Chapter 29

Eleven years ago…

A GROUP OF FIFTEEN or so from the boys and girls soccer teams were gathered in Cole’s basement. His parents were out of town for the night and he wanted to take advantage, especially since it was the last night before half of them left for college the next day. He got his older sister to score him two bottles of vodka. Everyone brought over their favorite mixers, which included Hailey bringing two jugs of Sprite, some grenadine and more maraschino cherries than anyone needed.

Her favorite drink to order when she was feeling fun was a Shirley Temple, so mixing that with vodka seemed like a genius plan, but when she pulled out the cherries, people’s minds went in a different direction.

“Oh my God, has anyone ever tried to tie the stems in your mouth like they do in movies?” Abby asked, looking around to see if anyone has tried it before. Apparently, no one had enough experience to brag about it, but, unsurprisingly, a bunch of them were up for the challenge.

“I’m sure I can do it. I’ve got many talents,” Cole said as he sent a flirty smile Elena’s way. Her skin was so tan it was hard to see the blush, but it was obvious on her high cheekbones.

Cole grabbed a cherry out of the jar and tapped it against the glass so he wouldn’t drip it all over himself. He took a minute to eat the cherry first, because priorities.

A few others that were gathered around the floor took a cherry for themselves to see if they could tie them.

Hailey turned to Avery who was sitting beside her, the jar in her hand to offer them around. “Want one, Avery?”

Avery took a second to think about it and reached up to grab a cherry before seemingly talking himself out of it in his own head.

“Nah, I think I’m better off not knowing. I’ll just be disappointed if I can’t do it.”

“Oh, wow. I never even thought about that. That’s a good point, and I don’t even like cherries. I just like cherry-flavored things.”

They both laughed as they looked around.

Cole seemed to be struggling and working really hard to tie his stem. Elena was the first to finish and triumphantly pulled the knotted stem out of her mouth, which immediately prompted Cole to choke on his own stem. Avery reached over and gave his back a couple slaps until the choking stopped, but that was enough for Cole to give up on the stem and turn his focus to Elena instead. That man was a goner.

The night continued to be a bunch of antics and drinking games, until someone suggested a round of spin the bottle.

There was no way this would end without drama, but Hailey guessed it was a good thing then that half the people in this room would be states away tomorrow, although she was only going just over the bridge to Philly. Still, they all would see each other a lot less after that night.

Josh and Abby ended up kissing first, but they kept it super chaste. No one was prepared to end friendships over this game, which made her mind travel to the best friend sitting beside her. Avery always seemed to be edging right up to the line between friendship and something more, but they never crossed that line. Their friendship was too important to Hailey to ruin, plus they were both going away for college so it would be insane to start something.

Cole, who was siting on the other side of Elena, took a turn spinning the first bottle they emptied and it happened to land on Elena.

The color returned to her cheeks and she looked absolutely terrified, which Cole seemed to notice.

“I don’t have to kiss you if you don’t want me to,” he offered, but it sounded like it was killing him.

“Um… I … how about just on the cheek?” Elena asked with everyone’s eyes on her.

“You got it,” Cole said as his confidence seemed to return. He leaned across the circle toward Elena, who turned to the side so Cole could reach her cheek. He placed a soft kiss there and seemed to linger for a moment before they both pulled away, looking even more nervous from before. They were fucking adorable.

Avery declared he would go next to cut the tension in the room, and suddenly Hailey’s palms were sweatier than usual.

The bottle seemed to spin forever, before it finally stopped—right in the middle of her and Cole.

They looked at the bottle and then at each other.

“Is that pointing to you or me?” Cole asked the same moment Hailey asked, “What’s the protocol here?”

“Well, one of you has to kiss Avery,” Josh pointed out. Cole and Hailey had been looking at each other and a scowl reached both their faces as they turned them on Josh.

“Excuse me, you mean gets to, sir,” Hailey practically shouted. “How dare you speak of him like a chore!”

“Have you seen this specimen that is Avery Stratford? This is a prize beyond anything you’ve realized,” Cole asserted.

“My hype team, ladies and gentlemen. You guys should really charge me for all the confidence you give me,” Avery joked, placing a hand over his heart that seemed to be trembling just a bit. “So… I could just spin again?”

Cole and Hailey both gasped and then cracked up at each other, which seemed to also relax Avery.

“But, I want the chance to kiss Avery. That’s no fair!” Cole teased, right at the same moment the basement door slammed open and his father charged down the basement stairs.

Hailey could feel both Cole and Avery tense next to her. She knew Cole’s dad wasn’t the sweetest dad around, but she was unsure how scared she should be at that moment.

Everyone was dead silent as his dad surveyed the room. The empty vodka bottle in the center of their circle and the half empty second bottle among a bunch of solo cups painted an obvious picture.

His focus turned to Cole and Hailey wondered if the guy heard his son shout that he wanted to kiss Avery. She knew he was joking, but she had an inkling Mr. Durbin wasn’t the most open-minded person in the world from some of the stories he shared.

“Everybody get out and take this mess with you!” he shouted, and Hailey felt it reverberate through her body like the deep bass at a concert.

Everyone moved at once, grabbing everything they could and getting out of there as fast as they could. She noticed after a moment that Avery wasn’t getting up and instead had moved next to Cole.

“It’s okay, man. Get out of here while you can,” she heard Cole mutter to Avery.

“Not a fucking chance,” he replied.

Hailey gave both their shoulders a squeeze before grabbing a bag of what was left of their mixers and heading out. As she left, she noticed Mr. Durbin’s sneer turn toward Elena, but then he brought his focus back to Cole, who shifted on his feet next to Avery.

Since Elena lived right across the street, Hailey followed her out, sidling up next to her, wondering aloud if Cole and Avery would be okay.

“I’m sure they will, but I’m glad Avery stayed behind with him. I hear that man yelling all the time. He doesn’t seem to like me very much.”

“I noticed that. What’s his problem?”

“Who knows? Anyway, you better head home. My abuela is probably waiting up inside for me.”

The two said their goodbyes and Hailey walked the few blocks to her own house, wondering how two of her best friends were handling everything.

Hailey tossed and turned in bed that night until she heard the unmistakable buzz of her phone, nearly falling out of her bed in the process to get to it.

AVERY:Everything is fine. Cole and I are okay. Good luck heading to school tomorrow, and keep in touch this semester!

She let out a deep breath and her whole body relaxed with the news they were okay. She didn’t need the details, but maybe one day she’d find out what happened.