Page 41 of Come Back to Me

Basketball is something I’ve loved since I was around eight or nine years old. When I started high school, I knew I wanted to join my school’s junior varsity team. The goal is to make the varsity team in my senior year. I want to attend Sunset Cove University and become a Stingray.

My dream is to play for the NBA, and I hope it comes true one day.

“Grayson!” Blake snaps me back to reality, shaking the flask in front of my face.

I snatch it out of his hands. “Okay, I’ll try it, so you can stop annoying me about it.”

Don’t do this, Gray. You swore you’d never drink because of Dad. Give it back to him.

Chugging some of the liquid from the flask, I choke a bit. The taste is strong, and the alcohol is definitely in whatever liquid is swishing around in there. “What the hell is in here?”

Goddammit. Why did I just drink that shit? And why do I want more? This is bad.

“Vodka,” Blake spits out.

“Why didn’t you just put beer in this?”

“If I wanted beer, I’d put it in a plastic red cup, but beer is lame. My parents have an entire cabinet full of bottles of alcohol that theyneverdrink. They only buy them for parties because my mom asks my dad to.”

“Do you have another flask?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I’m stealing this,” I say, pulling the flask closer into my chest.

You’re making a huge mistake, Gray.

Blake folds his arms across the front of his chest. “I thought you didn’t want it.”

“I never said that.”

“Suit yourself.” He pats me on the back before I finish what’s left in the metal flask.

“Where do your parents keep the alcohol?”

“Come with me. I’ll show you.” He gestures to me to follow him into the house, leading me into the kitchen.

There are groups of people in the living room, sitting on the sofa. There are people scattered all over the kitchen, chilling on the bar stools and standing against the counters. He opens the cabinet next to the sink and my mouth hangs open.

Holy shit, there’s a cooler inside.

“You okay, bro?” he asks, one of his eyebrows raising up.

“Yeah, I’m cool.” I lean against the giant marble island with one leg in front of the other.

I cannot believe I’m standing here with Blake Prescott in front of a cooler full of bottles of alcohol and wanting to drink some.

And I just made out with his sister. This is so fucked up.

Blake tilts his head at an angle. “Hey, sorry, that was one of the guys calling me over. They want to show me something. You can come if you want.”

“That’s okay, man. You go have fun. I’ll figure out another way to entertain myself.”

“Alright. Enjoy the calmness,” he says as he walks away from me and ends up back outside.

Rubbing my fingertips on my temples, I can feel a headache forming from how loud the music is. I grab a bottle ofvodka and search for a plastic cup, finding one hanging out on the counter behind me. The bottle is already open.

Pouring it a quarter of the way up, I quickly gulp down the vodka. It feels like I just swallowed pure fire because my throat is burning. I throw the cup into the trash can before I head upstairs to see Violet.