“I can’t wait,” I tell him.
“Good, now concentrate before you flip this thing.”
I shake my head. “I’ve had enough of driving. Why don’t you do it?”
A wicked grin overtakes his face as his dark eyes begin to sparkle. “You sure about that?”
“Yeah,” I laugh as I get up. I lean down and whisper in his ear. “I bet you can’t make me scream.”
He scoots forward on the jet ski and helps me balance as I step behind him and sit back down. He squeezes my leg and turns around to me. “You better hold on, babe,” he tells me. “You’re going to regret this.”
“Try me,” I dare him.
Literally seven seconds later, I’m holding onto him for dear life and screaming out in a mix of fear and laughter.
We get home late afternoon and the party follows us back, only now it’s tripled in size. Though, I knew that would happen. After all, this is Jesse Ryder’s seventeenth birthday. He’s the most popular guy in the junior class.
The party is huge and by nine at night, I’m exhausted but I still have all the energy in the world to continue partying with my boys. The party is now ridiculously big, but everyone here has enough respect for Nate and Jesse that it doesn’t get out of hand and the last two of Trish’s rules can stay intact. As for the underage drinking, well, that went out the window a long time ago.
Nate disappears with the boys somewhere and I find the girls pouring shots around the table. “Just in time,” Courtney cheers over the sound of the people and the music as I appear beside them.
“We’re doing Sambuca shots,” Brooke smiles before she finds a lighter and lights them up. “Drink up, girls.”
With that, we reach for a shot glass, blow out the flame, and throw the shots back. “Ugh,” I groan as the shot burns my throat. “Let’s do it again.”
“You’re on,” Brooke laughs as she sets up round two.
We take the shot and before I know it, Brylee somehow manages to grab all of us at the same time and hauls us off towards the dance floor.
We get lost in the music and have a great time. Jesse comes and goes. Maxen dances with Brooke. Puck watches Courtney from across the room and Brylee goes nuts.
Nate stays outside, I assume talking with his friends. He’s not a big dancer, but somehow, I know he’ll be able to see me from wherever he is.
We dance for what feels like forever and I end up with tears of laughter in my eyes when Jesse comes in and changes the music to an old school Britney playlist, making all the girls freak out and scream in delight. So, I’m not surprised when all the guys move away from the dance floor, leaving Jesse as the only guy amongst a shitload of happy, drunk girls.
He looks to me and winks as he realizes I’ve worked out exactly what he’s doing. He pretends to tip his non-existent hat to me and I roll my eyes. Game well played, Jesse Ryder.
With Puck and Courtney reacquainting themselves with each other’s tonsils and Maxen grinding into Brooke, Brylee and I head outside for some fresh air and to get away from all the sweaty bodies.
My eyes lock on Nate’s the second we step outside and he winks, making my insides quiver. Brylee and I head over to the manicured lawn and drop down into the soft grass with our drinks. We people watch and relax until my bladder starts screaming at me to be released.
I pull myself up off the ground and drop Brylee off with Nate and Tyson while I go to pee.
As I make my way back to them, a hand locks around my arm and pulls me back. I turn to find Jackson grinning down at me. “I should have known you’d be here,” he tells me as he steps in close and places a hand on my lower back.
“What are you doing?” I grunt as I step away and remove his hand from my lower back.
“What do you mean, what am I doing?” he questions with that cocky grin. “I saw the way you looked at me at that party and then at the races. You’re curious about me. You want me, you’re just playing hard to get,” he says as he steps back into me. “I saw it again last night and it’s cool, you were with your friends so I wasn’t going to push it, but they’re not around right now, so there’s nothing stopping you.”
“Are you serious?” I ask dumbfounded. “I’m not remotely interested in you.”
His eyes sparkle as though I’ve just set him a challenge. “Come on, babe. Just give in to it. No one’s judging.”
“You’re kidding right?” I ask. “You know I’m with Nate.”