Page 151 of Always Love You More

The gate to the backyard is open, voices and a steady thump of bass spilling into the street.

“Let’s go,” Billy says, following the sound of the party.

A tall bonfire lights the space, the flames flickering as people dance and move around it. The heat cuts through the chill as we walk over to the foldable table lined with liquor bottles.

Billy goes for the tequila, as Jameson lingers at my side. He passes me a cup then hands one to Jameson when a brunette comes up to the table.

She looks between the three of us, her eyes going to Jameson’s hand that’s wrapped around my middle, his thumb hooked into the top of my sweatpants. A blush colors her cheeks as she quickly looks away, focusing on Billy. It’s not until he says her name that I realize it’s the girl from the front office that changed Jameson’s schedule on the first day of school.

“How’ve you been?” Billy asks, rounding the table.

She bites her lip, fumbling with the cup she just grabbed. “Good,” she breathes as he stills her hand and takes over pouring her a drink.

He pushes further into her space, leaning down and talking quietly against her ear. She nods, and he smirks before glancing back at me and Jameson.

“Gonna go dance. Catch you later, yeah?” He doesn’t wait for an answer before he follows her over to the crowd around the fire.

“That might be a new record,” Jameson mutters.

“Do you think—”

“Jameson,” a low voice cuts in.

A guy I don’t recognize is standing in front of us, his attention drifting to me and lingering a bit too long.

“Stop looking at her like that,” Jameson barks as he moves around me, blocking me from the guy’s view. “What do you want, Evan?”

“I was just wondering if you had any—”

Jameson holds out a hand, cutting him off.

Evan immediately snaps his mouth shut.

Pointing, Jameson says, “Go wait for me over there.”

Evan slinks off, and Jameson turns to me. “Sorry, baby, just give me a minute to go deal with him, okay?”

I know the drill by now. This isn’t the first time this has happened at a party.

“I’ll wait here,” I tell him.

He dips down, brushing his lips over mine, and then I watch as he walks over to Evan. Once he’s in front of him, he jerks his chin toward the front of the house, and Evan follows behind him.

I turn back to the table, taking a slow sip of my drink. I want to down it, but I’m trying to pace myself, remembering my promise to Jameson.

A couple people wander over to the table, grabbing a drink without a word. After a few minutes, I start to get bored and fish a cigarette out from my purse.

“Those things will kill you, ya know?”

I exhale, looking over my shoulder, and am met with dark eyes and a flirtatious smile.

“Hadn’t heard,” I deadpan.

The guy moves around the table until he’s next to me. “Not very friendly.”

I take a step back. “Not interested.”

Instead of being deterred, he takes my words as a challenge, closing the space between us. “Bet I can make you interested. Hot girl like—”