“Me?” He shut off the engine and turned toward me. “What about you?”
I shrugged then rolled my eyes. “Okay, to be honest, I was never invited to a lot of parties. If I was, I never really had a lot of time to go.”
“Well, Cameron, let’s get this party started.” He handed me the keys. “In case I don’t stay sober. Or I throw the keys in the lake.”
“You’ve done that?”
Dylan grinned. “Well, not a lake, but Dad’s BMW keys are somewhere in the bottom of the Pacific.”
I locked the car after Dylan grabbed his brown bag of booze. We walked toward the music blaring from someone’s two-bit speakers. It switched from a rap song to the latest country party song. Several people started singing along. So did I.
Dylan stopped me with a hand on my wrist. “Louder, like you’re on stage.”
I did as instructed and let the music flow through me until the guitar solo.
“Interesting,” Dylan said then he started walking again.
“Wait. What’s interesting?” I hurried to catch up with him. “Dylan, what’s interesting?”
“Your voice,” he said. And that was the only answer he gave me. “Don’t drink tonight.”
I stopped and lost him on the path toward the cove. Don’t drink tonight? It was my party. Not that I had planned on getting drunk, but seriously? His audacity set my skin on fire. He wasn’t my boss. He wasn’t anything other than the guitar player in a band. Hank was my boss. If I wanted to get drunk, I’d damn well get drunk.
By the time I got to the party, Dylan was already talking with Lola Tanter. I shoved the keys into my pocket before I threw them in the lake.
“Cam?” Eddie Blake stopped beside me. He was a junior and Miranda’s one true love. Or so she said. He wasn’t a bad looking guy with dark brown hear and wide brown eyes. We’d always gotten along despite Miranda’s insistence that I should hate him at all costs. Miranda confused the crap out of me sometimes. “What’re you doing here?”
“It’s kinda my class party,” I said, taking the unopened bottle from his hand. “Thought I could make it to one high school party before the option was completely out the window.”
Eddie laughed. “I guess I never figured you for the partying type.”
“I was always working.” I chugged the beer in my hand. “Got another?”
“Damn, I’m impressed,” Eddie said, his eyes going wider than normal. “Yeah, there’s a lot more. Come on.” I followed Eddie to a collection of coolers at the edge of the bonfire. “Take your pick.”
I opened grabbed a wine cooler and tore of the cap. Drinking wasn’t my thing. I never had time to really get drunk. When I wasn’t in school, I was at work. I’d lost my job a month before graduation when the Icee Hut closed. Since I wasn’t planning on staying in Branson anyway, I didn’t bother to look for a new job. Then the audition happened, and here I stayed. Might as well party hard while I was stuck here. I drained the bottle of sweet grapeyness and grabbed another one.
“Wow, Cam,” Eddie said. I’d almost forgotten he was still there. “Maybe slow down a bit. Enjoy the buildup of the buzz.”
“Why?” I sipped the grape flavored alcohol.
“Because you’re gonna feel it tomorrow morning,” Eddie said with a laugh. His gaze traveled down my body and back up slowly. I shivered at how creepy that felt. He nodded down to the lake. “Walk with me.”
I glanced over my shoulder. Dylan was too close to Lola. She brushed her chest against his. Shaking my head as a sinking pit of anger mixed with disappointment and hurt filled my chest, I turned back to Eddie. “Sure.”
Eddie grabbed two bottles of wine coolers and two beers, then led me away from the party. The music quieted behind us until it was just background noise. Eddie stopped by a boulder on the edge of the shoreline. I’d already finished my third drink when I took another from his hand. The wine cooler went down like water. He didn’t say anything as we leaned against the large rock, listening to the water lap against the rocky shore. With the music soft in the distance, it was almost romantic. Almost.
Wrong guy.
I drained another bottle.
“Saw the show,” Eddie finally said. He ducked his head and chuckled before glancing back at me. His face was a little fuzzy and he swayed too much. “You were amazing.”
I snorted. “I stood behind a sixty-year-old former rockstar and moved left to right. It wasn’t hard.”
“No, you commanded the stage. It was ...” Eddie ran his hand down my arm. “I’ve never seen you so confident.”
“You’ve never really seen me,” I whispered. The weight of my words forced me down. I slid down the boulder until my ass met the rocks. I felt steadier with the added support. The water wasn’t that far away. I slipped off my shoes and stretched my legs out. The cold lake water reached the edge of my heels. “Nobody really has.”
Eddie sat beside me. “Oh, I noticed you, Cam. A lot. But you’re always with Miranda and...”
I drained the bottle then looked at him. His face was blurred in the moonlight. Or maybe that was the alcohol. He had four really big eyes instead of two, and his nose looked like Picasso had painted it in the wrong spot. Eddie leaned in and pressed his mouth against mine. I turned my head to get away from his sloppy attempt at a kiss. He slobbered against my cheek.
“Get off,” I said, pushing him away as I leaned too far away.
Then he was gone.
I opened my eyes and met Dylan’s angry gaze.
“Jesus, Cam.” He turned away, and I heard some scuffling, words.
I sat up. The headache rushed to my temples. I lost my balance and started to fall over. Dylan’s hands caught me, steadying me. I leaned against him for more than balance. He was warm,
