“Well, anything has got to be better than the beer I tried earlier.”
I laughed at the face she made. “You don't like beer?”
“Turns out, not at all. I didn't know that until tonight either, but—” She lifted a shoulder.
“You tried it for the first time to have the full college experience,” I finished for her.
“Exactly.” She grinned. “It’s not like I’m new toeverything…but a lot of things.” She made another face, and I couldn’t stop smiling.
“I’m Rhodes, by the way.” We walked into the house and into the kitchen.
“I’m Elle. Nice to meet you.”
“You too.”
“Do you know who lives here?” she asked. “Logan told me who was throwing the party, but I forgot the name…”
I paused and gave her a sheepish smile. “I actually live here with a few guys, but Shep is the one throwing the party.”
“Wow, it’s a really nice place.”
A few girls walked up and I could tell what was coming next by the way one girl’s mouth parted when she saw me.
“Oh. My.God. You’re Troy Archer’s son, aren’t you?” she asked.
“I am,” I said, glancing at Elle.
Elle’s eyes widened. Fuck. I wanted a little more time to get to know her before she found out who I was. It inevitably made people weird around me.
“And isn’t Amara your mother?” the other girl asked. “She’s so beautiful. And your dad issohot.”
My eyes narrowed when she reached up and touchedmy hair. I’d been growing the curls out for a while, but that didn’t mean I wanted just anyone touching them.
“I can’t get over your eyes. Sounusual,” she said, moving even closer.
I took a step back and her hand dropped from my hair.
In my opinion, my hazel eyes weren’t that unusual with a blond-haired, blue-eyed dad who was white, and a black-haired, brown-eyed mom who was Black, but I didn’t bother saying that. I looked at Elle and lifted two Jell-O shots.
“Red or blue?” I asked.
“Red, please,” she said.
“Excuse us, ladies,” I said to the girls.
They still stared at me like I was an exhibit as I motioned for Elle to follow me.
I leaned in toward Elle’s ear. “Want to see a fun part of the house?”
“Where is it?”
“The roof.”
Her eyes widened and I hedged.
“It’s safe, I promise. And it’s not the highest part of the roof…it’s just outside my bedroom window. We can sit out there and pretend to be gargoyles, checking out the party from up above.”
She snorted but looked hesitant for a moment.
