Cursed Hearts (A Crossroads Novel) (34 page)

“No,”
they answered.

“Do you want to dance?” Shawn asked, turning back to Aria
and ignoring Dallas for the time being.

“She
doesn’t dance,” Dallas said. “She has… hip problems.”

“Dallas!”
she exclaimed. “I do not.”

“Well
you’re going to if I tell your dad. He’ll break both your hips and you’ll never
be able to dance with another boy again,” he laughed.

“The
threats are getting old,” she said somberly.

“You
know I’m playing.”

“I’m
not. Cut it out.”

Aria turned away from them as they started bickering
again. She didn’t really want to stand around and listen to them argue. She stared
down at the
sand,
kicking it gently as she wandered off along the beach. Rome’s voice drifted
over the crowd as heavy rock pulsed through the air. It was drastically
different from what he’d sung this morning. A pair of legs came into view and
she stopped in her tracks, eyes snapping up to find Christian staring back at
her.

“Can
we talk?” he asked. She walked past him wordlessly and he turned to follow,
weaving after her through the crowd. “Aria, come on. Let me explain.”

“Explain?” she said, shaking her head. “You open your
mouth
and lies
come out. I don’t need you to explain anything. I
understand perfectly now.”

“I
deserve that.” Christian was scrambling to figure out what he was even going to
say. He’d thrown back a few beers already, and although he wasn’t as inebriated
as he thought he should have been, it wasn’t helping any. “Aria, I just want
you to know that it wasn’t me. I didn’t spread this shit around. I’ve actually
been telling people it didn’t happen.”

“But you told someone,” she said, whirling around to face
him. “You slept with me and then you just left and you told someone about what
we
did—about
everything we did. That’s supposed to be personal. It’s supposed to mean
something. Or at least I thought it was. Apparently I was just disillusioned.”

“It
did mean something.”

“Yeah, fifty points!” Adam hollered, holding his hand up
and
waiting
for Christian to give him some skin.
He twiddled his fingers in the air.

“Adam,”
Christian said sharply.

“You’re
right,” Adam grinned. “It should really be more like a hundred points since you
banged her twice and got a little BJ action.”

Christian shoved Adam furiously, watching as he stumbled
over some
cups and
fell on his ass in the sand.

Adam
was laughing and checking his beer.

“Dude,
I didn’t even spill! Cat-like reflexes.”

“I’m
going to drown you in a keg,” Christian growled.

“What a way to go,” Adam laughed. “Dude, come on,” he
said, popping up off the ground. “I spiked the drinks with a little
something
special.”
He pulled a small vial of red liquid out of his pocket, shaking it in
front of Christian’s face. “It’s a magical aphrodisiac. I call it… liquid sex.
Now, go find
yourself a
sweet piece and drown
her
in a keg. You can thank me later.”

“You
couldn’t have told me that before I started drinking?”

“Hey,
so you’ll be a little hornier than usual. Who cares? Enjoy it.”

“I
don’t feel horny, I feel fucking needy,” Christian snapped.

“Is
there a difference?”

Christian placed a hand over Adam’s face and shoved him
backwards.
“Stay away from me right now,” he muttered. By the time
he turned around, Aria was long gone. For Christian, the first party of the
year was turning out to be a complete drag. People were drinking, girls were
loose, and magic was literally in the air. And yet the only thing he felt like doing
was digging himself a hole in the sand.

Chapter 31

Fireworks
flared across the night sky, bursting with vibrant color.
They were made of pure magic, and people were
shooting them out of their hands in various shapes. Rome watched a fierce
dragon coil through the
clouds
as
they ended their set. It was probably the coolest thing he’d ever seen.
Jason
and Matt flipped the loud music back on
before following him off stage.

“Someone has to teach me how to do that,” he said, looking
up at the fireworks. “Seriously, this magic stuff is starting to grow on me.”

“Stick
with us,” Matt said, “and we’ll teach you more than that.”

“Fuck
yes,” Jason added. “That was the shit. You are officially our new
best friend
. You were shredding that guitar
like a pro.”

“Thanks,”
Rome laughed.

“Do
you want to go smoke a bowl with us?” Matt asked.

“Uh, no thanks,” he said, searching the crowd for Aria. He
spotted Dallas and made his way over, figuring she had to be nearby.

“Where is she?” he asked.

“Who?”
Dallas said distractedly. He was watching some girls
dancing
in the sand in skimpy bikinis.

“Who
else? Ariahna... I thought you were watching her?”

“Shit,”
Dallas said. “I forgot about that.”

“You
forgot?”

“This
is not my fault. He asked her to dance and she ran away,” he said, pointing at
Shawn. Shawn looked like he was about to argue that fact when they both noticed
Rome doing something strange. He was lifting
his
nose to the air and breathing deeply.

