I looked away, searching for Erin. Instead I saw Riley Boone watching me with those cold black eyes of his.
He leaned back against a tree just outside the circle of firelight. People swirled all around but Boonie stood apart, studying me with a scary intensity. Like always, the sight of him reminded me of that kiss we’d shared so many years ago. We’d hardly been more than kids, but they say you never forget your first.
Gave me chills every time I thought about it.
Boonie lifted his chin in silent greeting and I nodded in return. Then someone stumbled into me, breaking the spell. Good thing, too.
Riley Boone was nothing but trouble.
________
I’d hardly recognized him when he returned to Callup. I guess his stepdad ran off with a younger woman last summer, so his mom came running home to lick her wounds. Took her less than two weeks to hook up with one of the Silver Bastards, a member of the motorcycle club here in town. Boonie’s dad had been one, too, although he’d died when Boonie was just a baby.
I’d heard he was back, of course. Callup was the kind of place where everyone was up in each other’s business. Still, that didn’t prepare me to see him again in person.
He’d pulled up to the high school on a royal blue Harley Davidson, looking like the hero in a movie. You know, one of those teenage tragedies where the naive and foolish heroine falls in love with the gangster. Then she has to watch him get gunned down in the end, leaving her alone and pregnant because things can never work out with guys like that.
I hadn’t recognized him at first. I mean, Boonie had been cute as hell when he’d left, but for all his height, he’d still been a boy. Now he was all man. Six foot three, with a bulky, muscular body and dark hair. His eyes held secrets and he still walked like a conqueror, only now he was the kind of conqueror who’d cut off your head for crossing him. Farell and his friends learned that fast, too.
Until Boonie came home, Farell had been the king of the school. Now Boonie was, even if he wasn’t interested in taking on the role.
Farell hated him for that.
That was reason enough for me to avoid Boonie—Farell had an ugly temper. While I didn’t think it was reasonable for him to say I couldn’t talk to my old friend, I didn’t want to lose my boyfriend, either. I compromised by staying friendly toward Boonie, but distant. It’d been a tense year, made more tense by the fact that no matter where I went, Boonie’s eyes followed me.
I didn’t know for sure, but I think he and Farell even fought a couple of times—either that or Farell was running into an awful lot of doors. I couldn’t think of anyone else brave enough to take him on.
When they’d finally graduated I think half the town sighed in relief.
Now the party swirled around me in a blur of red Solo cups and cheap beer, punctuated by the occasional kiss or swat on the ass from my boyfriend. By two in the morning, I had a good buzz going. I also needed to pee. I hadn’t seen Farell for a while, but that didn’t mean much. I figured he was off smoking pot, which he seemed to think I didn’t know about. Not that I cared—compared to the pain pills my dad popped like candy, pot was nothing. That’s when I saw my old neighbor, Shanda Reed.
“When did you get here?” I shouted, running over to her. “I didn’t see you at graduation.”
“I couldn’t make it in time,” she said, laughing and pulling me into a hug. “Had a work thing.”
Her words broke through the haze and I felt awkward. Shanda’s “job” wasn’t what I’d want, although she drove a shiny new cherry red Mustang these days.
Not my place to judge how she earned her money.
Shaking off my dark thoughts, I looked her over. “I really like your hair like that. The blonde is perfect on you.”
“Thanks,” she said. I wondered if she was here for Boonie, not that it was any of my business. “Damn, I need to pee. Wanna go with?”
As soon as she said it I remembered my bladder was about ready to explode. “Yeah.”
“Great. You can tell me all the gossip.”
I followed her back into the trees, stumbling over roots as the firelight and music faded. The night air was warm without being hot, and the sound of crickets surrounded us.
“Here, this spot looks good,” she said, pointing to a clump of bushes. It was completely shielded from the party. Five minutes later we’d finished our business and headed back down the hill. About halfway back I heard a girl laughing, along with the rhythmic grunting that could only mean one thing. I bit back my own giggle, shooting a glance at Shanda. She smirked, catching my arm.
“Hold on,” she whispered. “I want to see who it is.’’
“What?” I asked, scandalized. “No. No, we can’t!”
Her wicked grin flashed. “Sure we can. They’re in the open—fair game.”
I shook my head, but I followed her as she crept through the darkness. Then I stepped on a branch, making a loud snapping noise. The laughter stopped.
“What was that?’’ a girl asked. I recognized the voice—Allie Stockwell. Well, wasn’t that nice . . . Allie made a huge production last year about wearing her purity ring, announcing she would never sleep with a boy before she was married. Not only that, she’d done it while staring me down in the locker room pointedly. I hated the bitch.
“It’s fine, baby,’’ her partner said, the words heavily slurred.
I froze.
“Farell?” I asked, my voice unsteady. No. I’d heard wrong. Farell would never cheat on me—Farell loved me. I heard Allie gasp as I swayed, dizzy. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.
“Who the fuck is in there?” Shanda demanded, her voice ringing out in accusation. She started forward, pushing through the weeds and I followed, praying I’d been wrong. We’d find Colby back there with Allie, or some other guy. Obviously I hadn’t heard right. Too much booze.
I stepped into a clearing to find them, half naked in the moonlight. My drunken boyfriend had rolled to his back, dick flopping as he tried to pull up his pants. Allie gaped at us like a fucking goldfish.
“Farell . . . ” I whispered, my world shattering around me. “Oh, shit. Why? Why did you do this?”
He tried to say something, then Shanda had my arm and was dragging me away.
This was what it felt like to be punched in the gut.
I literally lost my breath. I couldn’t take in air, couldn’t focus, couldn’t do anything but try not to fall on my face as Shanda hauled me away from my future ex-boyfriend.
“Fuck off, asshole!” she shouted over her shoulder. “You eat shit and die.”
Finally my head stopped spinning and I realized I was crying. Sobbing. We were nearly back to the party and I dug in my heels, pulling back against Shanda’s grip.
“I can’t go back there,’’ I hissed. “I can’t let them see me like this. Oh my God, how did this happen? Why would he do this?”
Shanda caught my shoulders, giving me a shake.
“I’ve got no idea why the hell he’d cheat on you,” she said. “I don’t care, either. Here’s what I do know—if he’s been fucking her, then all of his friends know about it and so do all of hers. That means everyone at the party but you and your best girls are in on this bullshit. You’ve got two choices here. You can run off and hide like you’ve done something wrong, or you can walk back down there, grab a drink, and then wait for him. When he comes back, you’ll throw that drink in his face and dump his pathetic ass. Then we’re going to dance and have fun and maybe get you laid by a real man, because he does not get to win.”
I stared at her, blinking.
“I don’t think I can do that,” I whispered. Shanda’s eyes narrowed.
“Listen to me—the world’s tough for girls like us, Darce. Girls from the trailer park. They think that because we’re poor, we’re trash, and that’s how they treat us. But we’re not trash. I don’t care how much money Farell has. He’s the trashy one here, not you. Sometimes you just gotta cowgirl up.”