Summer sucked in her breath, fighting back a grin.
“I think we should do a four-person buddy system. You two look out for us at the end, and we’ll do the same,” she said with precision and a firm head nod.
I glanced down, expecting her to do a little footstep. It’d sounded like she was starting a cheer. As I was waiting for the toe-heel movement, she linked her elbow with Kitty and began prancing up the hill to the house. Her free arm was swinging widely. Her head was high. Her shoulders were back. She even tossed back her hair with a head shake. Nina was ready to take the world on, one house party at a time.
Summer groaned next to me. “Oh my god, we’re surrounded by dorks.”
“Not our whole floor.” But I wasn’t sure, and dorks wasn’t the nicest word to use, but I had to agree a little bit. “I would say that they…” I was searching. “Um…they’re not as practiced with house parties as we might be?”
“Speaking of, you’ve barely blinked since we got here.”
We started after the other two after Kitty hollered for us to get our spirit butts in gear.
“But from the stories I’ve heard about Mason Kade and his brother, I’m not surprised. I have to admit that even I’ve heard about the Kade parties. I wanted to go to one, but I could never talk my friends into crashing one with me. They were too scared. They’d heard the girls who went to them were like savage beasts.”
“You’re not far off with that one.” Kate and her pack of four could howl with the best of them. “And,” using her phrase, I said, “you’ve barely blinked yourself.”
The music grew louder as we stepped onto the porch. Reaching for the door, Summer murmured before opening it, “I’ve been to a few discos overseas. These don’t compare.” She winked as she drew back the door.
The music overwhelmed us.
So did the laughter and conversation.
So did the heat from all those bodies inside.
So did the smell of weed, booze, and sweat.
I couldn’t believe it. My first college party really looked like a scene from Animal House.
Just inside the door, Kitty, Nina, and some of the rest from our floor were huddled together, gripping their red plastic cups.
Summer frowned at them. “You guys already have beer?”
At that moment, a guy wearing a toga came around the corner, holding a row of red cups. A guy came with him, holding a pony keg on his shoulder. As they both saw us, wide smiles lit up their faces.
The guy with the cups said, “Well, hey there! Two newcomers. Hold on, ladies.” He knelt and pulled out one cup, holding it underneath the keg’s spout.
The second guy was nodding his head in rhythm to the bass, looking glazed over as he pushed on the spout, and the beer started flowing.
When they were done, the guy with the cups stood back up and held a hand out to Summer. “I’m Blaze, and Ruby’s a friend. She said you all were coming, so no worries. Only good guys here. All the bedrooms are locked up anyway. No one can use them. There’s a bathroom upstairs. There’s one on this floor, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Sy keeps plugging it. It’s disgusting, so if the upstairs one is full, there’s one downstairs, too. If you guys need anything, let me know, and I’ll try to help you out. I’m the host extraordinaire.”
The second guy kept bobbing his head, now closing his eyes. His pony-keg duties were done. Still in rhythm, his hips began moving back and forth as he moved away.
“Oh.” Summer shook Blaze’s hand and stepped back into me right afterward. “I’m Summer. This is…” She started to point to me, but her gaze slid over my shoulder, and she trailed off.
Her eyes got big as an arm rested around my shoulders, and I was pulled in close to a hard body.
I closed my eyes. I knew who it was, even before he said a word.
“And this is Samantha, my stepsister.” Logan grinned at Blaze. “I’m Logan.”
Stepsister? Summer mouthed to me.
I shook my head. Too long of a story for right then.
Blaze’s eyes lit up. “Logan Kade?”
“That’s me.”
The two shook hands, and Blaze lingered for a moment longer than Logan before letting go. He pointed the column of cups at him, a wide smile growing. “I’ve heard about you. Holy shit. I heard about everything. Last year. The fight today. What they tried with your brother.” His eyes were threatening to bulge out now. “Mason Kade is your brother! Holy fucking fuck. That’s awesome.” He looked past him with a question falling from his lips. “Is he with you?”
I had already been tense, and I became even more so now.
Logan replied, clasping me even tighter to him, “Nah. He’s got football practice tomorrow. He had to go over new plays tonight, but this is Nate.”
Blaze’s arm swung to Nate, who stepped to Logan’s other side. “I’m crapping my pants. You’re Nate Monson. I’ve heard all about you, too. You were with those motherfuckers last year before you gave them the middle finger.”
Nate shook his hand. “Yeah,” he said to the guy, “I was pretty stupid in the first place to join them.” He glanced to me. “Hey, Sam.”
Blaze took in the greeting and bounced the cups up and down, pointing at me with them. “You. You, I have to tell Ruby about. She’s going to flip out. You’re connected to legends. Do you have any idea?”
Logan was suppressing laughter. I felt it from his chest.