I texted my mom that I was crashing at Zoey’s after the hot tub disaster, but I highly doubt that she bought it. I should be worried about her grounding the life out of me tomorrow. But, to my greatest disbelief, right now, my mom’s wrath is the furthest thing from my mind…
Because I just spent a night of madness with my brother’s insufferable best friend.
And what’s worse?
I liked it.
Kassidy
My eyelids weighing a thousand pounds, I take the exit leading straight onto the highway and cast a glance toward Winter in my passenger seat. We’re both hungover, hissing at the sun like vampires at every street corner.
After Will dropped me off at six last night—or was it this morning—I collapsed into bed, only to be woken up by Winter and Kendrick bickering downstairs five hours later.
I stumbled out of bed and decided to go shopping with my cousin. Why? Because I felt bad for breaking my promise to spend time with her when she first got here. Oh, and because I do stupid things sometimes. Like break into a stranger’s backyard high as a kite with William Martins.
I suggested we get out of the house in the hope that it would take my mind off my nonexistent job. I’ve been thinking—more like obsessing—over why I didn’t get a callback from the pet store since my interview. Granted it’s only been a few days, but I really need this to work out, and the wait is slowly driving me insane.
Here we are, driving back home, stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic after a few hours of wasting money and trying to convince Winter to touch anything with heels.
“So… About the party,” I start, my thoughts drifting to the text Zoey sent me this morning. She said last night took quite the turn, and after Will and I left, the cops showed up.
She also said, her voice loaded with jealousy, that she saw Winter leaving with Haze. No, wait—running with Haze. Something about Haze dragging her away from the police. Winter didn’t come home until eleven this morning. It’s not rocket science. She must’ve slept at his place.
“What about it?” Winter asks, rubbing her temples as though she’s hoping to make her headache disintegrate.
“Rumor has it you slept at you know who’s?”
She scoffs. “You can say his name. He’s not Voldemort.”
“Haze,” I barely say.
“Yeah. I did.”
I can’t help myself. “What’s the deal between you two, Winter? He’s dangerous.”
“No shit, Sherlock.”
“I’m serious. You need to be careful. I can’t believe you let him take you to his house. You need to stay away from him.”
“I’m trying to,” she assures me.
“Oh, really? Is that why you keep hanging out with Kendrick and his trouble-magnet friends? They’re involved in…” I stop, too much of a chicken to resume. “Some stuff.”
I hate lecturing her, but I have to do something. I know she thinks she’s safe, but she has no idea what she just got herself into. I don’t want anything to happen to her.
“Stuff?” she questions, and I almost laugh. We’re doing that thing where we pretend we’re not aware that Kendrick’s favorite hobby is punching people.
“Stuff.” I clear my throat. “Do you know what happened yesterday? I was already gone, but I heard it caused a panic.”
She zeroes in on her feet. “Cops.”
Winter’s always been a terrible liar.
Glad to see that hasn’t changed.
“I know that’s what everyone said, but it seemed like a lot more than that. Some people said they heard a gunshot.” My thoughts wander to the few posts I saw scrolling through social media.
“Cops these days.” She shrugs.
“Yeah.” I struggle to hide my frown. “I’m just saying to be careful. Haze Adams is not one to do romance and—”
She cuts me off. “Wait a minute. You were gone? With who?”
Shit.
“With… with a friend,” I stutter.
“Oh, come on. Who’s the boy?” she insists, and I scold myself for letting that last detail slip out.
“There’s no boy. Don’t try to change the subject. What were we talking about?”
“You were lecturing me about Haze.” She heaves a sigh.
“Right. All Haze wants is fun. Like what he does with Bianca. He keeps sleeping with her even though the poor girl’s head over heels in love with him. Just don’t let him fool you, too.”
I’d never forgive myself if she got her heart stomped on by Haze like Zoey and I didn’t at least try to warn her.
She holds her hands up. “Believe it or not, I’m actually not a fan of heartless douchebags. I’m one of the girls who don’t enjoy when a man doesn’t give a crap about them. Yes, we do exist.”
“Says the girl who literally just let him take her home,” I mutter under my breath.
“Okay. You know what? I didn’t sleep at his place willingly. Something happened to me, and I was in trouble. Haze helped and offered me a place to stay.”
Shocked by her honesty, I can’t gather a response.
I give in. “Some street fight trouble?”
Disbelief fills her eyes.
“You know?”
“I’ve known for a while now. I’m not blind. Neither is my mom. She knows Kendrick is involved in something she can’t control. I hear your fights at night. Kendrick needs to stop taking the world for idiots. Not to mention Blake’s behavior was so weird back when we were dating. Eventually, I put the pieces together.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because it’s better to pretend not to know certain things, Winter. I don’t want to get involved in his mess, and I’ve managed to do that successfully until…”
“Until me,” she finishes.
“Well, don’t get me wrong, but you literally threw yourself into the fire. What were you thinking following my brother when he goes out?”
She’s astounded. “Seriously? You heard that, too?”
“You guys are pretty loud when you argue at night.”
The following minutes are spent in utter silence. We haven’t moved one bit, still stuck in traffic.
“Look at her.” Winter motions to the lady dancing in the car next to us.
“Can’t. I’m driving,” I grumble.
“You’re sitting in an unmoving car, actually.”
I surrender,
