“Okay, then. Talk to Donnie for me. But, like, don’t make me sound eager or anything. Just, like, see if he’s interested or whatever. Totally back off if he’s not, you know?”
“Obviously, yeah. Maybe see if he’s into something casual at first…”
“And, you know, if he wants to…hook up tonight or whatever, I’d be down for that.” Sam paused for a minute, giving Charity time to wonder if her heart was trying to break her ribs. “Or do you think that’s too slutty?”
“No, definitely not. That’s the way you kinda have to play it with people like Donnie. You’ve got a lot of competition, you know? Make sure he knows you’re for real and not some tease.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. But…don’t mention it to anyone, all right? Let’s keep it quiet. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or anything…”
The other girl snorted. “Yeah, right! Hurt feelings? Everyone will be jealous!”
“I know, but…still,” Samantha said, tempering her snobby voice. She used that voice when she was uncomfortable but didn’t want to show it.
“I mean, sure. Whatever,” the other girl acquiesced.
“Cool.”
“Cool.”
“I gotta pee,” Samantha announced.
“Yeah, me too. I’ll go with.”
As the footsteps receded, Charity exhaled and fell back against the wall. Disappointment tugged at her. In reality, she knew she didn’t have a shot in hell with Donnie. She’d always known that. Sure, maybe she could bang him, like Sam was thinking, but that wasn’t her style. She wasn’t into casual flings. But man, it sucked that Sam was blasé about going for him, knowing Charity was seriously crushing on him. Sam wouldn’t even stick with him, either. She’d get tired of him in a couple of weeks, and that would be the end of it. Meanwhile, Charity would have to hear them having sex through the thin walls.
She blew out a breath, sinking into her sadness. She wanted to stamp her foot and yell about life being unfair. To throw a tantrum and maybe go give Sam a piece of her mind. But what would that solve? The world worked how the world worked—there was no point in getting all twisted up about the inevitable. A lot of things in her life had been unfair. A girl had to celebrate her wins instead of dwell on her losses. Maybe she wouldn’t get the guy she liked; so what? She was working her way through school in a great city, and she was at a party so elite they had a guard dressed in leather watching for crashers. She had it pretty good.
As far as Donnie went? Let Sam try to make conversation with him. She’d pull her hair out.
Smirking, Charity headed out and down the hall with a painful shamble. Her mind drifted to other matters, like why would someone pay four hundred dollars to be this uncomfortable? Was a severed toe fashionable? Because Charity saw no other use for the heels.
Wincing, she turned left at the end of the hall and found herself in the foyer. Relieved to recognize her surroundings, and even more so to discover the greeter was gone, she hobbled out into the evening air. Sam had been right about the punch. It didn’t seem dangerous. Everyone but her was guzzling it, and only the skinny dipper was acting on the crazy side of drunk. She’d give Sam a couple of hours to mack on her eye candy before she wandered back in to check on her.
A horrible thought struck her—Sam was drinking, and this place was a cab driver’s nightmare. Charity didn’t know how to drive very well, and Sam wouldn’t risk her Porsche.
Did her roommate plan to spend the night?
Dread rolled over Charity. It wouldn’t be a big deal to spend a few hours here, but all night? Anything could happen during the vulnerabilities of sleep.Chapter SevenCharity slowly blinked her eyes open. A sea of shimmering dots swam within the black sky overhead. The tops of trees peered down at her, still in the calm night.
It took her a moment to orient herself. The last thing she remembered was staring up at the stars, tracing the constellations with her eyes. It was a slow, boring business, tracing constellations. After about the fifth time, she’d switched to thinking about schoolwork, which was probably about the time she’d fallen asleep.
She rubbed her eyes and pushed up to sitting. Moisture clung to her legs and nestled in the grass around her. Silence had settled on the property, broken occasionally by a night bird calling out. A glance up at the large house twenty yards away and she realized with a start that all the windows were blackened or dimmed, upstairs and down.
How long had she been asleep? When she’d first lain here, an occasional shout floating across the backyard, most of the downstairs windows were blaring with light, and two bedrooms upstairs glowed, too. By the look of it, the party had shut down and everyone had retired