Prologue
Aston
Summer before Sophomore Year, High School
“Anderson! Are you about ready to go, man?”
I swear to God, my twin brother takes longer than any guy I know to get ready. We’re already running so late to this party; it’s going to be over before we can even get there.
“Chill out, bro. It’s barely even eight o’clock. We have plenty of time.”
Rolling my eyes, I leave our adjoining bathroom and head downstairs. I see our mom in the kitchen, cleaning up the dinner dishes.
“Hi, Mom. Need any help?”
“Hi, baby. No, I think I have it under control. Where are you guys off to?”
“We’re going to hang out at Crew’s house tonight. His parents said he could have some friends over and they just installed the theater, so we’re going to have a scary movie marathon.”
That’s partially true. They did install the home theater, and we do plan to watch movies, but there will also be copious amounts of alcohol and drugs involved as well.
“Do you boys need a ride? I’m almost done here.”
“That’s okay, Mom. Luca’s picking us up. Him and his stepbrother, Branson, are coming tonight too. He’s a junior.”
Anderson finally graces us with his presence. About freaking time.
“Ready? Luca said they’re about three minutes out.”
“Yeah, been ready, bro.”
“Okay, boys. Have fun, make good choices.” She gives us a pointed stare, and it makes me laugh.
“Love you, Mom.”
Walking out the front door, it’s muggy as hell and still warm for how late it is. My white t-shirt sticks to my back almost immediately, and I can’t wait to get inside the car for some air conditioning. As soon as we get to the bottom of our driveway, I see the car pull up. Luca’s brother has a sick ass Audi. It’s all murdered out and I’m pretty sure it’s brand new.
Us Bellingham kids are spoiled assholes.
The house is crowded by the time we finally arrive. Branson’s friends are all here too. We don’t hang out together often, but Crew seems to be the middleman between the two groups. It’s not like we all don’t get along, because we do. It’s mostly that they’re older than us and tend to do their own thing.
“Hey, dudes,” Crew says, walking up to us, giving Anderson and I both a bro hug. “Glad you both could make it.”
Anderson excuses himself to go get us some drinks, while Crew and I stay and catch up.
“We got some special party favors tonight.” He waggles his brows, giving me a look that means trouble.
I fucking love it.
“Oh, yeah? What type of party favors?”
He holds up a little plastic baggie filled with blue and green pills, smiling like the Cheshire Cat.
“You got ecstasy?! How?”
“Knox’s cousin knows a guy.”
“Right on, man. Let’s do this.”
He hands me one, a triple stack. Then we grab a bottle of water and toss the pills back in unison.
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done this. But shit, am I ready.
******
We’ve been here for about forty-five minutes now, and the pill is finally starting to kick in. The high makes my whole body buzz with hazy electricity, as an air of unfettered happiness washes over me. My skin becomes extra sensitive, making everything feel good. Every sense is enhanced, really. Even music sounds better. It feels like I’m on top of the world. There’s nothing like it.
Slipping out the backdoor, I make my way outside to have a smoke and notice Knox is already doing the same. I’m pretty sure we’re the only people out of both our friend groups that smoke, so I’m not surprised to see him out here.
Lighting up my Marlboro Red, I nod my head at him. “What’s up, man?”
“’Sup, how’s your night?” I can tell by his eyes that he’s rollin’ too.
“Can’t complain, feeling pretty good. You?”
“Same, same. It’s a chill night.”
We sit in comfortable silence while we finish our cigarettes. Out of all of Luca’s brother’s friends, I’ve probably spoken to Knox the least. Not because he’s an asshole or anything, he just typically tends to keep to himself.
“Hey, man, can I hit that?” He points at my smoke. “Mine went out and it won’t relight, but I don’t really want a whole cigarette.”
“Of course, here,” I go to hand it to him, but when I do, our fingers brush. I don’t know if it’s the ecstasy talking or what, but the feeling of his fingers makes mine tingle. Based on the look he’s giving me, with wide eyes and parted lips, he felt it too.
He takes the cigarette and inhales deeply, never taking his eyes off me. Passing it back to me, I do the same—inhale deeply, but never looking away. The air is supercharged. I can’t explain it.
When I look back on this moment in the morning, when I’m sober, I am sure I’ll blame the drugs running through my veins for what I do next.
Tossing the butt on the ground and putting it out with my shoe, I take two steps in Knox’s direction, effectively pinning him to the shed behind us. Without a second thought, I seal my lips to his.
I have no fucking idea where this is coming from. I’ve never kissed a guy before, but it feels right.
It’s probably the drugs.
Either way, his lips are sensational.
He freezes for about two point five seconds before he fists my shirt and utterly devours me. His mouth tastes like tobacco and bubble gum, his tongue gliding against mine with ease, and his face has a slight five o’clock shadow that’s rubbing against mine. It burns so good.
We make out like, well, teenagers, for about a minute before a switch is flipped inside him. As quickly as he was exploring my mouth, he’s shoving me away. I’m dazed and confused, wondering what caused the change.
He fists my shirt again, only this time he uses it as leverage to swing my body around until I’m the one pinned against the shed. If it weren’t for his furious eyes glaring at me, I would think he was picking up where we left off, but no.
“If you ever, and I mean ever, fucking do that again or tell anybody this ever happened, I’ll fucking ruin you, Walker. Do you understand me?”
“Uh, okay. Sure, man, but you participated in this just as much as I did?” I definitely say that as if it’s a question, because seriously, what the fuck?
It happens before I even know what’s going on. His fist connects with my jaw with such force, I know it’s going to be a brutal shade of black and blue tomorrow.
Then he’s gone.