Page 77 of Until Now
Shit, what was his name?
Without warning, Teagan bursts from the house. She’s so skinny, there’s almost no definition to her. Not even the tight black dress shows off much of a figure. I keep telling her she needs to eat, but she just rolls her eyes. One of these days, it’s going to catch up to her, I swear. “There you are!” She stumbles, gripping onto me. “What are you doing out here?”
“Talking with my new friend.” I point to the boy. “Isn’t he cute?”
“Sure. Whatever. C’mon, let’s go inside. Tommy promised he would play my song!”
“I don’t want to,” I whine. “I’m tired, Teag, and have family brunch in the morning. Can we leave?”
“The party is just starting!”
“I wanna go home.”
“Don’t be a grandma, Nin.”
“You know,” the boy interrupts. “I was about to leave, I could drive you home if you want.”
“She’s fine, thanks.” Teagan tries to pull me back to the party.
“Actually, that would be great.” I push her away.
“You don’t even know him.”
“That’s never stopped you, Teag.” I smile to myself when Teagan storms inside before turning to the boy. “Sorry about her. She’s a drama queen.”
“She gonna be okay?” He extends his hand to me and I try to ignore the warmth that spreads when our hands touch. It’s obviously just the alcohol.
“Fine,” I wave off the idea of Teagan. “She just hates when I leave her alone. Very clingy.” The warm sensation spreads further when I lean him as we walk down the driveway.
§
The ride is quiet except the sound of Breaking Benjamin playing softly on the radio. I hum along to the beat of “Breath,” not missing the small smirk on his lips. When we pull up to the front gate of the Villa Estate, I clumsily reach over him to put in the gate code.
“A gentleman,” I giggle, taking his hand when he opens the car door.
“Do you have a key?”
I reach below the door mat and find the spare. “Daddy musta known I was coming home tonight.” I start to open the door, but freeze. This is the part I always dread. No one does stuff like this for free, and I know he must want something in return. Taking a deep breath, I plaster on a fake smile and turn to face him again. “Do you want to come in?”
“No, that’s okay.” A soft smile in return, his hands pushed deep into jean pockets. “Goodnight, Nina.” Without another word, he retreats back to his aqua colored Mustang — interesting color choice — and leaves me standing alone on the porch.
“Goodnight…”
Shit, I still can’t remember his name.
Chapter Forty-Five
THEN
Since the nightof Phillip’s party, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about mystery boy. I want to get to know him more, he isn’t like the rest of the guys here. Not even Lee treats me with the same respect as this guy. But, when I woke up the next morning, everything was a bit fuzzy. I still can’t remember his name. Even his face is trapped in a haze. I’ve spent the past week waiting to run into him again, but I haven’t seen him. He hasn’t been to class and he wasn’t at Phillip’s party on Saturday.
He isn’t the only one.
Tobias has been missing too. Tobias Greene — junior at Rosecliffe, Sigma Phi Epsilon brother, and friend. We became friends through Lee, but he isn’t Lee’s biggest fan. Then again, neither am I. But, his sudden absence tells me he knows something.
§
“There you are!” I quicken my pace to meet Tobias across the quad. “Where have you been? You disappeared.”