Promise Me Light (7 page)

A loud ringing filled my ears, waking me. I pulled a
pillow over my head and tried to block out the noise but it wouldn’t
stop. Letting out a frustrated groan, I threw the pillow across the
room, knocking a picture frame off of the wall.

I grabbed my cell phone from the bedside table. One a.m. One freaking
a.m.

Ryder’s face lit up the tiny screen, lighting the dark room. I
should have known who would be calling this time of night. Ugh!

“Hello?” I answered groggily.

“You awake?” a deep, baritone voice asked.

“Uh, no. It’s one in the morning, Ryder. Where are you?”

“Party. Somewhere down south.”

His voice sounded…crap, he was drunk.

“Where exactly is somewhere down south?” I asked, sighing. I knew
where this conversation was heading.

“Oh, about an hour from you. Hey, gorgeous,” his voice faded away
and I could hear a girl talking somewhere in the background.

I rolled my eyes and waited for him to get back on the phone.

“Sorry, Maddie. Saw a friend.”

“Yeah, I bet you did. So what do you want? No, don’t tell me. You
want a ride home.”

“You know me too well. Can you come get me? Please?”

I ran a hand over my face, pushing my dark hair away from my eyes in
the process. I couldn’t believe I was going to do this. Again.

“Text me the address,” I said with a sigh, giving in like I
always did.

“You leaving now?”

“Yep.”

“Tell me you’ll drive safe.”

I ground my teeth, frustrated. If he didn’t drink so much, maybe he
wouldn’t have to worry about my driving. But I didn’t say anything.
I knew that argument was useless. I had tried it before.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I said.

An hour later I parked in front of a large, beautiful house. It sat
off the main road, surrounded by acres of farmland, looking very out of
place in the country.

Turning off the ignition, I glanced out the windshield. I could hear
loud music from inside the house, a deep bass that matched the beat of
my pulse.

I texted Ryder to let him know that I was here. Then I waited. No
answer. I texted him again. No answer.

The night just went from bad to worse. I had planned to wait in the
truck for him. Now I would have to go inside.

I opened the truck door and climbed out. I wasn’t dressed for a
party – I’d thrown a cardigan on over the shorts and tank top I’d
been sleeping in. My hair was a mess and my face was scrubbed free of
all makeup. But my dollar store flip-flops and Walmart clothing would
just have to do. It wasn’t a fashion show. It was a drunk rescue.

I slammed the truck door too hard and headed for the house, silently
cursing myself for having friends that always needed bailing out of
trouble.

Opening the front door, screaming music blasted me. So did the smell
of alcohol. As far as I could see, there were people. Twenty or thirty
high school or college kids were crammed into what I assumed was a
living room. It might have been fancy at one time but now it just looked
trashed.

I scanned the faces around me. No sign of Ryder. Sighing with
disappointment, I pushed through the crowd, heading further into the
house. I held my phone tightly in my fist the whole time. It was my
lifeline to him. My security blanket in a room full of strangers.

“Hey, who are you?” someone called out over the music.

I glanced over my shoulder, ready to ask the person if they knew
Ryder but I froze instead. Feet away from me stood Nathan Phillips. The
Nathan Phillips. The hottest guy in high school, aside from Ryder. Two
grades ahead of me, Nathan had always seemed untouchable by us lower
classmen. He dated only cheerleaders and was known for his outrageous
parties and unruly raves, events that only the most popular, coolest
kids in school were invited to. Needless to say, I was never invited to
any of them.

But that was a year ago. We were out of high school now. All that
drama didn’t matter anymore. Did it?

I watched, speechless, as Nathan pushed through the crowd. He stopped
right in front of me. Wow. He looked even better up close. His blonde
hair was perfectly arranged and his green eyes gleamed down at me,
smiling. He waited on my answer patiently as the crowd moved around
us.

I cleared my throat and tried not to appear nervous. “I’m Maddie
and I’m looking for Ryder Delaney,” I yelled over the music.

His eyebrows shot up with surprise. “Ryder?”

“Yeah, he called me for a ride.”

Nathan grinned like I had just told the best joke ever.

“I think Ryder’s getting a ride now,” he said, smirking.

