One Night

Chapter 38

Audrey

I shook Betty’s hand gratefully, giving her a warm smile. “Thanks for that. I can’t believe he had the nerve to show his face here after what he did to me.”

Betty waved a dismissive hand in response. “Please, I’ve been waiting for a chance to put that pig in his place for ages.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s gotten far too comfortable cruising around and stirring up drama for far too long.”

As the party thrummed back to life around us, people resuming their conversations. and the music turning up once more, Betty leaned in closer to me, Tina, and Avis. “Can you believe he actually tried to pull that whole ‘I love you’ c**p on me a while back, too?” she whispered, wiggling her eyebrows at us.

My eyes widened. “No way. He said that to you, too?”

She nodded, pursing her lips. “Yeah. We dated for a little while last semester, and I didn’t want to have sex yet. Finally, he went on this whole spiel about how he loved me, how much he adored having me around, blah blah blah…”

She paused, a grimace shadowing her pretty face. “Finally, I fell for it and I slept with him. We had one mediocre night of drunken sex, and he was gone by the time I woke up in the morning. The next thing I knew, he had ghosted me. Completely.”

My eyes widened into saucers. “He ghosted you?” Avis echoed. “After sleeping together?

Betty nodded and shuddered at the same time. “He blocked me on everything, told all of his friends to ignore me, and even went so far as to switch a class just to get away from me. I finally tracked him down and confronted him about it. It took me weeks just to corner him in the campus center.”

“And?” Tina breathed, leaning in closer. “Did he admit to being a jacka**”

“Are you kidding?” Betty laughed bitterly. “Of course not. No, he tried to make it seem like he was doing me some big favor by even sleeping with me at all. Since, you know… I’m only half-werewolf.

The realization hit me like a ton of bricks as soon as she said those words. “And I’m human,” I muttered, rubbing my chin. Betty shot me a knowing le

having to say it.

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Chapter 38

Of course… Of course Max would get off on treating ‘lesser’ girls like conquests to be used and discarded. Girls like us. Half-human, or in my case, full human.

The thought made my lip curl up in disgust.

Betty didn’t seem bothered though. Glancing around at the crowd with a sigh, she said, “Anyway, forget about him. His loss, right? And let me tell you something, Audrey…” She leaned in closer, a mischievous smirk crossing her features. “He’s not even big. Well below average, actually.”

I blinked, stunned, as Avis and Tina dissolved into fits of laughter.

“That’s good to know,” I finally chuckled, feeling like I dodged a bullet.

With that, Betty offered us one last grin and slipped back into the crowd. Tina, Avis and I made our way over to the bar for a refill of our drinks, slightly stumbling already as we

went.

“I like her,” Avis said wistfully, pushing a blonde curl out of her eyes. “She’s so cool.”

“il say. Tina grabbed our cups and filled them beneath the s**t containing some unappetizing mixture of different alcohols and juices-something to get people drunk and not much else. “Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have someone like that on our

team.”

I nodded absentmindedly, twirling a strand of hair around my finger as I gazed off in the direction Betty had disappeared. “Yeah,” I said. “Maybe it wouldn’t…”

The party passed by in a blur, drinks flowing and bodies moving. My friends and I danced to the music, clinking our cups together and sloshing punch onto our shoes. We joined in on games of beer pong, chatted with students who we had never even seen before, and Tina even got a guy’s number.

At one point, having to use the bathroom and take a breather, I slipped away from the crowd and made my way inside-where an entirely different party seemed to be taking place. Smoothing down the front of my rumpled skirt, I sidestepped around couples making out in dimly lit hallways, waved pot smoke out of my face with a cough, and stepped over empty plastic cups strewn about the floor.

Finally finding an empty hallway where the bathroom was, I leaned against the wall and breathed deeply as I waited for the bathroom to become available. And that was when I

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Chapury 15

saw him.

“Gavin,” I said, pushing away from the wall when I saw that familiar, tall form of hist headed my way. “We’ve been looking for you all night.”

He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair st**g slightly as he approached. “Sorry, I got caught up in some drinking games in here. But I swear I was planning on joining you three.”

I shrugged and shot him a grin, waving my hand dismissively. “It’s alright.”

“You seem to be enjoying the party,” he said, reaching out to pinch a piece of glitter off of my chest.

Heat rushed to my cheeks at the sensation of his fingers on my skin. I swallowed, staring down at my feet. “So do you, Gavin.”

He chuckled at that and shrugged, sipping his drink. There was a silence between us, and at that moment, Gavin’s eyes roamed over my outfit. I suddenly felt incredibly aware of every inch of exposed skin, every curve hugged by the tight fabric.

And his gaze was unabashed.

“I heard that Max tried to start some sh**t with you earlier,” he suddenly said, jutting his chin in the direction of the backyard. When nodded, he snorted derisively. “What a loser. He doesn’t know what he’s ruining for himself.”

Those words, coupled with the way his stare was darkening by the second, made my knees go suddenly weak. Gavin took a step closer, close enough that I could smell the alcohol on his breath mingling with his cologne. I leaned back against the wall and tilted my chin up to look at him.

He was drunk. And I smelled weed on his flannel, thick and woodsy and intoxicating.

“You look incredible tonight, Audrey,” he murmured huskily. His free hand came up, his fingertips grazing the line of my jaw as he tipped my chin up to meet his eyes.

My heart pounded almost painfully in my chest as Gavin leaned in even closer, his lips hardly even an inch away from mine. I could feel the heat radiating off his body, could see every fleck of gold in his dark eyes.

Part of me wanted nothing more than to surge forward and press my lips against his, let his hands wander my body-become just like one of the other drunken couples making

BA

16.11 Sat, Sep 14 B BB.