“Are you already high?” Matt asked, scratching at his
sandy blonde hair. Jason bit his lip, snickering at the comment.

Rome
trudged away from the party and into the trees as the small group shadowed him.
He could hear talking and laughing coming from close by, and he followed it
along with Ariahna’s unique scent to a small clearing nestled in the woods. She
was sitting on the forest floor between Jesse and Scarlet. They were seated in
a circle with several other girls.

“Alright, so the game is Flip, Sip or Strip,” Jesse grinned,
holding a bottle of hard liquor in one hand and a shot glass in the other.

“We’re
not getting naked,” Eliza said.

“Speak
for yourself,” one of the girls laughed.

Rome sauntered over to the circle and Jason hung back, mumbling
to Matt. “How did he do that?” he asked.

Matt
shrugged.

“Scoot
over,” Rome said, staring down at Jesse.

Jesse
shook his head. “Sorry, we’ve reached our quota for men.”

“You
can sit here,” a flirtatious brunette said, pulling Rome down beside her. “My
name’s Brooke. This is Tabitha,” she said, gesturing to the blonde sitting on
the other side of him. “Oh, and this is Amber.”

“I
don’t know you hoes,” Amber grumbled. “Don’t talk to me.”

Rome
locked eyes with her as the two girls started to hang all over him. He would
have been uncomfortable, if he wasn’t so distracted by Amber’s presence. The
look that passed between them was a shared thought, spoken without words.

I
know what you are
.

Amber
was a werewolf, he could feel it. But somehow he knew that unlike him, unlike
Christian, she was not an alpha. They turned at almost the same time to look
curiously at Ariahna. She didn’t smell like Amber, she didn’t smell like him or
Christian either; and yet he could sense something wild inside of her, something
strong, and exotic. Amber had to have felt the same thing. He could see it in
her eyes.

Ariahna
looked oblivious.

“How
about we play spin the bottle?” Dallas suggested, settling into the circle with
everyone else. He conjured an empty bottle and slapped it down on the grass in
front of them. “Ladies first,” he said, gesturing to Shawn. Shawn squinted at
him mockingly before spinning the bottle.

Rome
watched as it landed on him. His eyebrows twitched as he glanced up, his face
devoid of amusement. “Yeah, that ain’t
happening.”

“Seconded,”
Shawn said.

“If you’re not going to pucker up, you
gotta take a
shot
,” Jesse
declared.

“Both
of us, or just him since he landed on me?” Rome asked. “I think by now everyone
should know I have issues with alcohol.”

“You
don’t have to,” Dallas said. “We’re not going to make you. Just go ahead and
spin.”

“Thanks,”
he mumbled, leaning over to take his turn. It wasn’t until the bottle was
spinning in the grass that he realized he was going to have to kiss someone.
He’d just been so relieved that they weren’t going to pressure him into
drinking that he’d completely forgotten the object of the game. It landed on
Eliza and Rome had a mini heart attack.

“I
knew you’d come around, blue eyes.”

Rome
watched her walk across the circle as he wiped his palms against his jeans. He
glanced over at Aria as Eliza knelt in front of him. Ariahna looked away,
staring into the trees. He licked his lips, leaning forward as Eliza smiled at
him patiently.

“Just
do it already,” Jason shouted.

“Don’t
rush me.”

“You
can’t rush perfection,” Eliza said.

Rome gulped as she closed her eyes, cupping the side of
her face and pressing his lips timidly to hers. He’d intended to leave it
chaste, but Eliza managed to slip him a little tongue while they were locked at
the mouth. His heart was thundering in his chest the entire time.

Somehow
he felt like he was cheating on Aria.

“Looks
don’t lie, you’re a good kisser,” Eliza complimented.

Rome was completely red in the face, and he coughed to
try and
clear
his throat. Ariahna still wasn’t
looking at them. “I think it’s your turn,” he
said.
Eliza took her seat and spun the bottle, laughing when it landed on
Amber.

“Girl
action,” Jesse said. “Now it’s getting interesting.”

“We’re
friends, that would be weird,” Amber said.

“She’s
right,” Eliza agreed. “Pass me the shot.”

Rome
saw Jesse making a disappointed face right before he suddenly caught Kaleb’s
scent in the air. His eyes scanned the tree line. “I’ll be right back,” he
muttered. He wandered into the trees, peering into the darkness.

“Kaleb?
Where are you? Why don’t you come join us?”

Kaleb
stepped out from behind a tree, stalking slowly towards him. “I don’t play well
with others,” he said. “You should get back to your friends.”

