Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 138775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
“Are you having fun?” I asked her.
She stilled, and for a split second, her face turned pale. But then she nodded and drank thirstily from a red cup. I glanced up at Jayden—he’d seen it, too.
“Let’s go get some air. Too hard to talk in here,” he said.
“Okay.” She surveyed us. “You guys look good together.”
I slipped an arm around her waist. “Let’s go out front.”
Jayden and I guided her through the crowd. The front porch was full of couples making out, but we steered Mia over to a less crowded spot under a large maple tree.
“Do you want us to take you home?” I asked her.
She stared at me as if just realizing I was there. “Hi Tori! No, I’m having fun.”
Yeah, fun. She was acting like the ultimate party girl, but her eyes were red.
“Hey, can I have some of that?” Jayden asked, pointing at her cup.
“Sure!” She handed it to him, and he poured the rest of the beer out on the ground when she wasn’t looking.
I tried again. “I have an idea. Why don’t Jayden and I drive you back to your room?”
She laughed as if I’d said something funny. “No, I want to stay. This is fun!”
Jayden had an inspiration. “Yeah, we should take you back. Then we can meet Sara.”
I chimed in. “Yeah, I’d really like to meet your sister.”
And just like that, Mia’s face crumbled, and she slumped to the ground.
Jayden knelt, catching her, and I lowered myself down next to them, keeping my knees locked together due to how short my dress was. “What’s wrong?”
Tears poured down Mia’s face as she leaned against the trunk of the tree. “She’s gone.”
“We can wait with you until she gets back,” Jayden said, but I knew that’s not what Mia meant.
“What happened?” I asked gently.
“She got kicked out.”
“Of the Stepping Stones program?” I asked, patting her arm.
“Out of Langley.”
“Oh shit,” Jayden murmured. “What happened?”
Mia hiccupped and then thought a moment before answering. “I guess at the last foster house she was at, she started doing drugs. I caught her once, last week, but she said it was a onetime thing. I didn’t know.”
“I’m sorry, Mia.” Jayden’s voice was steady and kind, and I didn’t feel any jealousy at all when he put his arm around her shoulders.
More tears poured down her face. “I thought we’d live together again, finally. At that house for former foster kids. But now she’s not even in Haverford anymore.”
“I’m so sorry.” I squeezed her hand. “Why don’t we go get somewhere and get you some coffee? Then we can talk.” That made me think of the diner Jayden and Lucas had taken me to when that night they’d first brought me back to their house.
“Okay,” Mia said, and together, Jayden and I pulled her to her feet. Then, when I was smoothing down the front of my dress, she dashed away. “I’m just going to get one more beer.”
She ran up the steps and back into the house, and Jayden I exchanged an unhappy look.
“Shit,” he muttered. “Let’s go get her.”
I agreed. She was in no condition to be here on her own. “Let’s get Kyle to help us look.”
Jayden put his arm around my waist as we climbed the stairs back to the house. “He can try, but one out of every four women here are dressed as black cats, and he doesn’t know what she looks like.”
“Good point.” I shook my head. “Too bad, though.” If you’d told me a month or two ago that I’d be fine with sending a frat bro to go look after a drunken girl at a party, I wouldn’t have believed it. But I trusted Kyle.
We searched the house as best we could, interrupting many amorous couples, but we didn’t find Mia. I texted her, but she didn’t answer. “That really sucks about her sister,” I said.
Jayden nodded unhappily. “Especially since she was really looking forward to living together at that place for the rest of the year.”
“Yeah.”
We danced a bit more, but my heart wasn’t in it.
Jayden got a text fifteen minutes later. “Is it from Mia?” I asked as he checked the screen.
“No, not her.” He had an odd expression on his face. “I think I’ll take another look around for her. Can you go to the kitchen to get me another beer?”
“Sure,” I said, frowning a little. But I guess it was okay that he wanted another beer since Kyle drove, not him. “Good luck.”
It wasn’t until I was dodging between drunken dancers that his request struck me as strange. He didn’t seem like the type to leave me alone at a party like this. Several guys were already eyeing me, and I had to smack one dude’s hand away as he grabbed at my ass. But maybe Jayden was just worried about Mia.