Surprisingly, Bailee was the one trying to convince me to skip the party because we "needed our beauty rest" for the homecoming dance that was in less than 24 hours—not to mention the possible ill effects of alcohol. But I was intent on having some fun for a change and she wasn't budging. Ryder had arrived to my house earlier than expected and was dressed in a pair of jeans, a clean dress shirt and a nice, soapy smell. As if it wasn't strange enough to have Bailee distance herself from the off-campus social event of the year, Ryder had actually stayed on the porch with us both until Evan picked her up. I knew Bailee was terrified of Ryder and remembered how he belittled her when he and I were just beginning to be acquainted, but he was calmer and more amicable with her now.

I even thanked him for it when we climbed in Zander's truck that he drove and he said that he might as well befriend Bailee because she was my friend and everyone needed a human who knew nothing about the supernatural world in order to keep a sense of normality. I hadn't thought about that to be Bailee even though I knew her little brother was in the pack, but he was right and revealed that Rod was his go-to, 100% human friend no matter how crazy he was. Considering Stella now knew everything, he had no other choice.

When we arrived at the party, I realized that maybe Ryder brought his brother's truck because he didn't hesitate to park it in the grass of an adjacent plot of land next to the house that was flooded with teenagers and plagued either sides of the street with parked cars. Or maybe Zander was originally in its cab because Ryder pulled a case of beer out of the backseat and set it on his lap with a sigh before looking over at me.

"What?" I whispered.

"Have fun," he told me lightly. I didn't know why he said it so reluctantly, but after we hopped out of his truck and walked to the party, him with one hand clutching mine and the other holding a case of beer, he told me to not worry about him for the night. At first, I doubted that I would be drinking that much or do anything other than watch like a wallflower (since Bailee wasn't here to be my partner-in-crime) or be gravitating towards Ryder, but as soon as I entered the party, I was grabbed by Stella.

"Say your goodbyes; she's mine for the night," Stella told Ryder before taking a drink from a small can of wine. I laughed and looked back to Ryder who was already being greeted by his friends who took the case from him. But once he promised he'd be over with them in a minute after grabbing a beer for himself, he turned back to me and pressed his lips to mine.

"Take care of her," he told Stella before releasing me entirely.

"No promises," Stella said before taking the beer from his hand and giving it to me. Ryder failed to contain his smile and let Stella pull me away.

***

I found myself drinking anything Stella put in front of me without much of an effect because apparently werewolves burned it off easier. At one point, I think I found Colin and asked to smoke some of whatever herb he frequently used to feel human but he only handed me a flask that I had seen Ryder drinking from at the last party. Only, this time it wasn't empty and I took a huge swig of it before handing it back to him in an uncoordinated manner because I was immediately hit with all the alcohol I had consumed.

"Be careful," Colin told me before Stella had pushed past him in her path from leaving Trevor, who she had been making out with for the last five minutes. She grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the living room that had turned into a dance floor aside from a small circle of people playing King's Cup. I danced as care free and drunk as I felt because I was feeling my brain spinning and my chest warm. Somehow, my hearing wasn't completely muffled by the music because I was tuned into the increasing escape of air from the beer can in King's Cup, but also a conversation happening between Ryder and Trevor who lingered at the doorway to the living room, just watching us.

"I don't know how you do it," Trevor told Ryder.

"Do what?"

"Date," he elaborated.

"Oh, you mean how Stella's been attached to you all night," Ryder teased. "I'm not giving you dating advice if that's what you're asking about."

"N-no, of course not," Trevor stammered. I looked over to see Stella dancing in front of me in a suggestive manner that I was trying to convey myself to attract Ryder for the night.

"Good," Ryder said.

"It's just an adjustment to me," Trevor continued and I knew that Ryder wanted nothing more than to leave the conversation at that exact moment. "I've never been with anyone, let alone a girl like her."

I heard Ryder physically laugh now. "Versailles, I'll never be totally okay with you two for obvious reasons and also because I think you're a prick, but you've been treating her alright as far as I'm concerned," he expressed. "So just chill out about the possibility of hurting her and just be with her. She's stronger than you think. She survived a werewolf bite for crying out loud."

"I don't think that matters when it's just us and we're—" Trevor was interrupted probably because Ryder clutched onto his collar or something in protection over Stella.

"You shouldn't be worried about that especially not tonight," he hissed. "Because that would mean you'd be taking advantage of her and we'd have a problem, right?"

"Right," Trevor immediately assured. I guess Ryder let him go at this point.

"Look," Ryder began. "I know Stella and I aren't friends anymore, but I love her like a sister I never wanted and I'm not gonna let you hurt her. Not as her boyfriend or the town bloodsucker."