I drew my eyebrows together. What did he mean? If Ryder found another
ride home and I drove all this way…I would kill him. I swear I would
kill him with my bare hands.

Nathan laughed when he saw the expression on my face. It took me a
full minute to realize what he meant. Ryder was with a woman.
Shiiiiiiit.

I shouldn’t care or be surprised. Ryder bagged any girl around.
Blonde, brunette, redhead. It didn’t matter. But for some reason it
had begun to hurt. Pressure squeezed my heart, making it difficult to
breathe. I glanced around the room, feeling like a fool. I wondered if
everyone here could see how pitiful I felt, waiting for a man when he
was with another woman.

“Come on. This is my party. You can hang out until he comes
down,” Nathan said, motioning for me to follow him.

I hesitated. Nathan seemed nice but I didn’t know anyone else here
and this wasn’t my typical crowd. But I guess if I had to wait for
Ryder, I could at least hang out with someone I had ogled over from a
distance.

Nathan led me through the crowded house to a set of double doors that
were opened to the outside. Stepping over the threshold, I tried not to
let my mouth hang open in awe at the beautiful scene laid out in front
of me.

A wooden deck overlooked a sparkling swimming pool. Tiki torches were
placed strategically around the pool, the light making the water shimmer
like diamonds. Small groups of people stood around, laughing and having
a good time.

Nathan led me over to a small cabana hut where a bar was set up. The
guy had a cabana in his backyard. Yeah, I was out of my league here.

“Want anything?” Nathan asked, motioning to the half-empty
bottles sitting on the counter.

“No, thank you,” I said, watching as two girls walked by. Each
had long blonde hair and perfect tans. They glanced over at me, their
eyes running up and down my body before turning their noses up and
walking away.

Feeling a blush crawl up my neck, I checked my phone again. There was
still no answer from Ryder. Great.

“So how do you know Ryder?” Nathan asked, leaning on the
cabana’s counter.

“We’re neighbors. And friends.”

When a large, muscular guy reached around me for a bottle of vodka, I
had no choice but to move closer to Nathan, touching my shoulder to his
side. Touching Nathan Phillips would have been epic if I was still a
high school freshman.

“Friends? Really?” he asked, not hiding his disbelief.

I pushed my straight hair behind my ear and blushed again. I hated
when people seemed surprised that Ryder and I were friends. Like I
wasn’t good enough to hang out with him or something.

“I’m sorry if that sounded bad, it’s just that I didn’t think
Ryder could be friends with a girl,” Nathan said, shrugging.
“You’re not his type.”

“Guess I’m special,” I mumbled, typing another text.

Where r u, Ryder?

“Did you go to school with us?” Nathan asked, leaning closer to
me.

“I was two years behind you. Class of 09,” I answered, staring at
my phone and praying for a response.

“You’re young.”

“Hmmm,” I mumbled, glancing up from my phone when a shout came
from across the yard. A man and a woman were chasing each other, running
in a zigzag line and laughing.

My eyes caught on the two blondes walking our way again. Their short
skirts swooshed, showing off their long legs. The flames of the tiki
torches made their hair shine perfectly, making me a tiny bit
jealous.

Stopping in front of us, two sets of eyes looked me up and down with
something close to disgust.

“Hey, Nathan. Who’s your friend?” one of the girls asked in a
high-pitched, shrill voice.

Nathan didn’t move. He simply stared at her, annoyed. “She’s
Ryder’s friend. Why?”

One of the girls giggled, pushing her hair back with perfectly
manicured fingernails.

“Ryder doesn’t have friends. Just fuck buddies. I should know,”
blonde number one said smugly, looking me up and down. Her long
eyelashes missed nothing, including my cheap clothing. “Where did he
find her? Gas station parking lot?”

“Shut up, Julia,” Nathan warned.

Julia stuck her chin out, trying to appear hurt. “I don’t think
you’re in the right place, Ryder’s friend,” she said, glancing
down at my cheap flip-flops.

“You’re higher than a kite, Julia. Back off,” Nathan said
through gritted teeth.

Julia just smiled sweetly at him. But I had a feeling she didn’t
know what the word sweet meant.

