Josh carried me over the snow. “Not really. He doesn’t tease well.”
He shook his head as he lowered me to the snow-covered sidewalk. “Well, he’s missing out.” Snow came down in a thick curtain of white, and Josh picked a flake from my hair.
I took his hand to lead him up to the front door. I shouldn’t have wanted to touch him, but I did. I gave his hand a quick squeeze, and let go, telling myself I didn’t like it. Liar. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to—” A drunk girl stumbled down the steps, her girlfriends quick to catch her. “To the people I actually know,” I finished.
Dave Matthews Band blared through the house. The neighbors were a few acres away, but I was surprised they weren’t upset by the party. We slid past the people lining the stairs up to the deck.
Inside the house was just as crowded as the deck, like someone was trying to break the world record for the most college students crammed inside an A-frame cabin. I headed over to the first group I recognized, a frat brother of Riley’s and his girlfriend, whose room was on my floor.
“Hey, Charlotte!” I called out as she jumped up to hug me.
“Ember!” Her beer sloshed over the Solo cup, but I artfully dodged before it ruined my outfit. Her embrace was fierce before she pulled back. “Ember, I’m so sorry about your dad.”
“Yeah, Ember,” Scott slurred from the couch, his eyes hooded. “That totally blows.”
“Thanks,” I responded, not wanting to let it in. I was escaping the grief tonight; I couldn’t afford to let it take another piece of me. I needed a few hours of respite. “This is Josh.”
Josh stepped forward, shaking Scott’s hand and smiling at Charlotte, who just about stripped him with her eyes. I couldn’t blame her; Josh had that effect on girls. At least, he had in high school, and my guess was not much had changed.
“Josh Walker!” A girl who looked like her breasts were about to pop free of her low-cut shirt at any moment waved above the crowd.
“Of course you would know a girl here,” I muttered in his direction.
He flashed a grin. “Oh, more than one, Ember. Give me a second?”
“Yeah, of course. I’m just going to find Riley.”
I watched him cross the room and sweep the blonde up in a giant hug. An unwelcome twinge of jealousy soured my mouth.
“Josh?” Charlotte asked with appraisal, slipping into her boy-ranking mode.
“He’s a friend of mine from high school,” I answered.
“Yum.” She smiled, and I wanted to smack her. “Does Kayla know you’re here?”
“No, I sent her a text to see what she was up to tonight, but I drove up to surprise Riley.”
“She probably never got it since she accidentally took her phone swimming in the hot tub this afternoon. It’s toast.”
“You’ve all been here since this afternoon?” I asked just as a familiar hulking body pressed up against me, his hand reaching around my waist to steady himself. “Hey, Drew.”
His breath reeked. “Riley’s upstairs, said he needed some quiet.”
I nodded and tried to discreetly step out of Drew’s grasp. He followed my step. “How was the drive up?”
“Long, Drew—”
Josh stepped smoothly between us, making Drew drop his grip on my waist long enough for me to escape.
“You okay?” Josh asked as we headed up the stairs.
“Drew is a little handsy, but nothing to worry about.” More people lined the balcony that overlooked the great room. The whole freaking fraternity was here?
“Ember . . .” they all muttered, giving me their man-your-life-sucks look. I smiled back as brightly as I could. I wasn’t thinking about it tonight, yet everywhere I turned, those who knew me were giving me their brave face. I could keep my thoughts off Dad, but I couldn’t control everyone else’s.
“Who’s your girlfriend?” I asked.
“Girlfr—? Oh, Whitney? Just someone I met up with a time or two.” Met up with. Had sex. The norm.
“Whoa! Ember!” Another frat brother, Greg, stopped us in the hallway. “Um, did Riley know you were coming?”
“Nope! I’m here to surprise him.”
“Just let me tell him you’re here . . .” He moved to step in front of me, blocking the way to the room where I’d slept weekends away for the last few years.
How freaking weird. “Greg, I’m good.” I slid past him and opened the door to Riley’s bedroom.
“Oh! Excuse me!” I laughed through my shock. I’d walked in on a couple using Riley’s bed, and from the motion of the girl taking control, they were definitely having sex. Her jet black hair fell in waves with her head thrown back.
They were so lost in each other that they didn’t hear me, and the door clicked softly as I shut it with a giggle. “Oh. My. God.”
I turned, leaning my head back against the door as I laughed uncontrollably, and I liked it. I liked letting go and finding something humorous. Once I stopped, the looks of shock on Josh and Greg’s face registered. “What?”
Greg blushed scarlet, contrasting with his blond hair. “Ember, I’m so sorry.”
“I could fucking kill him,” Josh rumbled, low and slow. The shade of his eyes darkened from brown to nearly black, a fierce glint taking over.
“What? Why? Who cares—”
It clicked. Black hair the shade of which I’d only seen on one girl. My roommate. “Kayla.” Kayla was in Riley’s bed. With . . . “No,” I whispered, shaking my head in denial.