Effortless (Thoughtless, #2)(55)
Kellan opened the front door and walked through when we approached it; another home-away-from-home for him. The noise of the stereo hit me first, the bass deep and thumping, then the rustle and hiss of dozens and dozens of bodies filled my ears. The sound only amplified when Rita shut the door behind her. Kellan smiled back at me and nodded his head in a direction he wanted us to go. Taking a second to put 153
my bag and jacket in the already crammed full coat closet, I grabbed his hand.
He started leading us directly through the mass of people in the living room. Matt and Griffin’s place was much bigger than Kellan’s, the living room being a wide-open design that left ample space for dancing in the center of it. A group of clearly drunk partygoers were already doing that.
Some big, beer-belly man was even doing some sort of supposed-to-be-seductive shimmy, shaking his belly fat to a group of giggling girls. Kellan chuckled at him as we passed, patting his shoulder to give us space.
The girls instantly locked onto Kellan, ignoring the dancing joker in their midst.
Clutching Kellan’s hand tight, we finally made it through the gyrating swarm to the dining room, where a group of people were set up at a six-foot-long dining table. The table had seen much better days, the hard wood scraped and dented everywhere, but the sloppily drunk people playing drinking games didn’t seem to care. Kellan paused at the table, watching the chaos for a few seconds with an amused grin on his face.
As some perky blonde pouted that she had to finish her nearly full beer, Matt came up to our side and clapped Kellan’s shoulder. “Hey, you made it. People have been asking for you.”
I smiled over at Matt’s cutely flushed face. His eyes were slightly unfocused. I figured he’d been indulging at his going away party. Rachel behind him placed her chin on his shoulder and smiled over at me. Her eyes were clear and bright. If Matt was caving in, she was not. I smiled and waved at her, instantly grateful that at least one person at this party was being sober and responsible.
Smiling over at me, Matt raised his eyebrows. “Hey, Kiera. We got everything…what’s your poison?”
Glancing behind him into the kitchen, I noticed the long counters were filled with just about every beer and liquor on the planet. They seemed better stocked than Pete’s. Laughing at Rita, who’d slipped into the room the other way and was now doling out drinks, just like back at the bar, I shook my head at Matt. “I’m good, really, thanks.” 154
Matt nodded and let it go. Kellan twisted around and frowned at me.
“Uh-uh, you need a drink.”
Twisting my lip at him, I raised an eyebrow. “You’re going to peer pressure me to drink?”
He smiled and rolled his eyes. Leaning into me, he placed his lips on my ear. I had to stop breathing for a second as his breath washed over my neck, igniting my body. “I don’t want you spending the entire evening thinking about me leaving.”
His words washed my brief desire away and I pulled back to look at him. Frowning, he added, “I don’t want you spending our last night thinking about it…and you will, right?” Sighing, I reluctantly nodded.
Yeah, he’s approaching departure was about all I was thinking about.
Even the many distractions here couldn’t really keep my mind from that path for long.
Sighing himself, he slung his arms around my waist and kissed my forehead. “I want you to loosen up and have a little fun with me.” Sinking down to my eye level, he raised a brow. “Can you do that?” Exhaling, I took a moment to memorize his features. Twisting back to Matt, who’d spent our brief discussion sucking on Rachel’s neck while she tried to get him to stop, I tapped his shoulder. When he blinkingly looked at me, I pointed to the alcohol flowing freely around the room.
“I’ll take something…sweet.”
Matt brightened and leaned in to hug me. It was way more affection than I was used to from him and I giggled as I patted his back. “I’ll hook you up, Kiera!” he exclaimed, leaping to his assignment like I was a royal debutante that he had to please.
Kellan laughed at his friend as he kissed my neck. “Thank you,” he murmured in my ear.
I was about to tell him that he’d be thanking me later if I got tipsy and threw up in his car, but just at that moment a scream sounded over the music in the living room. Kellan and I stepped back so we could peek in-to the large room. I started laughing instantly. Evan had found Jenny 155
and had picked the tiny woman up and slung her over his shoulder. Jostling her a little bit, he was playfully smacking her bottom while she squealed.
While Kate tried to help her down, Jenny laughed and clung to her teddy bear of a boyfriend. Spotting me, she lifted her hand up. “Kiera, help me!”
Evan twisted around to look at us, also twisting Jenny around in the process. She kicked her feet but Evan had her tight. Smiling at Kellan and me, he waved a quick greeting. Kellan waved back and chuckled.
Smiling down at me, Kellan got a playful glint in his eye.
Mine widened as I took a step back. “Don’t even think about it, Kyle.” Putting my finger in his chest as his playful grin turned devilish, I backed up into a dining room chair. The girl sitting there drunkenly stood up and grabbed my shoulders.
“Here, I’m done…you play.” She forcefully plopped me down and I sat in a whoosh.