At the End of It All by Rae Lyse

Author:Rae Lyse [Lyse, Rae]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rae Lyse Books LLC
Published: 2023-04-27T21:00:00+00:00

PART 2

THE FIRST DAYS OF FALL

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Lourdes

Chelsea found the location to the interest meeting for the sorority she’s obsessed with and I can’t pretend to care because I keep tasting Ace’s tongue. I want to tell her it tastes like the sweet stuff he likes and the bitter liquor he drinks, but I can’t. I can’t even tell her what happened at Splashtown every time she stops babbling to break through my thoughts and remind me I went to my first party with a boy and not her.

Getting blackout wasted is a mind-fuck. I don’t know why anyone would purposely do something so confusing to themselves. Parts of that night come back to me in inconsistent chunks. The worst parts are the moments I can’t understand, like Bryson’s faceless teammates tugging at my swimsuit and his hot breath in my ear. They make me analyze and re-analyze Ace’s words from the day after: “You should ask him how he talks about you in a room full of men.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?” Chelsea blurts, taking a breath and shoving her sunglasses up.

Blades of grass poke my palms while I stare out from her blanket onto the yard. “You know I can’t stay late Tuesday.”

“Okay, hear me out. I mapped the whole afternoon out.”

“Chels—”

“Just listen! Okay, so boom, stats ends at three-thirty. We jet from campus to your house to check on Mama CeCe, change clothes, jet back to campus, and hurry to the Bates building.”

“That sounds irritating.”

“It sounds perfect!” she squeals, curling her fingers in a circle in front of my face. “We impress the girlies, get noticed, and we’ll be litty in no time.”

I pull my knees into my chest, shoving down the sunglasses I borrowed from her dresser before we hiked across campus to people-watch and gossip on the yard. Really, it’s just Chelsea gossiping while I watch for Ace. Even the thought of him strolling past me makes my thighs tingle in the places his fingers pressed into. It’s even worse than those hives he used to give me. I don’t know shit about addiction, but I think I’m in the throes of one.

“I don’t wanna be litty.” I frown.

“Ugh, is this about the money again? I told you, just tell Marcus the business office said you owe a balan—”

“Hollywood!”

My thighs start tingling again while my eyes dart around behind the glasses’ dark lenses. Chelsea keeps chirping like a little high-pitched minion and I don’t know why I expect Ace to look any different after what happened between us, but he doesn’t. He looks as good as he did before he swaggered off our front porch in Marcus’ Polo talking about he had somewhere to go. He looks as perfect as he’s always telling me I look and I’m just as bad as Brandy, so I’m drooling over his crispy lineup.

“It’s a perfect idea,” Chelsea finishes.

I nod even though I didn’t hear half of what she said. All I hear is the roaring laughter from the team as they push their phones into Ace’s face.

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