11. More Exciting

Charlie saw her zero in on the drink table like a missile.

Two giant plastic punch bowls, several unlabeled bottles, melted ice, and at least three cups abandoned upside down like corpses on the party table. Someone had dropped gummy worms in one of the bowls.

Sky reached for the ladle.

Charlie moved faster.

He caught her wrist just as she tipped it toward a cup.

She spun around, eyes blazing. “Seriously?”

He stared pointedly at the glowing blue punch. “Do you know what’s in that?”

“Joy,” she said. “Freedom. Poor decisions. Pick one.”

“It’s vodka,” he said flatly. “And probably a side of food poisoning.”

“You don’t know that.” She tried to tug her hand free.

As if summoned by fate, some sophomore in a crop top staggered by, took a sip of the blue stuff, and immediately coughed so hard she almost bent in half.

“Holy shit,” she wheezed. “That is straight gasoline.”

She shuffled away, eyes watering.

Charlie lifted a brow.

Sky rolled her eyes. “That proves nothing. And I don’t care what’s in it now let go of my hand.”

He twisted the ladle out of her grip, poured the almost-drink back into the bowl, and reached for a sealed bottle of soda from the corner of the table. He cracked it open and held it out.

“Here,” he said. “Actual freedom. Carbonated.”

“I hate you,” she muttered, grabbing it.

“I can live with that.”

Before she could say anything else, a shout rose from the living room.

“EVERYONE SHUT UP, NEW GAME!”

Sky instantly perked up. “Ooh, this sounds fun.”

Charlie sighed. “Of course it does.”

They followed the noise back into the living room. A crowd had formed in a loose circle. In the middle, some lanky kid in a cowboy hat stood on a chair, swaying slightly.

“We’re playing Slip ‘n Chug!” he yelled.

“Oh, no,” Charlie said automatically.

“Oh, yes,” Sky whispered, eyes bright.

The “game” appeared to be: pour water on a plastic runner spread along the hardwood floor, sprint, belly-slide across it, and then chug from a cup someone was holding at the other end before standing up. Two people at a time. First one to finish without falling on their face won.

Charlie watched one girl slide, overshoot the end, slam her shoulder into the couch, pop up laughing, and immediately spill half the drink down her shirt.

The entire room cheered like this was the Olympic finals.

Sky bounced on her toes. “I want to play.”

“Absolutely not,” Charlie said.

She gave him a look. “You cannot control everything I do.”

“Watch me,” he muttered.

Someone grabbed a bottle and started pouring more “water” on the plastic. The smell alone told him there was nothing water-related about it.

Beside him, Sky snorted. “Relax, I’m not about to concussion myself for bragging rights.”

That, unfortunately, was when a guy in an inflatable dinosaur costume decided to sprint through the circle.

“DINOSAUR COMING THROUGH!” he roared, voice muffled.

He tripped over the edge of the Slip ‘n Chug tarp, flailed, and face-planted into the punch bowl table.

The universe moved in slow motion.

The table legs buckled. The blue punch went airborne. Charlie had exactly half a second to react. He stepped in front of Sky.

The punch came down.

On him.

Cold, sticky liquid drenched his shirt, his jeans, his hair. Something wiggly slid down his neck.

A gummy worm.

Everyone around them gasped. Then shrieked. Then absolutely lost it.

“Oh my God, HE GOT BAPTIZED,” someone screamed.

Sky slapped a hand over her mouth.

Her shoulders shook.

He turned his head slowly.

She was laughing.

Not giggling.

Wheezing.

He stared at her, water and electric-blue sugar dripping from his jaw. If only she didn’t look even more beautiful when she laughed.

“You…” she squeaked, trying to breathe. “You look like you lost a fight with a Smurf.”

A guy nearby lifted his phone and snapped a picture.

Elisa Campbell materialized out of nowhere, eyes wide. “Oh. My. God. Are you okay?” She grabbed a handful of napkins and immediately started dabbing at his chest.

“I’m fine,” he said tightly, stepping back.

She followed, still patting his shirt. “I feel so bad, this is, like, totally my fault. It’s my party, so anything that happens is my responsibility.”

He blinked. “No, really. I am fine.”

Elisa latched onto his arm like a determined barnacle.

“I MUST get you cleaned up,” she insisted, tugging him toward the hallway. “You’re all…sticky.”

“I’m fine,” he repeated, looking over his shoulder.

Sky was staring at them, not smiling, but her green eyes twinkled with amusement.

Elisa kept pulling.

Charlie dug in harder. “Seriously, I can handle it.”

“I insist,” Elisa said, yanking open the bathroom door and shoving him inside before he could finish protesting.

The door shut behind them.

Charlie was trapped. There was no other word for it.

Elisa had cornered him by the sink. He could just push her to the side and make his escape, he knew, but he didn’t want to seem like a giant asshole when she was trying to help. She was just trying to help….right?

“Okay, lift your arms,” she commanded.

“No.”

“Come on, don’t be shy,” she cooed.

“I’m not shy,” he said, sidestepping the wad of towels. “I’m trying to avoid being smothered to death in two-ply.”

Elisa giggled. “You’re so funny.”

He wasn’t joking.

He tried again. “Elisa, really, I can clean it myself.”

“But you’re missing the back of your neck,” she said, reaching up. “Here, let me—”

Charlie flinched away and hit the towel rack with his shoulder.

Elisa gasped as if he’d been shot. “Are you hurt?!”

“No.”

“You ARE hurt!”

“I am not hurt…”

She pressed a palm to his chest.

He froze.

Elisa smiled, leaning a little closer. “You don’t have to be nervous around me.”

“I’m not,” he said irritably. What was this girl’s deal? Why him of all people?

“Look, Elisa, it is nice of you to help me clean up, but I gotta get out there to Sky,” he said, trying to sound firmer.

“Sky?” Elisa repeated, wrinkling her nose like the name tasted sour. “She’ll be fine. Why are you so obsessed with her?”

Charlie’s jaw ticked. “I am not. But she needs me.”

“Needs you? What are you, her emotional support human?” Elisa teased.

“Something like this. Her father wants me to keep her safe and I can’t do that if I am locked in here with you,” Charlie said, desperately looking at the door.

Elisa ran her finger down his chest and offered him a seductive smile. “Trust me, Charlie. What we will do in here is much more exciting than following some spoiled princess around.”