Cherie Colyer - Hold Tight

“Hey,” Lauren replied.

Natalie held out a bag of marshmallows. I took off my glove so I could grab one.

“Where’s Mark?” I asked Sarah, wondering if he’d left with the guys to get chips.

“He’s helping Ben with the keg. Tapper’s jammed or something.” She pointed toward the house, where several guys huddled around a metal trash can. Upon squinted-eye inspection, I could see the silver keg through the legs of onlookers. A dark figure stood not too far from the excitement.

“Ten o’clock,” I whispered to Kaylee. “That guy we saw yesterday is here.”

He stood in the shadows, smoking a cigarette. Sarah, Natalie, and Lauren pivoted in their seats to see who I was talking about.

“He came,” Natalie squealed.

Lauren nudged her. “Go talk to him.”

“You know him?” I asked.

“We met him at school, and she asked him to the party,” Lauren informed us.

Natalie spun back around so that she was facing Kaylee and me. I could tell she was trying to play it cool.

“Well, are you going to invite him over?” Kaylee asked.

“I couldn’t.” She bit her bottom lip, giving me the impression that was exactly what she wanted to do, but now that he was there, she had a case of shyness. “Is he still watching us?”

Sarah nodded. “He’s hot.”

“If you won’t go ask him to join us, I will.” I hopped up and pretended I didn’t hear her protest. Sarah and Kaylee giggled as Lauren told Natalie to let me go.

The frozen grass crunched under my boots as I cut across the lawn. Mystery Guy’s gaze met mine. For a moment, I would have sworn I saw his pupils flash bright red, but when I blinked, they were as dark as the night. He’d been taking a drag from his cigarette, which had to have been the glow I’d seen.

“We meet again,” I said.

He blew smoke out the side of his mouth. A fleeting smile passed over his lips. “Maybe it’s fate.”

“I don’t believe in fate.” That wasn’t entirely true, though I had never really given the subject much thought. “Do you know Ben?” I asked instead of saying, My friend is drooling over the sight of you.

“Through his brother, yeah. We’ve been hanging out more since Dan left for school.”

Ben’s brother, Dan, had gotten a full basketball scholarship at some big college.

“Want to join us?” I gestured toward our little group with my thumb. “Natalie’s sitting with us,” I added just in case he hadn’t recognized her under the purple hat.

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Thanks, but I actually came because Natalie and I have a mutual friend. I don’t think I’ll be staying long.”

“Oh.” Natalie was going to be crushed. “Your friend’s not here, I take it?” I knew that feeling; I started to think Isaac and Josh were peeling potatoes and baking the chips themselves.

“No.”

“I’m Madison, by the way.”

“Caden. It’s nice to meet you, Madison.”

He went to flick his cigarette into the landscape stones.

“Don’t do that.” When his gaze met mine, I said, “You could start the bushes on fire.” I held out my hand. “Give it to me. I’ll toss it in the bonfire.”

He smiled, and with a shake of his head, he bent down and snuffed out the end of the cigarette. Next, he dropped the butt into my hand. “Thanks.”

A loud cheer erupted to my right. The group of people around the keg exchanged high-fives and pats on the back as Ben filled a red plastic cup with beer.

“Looks like they got the tap working,” I commented and stuffed the spent cigarette into the pocket of my jacket, planning to get rid of it when I joined my friends.

Caden didn’t seem to hear me. His attention had been turned toward the fire pit.

I glanced over my shoulder to find my friends staring at us. Kaylee held her phone up like she’d been taking pictures. I felt like I was in junior high all over again and I’d lost the coin toss to see who would go talk to the cute guy to find out if he was available. That wasn’t too far from the truth. My cheeks warmed with embarrassment.

“Are you sure you don’t want to meet everyone?” I asked.

“Another time.”

Considering he had hoped to hook up with someone other than Natalie, who had invited him to the party in the first place, his reply didn’t surprise me. I tilted my head to the side and shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

He inclined his head as if to say, I will.

I pointed with my thumb toward my friends. “I’d better get back before they think I ditched them. I’ll tell Natalie you said hi.”

“See you around, Madison.”

I gave a half-wave and headed back to the bench. At one point, I thought I felt someone brush up against my arm, but when I spun around, no one was close to me.

“Join me,” a guy whispered.

I looked toward the house. Kyle Wesley and his jock friends tapped their plastic cups together and cheered. I shook my head, sure the whisper had come from their group. I made it within a few feet from Kaylee and the others when a cold breeze kissed the back of my neck. I tugged my jacket tighter around me.

“Did he ask about me?” Natalie asked, her eyes wide and hopeful. With her round face and short-cropped hair, she reminded me of the pixies in Mrs. Addington’s grimoire. She obviously hoped to be Caden’s next girlfriend, and I couldn’t find it in me to tell her he was looking for someone else.

“He told me to say hello, but he couldn’t stay.”

“Oh.” That one word held a world of disappointment.

Lauren pulled the marshmallows she’d been toasting out of the flames and said encouragingly, “Go talk to him.”

“Yeah!” Sarah chimed in. “He probably wants you all to himself.”

I racked my brain for a nice way to say Caden wasn’t interested in her that way, but the words didn’t come quickly enough.

Natalie jumped up. “I think I will.”

I glanced toward the corner of the house where Caden had been, but he was gone. His absence didn’t discourage Natalie, though. She sprinted around the side of the house right as Isaac and Josh walked over to us.

“Someone’s in a hurry,” Josh commented. He had two red plastic cups of beer, one of which he held out to Kaylee. She snapped a quick picture of him before dropping her phone into her purse and taking the drink.

“She’s off to chase Prince Charming,” Lauren said between blows on her marshmallow.

“What does that mean?” Isaac handed me a cup and sat behind me, his legs straddling my hips.

I loved the feeling of his warmth. “Nothing. She’ll be right back.”

“Pork rind?” he offered.

“No, thanks.” I held up the skewer to show him my hands were full.

Kaylee set her cup down and held her marshmallows over the flames. “Are there any graham crackers?”

“Where were you when we made the list for the store?” Sarah asked.

Showing up fashionably late , I thought, but Sarah already knew that.

Natalie came back and plopped down between Lauren and Sarah. “Missed him.”

“I still think he’s your secret admirer,” Lauren said.

“You have a secret admirer?” But I knew it wasn’t Caden, unless he’d been at school and at Ben’s house because he did like Natalie. He could have seen her surrounded by people he didn’t know and made up the story about having a mutual friend. After all, who would want to announce they’re someone’s secret admirer in front of a bunch of strangers? Dying to know the details, I said, “Well, don’t just sit there grinning. Spill!”

“Someone left her a bouquet of wildflowers and a box of chocolates,” Lauren said.

All dreamy-eyed, Natalie cooed, “The candy was heavenly.”