Chapter 3

Emilia

The uber pulls up outside a cute two-story blue house with white shutters. I can see LED lights through the windows. Rosie springs out of the back seat and Garrett out the front passenger side. I take a deep breath and try to muster a smile that matches Rosie's. I know I wanted to come and I still am semi excited to be here but I can't lie and say I'm not a little bit anxious. I get out of the car and Rosie loops her arms with mine and makes her way to the house, Garrett following closely behind us.

"Do we knock?" Rosie laughs and Garrett lets out a low chuckle.

"No, we just go in." Rosie says at the same time the door opens, revealing a smiling Ryan. He leans against the doorframe taking in Rosies black shorts and green crop top.

"Glad you guys could make it." Rosie glares back at him. I swear the tension between these two is insane. Rosie must feel it, which is why she's actively choosing to dislike him despite her being one of the most friendly people I've ever met.

"Thanks for having us, man." Garrett snaps them out of whatever stare down they have going on and Ryan finally looks over to me and Garrett, smiling.

"Of course, margaritas are in the kitchen." Ryan gestures for all of us to come through the doorway but I don't think his eyes leave Rosie's ass. With our arms still intertwined Rosie gets us through the small crowd that's in the living room, which seems like a makeshift dance floor, and into the kitchen. On the counter is a pitcher with a homemade label saying, "Rita's for Rosie". I can't help but giggle, to which Rosie gives me evil eyes.

"Wow Rosie, I think this guy's really into you." I wiggle my eyebrows.

"He doesn't even know me besides as I said before I'm done with men."

"Mhmmm."

"Anyways, let's see if there's some tequila not mixed in this pitcher so we can start the night off with some shots."

I groan, "Rosie, I've never even done a shot." This is a recipe for disaster if we're being honest.

"It'll be fine. You know I'll never let anything happen to you." She says as she crouches down, sticking her head in the refrigerator. Something rattles and a man awkwardly coughs, I look behind Rosie and see a guy with the most gorgeous green eyes and curly brown hair staring back at me. Rosie bumps her head off the freezer while removing herself from the fridge.

"Ouch." She grumbles.

"Find what you"re looking for in there?"

"Yep." She holds up a bottle of tequila. "We're doing shots."

"Here, let me." He grabs the bottle, finally tearing his eyes from me and opens up a cabinet with small little red disposable shot glasses, well glasses would be a strong word, more like flimsy cups. He sets them on the counter and pours two shots, handing one to Rosie and then me. Our hands touch as I reach for the drink and my skin heats instantly with the contact.

"You're not going to have one with us..."

"Liam and no, I try not to drink too much during the season."

"Makes sense, well bottoms up Emi. I'll count us down, okay?"

I nod, trying to muster up some sort of confidence. "3,2,1." Rosie downs her shot in half a second. I on the other hand barely get half the shot down, wincing and then coughing. Liam quickly reaches into the fridge and hands me a bottle of water which I graciously accept.

"Thank you." I smile up at him, he returns the smile and I almost melt on the spot. He has freaking dimples.

"Not a big shot fan?"

"Not really a big alcohol fan."

"I'm trying to get my girl here out of her comfort zone." Rosie interrupts our second staring contest. "Would you believe this is her first college party?"

"Rosie." I grumble, "We don't need to broadcast it."

Liam looks thoroughly amused at this conversation and I can feel a blush creeping up onto my cheeks, one not easy to hide with my fair skin. Realistically, I know it's not a big deal and I shouldn't care about what this boy I just met thinks of me, but I can't help it. I may have been focused on my studies and working the past three years but I am not immune to cute boys. Especially ones with beautiful eyes and a body that looks carefully crafted in the gym.

"Fine, let's try these margaritas. They better be good considering my name is on them."

"So, you're that Rosie." Liam looks even more amused now, smirking.

"I am." She eyes him warily. "And this is my bestie, Emilia."

"Well," Liam clears his throat, "it was great to meet you both, but it looks like I need to go give my brother some shit." He smiles at us and strides across the kitchen and disappears into the crowd that has formed in the rest of the house.

Rosie and I exchange a look. "Brothers?" We whisper shout at the same time. "Too bad I'm not trying to date. We could date brothers." Rosie states.

I laugh out loud. "Date?"

"Oh please, did you not see the way he looked at you? I mean you were looking the same way right back." Her eyebrows dance together.

"Don't be dramatic. I mean he's obviously cute but he was probably just being nice or something."

"That was not just being nice, that was flirty." Was it? I haven't really dated since high school and even then dated is a strong word. It's not that I've never wanted to but no one in high school was that interested and I've been so focused the past three years I haven't even really put myself in the position to date. Maybe I should though. I've always been a sucker for a good love story.

"Let's drink these and go dance." Rosie interrupts my running thoughts.

