Page 31 of You Found Me
Laughter erupted around them.
Larissa sputtered to the surface and splashed playfully at Marshall. “Jerk!”
“Sorry!” Marshall pulled her in for a long kiss that caused wolf whistles and catcalls from everyone close enough to watch.
When Marshall released her, Larissa pushed the hair out of her eyes with a giggle. “You’re forgiven.”
“Our point?” Scott asked.
Their self-designated referee, a girl Della thought looked familiar but had no idea why, pointed at him. “Point to Team Della. That’s one-nothing.”
Pffzztt pop.
The music died.
One second, a Starborn song about summer filled the air, and the next second, it was gone.
“Did we blow a fuse?” Scott asked as he spun around. He tightened his grip on her thighs to keep her secure.
“I hope not,” Della said. A flurry of guilt flitted through her stomach. “Piper will kill me if we broke her house.”
Her guilt grew when she saw Ward standing on the DJ’s platform. He held a power cord like he wanted to choke someone to death with it. He took his sunglasses off and squinted against the sun as he methodically surveyed the crowd, causing a ripple as people shifted to escape his glare.
Della had a feeling it was her neck he was looking for.
“Who’s that?” Larissa asked.
“I think it’s the party police,” Marshall said in a soft undertone.
Ward’s gaze fell on Della, flicked down to the man between her legs, then back up to her.
She felt like an ant under a giant magnifying glass. Any second now, lasers would shoot out of his eyes.
Heat rushed to her cheeks. It was the same embarrassed, defiant jolt of adrenaline that came when her daddy had caught her coming through the bedroom window an hour after curfew.
Resentment joined the party.
She wasn’t a teenager, and she wasn’t doing anything wrong.
“You. With me.” The gravel in his voice and the anger in his eyes made her want to run in the opposite direction. “Now.”
“Somebody’s in trouble,” someone singsonged behind Della.
“It’s gonna be you if you don’t shut up,” Ralph muttered. “He looks pissed.”
“And hot,” someone else said loud enough for Ward to hear. “We should ask him to join us.”
Della saw the muscles along the side of Ward’s face ripple as he clenched his jaw. The crowd shifted uneasily, and a few nervous giggles punctuated the uncomfortable stillness.
She patted Scott’s hand. “Let me down.”
He looked up, his grip firmly in place. “You sure? Is he your ex or something?”
“Worse. He’s my babysitter.” Della looked behind her to make sure the coast was clear. “Getting off.”
He let go of her legs, and she fell backward into the water. The shock of it hitting her sun-warmed back stung like a slap.
“Babysitter?” Scott asked when she resurfaced.