Life After Theft
Page 22

I spent the next hour listening to Langdon and his friends make lame jokes while nursing my beer till the taste got to be too much, and switching to the Jell-O shots—Langdon always had a new one ready for me—to chase the taste away. Then, because drinking beer seemed like the “right” thing to do at a kegger, I’d grimace and start on it again. After going back and forth a few times, the beer didn’t taste so bad. In fact, it was starting to taste pretty good. And Langdon’s jokes were even getting funny.
I lost track of the time and jumped when Sera walked up beside me and touched my arm. “He-e-e-e-y-y-y-y,” I slurred.
Those gorgeous green eyes looked up at me, then rolled. “You’re so toasted.”
Damn. “Yeah,” I said with a sloppy grin. “But that’s okay, ’cause you can have this.” I handed her the rest of my beer.
“Thanks,” she said dryly, and poured it on the ground.
“You want some Jell-O?”
“That’s . . . okay,” she said. Then she looked up at Langdon and I swear, the temperature dropped. “Langdon, I wouldn’t say it’s a pleasure to see you, but hello.”
Smooth.
Landon’s ego seemed to deflate for a second, but he recovered quickly. “Sera, my favorite cheerleader. Come to join the festivities for once?”
“I think you know better than to even ask,” Sera said coolly. She grabbed a shooter, jiggling it slightly. “Jell-O shots? Really? That’s what you’ve moved on to?”
“Dude, they’re awesome,” I said.
“Yeah,” she said, holding the little cup between two fingers for a second before returning it to the table and turning her back to Langdon. “How many of these have you had?”
How many had I had? I tried to count, but suddenly I wasn’t quite sure. Four? Five? Twenty-eight? I had no freakin’ clue.
“That’s what I thought,” she replied to my silence. “You ready to go?”
“Go? Where?”
“You’re wasted. I should take you home.”
“No,” I said, trying to sound suave. “I should take you home.” And I tapped my finger on the tip of her nose. Or I meant to. I’m just glad I didn’t poke her in the eye.
She smiled condescendingly. “Yeah, I don’t think tonight’s a good night for that. Come on.”
“Hey, he doesn’t want to leave.” I felt that heavy arm around my shoulders again. “He wants to party. Don’t you, bro?”
“Shut the hell up, Langdon,” Sera snapped. “Jeff, where are your keys?”
“Not a chance, Barbie,” Langdon said, and suddenly he didn’t look quite so drunk anymore. Or so happy. “You think you can just waltz in here and ruin our fun? Crawl back under your rock.”
That edge in his voice brought Kimberlee’s words back into my brain with a jolt. Mean drunk. I was seeing it now.
“You know, when I heard you’d invited Jeff, I hoped it was just a casual invite—that you’d outgrown this stupidity. But we both know where this is going and I’ll be damned if I’m going to leave him here with you.”
“And you think I’m just going to step aside?” Langdon asked, straightening so he towered over her.
Sera didn’t even flinch. “See this?” she said, holding up something black and . . . sparkly? Oh, cell phone! Shiny. “I’m one button from calling Khail if you don’t let go of Jeff right this second. I am not taking any of your shit tonight.”
I didn’t know why that was such a threat, but after a second Langdon’s arm slid off my shoulders. He looked mad as hell, but he didn’t try to stop Sera as she grabbed my hand and pulled me away.
I turned and waved good-bye, but Langdon just glared at me with a level of hatred that didn’t match the grinning guy who’d been handing me shooters for the last hour. And I was way too drunk for any of it to make sense.
“Gimme your keys,” Sera said as she dragged me out to the dusty lot where all the cars were parked. “I caught a ride with Brynley and she won’t want to leave yet.”
“Oh no,” I said, covering my pocket with my hand. “No one drives Halle but me.”
She looked at me for a long moment before she smiled and said, “Well, maybe I can change your mind.”
I liked the sound of that.
She curled her fingers through mine and pulled me closer. “You like me, don’t you, Jeff?”
“Course.”
“You don’t mind if I do this, do you?” She slid her hand along the sides of my hips.
“Nooo . . .” Oh, please don’t let this end.
“You could put your arms around me.”
I was so in heaven. My hands worked their way around her waist and went right to her ass. Oh yeah.
“Ahem.”
I looked at her with what I hoped was a convincing blank look.
“A little higher, or you can walk home,” she said with a tight grin.
I moved my hands up a few inches.
“Much better.”
Her hand was doing something on my hip, but I was too busy trying to look her in the eye. If only she’d stay in one place! “You’re so beautiful.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. I’ve wanted to kiss you from the first time I saw you.”
“Really?”
“Uh-huh.” If I didn’t take this chance it might not come around again. I moved my face closer and she didn’t pull away. I was almost there and let my eyes start to slide shut when she stepped back and something sparkly and loud jangled in front of my face.