The Girl in the Love Song (Lost Boys #1)(38)

I started after him. “Miller, wait—”

“Let him go,” Evelyn said, pulling me back. “He’s totally out of line. River is a good guy.”

“I know, but Miller can’t be drinking like that.”

She rolled her eyes. “He can take care of himself. River’s going to play my game. Do you see where I’m going with this? You. Him. A dark closet for seven minutes?”

I looked after where Miller had returned to the backyard, and then Evelyn’s words sank in to my beer-dampened thoughts.

My first kiss. It might happen. Tonight.

My heart stuttered, and my cheeks felt warm. Evelyn watched my face.

“Ah, now she gets it.” She offered me her tequila. “Drink.”

I pushed the shot away. “That’ll make me sick. And if I’m going to kiss River tonight, I don’t want to be drunk for it. I want to be present in the moment. To remember it and savor it.”

“Oh my God, you’re like Snow White. Pure as the driven snow or some shit. It’ll happen. Trust me.”

I nodded. Because Miller was wrong about River.

Just because he mistrusts everyone doesn’t mean I have to.

“How are you going to make sure that River and I end up in the closet together?”

Evelyn smiled. “Because I make stuff happen.”





A bunch of us, five guys and five girls, cleared space in the living room. Music still blared over the sound system, but the dancing had subsided, and we had a small audience. I sat in a circle between Evelyn and Caitlin. River, Chance, Holden—who was everyone’s new favorite person—sat across from us. Two other football players, Donte Weatherly and Isaiah Martin, rounded out the guys, while Julia and another girl I barely knew made up the rest.

Miller had taken a seat with Ronan and a small group of people in the corner of the living room by the front window. He had his guitar on his lap and was watching me, an unreadable expression on his face.

But his eyes. They look almost…sad.

Then he looked away, turning his attention to Amber Blake. A pretty girl with long blonde hair. Evelyn called her a granola girl—her nickname for environmentalist, pot smoking vegans she thought made up a good percentage of Santa Cruz’s young people.

Amber and Miller’s heads were so close together, they were nearly touching. Maybe only to be heard over the music.

Maybe not.

I guess he’s not so sad after all.

“Yes, this game is old and cheesy but not the way I run it,” Evelyn said, tearing strips of paper lengthwise. “If your name is picked, you go in. Then we pick someone who joins you in the dark.” She grinned slyly. “I’ll leave it up to you to decide how to figure out who. When time’s up, you leave, but that person stays in the closet, and another name is picked. You get it? Like a chain. If you’re not picked to go in, you drink!”

The group voiced their approval.

“This is a woke version of Seven Minutes in Heaven,” Evelyn continued, writing our names on the strips of paper. “That means I don’t give a fuck if you’re a guy and get paired with another guy, or girl with a girl. You go in and get to know each other.” She grinned again. “How well you get to know each other is up to you. Someone have a timer?”

“Yes, my queen,” Holden said and jerked his arm from his sleeve to reveal a Philip Patek watch. I recognized the crazy-expensive brand since my dad had one too.

Evelyn unfolded a piece of paper. “Up first…Violet McNamara.” She leaned into me. “I got you, girl.”

I sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. Out of the corner of my eye, I found Miller watching me again, his expression stony, his mouth a grim line. Suddenly, I felt as if I was getting up in front of a firing squad. Guilt assailed me, and I froze for a second, trying to sort through a strange tangle of emotion.

Then Evelyn nudged me, and I headed to the closet.

Inside, I felt my way along a wall of Mr. and Mrs. Blaylock’s collection of spare towels, sheets, and fabric softener, and sat down on the carpet. A few tense, nerve-wracking moments later, the door opened and a huge shape filled the dimness. The scent of woodsy cologne filled the space as River shut the door, cutting the party noise in half.

“Violet?”

“I’m over here.”

“It’s dark as shit…” River’s bulky shadow made its way across from me, and he sat against the opposite wall. A silence fell.

“This is a crazy party, huh?” I said as our seven minutes began to tick down. “That Holden is a strange guy.”

“Uh. Yeah.” River coughed. “He’s fucking weird. Reminds me of that vampire, Lestat.”

“Oh my God, I said almost the exact same thing, different vampire. I didn’t know you read Anne Rice.”

“I don’t. Saw the movie. I mean…my mom watched it once. I remember some of it, I guess.”

“Okay.”

Another silence fell, and the awkwardness between us grew. I wanted to ask how he was holding up with his mom being ill, but he probably needed the party to escape for a little bit, so I defaulted to sports.

“How are football practices going?”

“Good. Long. You play a sport too, right?”

“Soccer. We don’t start until spring.”