Earning Edie (Espinoza Boys #1) (2 page)

My cousin’s house caught my attention. I’d turned down Carlos’ street on autopilot, but it was as good a solution as any. My aunt had an open-door policy for family, and I could kick back in their hot tub after I put my brain through the ringer.

Chapter 2

EDIE

I looked out the car window to get a better view of Carlos Espinoza’s house.

It perched on a hilltop impressively, and I could just see the kidney-shaped pool as Lily turned onto a gravel drive that led up to the house. Big columns supported a front porch and put me in mind of the Southern verandas I’d seen in movies.

I knew Carlos lived in this swanky Northwestern neighborhood, but I’d never been inside any of the homes here. Unlike most of our graduating class, I’d never attended one of his parties.

His house was positioned on a large corner lot, with a huge, perfectly manicured lawn. Tonight, cars parked haphazardly along the side of the drive and up on the lawn, giving me the feeling Carlos’ parents weren’t going to be too pleased when they came home. Then again, he threw these parties often enough they must be okay with it. I didn’t understand that, but admittedly, I didn’t understand much about parenting. I’d avoided my own parents since the graduation ceremony.

Lily blared the car horn and waved frantically through the car window at another group of friends. A loud whoop echoed back, and giddy laughter drifted on the breeze.

“Oh yeah, this is going to be that kind of party,” Samantha said gleefully from the front seat.

“What kind of party?” I asked guardedly.

“The best kind,” she answered cryptically.

I decided not to ask exactly what she meant by that, but now I was a little concerned I might be out of my depth.

Generally, I skipped the party scene, preferring a quiet movie with friends or a night in reading when I was alone. Lily had given up on dragging me to parties years ago, but she’d insisted graduation required a celebration.

The car lurched to a stop as Lily found a spare patch of grass to flatten, and I unwound myself from the cramped backseat with a sigh of relief. Carrie and Kelly Williams climbed out behind me; the twins had been noticeably quiet on the trip over, only whispering to each other. But they’d always been their own super duo, giving others only brief glimpses into their lives.

The group straggled up to the house in a disorganized line, and I hung back, while Samantha threw herself into the center of things, grabbing the nearest available guy and hitting the dance floor. Looking into that mass of twisting bodies weaving around furniture — and occasionally tripping over it —  I wanted to turn around and run out the door.

“Let’s get some drinks,” Lily suggested, as if she sensed my flight instinct kicking in.

She grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the kitchen. I narrowly dodged an elbow to the face and tripped over not one but two sets of feet on the way there. After that, I stopped trying to track our path and watched the ground for obstacles.

“You kind of know your way around here, don’t you?” I asked suspiciously once we’d reached a bubble of space next to the kitchen bar.

“Maybe,” Lily smirked as she mixed sprite, vodka and some purple concoction into a glass. “Here, take a drink.”

It was obvious Lily wasn’t going to spell it out for me. But I had a feeling she’d been hanging out with Carlos before tonight. I had hoped she’d move on now that we’d graduated, but I guess I was wrong. She’d been crushing on him for far too long to give up now.

I hesitated, sniffing at the drink. It smelled like grape, but also like alcohol, reminding me of that awful cough syrup my mom forced down my throat when I was little.

“Come on, live a little,” Lil urged, already chugging down half a cup of the grape-flavored hangover-in-waiting.

Glancing around the party, taking in the chaos around me, I knew the only way I’d get through the night was if I joined the fun. So, I took a deep breath and braced myself for the worst. Then I slugged down a big gulp.

“Ugh!” My face twisted in disgust.

“Sorry if it’s too strong. I’m an amateur bartender.”

It was definitely too strong, but maybe strong was what I needed tonight. I shuddered, and forced another swallow down. And another, and another. I set down the empty cup proudly, and Lil filled it to the brim again with a grin.

I rolled my eyes, but took it with me as we made our way out of the kitchen.

Samantha grabbed my arm as I passed.

“Dance, girl!” she yelled, shimmying her hips while holding a cup in her left hand and a handful of Alex Combs’ shirt in the other.

I laughed, shaking my head, and plowed through the crowd of loud couples and obnoxious boys playing drinking games, shouting over the music, and shoving each other like a bunch of kids on the playground. I’d need a whole lot more to drink before joining that unruly mass.

“Party pooper!” she shouted after me.

Samantha never did understand people who didn’t want to live
loud.
She was the life of the party, but that would never be me.

Lily steered me into a group of rowdy graduates that included Carlos, and I hovered at the edges, sipping at my drink and attempting to follow the drunken stories.

“And then she was all, the prom is a
special
night! And she started crying right in the middle of the dance floor!”

Laughter broke out, though I couldn’t figure out what was funny, having missed most of the story and suspecting I wouldn’t find it funny even if I hadn’t. Just as I raised my cup for another drink, I realized it was empty.

“Here, take mine,” Lily said, shoving her cup at me, even as she turned for the kitchen. “I’m going to grab a beer for Carlos, so I’ll just make another.”

She disappeared into the crowd, and I drifted away from the group, searching out a little breathing room.

Finally, I spotted the staircase and blessed open space not filled with drunken teenagers. I climbed the stairs, taking a seat at the top where I could watch over the party while not smothering in it.

By then, I had made it to my third cup of fruity-flavored alcohol, and was feeling rather disconnected from everything. As I sat, the room below spun slowly, and I leaned against the wall for support.

NICK

Graduation is the launching pad to the rest of your lives …

Bass vibrated through the room, undaunted by the wooden door, and rattled the desk. I groaned and tapped the delete key.

