"What?" I asked, reaching for my favorite coffee mug in the drying rack.

"Rough night?" She giggled, while tapping her red manicured nails on the old laminate table.

"I'm sure I should be asking you that. I'm not the one with a hangover and I slept just fine, thank you." I blew at the steam billowing over the top of my coffee mug.

"Are you sure about that? Because when I came home earlier this morning, there was quite the mess in the kitchen," the corner of her mouth quirked up, into an almost evil grin. I was in such a state after I closed the door in Levi's face last night; I'd forgotten to clean up my mess in the kitchen. Shit!

"Wait just a minute!" I slapped my palm down on the counter. "You wicked bitch! You hid all the double A batteries, didn’t you?" It was all perfectly clear to me now. My friend was evil. She laughed hysterically, while I couldn't help but glower at her.

"Oh. My. God! When Levi found Marcus and me on the patio, he asked if I knew where my friend was. I told him that you went home sick. He seemed genuinely worried, so when he asked for the address, I gave it to him. I thought, "BAM!" Peyton will be getting laid tonight! What the hell, is wrong with you? You probably crushed his ego."

"I kind of doubt that, besides, I'm pretty sure there were plenty of girls waiting in line to stroke said ego, so no worries there." I walked across the room and poured myself another cup of coffee. "So, tell me what happened with you and that Marcus guy? Did you get some last night?" I asked, quirking a knowing brow.

"Lucky doesn't even do it justice. That man was hung, fucked like a stallion, and he wants to see me again tonight! Hell, I'm surprised I can even sit down today." She winced a little as she shifted in her chair.

"That's a little TMI, Jules. What are you two doing tonight besides the obvious?"

"There's a small party at his house on the East side. He asked me to come and said to bring a plus one." A smirk graced her lips.

"Plus one?" I inquired, pointing at myself. She rolled her eyes at me as if I'd just asked the dumbest question ever and nodded, with the world's biggest smile plastered across her face.

"I don't think so, Jules. I don't think . . ."

"What? Do you have better things to do? You're afraid of having a little fun?"

"That's not it and you know it. I saw the look in Marcus' eyes last night. He looked messed up on something. You know I'm not comfortable in an environment like that. I might've had to grow up in it, but that doesn't mean that I have to be a part of it now." Jules took a step in my direction and looked at me with understanding in her eyes.

"I know sweetie. I'm sorry, I didn't even think about that. If you don't want to go, that's okay. I totally understand. I honestly didn't see Marcus or anyone around us, do anything but drink last night. If I had, I wouldn't have stayed." She looked down at the floor, and then up to me. She'd clearly made a decision. "I'm not going either. We'll go to a movie or . . ."

"Stop." I held up my hand in front of her face and she stopped talking. "I'll go, just promise me that if things start to get heavy, we're out of there. Both of us!" I stressed the last part just to be sure she understood. Who was I to stand in the way of my friend’s happiness? However, if something happened to my friend, I'd never forgive myself. At the same time, maybe she was right and I did need to get out a little, to be a little more trusting of people. Just because Teake did drugs and screwed around on me, didn't mean they were all like that.

"You're really going to go?" She grinned and bounced up on her toes. "I promise you won't be sorry. We'll stick together and you'll see, it'll be so much fun!" She wrapped her arms around my neck, causing me to stumble a step back. We both laughed at her excitement.

"Sorry." She stuck her bottom lip out in an attempt to look apologetic, but it didn't work. I couldn't help but laugh again.

It was a thirty-minute cab ride to get to Marcus Little's house on the East side. The house was built on the beach and looked like a small city. I'd never seen anything like it. Our cab stopped at the gate, pressed the intercom button, and waited a couple of minutes for someone to answer and let us in.

We drove for what seemed like another mile at least through the immaculate kept grounds until we came to the front of the house. It was a multi-story, white stone mansion, which was lit up like the department stores on Christmas. The trees and landscaping even had tiny, white lights scattered throughout. This was how rock stars lived. Wow.

We paid the driver and walked up the stone pathway to the double glass doors at the front of the house. We could see people walking about through the beveled glass in the doors and loud music poured from the house. I lifted my hand to knock, but Jules pushed the door open and took a step inside.

"What are you doing? We can't just walk into someone's house without at least knocking," I told her over the loud music.

"We were invited and besides, no one would ever hear us over the music anyway. Come on." She grabbed my hand and pulled me through the entry hall where several people were gathered, but none of them even seemed to notice us.

"You made it!" Marcus came out of nowhere and buried his nose in Jules neck, causing her to giggle. He lifted his head and kissed her on the lips before noticing that Jules was still holding my hand. "Hi, I'm Marcus and you must be Peyton." He offered his hand for me to shake. It didn't escape me that he'd just seen me with Jules last night at the after party. He must have been truly messed up.

"That's me." I smiled and took his hand.

"Jules has told me a lot about you. I'm glad you could make it. Why don't we grab a drink and go out back to the patio?" He crossed the room with us in tow, grabbed three bottles of Bud Light, and handed two of them to us. We once again followed his lead through big open doors and onto a covered patio that overlooked a massive guitar-shaped pool. Marcus dropped down into an overstuffed gray chair next to the fireplace while I took a seat on the sofa across from them.

People walked all around us, half-dressed, drinks in hand. Some were even wearing swimsuits and had been in the pool. I guess that's why there was a massive fireplace on the patio. Nights in LA could get cool at times. It made me wonder if the pool was heated.

"I see someone I need to speak to." Marcus shifted, so that Jules slid off his lap and onto the chair. "Be right back," he said, kissing her forehead. Jules looked up at me with a big grin on her face. Seeing her smile made it worth coming, even though I felt like a third-wheel—one with a flat, at that.

"I'm going to find a restroom. Want to come with?"

"Nah . . . I think I'll stay here," I said. I leaned forward and sat my beer on the glass table in front of me.

"Okay. Suit yourself. I'll be right back." I watched her disappear through the crowd and into the massive house.

Levi

I parked my midnight-black Camaro behind a long line of expensive sports cars in front of Marcus' house. I shook my head as I walked toward the multi-story mansion. I'd never been one for all the flashy stuff. Shit. My dad was a cop until he was taken from us, and after that, my mom worked as a receptionist at a local medical office to make ends meet. It helped that my dad had good benefits, but we still lived on the lower end of a middle-class lifestyle.