Page 55 of Property of Player

We stay until late.

Eventually, most of the teens head off to other graduation parties.

Around 10:00 p.m., Gage tells a couple of the prospects to put out the fire.

I excuse myself to use the restroom and go inside. After I’m through, I walk down the short hall and hear hushed voices near the foyer and the set of stairs leading to the second level. I peer and see two shadowy forms ducked in a small alcove.

I don’t think they see me, and I pause near the hallway wall and listen to their conversation.

I recognize Cici’s voice immediately.

“Come with me, please.”

“I can’t, sweetheart. You know that.”

I suck in a breath. It’s Drae. Everything Player told me comes rushing back.

“You could if you wanted. You could make an excuse. Say your mother is ill or something.”

“Sissy, don’t put me in a spot like this.”

“Fine,” she snaps, and I peek and see her smack his hand away. “Maybe I’ll find someone else then. Maybe I’ll get drunk at Cason’s party and find a boy who’s not afraid to kiss me.”

I see Drae’s hand flash up and grab her wrist as she moves to push past him.

“Don’t even think about it. You do, and I swear I’ll find out. I’ll hunt him down and break his legs.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” she hisses.

“Try me.”

“I hate you,” she hisses, tears in her eyes.

“No, you don’t, babe. That’s the problem. You don’t hate me, and I don’t hate you.”

“Then why won’t you even kiss me?”

“You know why.”

“So, we can never be? There’s no hope for us?”

I can see his arms tremble as he holds her a foot away from him. The man is struggling, fighting against every instinct in him to pull her close.

“You think I don’t want you? You think this isn’t hell on me? You think I don’t lie awake at night—” He cuts himself off before he admits more.

The front slider scrapes open, and they both move into the shadows.

I take the opportunity to walk out into the great room.

“There you are, babe,” Player says. “I thought you fell in.”

“Just fixing my lipstick.” I hook an arm through his and turn him toward the deck. “How about another beer?”

It’s not long after we go outside that Drae comes out on the deck, lighting up a smoke.

“Where the fuck did you go?” Gage asks.

“Out to my bike to get another pack of smokes. What’d I miss?”