Stuck With The Four Hotties

A few weeks later, there’s another Infinity Club party at the lodge. This time, it’s not quite so cold, so the party’s spilled down the hill and into the water. The girls are dressed is mismatched bikini tops and bottoms, while the guys don colorful swim shorts, creating a splash of brightness against the endless blue of the lake.

When the Idol boys offer to play me at poker, I decline. I learned my lesson last time, and I’m not about to repeat that mistake. Things are going well for me right now, and I’m not about to mess that up by putting myself in debt. I have yet to fulfill my end of the deal with Creed, but I still don’t know anything about Miranda and her dating habits.

Part of me hopes I never do, so I don’t have to tell her brother. Maybe one day he’ll just stumble onto the information on his own, then my debt will be null and void, and I won’t have to share secrets.

It’s worth a thought.

“I still don’t quite get the Infinity Club or what it is,” I confess to Lizzie as we sit in chairs on the edge of the shore, watching people splash around in the water. Her fiance is out there, making an ass out of himself, and she frowns. I notice her eyes go to Tristan whenever he enters a room, and I have to fight back a strange mix of jealousy and pity. Lizzie should be able to date whoever she wants, regardless of her parents’ wishes. But … also, I think I kind of like Tristan now?

Lizzie turns her amber eyes over to me and smiles.Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

“I’m not allowed to tell you much, but … it used to be a boys’ club.” She sighs and sits up, pushing her dark curls back from her face. “It wasn’t until, like, ten years ago that they started letting women in.”

“Is the gambling stuff … necessary?” I ask and Lizzie shrugs.

“Infinity Club is about … risks … money, connections … secrets.” She exhales sharply and leans back. I can see her infinity tattoo just above her right hip. “Nations thrive and wither depending on the club’s wants. We’re all just, like, the junior version.” She laughs softly, focusing on her blue painted toenails. “We’re being molded into the future rulers of the world.”

I get chills down my spine at the melancholy note in her voice and decide that maybe I’m digging too deep into something I don’t want to know much about. I just want to live a normal life. I’ll never be in their club anyway, so what’s the point?

The less I know … the better.

A shadow falls over me, and I look up to see Zack standing next to my chair. My heart leaps in excitement, and I rise to my feet to give him a hug. He holds me so tight and so close that I can hear his heart beating. His muscular arms give just the right amount of squeeze before he releases me.

“It’s been a while,” he says, and I grin as he pulls over a chair to sit next to me and Lizzie.

The Idol boys are off somewhere doing their thing, but I’ve already seen a race around the lake today that almost gave me a heart attack. I was sure one of those fancy sports cars was going in the water, and someone was going to die. They’ve moved onto other stupid games, gambling away fortunes my father’s never even dreamed of, but so long as they don’t start playing Russian roulette, I decide to just leave it be.

When you’re as rich as they are, life starts to dull around you. They don’t appreciate the little things anymore, so they create big things to entertain themselves. It’s a little sad, actually. I almost feel sorry for them.

“It has been a while,” I say, biting my lower lip and looking over at him. I guess I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed him. Or that I’d missed him at all, really. Zack glances over at me, his brown eyes dark, face unreadable. He’s a mystery to me, but he doesn’t have that cruel streak in him the way the others do. My heart pitter-patters in my chest, and I glance away, catching Lizzie’s amber-eyed stare. She smiles knowingly, and I flush.

I’m a little jealous that they go to the same school. Or rather, I’m disappointed that Zack didn’t get into Burberry Prep. I would’ve loved

having him here with me.

“Your dad misses you,” he says, glancing over at me. “I go home every weekend, and I usually stop by his place. You’re the only thing he talks about.” Zack glances out at the lake, and all the students splashing and laughing and screaming. “He’s really proud of you, you know.”

I nod, but there’s too much emotion in my throat; I feel like it’s choking me. There’s something going on with my dad and Jennifer, that much I know for sure. It’s been bothering me since winter break, but I just can’t figure it out.

“Has there been a woman coming around a lot?” I ask, fishing for information. “One who drives a new white Cadillac?”

Zack shakes his head, and I sigh in relief. I was starting to worry that my parents might be seeing each other again. What a strange thing for the kid of divorcees to worry about, huh, their parents getting back together …

“Nothing like that,” Zack says, looking over at me again. The way his eyes take me in, it’s like he’s drinking me up, like he’s thirsty and can’t get enough. After a moment, he runs his tongue across his lower lip, like he’s thinking hard about something. “Do you mind if I get changed? We can go swimming or something.” I nod, and Zack gets up to head into the lodge.

When he comes back, he’s dressed in black swim shorts, and nothing else.