Alarm

“Um…no, I don’t think so.” I giggled.

“Get your fucking hands off her,” Aiden said as he pushed Clutch away. There wasn’t any anger in his voice though, and they all laughed afterward as another guy came up to Aiden’s side. He was young and wore a hat that looked like it belonged on Crocodile Dundee.

“Hunter,” he said as he tipped his hat and shook Aiden’s hand. “Good to see you.”

“You, too, Lance,” Aiden said. “This is Chloe.”

“Welcome to the mayhem!” Lance said with a friendly smile. Lance, Dutch, and Clutch then wandered off toward the bar set up by the pool.

Aiden took me around and introduced me to the others, but the introductions went by so fast, I couldn’t quite keep up with the names. The next thing I knew, Redeye was standing next to us and shoving a shot glass and a lemon into my hands.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Don’t ask questions,” Redeye said as he handed a glass and a lemon to Aiden. “Just do the shot, and immediately bite the lemon.”

“It tastes like chocolate cake,” Aiden informed me. “The lemon is coated in sugar. It’s good—really.”

Redeye passed out more shots and then held up his own glass.

“Good friends and lots of booze!” he toasted.

I watched Aiden do the shot and then quickly followed his lead. As soon as I bit into the lemon, I was surprised to find out it really did taste like chocolate cake.

I followed Aiden up to the bar, and he made me a vodka and cranberry. I sipped as he poured himself a glass of vodka and Red Bull.

“I guess you don’t plan on ever falling asleep again,” I commented.

“It’s good stuff,” he said. “And I’m hoping this will be a long night.”

He winked at me.

Music played, and everyone sat around a fire pit chatting about nothing in particular. Aiden was definitely right about Redeye—he brought shots around at least every half an hour, demanding everyone participate. It wasn’t long before I was feeling a little tipsy.

When Aiden excused himself to go find the bathroom inside, one of the girls came and sat beside me.

“How do you know Hunter?” the girl asked. I tried to remember her name, but all I could recall was that she was here with Lance.

“We met in Ohio,” I explained, leaving out the details. “He invited me down for the week.”

“Oh! Are you staying at his beach house?”

“Yes.”

“That place is beautiful!” she exclaimed. “I was only there once, but that view—wow!”

“It really is wonderful,” I agreed.

“You are so lucky,” she said. “Hunter is a sweetheart. I’m glad to see him with someone.”

“He doesn’t usually bring a date?” I asked, taking the opportunity to get some information.

“Never,” the girl said with a shake of her head. “I wasn’t around when he was with that crazy bitch, so I never met her.”

“Oh,” I said. I thought quickly. “You mean Megan?”

“Yeah,” the girl confirmed. “I mean, I know I’m not supposed to talk ill of the dead and all, but from what I hear, she really went off the deep end.”

Dead? Aiden’s ex-girlfriend was dead?