I parked at the very end of the gravel drive below the cabin, off to the side some, in case I needed to make a fast getaway.
My feet stopped for a second. There will be no fast getaway. If I was going to do this, I was going to do this right. For months, I’d been cowering. My mouth had stayed shut; my head had stayed down. I’d let everyone walk all over me. I’d let them call me a slut; ignored them when they threw garbage in my locker. My crown was crooked, and I didn’t have the energy to straighten it.
Eric was pushing me into a territory that I didn’t necessarily want to be in any longer, but I’d learned that, when it came to him, I had no say. I was going to walk into Piper’s birthday party with confidence and look him and everyone else right in the eye.
And if Missy was on his lap, I’d tear her off. Not because I wanted to fall into that “mean girl” status again, but because I truly had no self-restraint. Fucking me the night before and then cozying up with Missy. The audacity.
The gravel crunched under my boots, my heart flying through my chest. I was nervous, but my need to show everyone that Eric was mine far outweighed the jitters.
I felt a small piece of the old Madeline shift back into place, and I liked it. I liked having a purpose again.
The door swung open, and I pushed my blonde hair behind my shoulder. My lips tasted like cherries as I ran my tongue over them, scanning the cabin as I walked into a full-fledged war.
Jaws dropped.
Eyes widened.
Not a single person spoke. The only voice was Juice Wrld as he rang out through the speakers.
I found Eric instantly, my eyes going right to the place we were in last night, naked and panting like rabid animals.
Of course that was where he chose to sit.
The smirk on his face widened the longer we stared at each other, and it made me hot. I was angry but also a little exhilarated.
I peeled my eyes away when I heard a feminine voice whisper, “What is she doing here?”
Missy was the source of the voice. She was halfway across the room, with one of the football player’s arms draped over her shoulders.
Eric tricked me. He lured me here.
I sliced my gaze back to his, and he shrugged innocently.
Walking farther into the cabin, I kept my chin straight and my shoulders level. I’d have been lying if I said it wasn’t intimidating to be standing in a room full of people I’d once bullied for my own benefit. It made my back sticky and my stomach knotty. But it felt right. Like it was a step in the right direction.
I moved into the kitchen area, with everyone still gazing at me as if I were in the spotlight on a stage all by myself. Someone had cut the music, and if there were a microphone, now would have been the time to tap it a few times before speaking.
Piper and Ollie were standing at the counter, each with a plate of cake in their hands. She was wearing a headband that had a birthday crown on it, looking like her adorable, sweet self. I hated myself for being mean to her.
“I’m sorry to crash your birthday party, Piper.” I reached into my Doc Marten and pulled out a gift card that was stuffed between my sock and boot. I slid it over the counter, and it landed right below her levitating plate of cake. She moved the plate out of the way and glanced down. “Happy birthday. I know you like iced coffee, so…”
She looked up at me briefly before looking down again. I heard murmurs around us. “You got me a birthday present?”
I glanced around. I wasn’t good at being nice. It made me squirm, but it was the least I could do with crashing a party I wasn’t invited to. Piper was nice. If it were anyone else, I might not have cared.
“It’s for one hundred dollars…”
I shifted nervously before I crossed my arms and shrugged. Was that too much?
She stared at me and then glanced at Hayley across the room who lifted a shoulder with her lips rising. Piper reached her hand down and slid the card toward her and placed it in her back pocket. “Okay…well, thanks.”
I gave her a nod and said, “I’ll be gone soon. I just need to go smack Eric, and then I’ll leave. I’m sorry for crashing your birthday party.”
No one laughed except Hayley. Piper smashed her lips closed with a faint chuckle. “Stay as long as you’d like.”
“But no one wants her here,” someone said from across the room. I didn’t even want to know who said it.
Hayley’s voice cut through the room. “It’s Piper’s party and Eric’s cabin. If they say she can stay, then she can stay.”