Free Wrecked Book 4 by Rachel Hanna Page A

from making a very easy, seductive mistake.
    Miranda didn ’ t seem to be in the kitchen, so I headed out back towards the living room. I didn ’ t see her. I didn ’ t see anyone I knew, really. No Kass, no Mason or Mark, no James. It looked like everyone at the whole school was here — except for the people I was looking for.
    “ Miranda! ” I tried calling out, trying to raise my voice above the sound of the music, but it was a lost cause. I couldn ’ t even hear myself. My call was drowned out by the sounds of the party.
    Frustrated, I dug into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I tried calling Kass. It rang three times before she picked up.
    “ Hello? ”
    “ Kass? ” I said through the phone, holding a finger into my ear so that I could hear her. “ Where are you? ”
    The echo of the music through the phone threw me off. I needed to get outside or at least somewhere inside that was quieter than here so that I could hear Kass.
    “ What? ” she called through the phone. She seemed to be having a hard time hearing me, too. “ Addy, what did you say? I can ’ t hear you. ”
    I made my way to the back yard. There were still a lot of people out there, partying and drinking, shouting and making a ton of noise. But the music was fainter out here at least. Even with people splashing into the pool and laughing obnoxiously, it was a lot easier to hear now.
    “ Kass, it ’ s Addy. Where are you? ” I asked into the phone, still speaking loudly because I knew that Kass still had the music blaring in her ear.
    “ I ’ m at the party, remember? ” she shouted back at me.
    I made a frustrated noise, crossing one arm over my chest and latching it onto the other against the chill of the night air. If I ’ d had that drink, probably I wouldn ’ t even notice it. I was sure that the water in the pool was warm and all and that was part of the reason that no one outside was complaining of the chill in the air, but I also knew that getting out of the water wasn ’ t exactly a pleasant experience.
    “ I know you ’ re at the party! ” I told her. “ But where at the party? ”
    “ Are you here, too? ” she said in surprise and what I thought was at least a little bit of eagerness. She ’ d never really known me to do the party thing.
    I nodded, though she couldn ’ t see me. “ Yeah, I ’ m trying to find someone, anyone I know, but there are too many people here. ”
    “ We ’ re over by the staircase. Check on the first corner landing, ” she told me.
    The ‘ we ’ gave me a little bit of hope. “ Who else is with you? ”
    The music blared over her through the phone and I couldn ’ t make out what she said. “ What? ” I asked, putting my finger in my ear again to block out the noises on my end.
    “ I ’ m with Mason and James, ” she told me and effectively dashed my hopes.
    I don ’ t know why I ’ d been thinking that maybe she was with Miranda, but I had hoped. Still, finding at least someone I knew was a start. I could search more for Miranda after I found Kass and them. “ Alright, ” I told her. “ I ’ m headed that way. Keep your phone handy in case I can ’ t find you guys. ”
    “ Okay, ” she told me, still just excited that I ’ d come at all.
    We hung up, and I headed back inside. It seemed even louder now that I ’ d gotten used to the far lower volume level outside and I had to resist the temptation to plug my ears so I didn ’ t have to deal with it. Heading towards where I remembered the staircase being, I had to shove past a bunch of different people. They were all drunk, not even realizing that someone was trying to get through and probably they didn ’ t even realize when I pushed them aside to get past.
    I reached the staircase and found no one there. Kass had said to go to the first landing, so I managed to get myself actually on the staircase and headed up. There were at least only a few people actually on the stairs, so that was one less thing to worry