Stakeout (Aurora Sky (9 page)

He nodded. “I’m not going anywhere.”

I forced a smile. Obviously the universe was
conspiring against me this evening—that and the ghosts of high
school past. This was one Denali High reunion party I could have
done without. Things were so much simpler on my own.

The bathroom door was closed. I pounded on
it. “Hope,” I called. “Hope, are you in there?” There was no
answer. I tried the doorknob, but it wouldn’t budge. “Hope, open
up!”

The knob turned and clicked. I pushed my way
in, closing the door quickly behind me.

Hope stood shaking against the bathroom
counter, eyes bloodshot. Behind her I saw a line of cocaine on the
porcelain countertop. “What the hell are you doing? You know Marcus
doesn’t allow this shit at his place.”

Guests had been banned for less, no second
chances. I couldn’t let Hope ruin everything for me. I locked the
bathroom door and stormed over to the counter.

Hope sniffed. “You left me alone.”

“Hey,” I said, grabbing her roughly by the
shoulders. “Don’t blame this on me.” I shook her. Rage seeped over
my bones, and I shook her harder. Hope’s eyes widened in
surprise.

Hope’s lower lip quivered. She nodded ever so
slightly. I released her to swipe the white powder with one hand
into another right before dumping it into the toilet.

“What are you doing?” Hope cried.

I flushed the toilet. “Getting you out of
here before Marcus finds out what you’ve been up to.”

I yanked a line of toilet paper from the
roll, ripping it off and wadding it up. I wet the wad and swiped it
over the counter.

“Do you know how much that cost me?” Hope
asked.

“Do I look like I give a shit?” I returned.
“Come on,” I said, grabbing her by the arm once the place looked
cleaned up. Thankfully, we were near the front door. I popped my
head out of the bathroom and, seeing the coast was clear, dragged
Hope outside.

“What about Whitney?” Hope whined.

“I’ll text her from the car.” I hurried down
the shoveled walkway, unlocked the Volvo, and shoved Hope into the
backseat. Damn it. This wasn’t how I’d imagined the evening
going.

I pulled out my phone and texted Whitney. I
wasn’t ready to sit in the car with Hope just yet.

911. Meet me at the car.

I texted Gavin next.
Sorry.
Have to bail. Hope’s sick.

I glanced at the pitch-black sky over my
head. There weren’t any stars to be seen, which meant a wall of
clouds was crushing down over Anchorage. Fitting. I breathed the
frigid air in and out until I felt calm enough to get inside the
car.

Hope was shivering. I stuck my key inside the
ignition and turned on the heat.

“Thanks,” she said through quivering
lips.

I looked down to see if I’d heard from either
Gavin or Whitney. Gavin had texted back:
See you
at school.
I thought about replying, but decided to leave it
at that.

“Next time I’ll behave,” Hope said from the
backseat.

I gave a noncommittal shrug, knowing all the
while there’d be no next time for Hope. Not at the palace. I
wouldn’t risk being banned because of her or anyone else.

Despite the Valerie and Hope incident over the
weekend, I went to school Monday morning feeling buoyant.

Clive and his diabolical Bronco had not
appeared that weekend. Maybe he’d taken a hint when I gave him the
finger... yeah, and maybe the NRA would take up scrapbooking.

I had more important things on my mind.
Marcus’s Valentine’s party was at the end of the week. What better
time to hook up with Gavin for the first time? We’d come too close
for it not to happen, and I was counting down the hours until
lunch.

“Happy Monday,” Henry called out as I walked
up to their table in the cafeteria. The Black Widows had flocked
there once more, like vultures to a fresh corpse.

“Yeah,” I said. “Back to the grind.” I took
the empty seat beside Gavin, very aware of the proximity of our
legs. We might have been interrupted at Marcus’s party, but in my
dreams that night there’d been no intrusion, no Valerie, no friend
getting trashed in the bathroom, nothing but the firm mattress of
the October room to fall back onto.

It felt risqué thinking these things with
Gavin seated directly beside me.

He shot me a friendly smile. “How’s Hope
feeling?”

I suppressed a sigh. “Much better.”

“Had a few too many?” Henry asked.

“Something like that.”

