Better Off Alone (BOOK 1)(Wattys 2016)

Deciding To Live A Little

(A/N: in this book there is underage drinking which I do not advocate)

Wesley Mathers lives near the beach which is why he usually hosts the biggest parties on his family's private section of seashore. No one bothers them there and people can get wasted without the cops calling on the party.

At least, that's what I assume since I've never been to one.

I'm completely against the entire idea of drinking underage at these types of party. I mean, I get drinking a little in the comfort of your own home, but I don't get the idea of drinking so much you can't remember any of the stupid decisions you made the night before.

Sorry, but as you know I haven't had the best experience with alcohol in the past.

Clive parks the jeep up by the house and we walk in, where people are already drinking and dancing to the loud music. I recognize a lot of the people from school, but there's some I don't recognize as well.

Clive pulls me back for a moment and motions for us to step back outside.

"What?" I ask, slightly confused.

"I forgot to say this in the car..."

"Okay...?"

"Wes... might... flirt with you tonight..."

"What?!" I ask, shocked.

"Yeah..." Clive looks slightly uncomfortable. "I think he might like you... Which is... fine, but please don't let me see you guys... Do stuff."

"Ew, Clive, please don't insult me by insinuating me as sluttish." I make a face.

Clive gives a look. "Gem, you know I'm not. I'm just saying should things progress further down the road from tonight... I don't to hear about anything or yeah." He makes a face.

"First off, I don't even know if I like him. Second off, I hate PDA, you know that." I see Olive and Macey pull up in their car, parking next to ours.

"Yeah and I trust you, Gem. Just don't feel like you have to do anything with him cos he's my friend. Okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Alright, go have fun, Clive. I'll catch up with you later."

He smiles and gives me a small hug. "Love you, Gem."

"Love you too, Clive. Now, go have fun."

***

I am seriously regretting this.

It's been an hour since we arrived at Wesley's house and I have so far been ditched by Olive and Macey, been hit on by a drunken Wesley, shoved by an overweight male and as a result, stubbed my toe off a table leg.

Wesley was the worst part. He kept leaning towards me and usually, I would find him attractive, but the fact that he was drunk turned me off right away. I didn't need that.

Currently, I'm sitting in the kitchen, not really caring about the fact that I'm surrounded by couples snogging and cups of half drank unknown beverages.

"Gemma?" I turn to see Larkin.
I must really be desperate for human contact because I don't even cringe at the sight of him. I even smile. "Hi, Larkin."

"I didn't know you'd be here. Eddie said you usually come towards the end... After people are already... You know, drunk." He comes a little closer, but still keeps his distance. This surprises me since he's always flirting with me.

I shrug. "They talked me into living a little since its senior year, you know?"

He nods, biting down on his lip piercing some. I look at what he's wearing: black skinnies and a blue flannel. He also has a black snapback on backwards, covering his blonde quiff. He looks hot and a numb part of me almost tells him that, but then I remember who this is.