Ugh, I cannot dance to save my life. I mean I've never actually tried but I'm not graceful and I'm ninety nine percent sure I won't be any good at it but I know there's no use fighting Rosie on this because she loves dancing. We finish up our drinks and she drags me to the dance floor. Rosie starts to naturally sway her hips and gets into the music and I try to do the same. The alcohol in my system must be doing something because I don't think I'm half bad at this, or if I am I don't really care. Across from one another Rosie and I sway our hips, dancing through a few different upbeat songs. After a few songs, Garrett waves over to us from a table that"s set up to look like beer pong.

"Do you want to go over there and play?" Rosie asks me.

"You can, I'll find you in a few."

"You're sure?" I nod and keep dancing with a few of the girls around me since I'm having a surprisingly good time. A few minutes later a hand snakes around my waist and I practically jump out of my skin. There's a low chuckle and hot breath on my neck.

"Relax." He says, whoever he is. "I just want to dance with you." I twist the top half of my body around to see who this is, it's a guy I've never seen before sporting a backwards baseball cap and Bears football t-shirt. His dark brown eyes look glossy and I wonder how much he's had to drink.

"John." He introduces himself. I fully turn around now to get a better look at him.

"Emilia."

"Well Emilia, do you mind if I dance with you?"

"Um, okay I guess so." I scream internally at myself. I don't want to dance with this random stranger but how do you say no?

He tightens his grip on my waist and spins me back around so he's pressing his front into my back. My eyes are darting around the dance floor and over to the beer pong table but there's too many people in the way now so I can't see Rosie or Garrett despite his height. Okay, one song I can do this for one song, I think. I slightly move my hips pretending I"m into this. One song bleeds into another and his grip on my waist never loosens and unfortunately I can now feel something hard pressing into my butt. After five songs, his grip loosens a bit and I am able to pull away just enough to turn around and face him.

"Do you mind grabbing me another drink?"

"Uh sure, I'll be right back. Wait right here." He turns towards the kitchen. Like hell am I going to wait right here. I quickly scan the area and since I don't see anyone I know I head towards the sliding door that leads onto the back porch that spills into the yard, maybe Rosie or Garrett are back there. I move through the crowded makeshift dance floor and pull open the back door, taking in the cool air. It has significantly cooled off from earlier today, that's spring in Massachusetts for you. It's dimly lit outside with the back porch lights on and a small fire that some people are sitting around. Where the heck is Rosie? I make my way towards the fire hoping to spot her but I don't see her around so I decide to text her.

Me

Where are you??

Me

Trying to avoid some creepy guy sos.

I'm walking away from the fire, back towards the entrance to the house when someone snags my wrist.

"There you are." A deep, drunk and unfortunately familiar voice says. I try to tug my wrist away and keep walking. "I told you to wait right where you were."

Internally, I"m panicking but I'm trying to keep my composure on the outside semi-collected. I'm desperately looking around for someone I know, Garrett, Rosie, heck at this point I'd take anyone slightly familiar. His grip on my wrist is tightening and I just know there will be a bruise there tomorrow. He yanks me away from the fire and towards the fence that blocks the neighbor's yard. "Ouch."

"Oh shush, this is what bad girls get and you're bad, aren't you? Can't follow simple directions." If this is him trying to be seductive, it's not even close to working. We're over towards the side of the backyard, it's almost pitch black over here and he turns me towards him pressing my back into the wooden fence. I can't make out his features in the dark or read his face, but I can smell the alcohol on his breath. He tries to tuck my hair behind my ear and I flinch.

"No need to be so wound up. I'm not going to hurt you." He chuckles. Taking a step closer, he presses himself into me, our bodies are flushed together. I try to move back, but I can't go anywhere. He leans down slightly, whispering in my ear. "C'mon, let's go back to my place."

"I have to use the restroom." I blurt out. That's the first thing that came to my mind to buy me time. To figure out how to get out of this mess and find my friends.

"Ugh, fine. I'll take you there and then back to mine." I just nod. He grabs my wrist again, dragging me through the backyard and back into the house. The line for the bathroom is a few people deep, thank god, this gives me time to figure out a plan.

"This isn't going to work." He mumbles under his breath and drags me away again this time up the stairs where there is another bathroom, with no line. Fuck. "There." He points. "Don't be long. I'll be right here." I nod and close the door, trying to lock it but my hands are shaking. When did that happen? I look at myself in the mirror and notice my skin is now void of all color and my blue eyes are even brighter, with tears stinging the corner. What should I do? I need to get out of here. I look around and that's when I notice this bathroom must also be adjoining a bedroom. There's a loud rasp on the door.

"Hurry up."

I jump. I need to get out, it doesn't matter whose bedroom that is. They"re probably not in there. Maybe I can escape from their window. I make the decision and shakily open the door that leads into the bedroom.