Chapter 94

Rowena

Eric pulled his car up to the curb and put it in park. The two of us were silent for a moment, just watching the stream of partygoers trickle into the house, before he turned to me and placed his hand over mine.

“You know we don’t have to do this,” he said. “I’m more than happy curling up at my cottage and watching a movie.”

Although the offer was tempting, I shook my head. “They threw this party for you—to celebrate your return,” I replied. “You should at least make an appearance.”

Eric huffed and paused for a moment before nodding. “Alright. But I only want to stay for a little while.”

“What ever happened to that roguish playboy partier persona of yours?” I teased, nudging him with my elbow. “When I agreed to be your girlfriend, I didn’t think you’d start hating parties in the span of a few short hours.”

The tips of Eric’s ears turned pink at my words and he waved his hand dismissively. “I just want to be with you, that’s all. And with all of these other people around…”

His voice trailed off, but I already knew what he was implying: that we couldn’t show our affection with each other in public. And he was right.

Just a few hours ago, in the heady wake of our kiss in my office, Eric had asked me to be his girlfriend. I had accepted, of course; but we had to keep it a secret until it was safe for me to reveal my true identity. However long that may be.

Finally, glancing over my shoulder to make sure no one was watching, I leaned over and planted a warm kiss on Eric’s cheek. His ears reddened even more.

“Come on,” I said, leaning across his lap then to open the door. “It’ll be fun.”

Eric smirked. “Now who’s the one who’s changed?”

Shaking my head, I climbed out of the car. Together, we walked up to the front of the house where the party was being held. We were hit with the sound of loud music and raucous laughter before we even reached the door, and the cacophony seemed to increase tenfold when we stepped inside.

All at once, it seemed as though everyone in the house surged toward Eric—ignoring me once again. I didn’t mind this time, though; Eric was mine now. Maybe not publicly, but it didn’t matter.

As I watched him being carried away by his fellow excited warriors, I couldn’t help but laugh. Shaking my head, I took a step forward—only to have a cold drink shoved into my hand in an instant.

“What’s this for?” I asked the random student who had handed it to me.

The student shrugged. “Everyone gets one,” she said, nodding her head toward the living room. “We’re playing a game in the other room. You should join.”

“Alright.” I sipped my beer and followed her into the living room, where a circle of other students had already formed. I saw Heather lingering off to the side and considered leaving, but when she didn’t so much as throw a glance my way, I decided to join the circle.

“The game is called Lies and Truths,” one of the students said. “We’ll go around the circle, and each person will pick another random person to make an assumption about; if the assumption is correct, then the person who was picked will drink. If the assumption is incorrect, then the person who asked the question will drink. I’ll go first.”

The student’s eyes wandered the circle before she landed on another girl. “Melissa… You secretly watch your hot neighbor when he goes out to get the mail,” she said with a grin.

There was a long pause, punctuated by ripples of ‘oohs’ and giggles, before Melissa drank. Melissa then made an assumption about someone else—and the game went on. When it was my turn, I turned to the girl sitting next to me and said, “You… Read a lot of romance novels.”

The girl shook her head, giggling, and I took a swig of my beer.

By that point, my head was feeling a little heavy—although I didn’t drink often. The last time I had had a drop of alcohol was at the last party when Eric had kissed me in the closet, and therefore my tolerance was low. I was just wondering if I should ask for something non-alcoholic to pace myself when a sudden voice said, “I want to go next.”

Everyone looked up to see that Heather had moved from her watching place and was now perched on a folding chair in the circle. Her razor-like eyes wandered the group theatrically, her lips curving up into a saccharine smirk.

God, I thought to myself. Here we go.

And, just like clockwork, Heather’s eyes landed on me. “Rowena.” She paused for dramatic effect, leaning forward on her elbows.

For several breathless moments, I wondered if time had suddenly stood still; no one moved, no one even blinked. I felt like a deer in headlights, my heart pounding in my chest despite myself. Heather shouldn’t have been able to get under my skin like this at this point, but… the way she looked at me made my stomach twist.

When she finally made her assumption, I knew why.

“You’re secretly fucking your brother.”

The entire room went utterly silent at that moment. Even the music seemed to stop suddenly, the lively beat fading into the background. My mouth opened and closed several times of its own accord, a thousand words bubbling up but ultimately dying on my tongue.

And all the while, Heather just stared at me, her smirk slowly turning into the most menacing smile I had ever seen.

Just as I was about to bite out some blistering retort or another, a voice called out, “Heather, quit being such a bitter bitch just because Eric Griffith turned you down!”

The room dissolved into laughter at that point, the music returning as though the oxygen had finally been injected back into the air. I remained motionless, my fingers tightening around my beer bottle, as I waited for Heather’s reaction.

But then, much to my surprise, she simply shrugged and drank.

I had had enough of that game, though. As the others began to return to playing, I stood and quietly excused myself to the bathroom. Slipping down the hall, I took in a deep breath and took another swig of my beer for liquid courage. My steps were already staggering a bit as I wandered to the bathroom, so I had to press one hand into the wall to keep myself steady. Maybe I shouldn’t have had that extra sip.

“Need some air?”

The sound of Adrian’s voice caused me to stop in my tracks. I turned slowly, feeling my stomach bottom out when I saw him standing there—leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets, that infuriating smirk of his twitching at his lips.

“Do you need something, Adrian?” I asked, squaring my shoulders as if that would somehow hide the fact that I was already slurring my words.

Adrian merely shrugged and pushed himself away from the wall, striding over to me. I took an instinctive step backwards but was met with a closed door behind my back.

“I just feel like we should talk,” he said. “Clear the air, you know?”

“There’s nothing to clear.” I narrowed my eyes at him, although it was getting harder to focus on his face by the second; even now, not even three-quarters of the way through my single beer, his features were practically swimming in front of me.

A tiny tendril of panic began to curl through my chest then. Frowning, I glanced down at my beer—just a normal beer, one of the lowest alcohol percentages available. Why, then…

Adrian paused, his eyes darting back and forth between my face and the bottle in my hand. “Are you drunk already, Rowena?” he asked, taking another step forward. “God, I didn’t know you were such a lightweight.”

“I’m not… a lightweight.” I pursed my lips and tried to sidestep him, but it was no use. My feet were like two heavy bricks attached to the ends of my legs, my eyes practically going crossed and my tongue useless in my mouth.

“We’ll see about that.”

Suddenly, Adrian reached past me and thrust the door open. I fell backwards, but he caught me and lifted me off my feet like a limp doll.

Then, the ceiling whirled above me as he carried me into the dark bedroom, kicking the door shut behind us.