“Thanks, asshole. I still have a year in school with her.”
He waves me off. “You’ll be fine. Stacey’s got your back.” He pours another round of shots, looking around. “Speaking of, where has the little Klingon gone?” I frown at his insult.
“She went outside to watch the beatdown, but she won’t be far now that you’re back.”
Sure enough, the words have barely left my mouth before she comes racing back toward us, her expression shifting between glee and terror. It’s a weird grin that kind of makes her look like Venom—all teeth.
“What did you say to Nikki Steel? She just left the party cursing your name, Tori.” She flops down on the other side of Gio, her leg against his. It’s a little too close for my liking, but he doesn’t seem to care. He’s more interested in the bowl of party favors that’s in the middle of the table.
My brother always provides a few recreational drugs, such as weed and ecstasy, for his inner circle to use, but none have returned since the altercation, so maybe he told them to leave him alone.
I roll my eyes and sit up to grab my shot. “I didn’t do anything, this asshole did, but of course she blames me.” The three of us clink our glasses together, and I throw back my—is it my fourth shot? I’ve lost track, and I’m feeling mellow and relaxed, while Stacey still bounces in excitement.
Gio kisses my head and stands up. “I’m out, T. I’m going to find someone to suck my dick.” Eww. I didn’t need to know that.
“I’ll do it.”
Gio and I stare at Stacey in shock. Indecision flashes across her face like she can’t believe she said it out loud.
“What the fuck?” I’m pissed now. She’s supposed to be here for me, not hitting on my brother. Thankfully he just laughs.
“Would you even know what to do, Stacey?” He pats her on the head and wanders away.
I’m still glaring at her in anger, but she just looks disappointed, and I see calculation in her eyes.
She turns to look at me, and she must be able to read the anger on my face. “Oh, Tori, I’m sorry, the alcohol’s gone right to my head. I didn’t mean to say that out loud,” she apologizes quietly, her cheeks blushing. Yeah, like fuck I believe that.
I stand up and grab the bowl of party favors. I’m not leaving these for just any random person. “Come on, I’m over it all now. Let’s go up to my room and smoke a joint.”
A smile crosses her face once again, and she grabs hold of the vodka bottle she’s been carrying around everywhere. “I’ll grab a bottle of juice and a couple of glasses.”
“Grab some snacks too,” I tell her as we move into the kitchen. I pull open a junk drawer and take out a lighter, and then I open the cupboard below the sink. I know there’s an ashtray under here. Dad uses it for his smelly cigars when he and his buddies are playing poker. Grabbing it, I glance at Stacey and see she has everything we need, so I turn and make my way back through the house. Nobody says anything to me, and I’m able to stay mostly invisible. Apart from Nikki and the twins, most of the kids are older, so they leave me and Stacey alone. Plus, they know upsetting me is not worth Gio’s wrath.
The noise fades away until we’re finally back upstairs in my room. Closing the door, I lock out the rest of the noise and breathe deeply, finally able to relax since we first left the room. I’m really not much of a people person. I prefer my own company, happier reading a book or watching a movie than socializing. I do try, though, for Stacey’s sake. She wants it so badly. I think we will probably end up drifting apart this coming year, but for now, I’m going to make the most of it.
ChapterTwo
Stacey makes herself at home in my room, throwing the snacks and drink supplies onto my bed before following them down.
“What have you got there?” she asks, gesturing to the favor bowl, and I shrug and drop down onto the bed next to her. Upending it, I take note of the contents.
“Holy shit.” Stacey sits upright, her eyes bugging out of her head. “Where does Gio get all of that from?” she questions, pushing a dozen joints to the side and lifting a baggie of pills. Inside are a bunch of multicolored pills all stamped with a butterfly logo. Ecstasy. I guess Stacey has never seen Gio’s bowl before. It was probably emptied out by the time we usually joined the party.
I shrug my shoulders in response. “Not sure, he always has something or other to offer.” Truthfully, I don’t really know where he gets them from, and I choose not to look at it too closely. I didn’t think her eyes could get any rounder, but then she holds up a little baggie of white powder.
“What do you think this is?”
I lean back against the many pillows at the head of my bed. “Coke, probably. He doesn’t agree with many of the harder drugs. Coke, X, and pot are all okay as far as my brother is concerned. Everything else is just a disaster waiting to happen. He doesn’t need friends so hooked on drugs they can’t function, nor does he want anyone overdosing in our house. I know what he does get is top quality.” Gio’s word is law, and if they want to continue to be included in everything he does, then they know to toe the line.
She drops the bag back into the bowl and sets it aside. “It doesn’t bother you that he does drugs?” God, Stacey is so oblivious. How she can be my best friend for so many years and not know this shit by now is beyond me. Sometimes it’s like she’s in her own little world and doesn’t pay any attention to anything going on around her. She is a total narcissist, and it’s beginning to annoy me a little bit.
I raise an eyebrow at her. “Have you ever seen my brother drunk or high?”
Her brow creases in concentration as she thinks about it. “No, I haven’t actually.”
“That’s because he doesn’t indulge in public or with this many people around. Only his inner circle has seen him drunk, but even then, there isn’t really anyone he trusts, so he doesn’t do it very often.”
“So he never drinks or indulges in those?” she asks, pointing to the bowl.
