“Over there,” Marie yelled over her shoulder and pointed to the keg that was set up in the corner of the kitchen. She pulled Lyric more quickly through the crowd. Some guy was standing by the keg filling up red plastic cups, his glazed look and red-rimmed eyes telling her he was trashed.
“I’ll get us some.” Marie let go of her hand, and Lyric watched her go up to the keg.
“This is the last place I’d ever think to see you, Lyric.”
The sound of Devon’s slurred voice, and the stench of alcohol coming from him, had Lyric clenching her hands at her sides. She didn’t respond, but before she could move away he had his hand wrapped around her wrist.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?”
“Leave me alone. You’re drunk and even more annoying.”
She shrugged off his hold, and fortunately, he didn’t pursue her further. Marie walked up to her with two beers in hand, and Lyric gratefully took one.
“I saw Devon talking to you. Was he being a cunt again?”
Lyric could have spit her beer out for how amusing she found that, but she managed to keep the mouthful down. “When isn’t he being one?”
Marie grinned. They headed to the living room in search of a place to sit. Once they were seated, a girl that Marie was friends with came up and started talking with her, and Lyric was left people watching.
But it wasn’t like they could speak comfortably anyway, not with the noise surrounding them.
As Lyric sat there, drinking the bitter beer, her skin tingled, the hair on her arms stood, and she knew something had changed in the air.
She looked in the other direction and didn’t see anything or anyone that would have caused her to feel this way, but she knew something was different in the air.
And that’s when she saw him, pushing through the throng of people, his face downcast and a baseball cap on his head. But she’d recognize that body anyway. She’d been living under the same roof as it for the last few years.
Lyric took another drink of her beer and watched as her stepbrother walked into the kitchen. Ever since they’d left school together and spent those few hours not even doing much talking, just sitting there and letting the silence stretch between them, she felt like she knew more about him.
He was quiet but strong, elusive but forthcoming when he needed to be. He was gorgeous and powerful, dangerous and could be violent, but something inside of her said what he did was who he was, and nothing would change that.
He wasn’t damaged, wasn’t troubled. He was just a guy that did things his way, and didn’t care what anyone thought, even if that meant he was reckless.
“Is that Landon?” Marie asked from beside her.
All Lyric could do was nod and continue to look in the direction of the kitchen, even though he’d long disappeared in the group of people.
Chapter
Eight
As soon as Landon had come through the front door he’d seen Lyric sitting on the couch with her friend.
What in the fuck is she doing here? What in the hell are you doing here?
It was true, he had no clue why he’d even come. He didn’t talk to any of these people at school, didn’t care about them or want to be their friend.
The truth was when he’d been invited to come by Yezebel, one of the girls who seemed to have nothing better to do in school than be a bitch, he’d thought, “fuck her.”
But then he’d gone home, gotten “talked to” by his mom and Brent because of a shitty grade he’d got, and he’d decided getting black out drunk and passing out seemed like a pretty good idea.
So, he’d come here, not really knowing anyone, and not caring about anything other than where the liquor was. Or that had been his plan until he’d seen Lyric and gotten pissed she was here.
He knew she didn’t hang out with any of these assholes, and she was one of those people he didn’t think even partied, or at least he’d never seen her.
He looked into the living room, pushing someone out of his way so he could see her. Something in his gut tightened at the sight of her. She’d taken him away from a potential fight, one that he’d been happy to start and finish, and just sat with him.
He didn’t know why that had gotten through to him so much, made him feel like he wasn’t alone in that moment despite the fact they hardly spoke to each other. But she’d sat with him, just inches from where he’d been, and let the stillness and silence surround them.
It had been pretty fucking incredible.
He grabbed one of the beers and moved to the corner in the kitchen, aware people were staring at him, but not caring either. He kept his focus on Lyric, taking in the long fall of her light brown hair.