Delete. Delete. Delete. Delete.

“You suck,” I muttered, glaring at the screen, which was once again blank.

The curser blinked, as if daring me to come up with something better. I’d been working for two hours — or at least searching for inspiration that long. But after reading, surfing the web and racking my brain, I was no closer to the perfect column topic.

And I was distracted.

A yell went up downstairs. “Body shots!”

It was followed by catcalls, whistles and drunken laughter.

Trying to work in the middle of a party wasn’t the best idea I’d ever had.

Doing my best to block out the noise, I reflected on potential column topics. The art walks piece I’d originally planned sounded like fluff. No way to win over the editors in the bid to keep this column. I needed more time to finish the political piece about the councilwoman who was overspending tax dollars for questionable travel arrangements.

Graduation had seemed like the logical solution, but that was the problem.

It was predictable, aka
boring.

The newspaper industry is going down the toilet and as a result, this column is saying goodbye …

I sighed and took my hands off the keys. If there was any brilliance inside me, it wasn’t going to emerge with this party screaming outside my door, and I could definitely use a drink.

The view from the second floor revealed a disaster zone below. Empty plates and beer cans covered every surface. Glistening skin flashed as girls and guys grinded together to the blaring music that rivaled some nightclubs for noise decibels.

I was too old for this crap — or maybe too sober.

I longed for my peaceful apartment. Elana would be gone by now, but given the massive crowd in Carlos’ living room, I’d never get my car out.

I hesitated outside the guest room where I’d been hiding, trying to psych myself up.
Just get in and get out. One drink and back to work.

Turning toward the staircase, I noticed a girl sitting alone at the top of the stairs. She wasn’t clubbed up like the other girls at the party, instead dressed in jeans and a green blouse.

I gave her a brief onceover, doing a quick inventory: No body glitter. No makeup. No cleavage.

She must have been dragged to the party by a friend.

“Not too social, are you?” I asked, raising my voice to be heard over the music.

Her brown eyes flicked over to me.

“No,” she said, without the hint of a smile.

If there were a projection screen that put her feelings up on the wall, I was pretty sure hers would say leave me alone.

Oddly reassured, I walked over and dropped down beside her.

She leaned away, pressing closer to the wall.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to hit on you. I’m not even drunk, believe it or not.”

She nodded, turning her eyes to the crowd below.

She was pretty in an understated way. Her chestnut hair was straight and shoulder-length, held back by a makeshift headband that hinted at a retro style. Her fitted blouse outlined her curves nicely, while her jeans showcased long legs. There was a coltish beauty to her, something young and untamed, and yet I got the impression she’d done little more than run a brush through her hair before running out the door.

She struck me as that type of girl. Low-maintenance.

“Is that why you sought out the least social person at this party?” she asked.

Her lips curved in a smile, but a sad one.

That expression made me curious. Had someone harassed her? Or was she lonely, overlooked because she didn’t spray on enough glitter and flash enough skin?

“I guess so,” I murmured. “Drunk people can be pretty annoying when you’re sober.”

I gave her an opening to tell me some jerk had messed with her, but she just laughed and lifted her half-empty cup.

“I never said I wasn’t drunk.”

I hadn’t missed that, either. Her eyes were too glazed for total sobriety, though she was far from trashed.

“Yes, but you’ve missed the hyper phase and gone straight into the brooding, introspective phase. Much more dignified,” I teased.

She turned back to looking at the crowd below, but I could see the smile she tried to hide.

“Oh Lord,” she said. “Lil is getting in it now.”

“Lil?”

She pointed to a slender blonde grinding with … my cousin.
Of course
.

“Carlos is a total player,” my staircase buddy told me. “I keep telling her that, but she won’t listen. I mean, he’s been with like every pretty girl in our year except Lil. I bet he just couldn’t let graduation pass without saying he scored with them all.”

“Does that include you?”

Now, why did I ask that? I didn’t want to know if this girl was another of Carlos’ conquests. I’d have to bolt, and I was just getting comfortable.

“Uh …” she said awkwardly, and took a gulp from her cup to stall for time.

Shit. She
was
an ex.

Why had I gone there? Her answer wouldn’t matter. She was too young, and I never dated anyone. Not after Elana.

Anytime I started to think I could move on, the familiar churning of guilt and regret in my gut corrected my mistake.

“I don’t really fall into the pretty girl category. I was never on his radar.”

“Oh.”

I sensed her pulling back into herself, as she refused to make eye contact and sipped her drink. I couldn’t leave her hanging like that.

“Carlos is a dick.”

Great. Real classy, Nick.

She burst out laughing in earnest, to my relief.

I decided in that moment Carlos was an idiot. This girl was beautiful, and if she put in half the effort of the glossy girls downstairs, she’d outshine them all.

EDIE

I watched this guy, whose name I didn’t even know, grinning at me and felt a little lighter than I had all day.

He was older. Somewhere in his twenties, I guessed. And compared to the obnoxious boys downstairs, he was sexy and sophisticated.

Too sophisticated for a high school party.

When I’d first seen him in the hall — a tall, dark stranger stepping out of a bedroom — I shuddered to think what he might be doing there. Now, with his body warming my side as he sat close, I wondered if someone waited inside for him.

He didn’t seem to be in any hurry. His eyes fixed on me while I watched the party and tried to seem unaffected by his gaze.

Why hadn’t I done something more with my hair, or dressed up a little at least?

I dismissed the thought immediately, glancing to the side to take him in once more. He was so far out of my league it was a joke.