Wicked Love | √

Twenty One

"WAIT," Elizabeth calls out from the bathroom as she puts the last of her mascara on. "Are you sure you're alive?"

My brows scrunch together in confusion. "Um...yeah I'm pretty sure I'm alive..." I trail with my words dipped in sarcasm.

I glance at my roommate for some assistance to help decode her cousin's words, but she just shrugs just as puzzled as I am. She lifts her shot glass filled to the brim with chilled fireball at me, and I lift mine to clink against hers. We both tip our heads back and take the shot in one large gulp. It's cold but the effect of the cinnamon liquor sends a current of warmth through my chest.

Elizabeth steps out of the bathroom wearing a skin tight, strapless black leather dress paired with knee high boots. She looks like a sexy undercover spy, and perfect for the first night of the deadly sins parties.

"You said and I quote "over my dead body I go to the heirs parties"," she reminds me before walking over to the counter and taking the shot Annabelle poured for her.

She takes it like a pro without smearing an inch of her perfectly applied red lipstick.

It's my turn to shrug now as I attempt to play it cool. But ever since last night and the pool with Preston my body has been wound so tight with an energy I can't explain and that I've never experienced.

The shadow of the night that once cloaked me was torn away when the sun broke into the sky this morning, but my mind didn't change. It once might've. I was always braver in the dark. But in the daylight I didn't waver. I stood on solid ground.

If possible I woke up even more determined to show up to these parties. My brother and Preston can try to stop me from finding my answers all they want. But at the end of the day I won't be stopped. I can't be. Them pushing me away has only made me hungrier for the answers that seem to be just out of my reach.

But not for long.

And I am fully aware I can't be with Preston, but that doesn't mean I have to lose the feeling he gives me. That empowers me.

My shoulders sink under my friend's playfully interrogating gaze. "I decided I was maybe being a bit dramatic before," I confess to her.

"Yeah, just a bit," she teases, pouring another round for all of us.

"Wow, I really never imagined us going to one of these parties together," Annabelle says before tossing back the shot. Her nose scrunches with the burn of the alcohol. "But I'm happy it's happening. We wanted new adventures, right?"

Her words bring me back to the night of the bonfire in the woods. The adventures we were chasing that night seem so small compared to the ones we are chasing now. I feel like that night will pale in comparison to what is in the cards for this wildly sinful week.

My roommates cheeks are rosy from the shots and perfectly match her blush mini skirt. Her bandeau cropped top is covered in small white feathers and she has jeweled clips pinning back her short brunette hair. She looks soft and innocent and the exact opposite of someone who should be attending a seven deadly sins party.

"Cheers to that Anna," I say before taking the shot and letting my blood sizzle in the heavy coat of liquor.

"Hey, I'm all for whatever gets my best friends to attend parties with me," Elizabeth responds, pouring herself one last shot.

"If tonight ends up with you throwing up anywhere near me I will never go to another party with you again," I warn her before finishing off my can of hard seltzer.

My roommate bursts out into laughter. "Watch out then cause she doesn't have a good track record with these parties and her bodily fluids."

"Ew, you make me sound like a crazy person," Elizabeth complains.