A Whole New Crowd(11)

I turned back to the window and ignored whatever her reaction was. A moment later, Devon turned into a driveway. “We’re meeting up with Tray and the rest of the gang at his place first.”
Tray’s place was gorgeous. It was a mansion, bigger than Mandy’s, and had four massive pillars right before the front door with a large porch extending off to the side. The living room could be seen through three large windows and inside there was a flat screen TV highlighting one entire wall. White leather couches aligned the sides of the room. The pool could be seen through the glass patio doors, shimmering on the other side of the mansion.
Walking inside, I saw a spiral staircase off to the right. There was an open doorway before the steps, leading into an expansive kitchen with an island in the middle, steel appliances, and granite countertops; even the kitchen looked like a masterpiece.
Most of the ‘cool’ crowd was lounging there, drinking, chatting, or in the process of making their drinks for the ride. Grant and Samuel were at a table talking with some girls I didn’t recognize. Amber was sitting on the island, dangling her feet, talking with a guy that I thought was Brent…Garrett? Basketball team…I think. I didn’t care.
Tray was nowhere to be found.
Mandy nudged me. “Tray just got here. He’s getting dressed and then we’re heading out.”
“I don’t get why we’re all meeting here? Why don’t we just go to the party?”
“Because Tray and Grant are the only ones who know where Rickets’ House is and there’s probably Pedlam students there. It’s not like we all want to show up there alone.”
“What? Strength in numbers? Can’t handle a few Pedlamites?”
“You could?”
“I went to Pedlam, a few times.”
“A few times?” a girl asked. I didn’t recognize her, but she was already annoying me. She could’ve been the poster-girl for Hooters.
“Yeah. What about it?”
“She didn’t mean anything, Matthews.” Tray walked up behind me, wrapping an arm around my waist, pulling me into his side. To everyone else, he said, “Let’s head out.” He pulled me with him. “You can ride with me.”
I glared at him and ignored the sudden attention he brought to us. Then I saw Mandy was watching Devon while Jennica paired off with Grant. It was a perfect time for those two to talk. “Fine.”
Two other guys were behind us as we walked to Tray’s SUV. Ignoring the heat from Tray’s hand as it rested on my stomach, I brushed him off and rounded the SUV to climb into the passenger seat. The other two got in the back.
Tray introduced us inside, “Helms, Mitch, this is Matthews. Matthews, the guys.”
“My name’s Taryn, not Matthews.” I recalled that they were both on the basketball team. They fit the description, tall and lanky in preppy clothes. It wasn’t long before the three were discussing some recent game. All three ignored me, but I was fine with that. I wouldn’t have to worry about talking with Tray the entire time. It wasn’t long until he was pulling into a long driveway that started at the bottom of a hill and wound its way up. The house was at the top and the lights were already blinding through the trees as we started up. Cars were parked on both sides of the driveway, but we inched past them.
“Dude, where are we going to park?”
“Forget that. Look at all these people. We’re going to get trashed tonight.”
Tray kept quiet, glancing at me for a split second.
I grinned when I caught sight of an old friend’s car. He would think it’s a riot, me showing up with the crème de la crème from Rawley’s royalty. No doubt he’d double over in laughter when he saw our entrance.
“Something funny?”
I looked at him. I hadn’t been paying him any attention. I’d been working hard at that, but now, looking at him, my body grew way too aware of him. Feeling a sensation in my stomach, like a tickle, I couldn’t deny that he looked good. He looked more than good. He wore a soft blue shirt that molded to his trim form without being too tight. His arms and that damn tattoo kept drawing my attention. I was itching to explore it better, but I didn’t. My hands curled into my lap. Tray grinned. A smug expression teased at the corner of his lips for a second before it vanished. Then his gaze lifted to mine, and I was burned by it. He wanted me. I could see it. When I flinched and started to look away, his hand touched my leg. I couldn’t look away.
A soft curse slipped from me. A bunch of emotions threatened to unleash inside me, but I clamped them down. This wasn’t the place to deal with this, not when I’d be seeing other Pedlamites.