Roll the Dice

seven. i'll know

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My nose felt stuffed, and sweat was dripping down the side of my face. As I unsteadily sat myself right on the beach, feeling the sand stick to my slick thighs, I giggled. I really wanted to lie down, probably because it would help with my nose, but I had a weird nagging thought in the back of my head that said it wasn't the greatest idea to get sand all over myself.

I gulped down the rest of the stuff in my cup. It tasted absolutely horrible – hard vodka with a hint of artificial cherry – but Cara did tell me that it was supposed to be good for me. Something about Dacey. And Dom.

Quickly, I whipped my elbows back into my lap. Dom and Dacey? That was nasty. Dacey knew that Dom was my crush. That bitch. Was that Dom with whom she was canoodling on the other side of the bonfire? I was going to show that stupid skank what stuff I was made of.

Then, Dacey's mystery companion turned his head. The light from the bonfire glinted off the golden highlights in his dark hair. I squinted to see through the flickering, dancing flames. Oh. That wasn't Dom. I should have known that. I always knew that. Dom's hair was so dreamy and dark and wavy and – dear God.

Dacey was with my brother.

I gagged, vaguely tasting the acidic, burning contents of my stomach in the back of my throat. With difficulty, I swallowed dryly. God, I really needed to throw up, but something told me that wouldn't be a good idea.

Something about my vomit being toxic. Or was it because it usually made a huge mess?

I frowned, leaning all the way back. With a muffled thump, my back hit the sand on the beach, and I ran my hands through my hair, which was splayed all over the ground.

Something in my head also told me that I shouldn't be so surprised about Dacey and my brother. I scrunched my brows together even more, so much that my facial muscles were getting all tired. Ow. That hurt. Did Dacey ask me something about him? Or was it Carter who was initially interested in her?

"Fucking weirdos," I said out loud to the night sky, twinkling with a few stars. I still really wanted to throw up.

But again, I didn't really want to throw up all over myself, especially not in this lying position. Plus, people like Dom could be around to see me. I clenched my jaw, chewing away at the side of my cheek. Wait, was Dom even here at this party? I did have a vague recollection of his face, but I wasn't sure if I'd gotten that image from my dreams or from real life.

I lay there, staring at the few stars for a while before it got pretty boring. After all, stars were basically balls of nuclear energy that were probably all dead by now due to their very far proximity from Earth. And plus, they didn't compare to Dom's eyes. His eyes were so deep and pretty.

My facial muscles were getting incredibly strained from all the thinking and grimacing I was doing. Cara was the one who thought everything suddenly had a dark underlying meaning after she had a couple shots, right? And did Dom like me? I couldn't really remember. That was annoying.

"Hey," said someone. He sat down right next to me so close that he was practically sitting on my hand.

Was he Dom? If he was, I would take the chance to grope his ass. I turned my head to the side floppily. A couple grains of sand must have gotten into my eyes because the person certainly didn't look like Dom at all. I squinted a little.

Light from the fire didn't lie, I reminded myself. And that light most definitely told me that this person was my brother, who'd disappeared from Dacey's side at some point in time, of which I wasn't aware.