Almost everyone is too preoccupied with their own conversations to notice our return, but Will’s buddy Max spots us and shakes his head. “Stamina, man. You gotta work on the stamina if you want the beautiful ones to stick around.”

“Cut it out, Max. Cally, this is my idiot best friend, Max. Max, this is Cally, my guest.” He says the word like it has some sort of secret meaning then slides his hand around my waist and tugs me close.

Max’s brows shoot up and he gives a knowing nod. “Say no more.” He has a nice grin and he shows it off as he offers me his hand. “Nice to meet you, Cally.”

“You too,” I say, but the words come out as a whisper. I’m still tangled up in the sensation of Will’s arm around my waist.

“I saw you brought your friends.” Max nods to Lizzy and Hanna. They’re at the island in the kitchen, laughing about something.

“I hope that’s okay.”

He lifts a brow. “Are you kidding? Beautiful girls are always welcome in my house.”

“Max has a thing for Lizzy,” Will whispers in my ear.

Max punches him lightly in the stomach. “Hush it, man.” Then he turns to me, serious. “But do you happen to know if she’s…available?”

Crap. Hanna’s the one who likes Max. “Um. I don’t think so. I mean, she doesn’t seem really interested in more than just, you know, friends and stuff.”

“Figures,” Max says with a heavy sigh.

William takes me to the makeshift dance floor at the back of the living room and pulls my body next to his. I recognize the song as Nine Inch Nails’ “The Fragile.” I love this album. Hanna and Lizzy tease me for listening to it, but something about it has always spoken to my heart.

“You don’t mind, do you?” His words are lazy puffs of air at my ear.

“Don’t mind?” Wow. His presence seems to take away my ability to construct complete sentences. Real attractive, Cally.

He pulls me closer and settles a hand at my hip. “Dancing with me,” he whispers. “Pretending to be my girl?”

I pull back so I can see his eyes, but they’re all serious and expectant as he waits for my reply. God, he’s gorgeous.

I don’t know what to say, so I don’t answer at all, just move with him to the music. His hand slides from my hip to under my shirt, his thumb against the sensitive skin above the waistband of my jeans.

“Hey, William,” a girl calls from the kitchen. “Why don’t you come in here and take a shot?”

I hardly have a chance to tense before Will pulls me closer. “Can’t do that, Meredith. My date’s here.”

Lizzy and Hanna both turn to us at his words, and I feel my own eyes go wide.

“I’d consider it a personal favor if you could roll with this,” he whispers into my ear. “Meredith has been trying to get me to do body shots since she got here two hours ago.”

“You don’t drink?” I ask, not that it’s my business. I’ve just never been to a party with alcohol before, and I’m not sure what to expect. From the stories I’ve heard, I half expected everyone to be wasted by the time we got here.

“It’s not the drinking that I mind. She’s just not my type.” When I frown at him, confused, his lips quirk in a half-smile. “You do know what a body shot is, don’t you?”

I shake my head.

“Want to find out?” His fingers trail over the sensitive dip in my spine as he asks, and I nod. I would probably agree to anything he asked me right now.

He takes me to the kitchen, his hot hand never leaving the small of my back.

Lizzy and Hanna step back and study us as he leads me to the island. I’d feel guilty about abandoning them tonight, but they seem to be having a great time.

“Where’s the tequila, Max?” Will calls.

Max hoists a bottle of amber liquid in the air and snags a shot glass off the counter.

“Do you know what a snakebite is?” Will asks me quietly. He’s standing close so only I can hear him when he talks.

I bite my lip. “I don’t really go to many parties.”

Next to us, Max fills the shot glass with tequila.

“A snakebite is a shot of tequila that you take with salt and lime,” Will explains to me.

“What makes it a body shot?” I ask.

His throat moves as he swallows, and his blue eyes go darker somehow, his pupils getting bigger. His lips part as he studies mine. “It’s a body shot if you take all the parts of the snakebite off someone else’s body.”

That makes my pulse kick up a notch. I’m still trying to puzzle out the logistics when Max calls, “No hands, Bailey.”

Will winks at me. “And I can’t use my hands for anything but putting the salt on you. Are you still game?”

I nod wordlessly, and I’m rewarded with one of Will’s full-out grins. I don’t need to know details to understand his mouth is going to be on me, and I like the idea of that. A lot.

Will’s hands slide to my waist and tighten, and before I realize what he’s doing, he’s hoisting me up on the counter. I squeak, and the girls cheer. All of them except Kristen and Meredith, that is. They’re leaning against the fridge, scowling at me like I killed their puppy.

Max hands me the shot glass and looks at me expectantly.

“Do I hold it?” I whisper.

“If you want,” Max says. “But I think you shouldn’t make it so easy on my boy here.”

Will shakes his head. “Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

Lizzy rushes over and cups her hand around my ear. “Slide it between your breasts. Trust me.”

I gape at her, and she shrugs innocently before joining Hanna at the edge of the kitchen.

I may be inexperienced, but I’m not naïve and I get what this game is about. My cheeks heat as I slide the glass into my cleavage. It’s cool against my hot skin, and Will’s eyes burn into me as he watches me position it.

Max offers me a lime wedge.

“Do you need your friend to tell you what to do with that too?” Kristen calls.

“Shut up, Kristen,” Will says. “You didn’t know what you were doing your first time either.”

But she’s right. Lizzy shouldn’t have to tell me what to do. I take the lime and put it between my teeth, facing out. The citrusy pulp presses against my lips, making them tingle. Or maybe the tingle is from the idea of William’s lips close to mine.

Will grins and brushes my hair off my neck. “Ready or not.”

When his hot tongue hits my neck, I’m assaulted by shivers of pleasure so potent I’m embarrassed to have all these people watching me. Instinctively, I tilt my head to the side to give him better access to my neck.

