The Three Slips

Chapter 1

He was taller than she remembered. Taller and... considerably better looking.

As in so good looking that the line of his jaw and impeccable curve of his lips sent a pulsing shock down her spine, up her neck, to her finger tips and toes.

So good looking that the piercing blue of his eyes, the breadth of his shoulders, the golden spikes of his hair made her brain throb and hurt.

So good looking that the blinding magnitude of his perfection forced her to squint and wince and her insides flutter with an uncomfortable self-consciousness as she struggled to find her breath.

And so, Eve did what any warm blooded woman would do in the situation- she gaped. She gaped with such abandon that a fly- had it been in the vicinity of her mouth- would likely have flown unhindered between her parted lips, scaled the walls formed by her cheeks and teeth and pallet and tongue, and promptly flown back out.

"Careful, Eve Rowan. Drooling is so unattractive."

The singularly sardonic sound of her best friend's voice splintered her dumbstruck daydream and Eve, with not a little difficulty, strained to relocate her attention to the tall brunette at her side. Eve tugged on the hem of her baggy t-shirt.

"I wasn't drooling." Eve swallowed the salvia in her mouth as she brought the SOLO cup filled with Long Island Iced Tea to her lips, knowing that she had been perilously close to drooling, "I was just... looking."

As was every other female at the party.

Eve's eyes surveyed the room and concluded that a significant amount of mascara laden long lashed ladies were casting come hither expressions at Amber's fraternal twin brother. Eve's forehead drew low in a sharp V; she may have sneered.

This was like experiencing high school all over again.

She was just one of many who coveted Sam. Incidentally, for her, it was slightly more injurious than being just one of many. Eve was Sam's sister's best friend and, therefore, he'd always treated her with the same casual indifference yet watchful protectiveness that he treated Amber.

Like another sister.

It had been truly abysmal.

And then- another similarity between high school and the present moment- there was the party.

All through their four years at Webster High, Dominick Anastas had been notorious for throwing house parties; these parties took place at his parent's lakeside cabin.

And, by cabin she really meant grotesque mansion estate on sprawling grounds surrounded by dense forest and bordering a private lake. Eve hadn't always been invited but, in her junior year, she tutored Dominick in chemistry. Dominick warmed to her considerably after that.

There were subtle differences between the parties of their teen years and the current gathering. During the high school parties the music was dictated by an iPod and came from a stereo system; beer originated from a keg by the pool and was the only beverage option. Tonight, in contrast, Dominick hired a DJ and there were a plethora of drink options available, all poured by bartenders on the terrace;

Nevertheless, there was still a keg by the pool.

Amber pressed her lips together, presumably to suppress a laugh, and tossed her head to the side; her silky, long brown hair whipped about her shoulders very much like a model in a shampoo commercial. The too tall awkward girl in high school had blossomed into a supermodel heartbreaker. Eve felt a swell of affection for her friend; she was sincerely happy for her, for how graceful and beautiful she'd become on the outside as it was a direct reflection of her friend's inner beauty and loveliness.