“Come on, Michele,” she said, grabbing her friend’s hand.
“The air out here is making me sick.”

I watched as they walked away, glad to see them leave.

“Ignore her. She’s a bitch,” Nathan said, leaning over the
counter to open a small fridge. A second later, he had a beer in his
hand, the confrontation with the girls obviously forgotten.

I stuck my phone in my pocket, suddenly feeling very insecure. The
girl was right. I didn’t belong here. Drinking, sex, probably drugs. I
didn’t do this. I didn’t go to these kinds of parties and I didn’t
hang out with these kinds of people. I needed to get out of here.
Fast.

Nathan leaned down, his head almost level with mine. “She’s just
jealous because she’s been trying to get Ryder all to herself for
weeks. You’re beautiful and a threat.” He paused, the beer bottle
almost to his lips. “No, I take that back - you’re gorgeous.”

I shifted to my other foot, nervous under his scrutiny. He was
standing too close. Or was I standing too close to him? Either way, I
needed to get away.

“So I’ll just go get Ryder,” I said uncomfortably, walking
away. I was a few feet from him when he touched my arm.

“Wait…”

I easily slipped away from him and kept going, ignoring him as he
told me to stop.

Leaving the mucky, humid air behind, I stepped into the house and
pushed my way through the crowd. Music surrounded around me, making my
head pound with the beat. In the short time I had been outside, the
crowd in the house had tripled, filling every available space. Eva would
be so jealous that I was at Nathan Phillip’s party. She would kill me
for not waking her up and letting her tag along.

I was almost through the crowd when Nathan called out for me to stop.
I kept going, avoiding the drunks around me. I pushed my way into the
foyer. A guy and giggling girl caught my attention. They were heading up
a flight of stairs. The guy’s hands were all over the girl,
practically up her skirt. Immediately, I knew where I would find Ryder.
Pushing past a group of people, I hurried up the carpeted stairway.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nathan following.

“I don’t think you should bother him right now,” he shouted
over the music, trailing behind me.

“Thank you for your help but I can handle him,” I said, stopping
at the top of the landing and looking around.

The house was massive. People milled everywhere. The scene upstairs
was more subdued than downstairs but just as crowded. Rooms spanned
either side of the hallway. Most of the doors were closed but one or two
stood open. Any other time, I would have paused to take in the beautiful
artwork on the walls or the bronze statues displayed in
alcoves, but right now I just wanted to find Ryder and leave.

“Look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said you were beautiful. I
was wrong,” Nathan apologized as I went to the first closed door

I laughed lightly but it held no humor.

“No wait, that came out wrong. You are beautiful,” he said,
sounding nervous. “I just shouldn’t have said anything.”

“You better stop while you’re ahead,” I said, knocking on the
closed door in front of me.

“He’s not in there,” Nathan said, leaning against the wall.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “So where is he?”

He glanced down my legs, stopping on my flip-flops. I resisted the
urge to curl my unpainted toes from his view. When his eyes met mine
again, I saw pity. Shit.

“He’s in there,” he said, nodding his head across the
hallway.

Giving him a look of frustration, I whipped around. My long hair flew
over my shoulder, landing against my chest. I left it there, not really
caring if it was a mess and in need of a comb.

Moving past a couple slipping their tongues down each other’s
throats, I maneuvered my way to the closed door. I lifted my hand to
knock. That’s when I heard them.

“Ohhhh, Ryder,” a woman’s voice cried out from inside the
room.

“Do you like that?” a deep voice asked.

A blush slowly crawled up my neck and into my face. I knew what Ryder
was doing when Nathan said he was ‘getting a ride’ but to actually
hear it was…shocking. It made me squirm and feel things I shouldn’t
feel. Like jealousy.

Part of me was curious though. I’d heard the rumors. I knew what
the girls were saying about his…abilities. Just because he was my best
friend didn’t mean I wasn’t blind to the way he looked or what all
the girls saw in him.

As the sounds of heavy breathing increased from inside the room, I
cleared my throat and stiffened my spine. I didn’t care what he was
doing. I just wanted to go home. I wasn’t a little kid anymore. I knew
what went on between two consenting adults. I just didn’t want to know
what went on between Ryder and another woman.