He nips the skin before lifting his mouth to my ear. “Still good?”

I can only nod.

“Good.” He sprinkles salt onto the spot he just wet with his tongue, then licks it off and brings his mouth to the tequila. Since I’m on the counter, he doesn’t have to lean down far, but he takes his time wrapping his lips around the glass. His face is practically buried in my cleavage, his breath hot against my breasts, and my cheeks burn with embarrassment and arousal.

When he comes up with the shot and tosses it back, I offer my open palm to take the glass. His mouth closes around the lime, and he holds there for two heartbeats, his eyes closed.

When he pulls away, he takes the lime out of his mouth and licks his lips. “Thanks for that.” He brushes my cheek with his thumb, eyes locked with mine.

We hang there for a moment, not moving or breathing, time suspended as our eyes lock. It doesn’t matter that there are at least a dozen other people in the room. For that moment, with his gaze equal parts hot and tender, I don’t even care what they must think of me or what rumors might or might not be circulating when I return to school on Monday.

“Shit!” someone says. “Did you hear that thunder? It’s going to rain!”

“Bailey,” Max murmurs by Will’s side, “can we get a little help moving the couch back into the house before it’s destroyed?”

“I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.” He winks at me, then disappears out the back door.

“Well, that was hot,” Lizzy says, offering her hand to help me off the counter.

“So hot,” Hanna agrees as I hop down. “I’d be jealous if I weren’t so happy for you.”

“Same here. Crap.” Lizzy winces. “I shouldn’t have broken the seal earlier. I need to pee again.”

“I’ll go with you,” Hanna says before turning to me. “You okay?”

“I think so.” I put my hands to my blazing cheeks. “I just need a cold drink.”

Lizzy snorts. “I’ll bet you do. We’ll be right back.” Then the girls are gone.

For the first time, I look around the kitchen and living room to survey the other party guests. Several of the guys rushed outside at the threat of rain, but the house is still pretty crowded, more so than when we arrived. There’s a couple not two feet to my left who may need protection if they dance any closer, and another in the corner practically dry humping.

I look around the kitchen and find a cooler with bottles of water. I really just want to stick my face in the ice for about ten minutes, but this will have to do.

“Look who decided to close her legs for a few minutes,” someone snipes as I come up with a bottle. It’s Kristen, and she’s scowling at me.

“Excuse me?”

“Listen. I know you’re just trying to climb on up the social ladder. Heck, if I were a social pariah, I’d do the same. I’m just gonna do you a favor and spell this out for you before you have to learn the hard way. William Bailey can have any girl he wants. Money, good looks, status, Will’s got it all. There’s only one reason he’d go out with a girl like you. And I’m pretty sure he just showed you what that was.”

Anger surges inside me. “You don’t know anything.” When are Lizzy and Hanna going to be back from the bathroom? I could use some reinforcements about now.

Kristen shrugs and pours herself a shot of tequila. “I’m not judging you for doing it. Hell, I’d f**k him until he couldn’t see straight if I had the chance. But I can work in his world, whereas you’ll just get hurt if you try. But maybe I’m giving too much credit to a girl who gives it up on the bleachers.”

“Who told you that?”

She smirks. “Will was bragging about it to his boys right before you got here.”

Chapter Four

William

“So, Cally Fisher, huh?” Max says for my ears only as we push the couch back into position in the living room.

I shrug. I like Cally. A lot. But I’m not about to say anything definite to Max until I know the feeling is mutual. It’s gotta be, though. The connection between us it too intense to be one-sided. Damn, my blood still runs hot in my veins when I think about the smell of her skin and the little shiver that ran through her when I pressed my tongue to her neck. I want to think she enjoyed that as much as I did. “I don’t know yet,” I say, scanning the crowd for her face.

Meredith sidles up to me and rubs against me like a cat. “You can do better than her,” she purrs in my ear. “Come upstairs with me and Kristen and we’ll show you just how much better.”

“Give it up, Mer,” I say, nudging her away. The last thing I need is for Cally to see one of these drunk girls throwing themselves at me like they give a shit. All they care about is what I can do for their reputation. Or worse, what my money can buy them. I’m so over that kind of girl.

I go to the kitchen, but Cally isn’t waiting for me there. She’s not in the living room, and she’s not dancing.

I glance down the hall and see a long line of girls waiting for their turn in the restroom. Maybe that’s where she went. I wonder if I can get her back upstairs. I want to talk to her without all these people watching us. I want to put my lips on her neck again without the excuse of alcohol.

I hated leaving her, but Max’s parents would shit if they found out about this party, and how else would he explain a couch left out in the rain?

The feel of a small, cold hand under my shirt has me spinning around. Cally.

But it’s not her. It’s Kristen, and she’s grinning up at me like the cat that ate the canary. “Guess your little date couldn’t handle partying with the cool kids?”

“What?” I push her hands out from under my shirt. “What are you talking about?”

Kristen rolls her eyes. “Cally and her friends left while you were out back with the guys.”

Left? Shit. “Where’d she go?”

“Maybe her mom needed help jacking off a client.”

“Grow up,” I growl. I rush out the front door and down the steps before Kristen has a chance to say more. Cally is walking down the sidewalk with the Thompson twins.

For a split second, I’m torn between following and letting her go. If she doesn’t want to be here, I’m not going to make her. But the look in her eyes after I licked her neck has me jogging down the steps after them.

“What’s going on?” I ask when I reach them.

The twins exchange a look, then turn to Cally. “Do you want to talk to him?”

She bristles, but nods slowly. “I’ll catch up.”

The girls nod and cross to the other side of the street, tossing worried glances over their shoulders as they walk away.

What the hell did I miss?

***