I wanted to gather my thoughts, leave the party in a few hours, and fulfill my end of the bargain. She would want to rage against Martin, maybe pack up and leave the island tonight. Ironically, I was more likely to find alone time here, in this crowd, than I would if Sam and I left the party. “Really, I’m fine,” I yelled over the cheering keg standers and lifted my chin toward Erin, encouraging him to rescue me from Sam. “No.” I shook my head as I spotted Eric hovering behind her, about five feet away. I wanted to find a closet and go chill with myself, calm the rising tide of emotion. “Kaitlyn, what do you want to do? Do you want to leave?” Sam poked me. Several guys were doing keg stands near the largest refrigerator I’d ever seen. I didn’t know what to say or do or where to look so I glanced over her shoulder. Nor could I deal with the funnel cloud of feelings that tore through me, because…I just couldn’t.

I shrugged and rolled my eyes so I wouldn’t cry. “God, what an asshole!” I could feel her eyeballing me. She stopped me when we reached the far end of a huge kitchen. I heard her growl at Eric when he started to explain and felt her close behind me as I wove through the crowd. I turned back to the door and walked away from…all of that hot mess. I doubted my gaze of acceptance had been very effective because I could feel tears sting my eyes. I gripped her arm to keep her in place and I shook my head, letting her see I considered the whole situation ridiculously futile. “I’m going to kill him.” Sam’s voice was low with menace. Even though you don’t feel calm doesn’t mean you can’t be calm.

Attraction by penny reid read online