"That's within your right," Trevor responded and then there was a pause between them. I took another drink from the cup of rum I was working on and then heard a chuckle from one of the boys. "What would you do if Ash came onto you tonight? She's just about as disadvantaged as Stella by the looks of their show over there."

"It's different," Ryder full-on laughed pathetically at the virgin half-vamp. "For one, I'm not as nervous as you because I think I know when she'd consent. And secondly, she's a werewolf who will burn off everything she's drunk and could probably take me in a fight if I tried anything she didn't want me to." He paused as I wondered if this still meant I had a shot at sleeping with him tonight like my wolf yearned to do. "Stella doesn't have that ability so it's different."

By now, I was facing them and looked directly into Ryder's eyes. No matter the spinning surroundings, his eyes were the clearest thing in the room. Trevor looked over at him when he realized that I was probably eavesdropping but Ryder only handed him his solo cup and approached me. He took my hands at first since I was enticing him into the dance floor, but soon enough, he was behind me with his hands on my hips while I grinded against him. With every press of my back to his front, I was anxious to be with him away from people. And then suddenly, he yanked me to face him in order to dip his head down to kiss me.

Of course I kissed him back while his hands had clasped behind my back to keep me against him. I heard a few hoots and hollers from the partiers around us, but I didn't care. My wavering focus was on Ryder and his lips that attentively kissed me back. I began thinking about each time we had made out and stripped our clothes and made love and forced it into his mind. However, it caused him to pull away.

"Not tonight," he told me.

"Come on," I cajoled. "I heard you talking with Trevor. You know when I want to. And tonight I want to."

I reached up to kiss him and my consciousness (buried deep beneath my drunken Ashlynn) was rolling her eyes and assumed that he wouldn't allow the kiss to even happen, but our lips met briefly. I pulled away with a smile thinking that I had won him over.

"Well I don't," he told me in a whisper close to my face. "Not when you're like this."

"You're the one who told me to have fun," I reminded.

"I know," he smiled and continued to dance pressed against me. "You deserve to have fun and that's what you're doing right now, but if anything happens to us while you're like this...it won't be fun. I guarantee that."

"Then let me have fun with you," I whined. God, you're so desperate, sober Ashlynn chastised.

"Some other time, I promise," Ryder proposed and then let go of my waist around the time when the King's Cup circle had exclaimed at the opening of the tab. Ryder left me by myself and I looked over to see Colin being the loser of the drinking game. I walked over to him when he was nearly finished with his chugging and pulled him away from his entourage by his jacket. I stumbled when we were in a small hallway where I assumed bedrooms led to. There were a few people lingering near the door at the end of the hall probably for the bathroom.

"I need more," I told him because the more human I was, the more drunk I would be and maybe I could forget completely embarrassing myself in front of Ryder.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Colin told me before tossing his empty can of beer on the floor carelessly.

"Colin," I named and felt my body swaying. It's like it absorbed another two portions of alcohol in the time I had pulled him to the side. I attempted to point at him, but my hand was flimsy and made it to his chest. My knees were weak for a second before Colin caught me to insure I wouldn't fall backwards and then I regained my balance. "Colin, I just want more so I can forget whatever I just did and be fine and have fun. That's it. A little more."

Colin had every right to look down at me as pathetically as he did because my speech was slurring with every additional word. "I don't think that's a good idea," he still told me like the perfectly trained beta he was. Ryder probably told him to watch me like he had been watching him.

"I just want to have sex," I groaned in a tantrum. I watched Colin try to contain a laugh towards me and my bacchanalian behavior but it only caused me to narrow my eyes. "Come on, Colin. Don't boys think about sex, like, every thirty seconds? Help me out. Haven't you wanted to just have sex with your goddamn boyfriend? Ryder's so hot it's not fair! Don't you think so? Of course you think so. Everyone knows he's handsome so of course you know he is. So just give me more so I can forget whatever just happened and have sex with him tonight please."

"Ryder isn't going to have sex with you when you're like this," Colin told me seriously. He frowned at me and I felt myself internally swaying. My eye lids also felt ridiculously heavy all at once.

"So what if I'm drunk? He wanted me to have fun so I had fun," I preached. "And Ryder likes to have fun and we like to have sex because it's fun so that's what I want. It's just sex. Skin-to-skin contact. You get that. I know you get that."

Now, Colin's frown and serious demeanor had extended into him locking his jaw and refusing to dispute the topic any further. All I did was feel him roughly grab my arm and start escorting me back to the denser area of the party before I felt a total weakness course through my body and my eyes close once I was being delivered into Ryder's chest with a push.