I look around and don’t see a familiar Jeep. When Alex mentioned all the chicks being here, I assumed he meant Kayla as well. She always helps Freya if needed, and I expected her to arrive earlier.
I shove a tug of disappointment down and head to the house. A lot of people are here.
“Hey, Justin!” Freya comes to hug me. “Oh, you brought goodies! Ladies,” she turns to the room and yells, “Justin brought the nectar of the Gods!”
“Yahoo” and “yay” booms around the living room. I quickly look around: a few girls I’ve seen around town are spread around, currently giving me bedroom eyes. I've slept with some of them. Fuck, it’s about to get complicated; Donna’s talking to Stella, Alex’s stepmother, by a huge red brick fireplace; Leila, Alex’s sister, is chilling on the floor-to-ceiling window with a book, her usual thing.
Alex was right—the sausages are missing. In fact. “Where is Alex?” I ask Freya as she tugs on my arm towards the kitchen with the drinks.
“He’s hiding in the bathroom, I think.” She laughs. “Nothing’s changed there.”
“He needs time.” I offer gently, well aware that she knows him better than any of us do.
“That’s why I don’t go all storm trooper on this door and drag him out here.”
I chuckle, put everything on the counter, and look around again in case I’ve missed her.
"She's not here," Freya says, opening a juice box.
“Who?” I’ve been busted.
"Kayla." She answers, passing me glasses. "Can you open the champaign, please? We have some thirsty ladies here." She gives me a pointed look and proceeds to deliver glasses to the table. Looks like a small army is about to arrive.
“Yeah.” I begin unwrapping the foil from the neck of the bottle. I’m doing it slowly, very slowly, but then I give up. “Is she coming?”
“Why? So you can torment her while everybody’s having a good time?”
“No,” I say through gritted teeth. “Just curious why she isn’t here. She’s usually clingy. And always around you.”
“Kayla? Clingy?” Freya lets out a loud laugh that gets us a few curious looks. “You’ve mistaken her for me, I'm the clingy one, and I'm the one who's always around her." She chuckles and mumbles under her breath. "Clingy, my ass."
Huh. Looks like I got the situation all wrong. Not the first time for me.
“So what about her?”
“What about her?” She parrots with the sweetest smile. My teeth begin to ache.
"Where is she?" I can't help but growl; a mischievous spark lights up her eyes.
“Archie got to Little Hope late yesterday, so she’s waiting for him.” Her eyes look angelic as she blinks innocently at me, but she has the smile of the devil.
I was just about to pull the cork out as she said it. Instead, I snap its neck. Champaign begins rocketing out from the bottle and onto the ceiling. A few shrieks vibrate through the space, followed by loud laughter.
Alex barrels into the kitchen with crazed eyes. “What the fuck happened?”
“Justin lost his shit.” Freya keeps laughing, and I snap my mouth shut just so I don’t say something I’ll regret later, seeing that it’s what I’ve been doing recently.
“About what?”
"About Kayla and Archie." She says quieter while making sure there is no one around to hear. At least, I can appreciate that. I don't need rumors flying around town that I have the hots for her.
"Oh," Alex says thoughtfully. What the fuck does he mean by that?
"I didn't lose my shit," I growl.
“You totally did!” Freya looks like a kid in a candy store.
“The bottle just got damaged.”
