really. I’m hoping for a branch or a trunk, but I’d take a vine right now in a pinch.
There’s nothing.
I’m falling and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. “Oww!” I scream, my voice echoing back behind me. The path is so steep that I slide on my ass until I flip over and dig my fingers into the dirt to stop my descent. Now I’m breathing harder than I was before, but at least I’ve stopped moving. My dress is probably ruined. I can feel that it’s ripped up around my waist, so there’s only a small amount of fabric holding it together in the front.
Fuck. “Fuck.” My voice is quiet, but not quiet enough.
A chuckle from farther up the path makes me whip my head up. Of course. Quinn.
“Need
