Mockingbird (A Stepbrother Romance #2)(17)

"How far?"

"Not very. We'll be there in a couple minutes."

Then I hear, as it were, a noise of thunder. It's the subwoofers and Lucas' house. Apollo rolls down his window and the sounds flood in, turning from a vague rumble to music and voices as we draw near.

"That's pretty loud."

"Yeah."

The closer we get, the stronger the smell grows. Tobacco and the sickly sweet tang of weed waft in the air, rising to near contact high levels as I park on the street, half a block down from Lucas' house. This is one of the new subdivisions and everything is fresh and clean, so much so that it's kind of disconcerting. It's odd for this area of the state not to have any freaking trees, and yet there are none in evidence. They were all cut down when the houses were built, and now the only replacements are saplings and a lot of grass and shrubs. I'm not really big on shrubs.

As I walk down the street, I feel like I should be putting on a helmet.

Apollo takes long strides to catch up with me and walks along with his hands in his pockets.

"How do you know this guy?"

"Classmate. Also he's a dick. We've gone to school together since elementary school, all private schools. His parents are rich and let him do whatever he wants. You get the picture."

"Yeah, I get the picture."

There should be a velvet rope or something, but there's not. It's just a house, except for all the noise and lights coming from the back. I made the mistake of being talked into attending one of these once, so I know the drill. I walk up the lawn and around the back of the house, where there must be two hundred people crowded around the in-ground swimming pool. I don't know ninety percent of the people here. Lucas himself probably only knows them as acquaintances. So that's why somebody turns around and offers me a beer.

"Hey, want a beer?"

I wave off and thread through the crowd. Everybody is dancing, which amounts to drinking and getting high and bouncing up and down on wet concrete around a swimming pool, which is pretty high up there on the list of fantastic ideas. Finally, I spot somebody I know. Todd. He's been a mainstay in the audio-visual club, which meant he got a free period, basically, since the teacher who runs that doesn't give a shit. I grab his arm and give a tug.

"Oh hey, Dee Dee."

"Dee Dee?" Apollo asks. Shouts, more like it. The deafening noise turns every conversation into a screaming match. I think Lucas actually hired a DJ, but one of his friends might have the equipment to do it all themselves. Half his friends think they're going to be rich and/or famous, and a lot of them will be right. Lucas himself already has a football scholarship lined up.

"Who's that?" Todd shouts, swinging the base of his beer at Apollo.

"No time to explain," I yell back. "Where's Charity? Is she here?"

"Yeah, she came with Leo. I think she's inside."

Inside. The smell of smoke is heavy. I find myself rooted to the spot, my feet like chunks of lead. Apollo edges closer, and somehow his voice, barely more than a whisper, carries to my ear.

"I've got your back."

I glance back at him. I really have no reason to trust this complete stranger, and yet I let him ride here with me and he's following me inside. He knows how to handle himself, though. That's a plus. I steel myself and forge ahead, like walking into a strong wind, until I pass through the open french doors. There's as many people inside as outside, it seems. The music is loudest in the living room, a huge expanse with a vaulted ceiling and leather couches currently decorated in the early underage drinking style, and if I take a deep breath, under the stink of pizza, chicken wings, and marijuana, I can smell a healthy eau de vomit. It's so enticing, I can't imagine why I stayed away. I glance back to make sure I haven't lost Apollo and head inside.

I could just scream 'Hey, anybody seen Charity' but one, no one would hear me, and two, nobody would know who Charity is anyway, and three, Lucas would be all over me. He can probably feel that I'm here.

"Any idea where she'd be?"

"Nope. I guess we look for Leo."

"I don't know any of these people."

The noise is unbearable, between the music and the chorus of CHUG, CHUG, CHUG from the middle of the living room. I haven't spotted Charity yet. I scan the crowd, work my way into the kitchen past a couple making out against the refrigerator. Apollo looks at them with a kind of curious disdain. Nobody seems to notice us.

"She might be upstairs," I shout back at him.

He nods.

I trudge up the stairs and hear it. Charity's distinctive giggle. I rush towards the sound, almost forgetting Apollo behind me. I push through the door and find Charity sitting on the floor, wearing only a bra from the waist up, laughing her ass off and clutching a bottle of blackberry schnapps in one hand. A boy I don't know reaches over and urges her to tip back a healthy swig. She coughs some up over her chin, strains to breath and breaks out laughing. I know from experience she's a giggly drunk.

"Charity," I shout.

She looks up. "Hey, Dee Dee," she slurs. "I lost my date."

"Yeah. Come on, time to go sleep it off."

I move towards her and the guy that just dumped cheap booze down her throat gets up and gets in my face. Or rather, gets his chest in my face. He's got about eight inches on me.