The Black Widows exchanged looks. Wednesday
rested her elbows on the table and slouched forward. “Sounds like
some party.”

“You should check it out.” Henry said.
“Weekend after next.”

That’s right, vultures, this Friday’s
Valentine’s party was by invitation only. I loved it when Marcus
threw one of those into the mix, especially since I was on the
guest list.

I kept glancing at Gavin all through lunch.
It was hard to say anything about what almost happened when we were
surrounded by the corpse brides and Henry’s watchful gaze.

The next day, I was more than happy to find
Gavin and Henry at our lunch table minus the girls.

“Where are the vultures?” I asked, unable to
mask the smile from my lips as I set my lunch on the table.

Henry’s brows jumped as he grinned. “Now,
now, Noel. Play nice.”

“Sorry, it’s not in my nature,” I said for
Gavin’s benefit, hoping to remind him of our earlier word play over
the weekend. But Gavin seem preoccupied with his phone.

“I predict you’ll be BFFs by the end of the
semester,” Henry said.

“Want to bet on it?”

Henry leaned forward and grinned. “Sure. What
about you, Gavin? Want in on the wager?”

Gavin didn’t respond. He still had his eyes
glued to his phone.

Henry cleared his throat.

Gavin looked up. “Yeah, sure.” He looked over
my shoulder. I followed his gaze to Aurora making her way to our
table, paper lunch sack clutched at her side. Her long black hair
flowed over her blue sweater.

“Wow, is that Aurora Sky?” Gavin said as she
reached the table. “I almost forgot you go here.”

“Have a seat,” Henry said. “It’s good to see
you.”

“Thanks.” Aurora pulled a chair out beside
me. Gavin wasn’t the only one surprised to see her. I’d been trying
to get her to have lunch with us since she first transferred.

“You and Fane going to Marcus’s party
Friday?” Henry asked.

Aurora stared at Henry a moment before
dropping her gaze to the table. “I’m going.”

“But you and Fane are still together?” Gavin
asked, leaning onto the table.

Aurora glanced sideways at me. “Yeah,” she
said carefully.

To prevent vampires from biting her, Fane had
been kind enough to maintain the lie that he and Aurora were going
out.

“What are you wearing to the party?” I asked,
quickly jumping in. “Red or black?”

“Red,” Aurora answered. “What about you? I
presume you’re wearing black.”

Henry laughed. “I’d be willing to put money
on it.”

Great, another wager.

I straightened up. “Black’s my color.”

“And you look great in it,” Gavin said.

Heat flooded my insides. I felt like things
were constantly jumping from cold to hot with Gavin. I smiled in
thanks and turned back to Aurora. “Do you need a ride to the
party?”

“That would be great. Do you mind picking me
up in front of school? I told my mom I was going to the dance
Friday night.”

“No problem.”

Henry and Gavin stood up. “See you ladies
later.”

“See you,” I said, glancing briefly at Henry
before my eyes settled on Gavin. He shot me one last smile before
leaving the cafeteria.

Aurora looked from the guys to me. “I hope I
didn’t scare them away.” She bit into her sandwich, chewed,
swallowed, and asked, “What’s up with you and Gavin, anyway? Is he
ever going to ask you out, or are you friends with benefits?”

I rarely blushed, but I could feel color
creeping into my cheeks like a sudden rash. I didn’t want to be
discussing my personal life, not even with Aurora. So I gave her a
blasé answer right before I turned the tables.

“I wasn’t sure if I should tell you this, but
Whitney doesn’t think Fane’s with Valerie anymore.”

Aurora put her sandwich down. Yep, that did
the trick. Aurora scowled before saying, “Well, Whitney should get
her facts straight. She told me they were back together.”

“Because they were,” I said. “For a day.” And
now Valerie was trolling the waters at the palace.

It was unfortunate that Aurora had gotten
involved with a vampire, let alone one who’d been dating Valerie.
Talk about bad luck.

“He’s not worth it,” I said. “Trust me.
Neither of them are.”

“Is Gavin?” Aurora asked.

“The difference is I don’t let myself get
emotionally attached,” I said leaning back in my seat. I sounded so
sincere I almost believed myself.

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