Free Promise Me Light by Paige Weaver Page A

- you’re gorgeous.”
    I shifted to my other foot, nervous under his scrutiny. He was
standing too close. Or was I standing too close to him? Either way, I
needed to get away.
    “So I’ll just go get Ryder,” I said uncomfortably, walking
away. I was a few feet from him when he touched my arm.
    “Wait…”
    I easily slipped away from him and kept going, ignoring him as he
told me to stop.
    Leaving the mucky, humid air behind, I stepped into the house and
pushed my way through the crowd. Music surrounded around me, making my
head pound with the beat. In the short time I had been outside, the
crowd in the house had tripled, filling every available space. Eva would
be so jealous that I was at Nathan Phillip’s party. She would kill me
for not waking her up and letting her tag along.
    I was almost through the crowd when Nathan called out for me to stop.
I kept going, avoiding the drunks around me. I pushed my way into the
foyer. A guy and giggling girl caught my attention. They were heading up
a flight of stairs. The guy’s hands were all over the girl,
practically up her skirt. Immediately, I knew where I would find Ryder.
Pushing past a group of people, I hurried up the carpeted stairway.
    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nathan following.
    “I don’t think you should bother him right now,” he shouted
over the music, trailing behind me.
    “Thank you for your help but I can handle him,” I said, stopping
at the top of the landing and looking around.
    The house was massive. People milled everywhere. The scene upstairs
was more subdued than downstairs but just as crowded. Rooms spanned
either side of the hallway. Most of the doors were closed but one or two
stood open. Any other time, I would have paused to take in the beautiful
artwork on the walls or the bronze statues displayed in
alcoves, but right now I just wanted to find Ryder and leave.
    “Look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said you were beautiful. I
was wrong,” Nathan apologized as I went to the first closed door
    I laughed lightly but it held no humor.
    “No wait, that came out wrong. You are beautiful,” he said,
sounding nervous. “I just shouldn’t have said anything.”
    “You better stop while you’re ahead,” I said, knocking on the
closed door in front of me.
    “He’s not in there,” Nathan said, leaning against the wall.
    I narrowed my eyes at him. “So where is he?”
    He glanced down my legs, stopping on my flip-flops. I resisted the
urge to curl my unpainted toes from his view. When his eyes met mine
again, I saw pity. Shit.
    “He’s in there,” he said, nodding his head across the
hallway.
    Giving him a look of frustration, I whipped around. My long hair flew
over my shoulder, landing against my chest. I left it there, not really
caring if it was a mess and in need of a comb.
    Moving past a couple slipping their tongues down each other’s
throats, I maneuvered my way to the closed door. I lifted my hand to
knock. That’s when I heard them.
    “Ohhhh, Ryder,” a woman’s voice cried out from inside the
room.
    “Do you like that?” a deep voice asked.
    A blush slowly crawled up my neck and into my face. I knew what Ryder
was doing when Nathan said he was ‘getting a ride’ but to actually
hear it was…shocking. It made me squirm and feel things I shouldn’t
feel. Like jealousy.
    Part of me was curious though. I’d heard the rumors. I knew what
the girls were saying about his…abilities. Just because he was my best
friend didn’t mean I wasn’t blind to the way he looked or what all
the girls saw in him.
    As the sounds of heavy breathing increased from inside the room, I
cleared my throat and stiffened my spine. I didn’t care what he was
doing. I just wanted to go home. I wasn’t a little kid anymore. I knew
what went on between two consenting adults. I just didn’t want to know
what went on between Ryder and another woman.
    Sticking my chin up, I lifted my fist and