Rome
sighed, his breath weighted with guilt.
“Is
this about what
happened earlier? Because
I’m sorry. I freaked out, and I didn’t mean to upset you.” He could tell his
words were only making the situation worse. “What do
you want from me?
Do you need to hear that I liked it? That you confuse me? That I don’t know how
I’m supposed to feel about you?”

“I’ve
already made it clear what I want.”

“Come
hang out with us.
Just have some fun.
You don’t have to hide out here in the trees. You might find you have more in
common with them than you think. Hell, they might stop being so afraid of you.”

“It doesn’t bother me if they’re scared.
They should be
. I
could kill all
of them without batting an eyelash, and I like it that way. We’re
nothing
alike.”

“Keep
telling yourself that.”

Kaleb
pressed his back against the rough bark of a tree.

“Do
I need to bribe you like a child?” Rome asked.

“It
would be a good place to start.”

He
exhaled heavily. “If you’re not laughing and having fun by
the end
of the night, you can bite me as
hard and as often as you like.”

Kaleb
stood up straight, pushing away from the tree.

He’d
definitely caught his interest.

“Don’t talk sex to me,” Kaleb said, watching Rome shiver.
“Biting, for a vampire, is nothing less than foreplay. That’s why so often our
food and our playthings are one and the same.” He traced a long, thin finger
over the pulse in Rome’s neck. “You’re the only donor I’ve had that I haven’t
fucked. If
you really want to get me interested,” he whispered, “promise
that you’ll
bite
me
.”

The
two of them melted back out of the trees and into the small gathering.
Christian was standing at the edge of the circle, and Rome nearly growled when
he saw him. Kaleb’s hand on his shoulder stopped him from acting. Dallas looked
like he might do it for him, though.

“Sorry,”
Dallas said, “no douchebags allowed.”

“But
Shawn’s here,” Christian smiled.

Dallas’s
face warmed with amusement. He knew just how to get on his good side. “You
little shit,” he said. “I don’t think I can stay mad at you.”

“Yeah, I know.”
Christian took a seat between Jason and Shawn, who was
staring at him in barely concealed annoyance. “Hey Shawn.”

“Whose
turn is it?” Rome asked angrily.

“Aria’s,”
Dallas said.

She spun the bottle, and it stopped on Christian.

“I’ll
take the shot,” she choked out.

“Or
you can just kiss me again,” Jason offered happily.

“I’ll
pass on that one, too.”

Jason
gaped at her. “You’d pass up these?” he said, pointing to his puckered lips.
“You know you want some.”

Aria’s
eyes flicked over Jason as she smiled at him disinterestedly. He had a square
jaw, a short haircut, and a tattooed J on his thick neck. He looked like a
bully, and he kind of was. His kind brown eyes were the only thing about his
appearance that didn’t seem to fit him. From what she’d seen, he seemed most in
his element when intimidating others. That was perhaps what made him most
unattractive, in her opinion. “You have a case of overconfidence,” she said. “You
should get that looked at.”

Jason
was pouting. Matt seemed amused.

“He’s
a bad kisser, isn’t he?” Jesse stage-whispered.

“Don’t
make me kiss you,” Jason threatened.

“Don’t,” Jesse said, jabbing the liquor bottle fearfully
in his direction.

Christian
huffed in aggravation, leaning forward to take his turn as the rest of the
group dissolved into laughter and chatter. The bottle whipped around in quick,
repetitive circles, and he was starting to think he’d spun it a little too hard
when it finally started to slow. His heart jumped up into his
throat as it swung towards Aria. He actually
thought it was going to stop on her and he was going to be turned down again
when it drifted just passed her,
landing on Scarlet. Christian crawled
across the gap, ignoring how close he was to Aria as Scarlet pressed a peck to
his chin. That was all she was going to give him, he realized, and before he
could shuffle back to his seat, she shoved him away.

“I
wasted good lipstick on you,” she muttered.

Christian
rubbed the red mark off of his skin, trying not to scowl.

“My
turn,” Scarlet said excitedly, giving the bottle a whirl. She’d spun it pretty
weakly, and it barely twisted all the way around before
sliding
by her. “Aria,” she grinned. “Red would be a good color on
you.”

Ariahna
rolled her eyes, trying not to smile. “Just take the shot.”

“All
you girls are so unadventurous,” Matt challenged.

“Is
that so?” Scarlet replied. “I’ll do it. I’m not afraid of a little lip-gloss.”
Scarlet turned and pressed her luscious lips over Ariahna’s own soft pink ones,
silencing the protest that had been about to tumble out of her mouth. It was a
gentle kiss, meek and innocent. It should have only lasted a second, but the
allure of that innocent kiss took Scarlet by surprise.