Okay. If he wanted to play, let him come find me then.
I was ready.
“Let him know that I’ll be going to the Throwback at The Cove tonight with some friends,” I told Crane. “So he doesn’t send out the hounds.”
“And you’ll be home by eleven?” he demanded more than asked.
But I just cocked my head, unable to hide the small smile he had to know was pure mischief. “Of course.”
Throwback Night was organized by some of Thunder Prep’s alumni as one last hoorah at The Cove before it was sold off, rumors flying for a while now that several investors were interested in redeveloping the property. Back in the day, this was a theme park—rides, roller coasters, fun houses, and games—and mostly everything still stood here, abandoned for years, having been dark since we were kids. I remember coming here once when it was still active.
The sea air breezed through the park as the music blasted and partygoers laughed and shouted, their excitement to go back to when we were high schoolers palpable. Most of them were in college or beyond now, although there were some current students of Thunder Bay about tonight, and I kind of dug feeling the old uniform on me again, not having worn it since I was sixteen. Before I fled town to go back to Montreal.
As part of the party theme, we were requested to don our uniforms in keeping with the school spirit. Unfortunately, my body has grown and developed a bit more since then, so I’d asked Rika if she had an extra skirt and shirt from her senior year, still able to use my old necktie with no problem.
“Come on, dance!” Alex pulled my arm.
I laughed, taking hers instead and letting her lead me out to the dance area where the DJ spun music up off to my right. Michael and Erika were here somewhere, Kai and Banks were on their way, Will had said, and I hadn’t heard from Damon, although I left my phone in Will’s car, so I wouldn’t know if he’d tried to call anyway.
People bumped into me, and I couldn’t see the space around me, so I kind of just stood there, unsure about this kind of dancing in front of others. I’d slow danced at school events before, but this was different.
“I can’t dance with a crowd,” I shouted over the music. “I’ll smack someone in the face.”
“I gotcha,” Will came in behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and swaying both of us back and forth. “You can dance with me.”
Which I’m sure was just an excuse to put his hands on something.
I reached behind me, patting him on the cheek. “A true knight.”
“See, she gets it,” he joked, probably to Alex.
I heard her laugh.
I felt a little more confident with him holding onto me, and we moved, our bodies in sync to the beat of the music.
“Misha!” I heard him call to someone. “Hell yeah. Didn’t think you’d be here.”
“Hey, man,” another guy said, approaching.
Will stopped dancing but still held onto me, reaching over my shoulder for one of those handshake-hug things men did.
“Wow, you look like shit,” Will told him.
“They said to wear school clothes,” the guy retorted. “I was always out of uniform back then, so this is it.”
Will’s chest shook at my back.
“Winter, this is my cousin Misha Lare,” he said. “A couple years behind you in school, I think.”
I held out both my hands, taking his and shaking it. I knew the name. He was younger, though, so we didn’t cross paths.
“And his girlfriend, Ryen,” Will introduced her like she was an annoying little sister.
“Hi, Winter,” she said.
I smiled, following her voice. “Hi.”
“Come on, Ryen,” Will prodded. “Wouldn’t you have loved to see Misha in his uniform tonight?”