She hurries up and downs her drink, before wiping her mouth off. “Perfect timing. I’ll be back. Just don’t expect it to be anytime soon.”

“Yeah,” I say as she starts walking away. “Sure you will.”

There’s no way that girl is coming back. She’s absolutely gorgeous and there’s no way Ace will turn her down for someone else. Hell, I even kissed her one night when I was drunk. First time I had ever kissed a girl, and I have to admit that I definitely didn’t dislike it.

I hear my name, followed by a whistle, so I turn behind me to see Lucas with a few of his guy friends chilling in the pool, along with about ten other random people partying it up. Must be friends of friends because I have never met any of these people.

“Over here, Tripp.”

Smiling at him and his crazy friends that are now whistling at me and calling me over, I flip them all the middle finger and make my way over to them.

I stop in front of the pool and smile down at the guys, trying to decide if I want to get in or not. “Boys.”

I jump back when Myles splashes me. “Hey, gorgeous.” He looks me up and down and hits Lucas’ shoulder. “Hot fucking dress. What’s underneath?”

Placing my foot on his shoulder, I push him under the water before taking a seat on the edge of the pool and kicking him with some water to the face.

“Something you’ll dream about later.” I joke.

He places his hand to his scrawny chest. “Ouch! That hurt. Why can’t I get in on some action?”

“Get in, baby.” Lucas swims over right in front of me and starts lifting my dress up my legs, not caring that all of his friends are eyeing me up. “Take this damn thing off and put that drink down.”

I push his hand away and pull my dress back down my legs. “I’m not wearing my bikini yet. I’ll get in later. We have all night.”

He laughs as if I’ve just said something really stupid. “Your underwear is the same damn thing.” He lifts his arms up and spins around. “Look around you. This is a party. No one gives a shit. You wanted to have fun. What are you waiting for? It’s our first house party.”

He goes to lift my dress up again, but I tug on it, still hesitant to strip down to my panties.

“Is there a problem?” Alex stops and asks on his way past. Releasing Mel’s waist, he pushes his way through Lucas’ friends and pulls me aside, his face not hiding his concern for me. “Tripp?”

I shake my head, feeling bad for the small scene. I never meant to get Alex worked up by thinking Lucas is a threat. “I’m fine.” I pinch his cheek and smile. “Go have fun, Stud. We were just playing. I promise.”

Alex turns from me to look over at Lucas and his friends. He takes a second to size them all up before turning back to me. “Better be.” His jaw steels as his eyes meet mine. “Come find me if you need me.”

“I always do,” I say truthfully. “Better hurry before your date leaves.”

He looks over his shoulder at Mel, nods his head, and starts backing up. I see a small smile take over his face and I can’t help but to full on grin at him.

Guess I’m going in the pool now. Tilting my drink back, I down the rest of it, before standing up. “Time to get wet.” Without much thought, I rip my dress over my head, stripping down to my red bikini top and black panties.

I hear whistles coming from all directions before I dive into the pool, sinking to the bottom. The water feels so good; almost like an escape away from everything and everyone, at least for this short moment.

Relaxing under the water for a second, I grip onto my hair before pushing my way back up to the top.

Lucas immediately comes up behind me and pulls me into his arms. “Hand me that shot, dude.”

One of his friends grabs for one of the shots lined up by the pool and hands it to him. Smiling, he holds it up to my lips. “You deserve this after all that hotness. Drink up.”

Feeling a bit more relaxed now that I’ve already downed my first drink I part my lips and let him tilt the glass, allowing the liquid to run down my throat.

The DJ is playing music, people are getting wasted and having fun. This is exactly what I wanted—A little fun and freedom. Might as well live it up a little. A little celebration for having Alex here is how I view it. I couldn’t ask for more.

IT’S GETTING DARK NOW, BUT everyone still seems to be having the time of their lives. I haven’t seen Alex much since before I got into the pool, but maybe that’s because I’ve been trying to avoid seeing him with Mel. It makes my chest hurt too much. I really haven’t seen much of Harley either, now that I think about it.

I’m probably up to my fifth drink and fourth shot by now. Once I get enough liquor inside of me, it becomes a little harder to say no. Especially when you’re just having fun and trying to keep your head clear of certain unwanted thoughts.

I’m in the middle of everyone, just dancing and having a good time, and Lucas is surprisingly still beside me instead of off having fun. He shouts over the loud music and holds up two more shots before handing one of them to me.

I get ready to tilt it back, but I feel a hand reach out and snatch it away. It’s Alex. It wouldn’t be anyone else. Everyone else is too wasted to care about anyone else.

He steps in between Lucas and I and hands the shot back to Lucas. “She’s done with shots, Lucas. Give that shit to someone else.”

Before Lucas can say anything, Alex walks me out of the dancing crowd and over to the fire pit where it’s a bit quieter. He pulls one of the chairs up behind me and helps me sit down.

I look up to see Lucas watching us, but then he just shrugs and hands the shot to a random guy close to him, going back into his party mode.

“I told you to be careful with shots, Tripp. I don’t want to be cleaning puke off of you tonight. I will, trust me, but I’d rather not.”

One look into his eyes and I can’t argue with him. He always has a way of sobering me up. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. I am too. I hate upsetting Alex.

“Don’t be.” He smiles and hands me a cup of water that Mel passes to him. “Drink this.”

I can’t help but to smile up at him. “I will if you do something for me.”

He smiles. “You know I’ll do whatever, Tripp. Don’t I always?”