Waiting on the Sidelines (Waiting on the Sidelines #1)(81)

He crooked up the side of his mouth, giving me a dimple and a devious smile. “She’s fine.”

We continued to sway back and forth, the electricity between us growing just a bit more with every turn. When I noticed Tyler come back to the table and sit by Sarah, I started to grow less sure of myself, the guilt of my actions settling in some. And Reed noticed. Bending his lips down to my ear again, he spoke privately to me.

“What are you doing?” he asked, leaning back to look me in the eyes, his face harder now, determined and slightly angry. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and my fingers were going numb around his neck. I was so scared to give in, afraid that as soon as I did Tatum would show up just to yank my happiness out from under me again. Afraid Reed was in on the joke the entire time. My five minutes of courage was fading, and fast.

Reed halted us for just a moment, forcing me to look him in the eyes. He could see the doubt in my face. He looked over at the table briefly and then back to me, pulling me back in to continue our dance. “Damn it, Nolan. You are such a coward,” he spat. His words stung a little, and I pushed back into his chest freeing myself. I walked over to the table and grabbed Tyler’s hand and led him to the dance floor, leaving Reed there alone.

“Hi. I was just waiting for you to get back,” I smiled at Tyler, pulling him to me and turning so my eyes targeted Reed, who stood there with his hands in his pockets, shaking his head. I know I was being spiteful, but he had no idea how many bad falls I had gone through over him, and I guess somewhere along the way my trust was shaken too much.

I stayed on the dance floor for a few songs in a row, Sarah and Jax joining us for a few of the fast songs. Tyler seemed to be completely unaware of my internal battle, which gave me some relief.

When we finally started dancing to another slow song, I looked back to the table, obsessed with keeping tabs on Reed’s location. This was a mistake, though, as he had pulled Stephanie onto his lap where he was brushing her hair from her shoulders and nestling at the nape of her neck. Then, he looked directly at me, pausing for a second, his jaw hardening, and then reaching for her face, he pulled her into a deep, powerful kiss.

He wanted me to see that! I was filled with rage. I tiptoed up to reach Tyler’s ear. “Hey, I think I’d like to go to your party. You wanna leave in a few to get there in time?” I gulped.

He just smiled down at me. “Yeah, that sounds good. I think you’ll like it,” he was oblivious to the fact that I was taking him up on an escape route.



We left when the song ended, and I made sure Reed noticed as I walked by with Tyler in hand. The party was at a huge house in a gated community on the outskirts of Chandler, so we didn’t have to drive far from the desert stretch of highway. Tyler was right, this party was different. Even though there was a lot of excessive drinking at the desert parties, something about this one made the alcohol all seem more apparent. Every person in the house was holding a cup, and the music was radiating off of the walls. The house was littered with plates and wrappers. I would hate to clean this up, I thought.

Tyler lead me into the kitchen where he introduced me to a few of his friends, one of whom I had met from the diving meets I went to with him. Everyone seemed like they came from wealthy families. The cars in the driveway as we walked in signaled some of what I was getting into. The BMWs and Escalades were numerous. The girls all were dressed in tight jeans and cropped shirts with giant heels, fashionable and much more mature than the flirty prom dress I was wearing.

Tyler handed me a cup and filled it with beer from a nozzle that he stretched out from a keg on the counter. Oh, I didn’t think about this. I’ve only ever had a beer or two at family weddings and reunions, because my uncle thought it was funny to sneak it to the youngsters. Afraid of being laughed at or teased, I just smiled and took a sip. The beer was cold and tangy, cheap I was sure.

I followed Tyler to the dining room where a few of his other friends were playing a game. “Let’s play,” he said, pulling his jacket off and putting it on the back of a chair.

I still wasn’t sure, but I had gotten myself to this point and I was pretty sure I had the power to stay in control, so I just shrugged and sat down next to him.

“How do you play?” I asked.

“OK, everyone gets a card. That card is your card. Then, we start turning the other cards over one at a time, and any time a card comes up with your number, you have to drink,” he said.

I scrunched my brow a bit. “Uh, that doesn’t seem like much of a game. How do you win?” I asked, my competitive spirit still alive and kicking.

“Ah, good question. When you see your card, you have to grab it from the pile after you drink. Once you have all four, you shout ‘FOUR’ and everyone else has to chug whatever is left in their cups.”

Taking a deep breath I steadied myself. There was no way I was going to be able to play this for more than a round or two. But I could at least try it. “OK, got it.”

We started the game and I was dealt an 8. Within a few cards, an 8 popped up and I took a sip, faking a bit so I didn’t drink much, and then grabbed my card. My luck continued as two more 8s came through the round quickly, leaving me with four. “FOUR!”I held the cards up, and everyone at the table gulped down their remaining drink.

Tyler patted my leg and then smiled. “Fun, huh?” he asked. Actually, it was. With everyone’s cups filled, we played another round. This time it was a close match between Tyler, me and another girl at the table. Tyler finally got his last card and yelled ‘FOUR’ and everyone drank. I struggled getting through mine, and started to think that I was going to have to quit if I wanted to keep my wits about me.