Chapter 37: Sadie: Invite Only

SADIE

Before I can look away, Lola reappears beside me with our drinks and startles me.

"Here, I got your—" She checks my face, then follows the direction I’d been looking toward the stairs. The second she sees them, her mouth twists. "Bastards."

"Who are we dissing?" Michael asks loudly, picking up on the change in mood.

The last thing I need is for this to become a thing, especially with Ezra still across the room, so I force a smile. "Nobody."

Turning back to Lola gives me something else to focus on. I take the cold can of lemon-lime seltzer from her hand and curl my fingers around it. "Thanks for this."

Her expression doesn’t soften. She leans closer instead, raising her voice over the music. "Are you okay?"

"I’m fine," I shout back. "Go have fun. Seriously. I’ll be okay."

"With who?" Her head turns as she checks around us. "Michael already left, and everyone else is paired up. I’ll just keep you company."

Following her glance, I finally notice that Michael has wandered a few feet away, taking his free bottle of beer with him. He’s already talking to another girl, one who seems much more interested in his smirk and whatever he’s saying than I ever was.

Good for both of them.

"I didn’t need his vibe anyway," I tell Lola, popping the can open and taking a sip. "I’m fine by myself."

Besides, I don’t want her spending the whole night attached to my side like some kind of nanny when at least three guys have already been checking her out and trying to talk to her. Knowing she gave all that up just to babysit me would only make me feel worse than I already do.

"Fine, I’ll go mingle, but I’m still a text away," she says, clearly reluctant to leave me. "If your legs start hurting or you feel uncomfortable at all, text or call me and we’ll get out of here."

A laugh slips out as I start pushing her gently in the direction of the crowd. "Nothing worse can happen at this point, but I promise I’ll text if I need you."

She lingers for a moment, then makes a little phone gesture with her hand as she slips away. I watch her weave back into the party, shaking my head before lifting the can to my mouth again.

With a sigh, I lean back against the wall. Two more hours. That’s all I have to get through before I can go back to my bed and swear off frat parties for the rest of my natural life.

That thought barely settles before Paige comes into view again, cutting through the crowd toward me with her eyes fixed firmly in my direction.

The back of my neck prickles as she gets closer, but I force myself not to look away. She stops in front of me wearing a small smile that immediately puts me on edge before she even opens her mouth.

"Who invited you?"

She asks so loudly that there’s no pretending the question is meant for me alone, and judging by the way conversations nearby start thinning out, people hear her just fine.

It’s not bad enough that she’s walked straight into the hockey team’s corner to confront me. A couple of her friends are already holding up their phones, cameras pointed in my direction like they were waiting for the cue, and that’s when the nausea really starts to settle in.

She planned this, didn’t she?

Over her shoulder, Ezra is leaning against the wall with the kind of smug expression that makes me think he had a hand in this. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Paige came over here because he asked her to.

What she gets out of orbiting a guy who isn’t even an heir, I’ll never understand, but I have bigger problems right now. They’ll tear me apart if I let them.

"What does it matter who invited me?" I ask, forcing my shoulders back and lifting my chin.

Paige gives a short scoff. "It matters because this is an invite-only party."

Before I can answer, she turns toward the makeshift DJ booth and raises a hand. Whoever is controlling the music sees her and lowers it, leaving the room feeling strangely exposed without the bass covering everything.

Conversations start thinning around us, then stopping altogether as more people turn to see what’s happening. My pulse kicks up hard enough that I can feel it in my throat, and my fingers tighten around the can.

A few minutes ago, I was worried about strangers sneaking glances at my chest. Now I would happily take that over an entire room openly waiting to see what Paige is about to do to me.

She faces me again, looking pleased with the audience she’s collected.

"So I’ll ask again. Umm..." She lets the pause stretch, like she needs help remembering my name. "Sadie Rhodes. Who invited you, and what exactly are you doing here?"

For a second, I genuinely don’t know what answer she expects from me. Nobody said anything about this being invite-only, and I didn’t wander in off the street. I came with the hockey team. They invited me. That has to count for something.

"I’m with the hockey guys," I say, pushing confidence into my voice. "Isn’t that obvious from where I’m standing?"

Her eye gives the slightest twitch before whispers start pouring in around us.

"Who even is she?"

"Isn’t that Trey’s girl?"

"No, I’ve just seen her with him."

"She came with the hockey team?"

"Okay, this is getting messy."

Paige’s hands settle on her hips as she turns away from me to address the room as if she’s been handed a microphone.

"Sorry for killing the vibe for a second," she says, loud enough to carry through the room, "but apparently invite-only doesn’t mean anything anymore."

A few people laugh, and she smiles before continuing.

"I mean, sneaking into a party just to hang around the hockey team is already embarrassing, but lying and saying they invited you?" She turns back toward me, pointing. "That’s a whole new level of desperate."

My fingers clamp harder around the can. "Why would I lie about that?"

Paige lets out a little laugh. "Okay, girl. Then who asked you to come?" She glances around. "Because I’m not seeing anyone claim you."

My mouth opens, but the answer doesn’t come as quickly this time.

Walker isn’t where I last saw him. Neither is Nash, and when I scan the corner where the guys had been gathered, most of the people I came in with have disappeared into different parts of the party.

My breathing picks up as Paige’s smile widens. Standing here saying I came with the hockey team sounds a lot less convincing when none of them are actually—

"She’s with me."

Trey’s voice cuts through the noise before I can come up with something.

I turn just as he reaches me, and his arm circles my waist before I can make sense of what he’s doing. He pulls me snug against his side, close enough that my breath catches when I look up at him.

Our eyes meet for a second before he turns back to Paige. "Got a problem with that?"