Chapter 89: Chapter Twenty-eight

Demetri

I seriously needed to buy Nat a present. The entire upstairs rec room had been transformed into party central.

The flat screen was set up with Rock Band. It looked like a taffy piñata threw up in the room. Seriously, I'd never seen so much taffy in my life and I worked at a taffy store.

Funny, usually my birthdays were giant drunken fests that I rarely remembered. I knew I'd remember tonight. It was perfect.

“You know I love you, right?” I pulled Nat into a hug and kissed her temple.

“I know.” Nat squirmed against me. “I'm your favorite.”

“Actually…” I sighed. “I think I may have a new favorite.” My eyes instantly locked with Alyssa's as she made her way toward me.

“Happy Birthday, Demetri,” Nat whispered in my ear and walked off. My eyes fell onto Alyssa as she slowly unwrapped a piece of taffy and popped it in her mouth.

Before she could say anything, I grabbed her and kissed her. Plunging my tongue into her mouth so I could taste the flavor of the taffy she just ate.

“Butterscotch,” I said against her lips.

“And I thought I was the only one with the cool party tricks.” Alyssa giggled. Hell, I loved that girl's laugh. It was already the best birthday of my life just having her there in my arms.

I was almost able to forget about all the drama surrounding us. Almost. I just prayed Holly would tell her soon so I wouldn't have to feel guilty anymore.

“Want to see another party trick?” I winked.

“I don't know. Do I?”

I leaned in and kissed her on the cheek then pulled back. Her eyes squinted and then she laughed. “Was that the trick?”

I let out a laugh and gave the signal to Alec, the same one I used to give him at clubs that meant watch out I'm about to get down.

Music filtered through the sound system in the room. “Party like it's the end of the world…” I started singing. “Turn it up, turn it up, it ain't the end of the world.”

“Demetri, what are you doing?” Alyssa stepped back, her face slightly blushing. I just yelled, “Turn it up!”

The music was loud enough to disturb the peace in the entire neighborhood, but I didn't care.

A guy can only take so much teasing before he dies for lust or want, or whatever the hell I was feeling right then.

She wasn't a bad dancer, then again she had been a cheerleader, and then she busted out. Yes, busted out.

I really didn't know how else to explain it, but I was kind of shocked into submission as my eyes watched her hips sway.

People cheered. I barely heard them — all I saw was her, and the smile on her face. The smile that I knew was completely genuine, not hidden, not fake, and not for show. It was all for me.

I joined in dancing. And then Alec and Nat joined us.

Soon every single one of the friends invited to the friends' party was in the middle of the floor jumping up and down.

“You guys suck!” I heard a male voice yell from the door. I glanced up. Evan walked in with Alesha. We'd met them last school year.

They were both super good friends of Nat and consequently were accepted into our tight-knit group almost immediately. It helped that Evan was hilarious.

They didn't even pause. They just jumped into the middle of the dance floor and began going to town.

The song ended and I was already sweaty. I pulled Alyssa against me, she pushed back and laughed. “Was that your party trick? Oh, look at me!

“I'm Demetri Daniels and I can dance!” I knew she was teasing, but I'm competitive. I think I proved my point back when we did bumper cars, I mean seriously.

“Set it up!” I yelled at Alec.

“No, dude. Remember what happened last time?”

“Do it!” I yelled back.

Alec smirked and began hooking in a new game and game station.

“What's going on?” Alyssa asked, peering around me.

“Dancing competition, no big deal.”

“I'll win,” she said confidently.

“If you win, you get one favor. If I win…” I licked my lips and allowed my eyes to graze her from head to toe. “I get you… all night.”

“Deal.” She held out her hand. I took it and then yanked her into my arms, sealing our deal with a hungry kiss.

“It's ready!” Alec called. He'd turned the music down, so now the game system was getting filtered through the speakers. Everyone gathered around.

The first song was one of ours, which Evan said was cheating. Bastard. Of course, the song landed on One Direction. I mean, really? Do these guys know how much they haunt my everyday life?

Seriously, someone should tell them. I would vote for Nat, but she'd probably pass out if she met them. I mean, the girl didn't even care when we moved into her small town.

We were even more famous at the time, but did she throw her panties? No. Did she ask for autographs? No. But the minute anyone mentioned One Direction, she got all flustered and whatnot.

Dumb.

“Ready?” Alyssa glanced at me.

“I'm always ready, sweetheart.”

The music started and we began to dance in front of the Kinect.

I destroyed her. I felt kind of bad.

“One more!” she shouted. Everyone cheered.

The song that popped on was Justin Bieber. Of course it was, because you couldn't have One Direction without Justin Bieber. I was cursed. I was freaking cursed.

We started dancing, and then all of a sudden Alyssa froze. I tried to encourage her to keep going.

“Uhh…” I scratched my head. “Keep playing, guys. I'll be right back.”

I chased after her.

She was leaning over the side of the railing as if she was going to throw up. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I just freaked, sorry.”

“Brady?” I asked, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice.

“It was our song.” She shrugged. “No big deal, honest. I'm fine. I think I was getting a little hot too.”

“You weren't getting hot, you were already on fire.” I cupped her face and kissed her lightly on the mouth.

“I want to forget him,” she said against my lips. “When I'm with you, I don't feel him anymore.”

“Is that what you want?” I asked, feeling more excited about our relationship than I had in days.

“Yeah.” Alyssa looked down. “Demetri, you said you weren't going to ask me to choose, but you need to know…” Her lower lip trembled. Bright blue eyes looked back at me.

Tears welled at the bottom of her thick black eyelashes. “I choose you.”

Can a person's heart skip a beat? I swear mine just did. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing happened. I couldn't find my voice.

Alyssa smirked. “Cat got your tongue?” It was the same thing I'd asked the day before when she was all nervous.

“No.” I jerked her head so that our lips crushed against one another. “You do. You have everything.”

I gave up trying to protect my shattered heart. I gave up trying to be strong. Everything — every single wall I had erected was gone, and in its place was her.