Michelle Madow - Diamonds in the Rough

Once she and Evie had taken enough photos, she texted the best one to Nick.

are u coming to Jackie’s party tonight? I was hoping to see u here…

Can’t L Busy w/family stuff. I’ll cya in school on Mon

Savannah frowned, but she wasn’t surprised. Nick was always too busy to see her out of school.

“We’re about to play Survivor!” a senior guy yelled from the rec room. “Anyone wanna join?”

“Do you know what that is?” Savannah asked Evie.

“I have no idea.” Evie grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the rec room. “But let’s find out!”

When they got inside, Savannah saw the last person she’d expected to find standing around the cluster of tables—Damien. He and his friends normally hung out on the Strip, eating at the trendiest restaurants and seeing popular DJs spin at clubs. He rarely came to house parties with the sports crowd.

“Great game tonight,” he said when he saw her, giving her a high five. Their hands connected, and a warm tingle rushed up her arm.

“Thanks.” Her mind raced for something more to say to him. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here tonight.”

“Oliver and I decided to do something different for a change.”

“Survivors ready!” the guy who had started the game yelled before Savannah could reply.

She quickly introduced Damien and Evie, then situated herself between them, trying to pretend like she wasn’t clueless about this game. Damien picked up the pitcher of beer in the center of the table and poured a small amount in her and Evie’s cups, and a little more in his.

“Have you played this before?” he asked.

“No, but we played flip cup earlier,” she said. “Evie wasn’t bad at it, but I was terrible.”

“This is similar to flip cup, but everyone goes at once,” he said. “Each round the last person to flip their cup is eliminated, until there’s one person left.”

“Doesn’t sound too hard,” she said. Except for the flipping-the-cup part.

“Go!” the leader of the game yelled. Savannah forced herself to drink the beer—it was from the keg and tasted gross—and prepared to flip her cup. Damien got his in one flip. Evie got hers soon after. They both cheered her on, but after multiple unsuccessful tries, everyone’s cup was flipped but Savannah’s, so she was the first out. Which meant she had to leave her spot around the table and stand off to the side.

Not having anywhere else to go, she watched the next round. Now that she was out, Damien and Evie were standing next to each other. They both flipped their cups quickly and gave each other high fives. Was it just in Savannah’s imagination, or was Evie tossing her hair more than usual, purposefully letting her arm brush against Damien’s and shooting him her trademark flirty smile that Savannah had seen her use on guys in Fairfield? And since Savannah was out of the game, all she could do was stand there and watch. Her blood boiled, and she crossed her arms. She didn’t want to look pissed off, but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t want to see this.

Maybe inviting Evie this weekend had been a mistake. Savannah loved her best friend, but Evie had always overshadowed her in Fairfield. Why would she have expected any different in Vegas?

Damien glanced over at her, and she took out her phone, pretending someone had sent her a text. The next round started, and his cup-flipping skill somehow vanished. He was last and was kicked out.

“Have fun, guys.” He high-fived the senior leading the game, then walked over to Savannah. “You looked upset, so I wanted to make sure everything was okay,” he said so only she could hear.

Giddiness swirled through her body, and she put her phone away. “You got out on purpose?”

“You’ll never know,” he teased. “But let’s find something better to drink—that beer tasted like ass.”

“Glad I’m not the only one who thought so.” She made a face, because the beer really was sour and warm. “But let me check with Evie first. I don’t want her to think I’ve abandoned her.” She walked over to where Evie was still playing Survivor and was now flirting with the senior leading the game. “Hey.” Savannah squeezed Evie’s arm to let her know she was behind her. “Damien and I are going to grab a drink that isn’t beer in the kitchen. We’ll be back soon. Are you okay here for a few minutes?”

“Of course.” Evie smiled and thanked the senior guy, who had filled an inch of her cup with beer. “I’m rocking this game. See ya in a few!”

Savannah followed Damien into the kitchen, but the cheap beer and liquor in there didn’t meet his satisfaction, either. After some exploration, they discovered a walk-in wine closet near the garage. He switched on the light, illuminating the rows of wine. It was more of a small room than a closet, with walls of granite, tiled marble floors and wooden refrigerated shelves. Savannah doubted Jackie would be pleased that they were considering raiding her parents’ wine collection, but she was too happy to be there with Damien to say so.

She shut the door so no one would follow them inside and get the same idea. Jackie’s parents wouldn’t notice if one bottle was missing, right?

“This is what I’m talking about,” Damien said, examining the rows of wine. “What’re you in the mood for—red or white?”

“Whatever you want.” Savannah wasn’t as knowledgeable about wine as most of the people at Goodman seemed to be. Their families taught them about wine and allowed them to have a glass or two at dinner. Savannah’s mom only kept the hard stuff in their apartment. It was cheap, and the few times Savannah had tried it, it had tasted vile.

Damien perused the rows, taking a few bottles out and reading the labels. He reached one in the middle, paused and showed it to Savannah. “Amarone,” he said, pointing to the label. “One of my favorites.”

“Sounds good,” Savannah said, although she had never heard of it.

He found a wine opener, uncorked the bottle and poured the wine into the clean Solo cups Savannah had brought in from the kitchen. “Not the best way to drink wine, but it’ll work.” He handed her one of the cups. “Cheers.”

Adrian had allowed Savannah and her sisters glasses of wine at dinner—although Courtney always declined—but Savannah was far from a connoisseur. They all tasted the same to her. She sipped the Amarone, and it was stronger than she’d expected, but good. Much better than the cheap beer and liquor in the kitchen.

“Like it?”

“Yes.” Savannah flushed at the sudden realization that she was alone with Damien in a small space. And the way he was looking at her, his dark eyes so intense, as if he wouldn’t have wanted to be in there with anyone else….t made her nearly forget to breathe.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she lied. Then, deciding better of it, she said, “I guess I’m wondering why you’re here with me instead of hanging out with everyone at the party. You were doing really well in Survivor—you probably could have won.”

“You looked bored watching, so I thought you’d be happy to get away for a few minutes,” he said. “Was I wrong?”

“No,” Savannah said. “This is actually my first big house party. I’ve seen them on TV, and they looked so fun, so I’ve always wanted to go to one. But now that we’re here…” She shrugged and sipped her wine while contemplating how to word it, not wanting to sound like a downer.

“It’s not what you expected?”

“Exactly,” she said. “People are either almost naked in the pool, playing drinking games in the rec room, doing drugs or pairing up. Even with Evie here, I feel out of place. Maybe I just haven’t had enough to drink. I tried that beer, but…” She scrunched her nose as she recalled the taste.