The Unlikely Resident of Room 313

Chapter 4

Zara erupted into a coughing fit. Despite the protests in the back of my mind, I broke eye contact. "Zara, are you okay?"

Anna hovered directly beside her, her hand lifted as she contemplated smacking the other girl's upper back. Waving a hand, Zara instantly straightened. The iridescent sheen of her baby blue dress shimmered purple in the ruby light, and she all but glided up next to me, a pretty, cherry-red smile on her lips.

"I'm totally fine," she assured me. "It can happen when you don't have a gag reflex."

While Roy's lips twitched in amusement, Trevon and Lucas melted into laughter and high-fived as if her words were directed to the three of them. When she stepped closer, I noticed the way the muscles in Roy's jaw feathered in the shadows, filling his profile with dangerously sharp edges. In the dimly lit room, his hair looked like smoke trapped behind glass. A bad boy, through and through. The most gorgeous person ever—according to Zara.

Zara's hand snaked over my forearm as she squeezed herself against my side. "Do you know each other?"

Roy seemed eager to hear my response. That cocky bastard.

"This is Roy," I said, the resting bitch face reactivated. Or was it just a bitch face at this point? "Roy, this is Zara."

Upon the introduction, Zara released my arm immediately. There were soft touches and playful insults meant to be flirtation. She instantly dove into the topics she loved to hate. That's how it worked, right? Bashing on your gender to make yourself seem like the perfect choice. In the words of Amy Dunne, a cool girl?

"I just honestly love beer so much. I'm serious, Roy. I just love the taste."

I tiptoed further and further away from the pair, the slight pitch to Zara's voice feeling like a cheese grater to my ears. The pang of irritation inside of me wobbled around like a foreign object, mingling with my confusion. I needed to ignore it. Every glance in their direction ended with Roy's eyes locked with mine. I sipped my drink and looked past him as though the eye contact was an accident. As if those lingering looks were because of my deep interest in the party, rather than a magnetic force that willed my gaze their way. He continued to watch, and I wanted to scream at him that his preoccupation with me was rude to the conversation he was having. I twisted away, but not before Zara noticed the silent exchanges. Her lips parted with a grin, more homicidal than friendly.

Go somewhere else, she seemed to say. He is mine. Don't ruin this.

Butterflies erupted in my stomach when Trevon slipped his hand into mine and led me to where the desks had been pushed together in a beer pong table. Thoughts of Roy, and Zara's homicidal grin evaporated. Trevon's casual smile made me giddy. I didn't care if he saw me blush. I didn't care that Roy watched the whole thing.

Trevon leaned down and whispered, "Do you want to play beer pong with me?"

"Absolutely," I said with a deep breath.

Trevon and I paired up against Lucas and Anna. Lucas lined red solo cups in the correct, triangular formation on his end of the table, while Trevon did the same on our side, and Anna filled each set with cheap beer. I rolled the little white ping pong ball between my clammy fingers, a silent pep talk in full swing.

Okay. You can do this. Cousin Anthony made you play beer pong this summer at the lake house. Just... do what you did last time. Just get the damn ball in the cup.

The music shifted from one bass-boosted beat to another, and I relaxed into the melody as the game burst into motion. Trevon aimed and shot the little white ball into the cup at the very front.