Natural Love by S. Celi

Author:S. Celi [Celi, S]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: natural love, new adult, romance
Publisher: Lowe Interactive Media, LLC
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

BY NINE THIRTY that night, three hundred and fifty guests dotted the back lawn of Chadwick Gardens like freckles. They stood in clumps of designer clothes that reminded me of sugary frosting. Dad and Linda had friends who liked to be seen, associates who obsessed about attending the right parties, and employees who showed up just for the free food and drink.

I knew it. They knew it. We all knew it. But no one ever admitted it.

“Here you go, Mr. Plastic Cup.” Grant gave the drink to me and raised his Chimay bottle in a toast. “Bourbon and Coke.” A pause. “Mostly bourbon.”

“Good.” I swallowed some and relished the way the alcohol slid down my throat. “Just what I needed.”

“It’s your third one in a half hour,” a nameless redhead next to me said. She chugged some of her own wine. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“My friend Spencer here likes his liquor. He always has.” Grant grinned at Heather, his date, who also happened to be the woman from that night at Ovation. He wrapped his free arm back around her waist, and she smiled as if she expected it.

“This is such a fun party,” Redhead said.

From where she stood, Redhead had a view of the whole event, which by then also featured actors walking around in colonial outfits and a few dressed as Uncle Sam and the Statue of Liberty. A couple near us flagged a man dressed in a 1780s military uniform and posed with him for a photo on their phone.

“Can’t believe I’ve never been here before,” she went on to say. “You guys are so fucking rich.”

I winced at her words and the smell of alcohol on her breath. Redhead had on a blue-banded dress and her breasts looked tiny. Her mascara had started melting off her face. Not sexy. I could sleep with her if I wanted, and I knew it, but she didn’t fit my type at all.

Only one person at the party fit that description. And she stood nowhere near me.

“It is a fun party,” I lied.

“Fun . . . pffffttt . . . This party is amazing.”

Grant grinned at the Redhead.

Everyone else was having fun, no doubt, but not me. I couldn’t make it through five minutes of this event without my eyes finding Avery in the crowd. And that made this party a slow torture. They might as well just put me on the rack and stretch my body to oblivion; that would have been less painful.

“What time are the fireworks again?”

“Ten.”

“And who puts it on?”

“I’m not sure,” I said. “Someone around here. Neighbors?”

“You’ll be able to see it so well, though.” Grant pointed down the hill to the tree-line. “Over there.”

“Woooooowww,” Redhead said. “So clear.”

“Always loved watching the fireworks at your house, bro,” Grant said to me. “Even before your parents started throwing the party of the year.”

“The party of the year?” I laughed.

“You know it,” Grant said. “Three hundred and fifty of your family’s closest friends.”

Redhead perked up at that number.

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