“Is there a problem?” Alex stops and asks on his way past. Releasing Mel’s waist, he pushes his way through Lucas’ friends and pulls me aside, his face not hiding his concern for me. “Tripp?”

I shake my head, feeling bad for the small scene. I never meant to get Alex worked up by thinking Lucas is a threat. “I’m fine.” I pinch his cheek and smile. “Go have fun, Stud. We were just playing. I promise.”

Alex turns from me to look over at Lucas and his friends. He takes a second to size them all up before turning back to me. “Better be.” His jaw steels as his eyes meet mine. “Come find me if you need me.”

“I always do,” I say truthfully. “Better hurry before your date leaves.”

He looks over his shoulder at Mel, nods his head, and starts backing up. I see a small smile take over his face and I can’t help but to full on grin at him.

Guess I’m going in the pool now. Tilting my drink back, I down the rest of it, before standing up. “Time to get wet.” Without much thought, I rip my dress over my head, stripping down to my red bikini top and black panties.

I hear whistles coming from all directions before I dive into the pool, sinking to the bottom. The water feels so good; almost like an escape away from everything and everyone, at least for this short moment.

Relaxing under the water for a second, I grip onto my hair before pushing my way back up to the top.

Lucas immediately comes up behind me and pulls me into his arms. “Hand me that shot, dude.”

One of his friends grabs for one of the shots lined up by the pool and hands it to him. Smiling, he holds it up to my lips. “You deserve this after all that hotness. Drink up.”

Feeling a bit more relaxed now that I’ve already downed my first drink I part my lips and let him tilt the glass, allowing the liquid to run down my throat.

The DJ is playing music, people are getting wasted and having fun. This is exactly what I wanted—A little fun and freedom. Might as well live it up a little. A little celebration for having Alex here is how I view it. I couldn’t ask for more.

IT’S GETTING DARK NOW, BUT everyone still seems to be having the time of their lives. I haven’t seen Alex much since before I got into the pool, but maybe that’s because I’ve been trying to avoid seeing him with Mel. It makes my chest hurt too much. I really haven’t seen much of Harley either, now that I think about it.

I’m probably up to my fifth drink and fourth shot by now. Once I get enough liquor inside of me, it becomes a little harder to say no. Especially when you’re just having fun and trying to keep your head clear of certain unwanted thoughts.

I’m in the middle of everyone, just dancing and having a good time, and Lucas is surprisingly still beside me instead of off having fun. He shouts over the loud music and holds up two more shots before handing one of them to me.

I get ready to tilt it back, but I feel a hand reach out and snatch it away. It’s Alex. It wouldn’t be anyone else. Everyone else is too wasted to care about anyone else.

He steps in between Lucas and I and hands the shot back to Lucas. “She’s done with shots, Lucas. Give that shit to someone else.”

Before Lucas can say anything, Alex walks me out of the dancing crowd and over to the fire pit where it’s a bit quieter. He pulls one of the chairs up behind me and helps me sit down.

I look up to see Lucas watching us, but then he just shrugs and hands the shot to a random guy close to him, going back into his party mode.

“I told you to be careful with shots, Tripp. I don’t want to be cleaning puke off of you tonight. I will, trust me, but I’d rather not.”

One look into his eyes and I can’t argue with him. He always has a way of sobering me up. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. I am too. I hate upsetting Alex.

“Don’t be.” He smiles and hands me a cup of water that Mel passes to him. “Drink this.”

I can’t help but to smile up at him. “I will if you do something for me.”

He smiles. “You know I’ll do whatever, Tripp. Don’t I always?”

I nod my head. “Play your guitar for us,” I whisper. “Please. Please. Please.”

His lips turn up into a smile, but he doesn’t respond. He looks around the crowd full of people, before bringing his attention back to me.

“Please. It will help relax me.”

He lets out a huff. “You’re so damn lucky that I can’t say no to you. You have no idea.” He turns to Mel. “I’ll be back.”

Mel looks at me, and smiles awkwardly, but doesn’t say a word. She almost looks . . . jealous. Of me? Ha! That’s funny.

Alex is inside for about ten minutes before I notice him come back outside. Everyone clears a path for Alex, as he walks confidently with his guitar. He doesn’t seem to have a care in the world. He’s about to own this party and he knows it. I know it. He’s owned me for years with that guitar.

Something about his confidence has always drawn me to him, making me want him way more than I should, and seeing all these people waiting for him to sing for us makes me want him that much more. It’s almost unbearable.

He stops once he gets back to the fire pit and smiles as he throws the strap of his guitar over his head. Almost everyone is now looking at him, and the DJ has stopped the music. “You asked for it.” He works on adjusting the strings of his guitar, while still talking. “I’m playing this song, because let’s face it, all you fuckers are having sex after you leave this party.”

Everyone starts screaming and cheering him on, but his face stays focused as he starts playing the melody to a song that I recognize right away: Wicked Games by The Weeknd. If people weren’t planning on fucking after this party . . . well they will be now.

A few girls, including Mel, start dancing close to Alex as the seductive words leave his lips. Holy shit . . . that voice. It’s been a while since I’ve heard him sing.

Closing my eyes, I get lost in his words, imagining his lips running across my skin with each word; the vibration of his voice against my flesh as he touches me in all the right places. Oh the things he can probably do with his mouth.

Maybe being drunk isn’t helping liked I’d hoped . . .

Before I know it, I’m standing just a few steps away from Alex, hanging on his every word. His eyes meet mine as he sings, “Just let me motherfucking love you.”

My eyes stay locked with his, unable to pull away. There’s something in his eyes right now that almost makes it feel as if he’s truly singing those words to me. It feels like just the two of us.

I feel my body shuddering with each word that leaves his sexy as sin mouth, as he gets deeper into the song and the melody picks up.

While still singing, he swings the guitar around his body so that it’s now hanging from his back. Reaching out, he pulls me against his body as he grinds his hips against me and sings, “Let me see you dance. I love to watch you dance.”

Letting out a small breath, I spin around in his arms and lean my head against his shoulder as I let myself dance against him. I feel his lips against my ear as he continues the song, seductively running his hands up the length of my arms as I hold them out at my sides.

Then, before I know it, he’s gone and reaching for his guitar again. I stop dancing for a second, but he nods his head at me, encouraging me to keep going.

A few seconds later I feel another set of arms wrap around me, and I know right away that it’s Lucas. He starts dancing against me, but his movements aren’t in sync with mine. Not like Alex’s were.

Knowing that I need to get my mind somewhere else, I dance with Lucas, hoping that feeling him against me will bring my thoughts to him.

“You look so sexy when you dance,” he whispers in my ear.

I feel myself leaning into him as we both dance to the sound of Alex’s voice, but as soon as the song finishes, I suddenly start to feel really anxious, as if I need to get away for a minute.