Dumbfounded, my mouth gaped open.

“I guess what I’m trying to say, “ he continued, “Is that my heart hurts because it never knew what it was missing until now.”

His eyes were glazed with unshed tears. Either he was the best actor in the known universe, or he was dead serious — or on drugs. Did drugs make you spout out romantic stuff like that? Mental note to look it up it when I got home.

“That was…” I gulped. “Beautiful, Demetri.”

He winked. “I meant every word.”

My heart picked up speed as he crushed his lips against mine, his hands got lost in my hair, sending shivers down to my toes.

“Stay with me tonight,” he murmured again across my lips.

I nodded.

“Good.” He stepped back. “Now let’s go dance.” His eyes were glazed as he tugged me into his arms and then pushed back. He was so hot and cold it was almost dizzying being with him. Did drugs do things like that to you? I mean, not that I was suspicious, but still. His mood swings were getting strange.

His hips did a seductive rock star move that I’m sure the kid’s channel would censor, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Whoa, easy, Tiger. Don’t go moving like that all over the place. You could get random strangers pregnant.”

His smile froze on his face. “That’s not funny, Nat.”

“I was kidding.” I grabbed his hand but he pulled away.

“Whatever.” He looked away and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Let’s just get back.”

What the heck did I just do? And why was he so upset? Geez! Talk about mood swings! Maybe he was just feeling the effects of all that drinking. He sure smelled like it, and I could have sworn I saw him pop something else in his mouth as we walked back toward the house. Ugh, I didn’t know, but either way I was more than thrilled to be back inside. Demetri led me to the dance floor again. The dancing was different. He wasn’t laughing anymore. Instead he was grinding against me, and to be honest, being kind of forceful about it.

“I… I need to use the bathroom!” I yelled in his ear.

He shrugged and walked toward the drinks.

Okay. Weird.

I had to crawl over at least thirty gyrating teenagers in order to find the bathroom, and when I did there were people making out in there.

Awesome.

I went to the upstairs bathroom and was relieved to find it empty.

Shutting the door, I leaned against it and exhaled. Did I really want to spend the night with him? Was his definition of spending the night and mine the same? Or was he expecting me to do things I knew I wasn’t ready for?

Confused, I splashed water on my face, took care of my business, and ran back down the stairs. We needed to talk. I had to set boundaries, even if he made fun of me for it.

Chapter Eight

I skipped down the stairs, noticing that lots of people were already passing out. According to party rumors, Evan usually rented out the nice rooms to his close friends, meaning I probably got one of the guest rooms for the night. Everyone else had to camp in his huge backyard. Other people sometimes went to the beach and slept.

That rum punch must have been strong, because the party had been only going on for about three hours.

I walked back toward the dance floor, but a hand reached out to grab mine.

“Alec!” I yelled, half because I was frightened, half because I was excited.

“Hey.” His eyes were dark, his mouth set in a grim line. “Maybe we should go.”

“Are you sick?”

“Something like that.” He looked away, a disgusted smirk spread across his face.

I nodded my head. “Okay, well… um, let me just go talk to Demetri first.”

“Nat, don’t.” He grabbed my hand again, but I jerked away from him. “Don’t worry! It will just take a second.”

Seriously. What was with these boys?

I pushed through the crowd of people to where I saw Demetri last. He wasn’t on the dance floor. Confused, I walked to the drinks. And that’s when I saw him.

Mauling a girl from the junior class. She was a known slut, on the cheerleading squad and absolutely hammered.

Demetri’s hands were underneath her shirt, and she was pushing him against the wall. Clearly, he was participating.

Rage started pumping through me. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to punch her or him. How dare he say all those things to me then go scam on some cheap skank! I fought the tears that were pooling in my eyes. The music was suddenly too loud, the people obnoxious. I fought my way through the crowds, away from Demetri, away from Alec. No doubt he was trying to warn me.

“Nat, stop.” It was Alec. I’d recognize his cologne anywhere. His arms braced behind me, holding me steady as he half-lifted me into his arms and walked out the door.

He was silent as he unlocked the door to the car and gently put me in the passenger side. Once he started the car and pulled out of the driveway and headed back toward my house, he said, “You can cry now.”

So I did. Weird, because I didn’t even realize how upset I was until he gave me permission to mourn the fact that my boyfriend of five minutes had just been cheating on me in front of everyone.

I would seriously be a laughingstock at school later this week. Just another girl who had fallen for Demetri’s charms.

Alec pulled the SUV into his driveway and wordlessly got out of the car and walked to my side. He opened the door and scooped me up into his arms. Alec carried me into his house totally silent.