We slipped from the house unnoticed.
I’d been a little worried. I didn’t want to run into any of the girlfriends, Tiffany, Chandra, or my RA, but as Jesse led the way, I realized he had his own entrance and exit. Even though he lived in the basement, the house was built into a hill. A separate driveway and patio was connected to his level. I wasn’t sure how that was possible, but when we stepped past the patio doors and into his garage, I saw the deck had rock walls all around it.
Backing the black Ferrari, Jesse turned onto a small gravel path that wound around the hill and connected to the road. He drove past the driveway leading to his house and we saw that a bunch of cars had arrived. People were climbing out and heading inside, but I saw Cord pause when he caught sight of us. He lifted his hand in a wave as we shot past.
Jesse let out a deep breath once we were out of their sight.
Taking a deep shuddering breath, I ignored the knots in my stomach. I couldn’t get even more involved with him that I was and even that level was alarming to me. Pressing a hand over my stomach, I tried to will all the tension away. My time with Jesse was just that, time with Jesse. I didn’t care about any after party or if that would stop my time with him.
A nagging voice whispered in my head, “Liar.”
“Where’s this Feast?” My voice hitched on a note as I needed to distract myself.
Jesse glanced over with a small frown. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I just needed to clear my throat again. That was it. “So where is this at?” My chest lifted in a deep silent breath and prayed it would calm my stomach down.
“At Grace Park.”
“Oh.” Never heard of it. “That’s nice.”
Jesse grinned at me. “Yeah, it is. It was a smart move on their part. The back part is surrounded by trees and it’s on the river. I used to go there for basketball. Some local guys get together for a friendly game every Sunday.”
“You don’t go there anymore?” I frowned, hearing a twinge of regret from him.
He shrugged. “The friendly stuff is just that, friendly. Coach put a stop to it when he found out, said we could get hurt.”
“We?”
“Cord played with me.”
Now I was experiencing a twinge of regret, for him. “You and Cord are close now?”He shrugged again. “Close as two guy friends can get.”
I kept frowning to myself.
“He’s not Ethan, Alex.”
I jerked my head in a nod. I knew that. No one could take Ethan’s spot, but it felt good hearing that from him.
“Okay. Here we are.” Jesse pulled onto a small road. Trees were lined on both sides and it went up a hill to a clearing with playground equipment and basketball courts. He paused the car by them. “I’m going to park on the other side of the hill. The bands should be set up in the back section so wait for me. Luke said it was a small thing, but with these guys you never know. Their drummer sometimes goes on a tweeting spree. They had three hundred show up for a private gig one time.”
I nodded and got out. As I did, I could hear music in the distance, but found a bench to wait for Jesse. It wasn’t long until I heard giggling.
I knew those giggles.
Sick dread speared me and I turned around.
Marissa and Sarah Shastaine were walking towards me. When they saw me, both faltered with mixed expressions. Marissa’s eyes rounded while Sarah’s narrowed to slits. A sneer came over her and her hands shot to her hips. She lifted her chin as if to look down her nose at me, which is exactly what she was always the best at doing. “What are you doing here?”
Marissa sent her a quick glare before she moved towards me. “Hi. I left a note for brunch. You didn’t get it?”
Sarah followed her until both stood closer to me. She snorted, “Yeah, right. Why do you even care, Marissa? This one’s a freak now. She became a freak last summer and she’s always going to stay a freak.”
Jesse’s ex-girlfriend had never been my fan, but I wasn’t used to the venom that she sent my way now. “You’re drunk.”
Her hands flew up and flattened together in a praying motion. She lifted her arms to the sky before she nearly fell over, but she blasted out, “Hallelujah. The girl is not dumb. Besides,” an extra sheen of hostility came to her, “like you can sit there and judge me. You were wasted last night. You couldn’t even stand. And great friends, by the way. Real class act, running off after a fight and leaving you there all alone.”
I grinned at her. “I almost wish they were here because Hannah would rip into you for that.” I glanced at Marissa, who seemed annoyed at her friend. “They came back for me but couldn’t find me at the party.”
She jerked her gaze to me and put on an expressionless mask. The annoyance was gone. She even tried to smile nicely at me. “I know. I mean, I don’t know. But—” Sarah gasped beside her and she sent her another scathing look from the corner of her eye.
Sarah grabbed onto her arm. “That’s Jesse over there. I’m going to go say hi.”
Before Marissa could comment, she scampered down the hill and after his disappearing figure.
I glared at him. Bastard. I knew he came up, saw Sarah, and decided to avoid the entire scene.
“Uh.” Marissa chuckled to herself. “Imagine that. You show up and minutes later Jesse Hunt’s in the background.”
I turned back. She knew.
She smirked at me. “You guys are together again?”