1
Mazzie
“To surviving a freaking hard week,” I muttered, tipping back my second cup of whatever tropical magic they were serving. The sweet mango masked everything except the warmth spreading through my chest and the loosening of the knot that had been living between my shoulders for days.
My fingertips tingled. My worries blurred.
God, I needed this. If my best friend, Bailey—or Bails, as I called her—hadn’t practically dragged me to this pool party, I would be home right now hosting a grand pity festival for one, complete with boxed mac and cheese and dealing with my mother.
Music spilled from the speakers nestled in the pergola’s wooden beams. Tyler Braden’s song “God & Guns N’ Roses” practically drowned out the chatter, the squeals of flirtation, and the laughter.
I closed my eyes for the moment, letting the melody wash over me. Tyler’s crooning voice had a way of making me feel free. But this song was one that I sang at the top of my lungs driving down the open highway.
Sighing, I opened my eyes as another of his songs started.
The pool deck, patio, and pool were packed with partygoers laughing and talking. A few girls swayed to the music where they stood. The chlorine-scented air mixed with sunscreen drifted on the light breeze. One thing was certain—I wouldn’t be dipping my body into the pool. I had a sensitivity to chlorine, manifested by hives and shortness of breath, and if I got the chemical in my eyes, it burned like a mother.
I was content to sit, drink, and enjoy the music, and the weather couldn’t be more perfect for late September in Texas—warm, sticky, but not too overwhelming. As the fairy lights hanging from the pergola twinkled to life in the deepening dusk, the atmosphere was surely masking my sour mood over losing my second job at a coffee shop due to its closing.
I wasn’t blowing into a paper bag yet. For one, I made decent money as a cocktail server at a casino just over the Texas border in Louisiana, which was about a forty-five minute drive from Lakemont, that supplemented the money my mom received from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. On top of that, I’d been saving as much as I could in case of an emergency or if my thirteen-year-old sister, Kaylee, needed money for a field trip or any school function. Counting on my mother to work a steady job was like counting on winning the lottery, and I knew that wasn’t freaking happening. My mom’s idea of employment was hunting down rich men to support her habit for high-end designer clothes and jewelry only a queen could afford.
Don’t go down that road. You’re here to have a good time.
I’d never been one to drown my sorrows in liquor, but the way I was feeling, I might start. Regardless, I had promised Bails I wouldn’t brood tonight.
Speaking of my bestie, she swung her curvy hips as she came toward me with a smile that would make any guy drop to his knees.
“Spill it, Bails.” I eyed her flushed cheeks and her telltale swollen lips. “What hurricane of bad decisions did you create?”
She flipped her strawberry-blond hair over her shoulder, the picture of innocence ruined by the smudge of lipstick. “Can’t a girl use the bathroom without an interrogation?”
“Not with your lipstick out of whack or with that ‘I just devoured someone’ look on your face. You’re practically glowing.”
She collapsed onto the lounge chair, plucked her red cup from the table, and took a victory sip. “Fine. I might have cornered Erik in the pool house.”
My eyebrows twisted as I straightened. “Hussy. You were gone for like seven minutes!”
Her laugh bubbled up like champagne. “Seven minutes in heaven is all you need. When an itch needs scratching…” She winked with an unapologetic shrug.
I couldn’t deny that Erik, the tight end for the Lakemont University football team, was a hottie with those impossibly long lashes framing seductive brown eyes. But unlike Bails, I didn’t have the luxury to flirt or have sex with men.
My life plan was simple: ace my premed classes, get through my junior year, keep my sister safe and fed, and avoid distractions at all costs. And men like Erik were distractions gift-wrapped in trouble.
As if Erik knew we were talking about him, he glanced in our direction.
Bails waved then blew him a kiss, and Erik, in turn, caught it.
The eye roll I did hurt. “I feel like I’m intruding on an intimate moment. But that was cheesy.”
“Oh, chill, chica. Let your hair down.”
I gave her a sidelong glance like she’d lost her mind. “I am.” I raised my cup. “See. I’m drinking, and I’m here.”
She kicked her legs up on the lounge chair. “I’m glad the casino didn’t put you on the schedule this weekend. Otherwise, I would’ve had to tie you up and drag you to the bash of the year.”
No shift meant no paycheck.
“While it pains me to lose money, I’m happy I’m here with you. But isn’t there a party every weekend?”
