Brazen Tricks - Ali Dean Page 0,3

only getting louder. “I even got her into the house so she can be my roommate. And I was going to have my own room! I’ve taken her under my wing, and I wanted to support her tonight when she came to see you all.” Oh boy, now Fliss is straight up crying. “I just can’t believe you’re treating her like this. If I’d known I’d only make things worse, if I’d known you all believed Jordan’s conspiracy theory about some Instagram thing, I wouldn’t have come.”

Syd puts an arm around her. “It’s okay Fliss, I should have realized beforehand they’ve all been brainwashed.” Syd’s eyes shoot to me. “Are you going to say anything? Or are you going to let them treat me this way?” Suddenly, I’m the one who kind of feels like crying. Mostly out of sheer confusion.

I open my mouth to respond, not entirely sure the best way to handle it. But Griffin’s voice booms, silencing me. “What’s going on? How did she get in here?” He’s moving fast toward us from the skatepark, pulling a shirt over his sweat-soaked skin, probably to protect the view from his stalker.

Fliss starts talking rapidly, repeating a version of the little tear-filled speech she gave us. She’s here to support her newfound sorority sister who wants to reconcile with old friends. She had no idea who the friends were or that it was Beckett Steele’s house.

“Hey, I’m sorry for the miscommunication. But this is a private birthday party and you’re going to have to leave,” Griff reiterates.

“But I was invited,” Sydney repeats stubbornly. She might as well stomp her foot for good measure. “Lucy invited me.”

“I wasn’t talking to you, but you can leave too. Sorry, Lucy,” Griff says in a different tone. “I know it’s your birthday party, but I’m gonna have to kick out your friend here.” Wow, even Mister Charming is playing hardass with these two.

“It’s fine, it’s your house. And I’m sorry Syd, I don’t really understand what’s going on with you, but I take back my invite.”

I’m sort of stunned, even though I shouldn’t be at this point, that Syd and Fliss seem determined to hold their ground. Why in the world would they want to stay at this party at this point? But Lance and Trip are already basically pushing them out the door. When Syd passes a table with a few wrapped presents on it, she grabs the sparkly gift bag she walked in with a moment earlier. “Guess I’ll be keeping this for myself.” She tilts her chin up, grabs Fliss’s hand, and half drags her new bestie away. Lance and Trip follow them through the house, probably making sure they go straight to their car.

No one says a word as we all soak in the absurdity of what just went down. And when we finally make eye contact with each other and decide on relieved laughter as the best response, I know we’re all hoping like hell that’s the last of those two. I can’t be the only one who highly doubts that’s the end of it.

Chapter Two

Beck

Somehow, we come to a silent agreement to pretend like the Fliss/Sydney encounter never happened. At least for the rest of the night.

We skateboard, jump on the trampoline, and swim in the pool. Coby brought a cake big enough for three times as many people and we sing happy birthday to Lucy and Jordan.

As people start to wander off to bed, Jordan throws her arms around my neck. “You know how much I love you, right?”

I just smile at her in answer. She’s been super affectionate tonight, way more than usual. It’s not that Jordan’s not normally affectionate, but when we’re hanging with friends and there are things like trampolines, skateparks, and pools around, she’s definitely not the type to hang on to me. It’s taken me a while not to be slightly offended, but usually in these situations, she half ignores me. At least, that’s how it was at the beginning of our relationship, those first few months when I was still a student. Ever since I came back from the competition tour, it’s been different.

Jordan reaches up on her toes and starts kissing me. Yeah, she’s definitely more into me tonight, or into touching me in front of anyone, than she ever has been before. And I have to say, I have no problem with it.

She pulls away when things get a little heated. “I don’t want to call it a