Beautiful Chaos(73)

“Wesley Lincoln!”

“Hey there, Savannah.”

Savannah was hoping for some serious sparks between them, but she didn’t have a chance. When it came to Link, there was only one girl who could cause that kind of spark, and it was only a matter of minutes until she arrived and really lit up the place.

More like an hour.

That’s when Ridley got there and ratcheted things up a notch or two—or two hundred. “Evening, boys.”

Link’s head whipped around when he saw her, and he broke into a smile about a mile wide, confirming what I knew all along. Ridley was still under his skin, and pretty much everywhere else. I knew what that kind of radar felt like. It was the way I felt about Lena.

Uh-oh. This isn’t good, L.

I know.

“Come on. I think it’s going to get ugly.” I took Lena’s hand and turned to leave, and there was Liv. Lena shot me a look.

Crap.

With everything else going on, I’d forgotten all about giving Liv the invitation.

“Lena.” Liv smiled.

“Liv.” Lena sort of smiled. “I didn’t know if you were coming.”

“Really? I left Ethan a note.” Liv smiled at me pointedly.

“Really.” Lena shot me a look that said I’d be hearing about this later.

Liv shrugged. “Well, you know Ethan.” Don’t you? That’s what Lena heard.

“Yeah, I do.” Lena wasn’t smiling anymore.

I started to panic and noticed the punch table, a good fifteen feet away. That seemed like a safe distance. “I’m going to get something to eat. Anybody want anything?”

“Nope.” Liv smiled at me like everything was fine.

“Not a thing.” Lena smiled at me like she was about to kill me.

I escaped as quickly as I could.

Mrs. Snow was standing by the punch bowl talking to two men I’d never seen before. They were both wearing university caps and collared shirts. “It’s a surprise,” Mrs. Snow told them. “That’s why my daughter wanted to throw this little get-together. She wanted you to be able to talk to Wesley in a casual environment.”

“That sure was kind of your daughter, ma’am.”

“Savannah’s a very thoughtful girl. Always puttin’ others first. And her boyfriend, Wesley, is a real talented basketball player. That’s why my husband asked y’all to come up. And Wesley comes from a good, churchgoing family. His mother’s got a hand in everythin’ that goes on in this town.”

I froze at the table, a chocolate basketball jammed halfway into my mouth. They were college scouts. And they were here to meet Link.

I looked across the yard to where Link and Savannah were dancing and Ridley was circling like a shark. Rid would make her move any minute now, striking so fast that there would be nothing left but blood in the water.

I took off, nearly knocking over the punch bowl in the process.

“Sorry, Savannah. I need to talk to Link for a minute.” I grabbed Link and hauled him out Savannah’s back gate.

“What the hell?” Link looked at me like I was crazy.

“There are scouts in there, from the university. Mrs. Snow set this whole thing up for you. And if you let Ridley get near Savannah tonight, you’re going to blow everything.”

“What are you talkin’ about?” He looked confused.

“Basketball. College recruiters. It’s your ticket out of here.”

He shook his head. “Nah, dude. You’ve got it all wrong. I don’t want a ticket out of this town. I just wanna a ticket outta this party.”

“You what?”

He was already shaking his head and walking back to the party. “It’s not Savannah. It never was. It’s Ridley, good or bad.” He looked at me like he was telling me he had a fatal disease or something. “I can’t shake it.”

“Shake what, Shrinky Dink?” Ridley was standing with her back against the gate. Unlike the rest of the girls on the squad, she wasn’t wearing her cheer uniform. Her green dress was so tight in some places and slit so high in others, you weren’t exactly sure where to look.

Link moved closer to her. “Come on, Rid. I want to talk to you.”

“That’s not what your little girlfriend said. She said you didn’t want to talk to me. In fact, she told me to get the hell off her property.”

“Savannah’s not my girlfriend.”

I tried to pretend I didn’t know what was about to happen. I tried not to listen, or care.

But I could hear the desperation in Link’s voice. “It’s never been anyone but you.”

“What are you talking about?” She froze, but it was too late.

Link couldn’t stop himself. “Sometimes I think crazy things, like I want to be with you forever. We could live in an RV and see the world. I mean, the parts you can drive to. And you could write songs, and I could play them at gigs. Can’t you see it?”

Ridley’s face looked like it was about to crack into a thousand tiny pieces. “I—don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll be my girl, the way it used to be.”

I could see her wavering, and I realized how hard it must be to be her right now. Because she wasn’t the Ridley she used to be, any more than he was the Link he used to be. Nothing was the same. Not for anyone.