Her feet whispered through the too-long grass, damp with night dew. There was a bench out near the dilapidated garden shed, and she sat on it to stare at the dark sky. The Quarrytown iron quarry was operated at one point in its history by a pair of brothers who preferred to live close to the site, so they’d built their houses directly across from each other outside the quarry’s original entrance. The Sterns lived in what used to be the older brother’s house, which was bigger and fancier because the older brother had never married and spent all his money on his property. The Harrison house across the street was smaller but kept in far better shape. Both houses were built from the same local limestone, but the Harrisons didn’t have a shed. Their backyard edged up to a farmer’s field that was usually planted with corn. The Sterns’ backyard eased into the woods surrounding the quarry, which was abandoned in the early seventies after a hurricane flooded it. It had become a vast, clear lake fed by spring water that never got warm, not even in August.
When they were much smaller, the four of them used to build forts out of tree branches and the cast-off bits and pieces of machinery or other things the quarry workers had left behind. They used to hide junk food in the old equipment shed. Now, she’d be more likely to find a stash of weed and some empty beer cans and maybe even a used rubber or two rather than a box of Little Debbie Snack Cakes. They all still swam in the quarry, but Alicia couldn’t remember the last time they’d hung out together in the woods. They were all growing up. Jennilynn and Ilya were high school seniors. Nikolai was a junior. Alicia and the Stern brothers’ new stepsister, Theresa, were both sophomores. They all waited for the bus together at the end of their street, but that was about it.
Except for now, at this party. Cars lined the street. The music was way too loud. There wasn’t anyone around to call the cops—Jennilynn was right about that—but in some way or another, by the end of the night, the cops were going to show up. The only time kids got away with mega parties like this without getting busted was in the movies.
For now, she sat on the old park bench nestled into the knee-high grass. The wood was splintered, so she was careful when she shifted. She looked up at the night sky. No moon. The stars were like bright pinpricks, diamonds on black velvet . . .
Shit. I’m actually drunk.
Or maybe she got a little contact high. Either way, her head buzzed, and the universe seemed vast and wild, but still so close she could reach up and grab it, if only she held out her hand.
“Hey.”
Startled, she let out a small “meep.”
“Nikolai.”
He still had the bottle, though the amount of liquid sloshing in the bottom was a lot less than it had been inside the house. He sat next to her on the creaking bench and stretched out his legs. He’d grown taller over the summer.
Their shoulders touched. This time, when he passed her the bottle, Alicia took it. She sipped, choking, eyes burning. The vodka warmed her throat and belly. She hadn’t noticed she was shivering.
“Got cold out here.” Nikolai slung a companionable arm around her shoulders. “Trees will be changing soon.”
From the house came a sudden flare of light and music and laughter. Dark silhouettes appeared in the doorway, then disappeared into the shadows. Nikolai laughed under his breath.
“Your sister,” he said. “That guy.”
Alicia tried to catch a glimpse of Jennilynn but could see nothing. “He’s too old for her.”
“Girls like older guys.”
She looked at him. “He’s way too old.”
Nikolai shrugged. His eyes flashed, then his smile. “Great party, huh?”
“Your mom is going to kill you when she gets home.” Alicia relaxed against the back of the bench and his arm.
“She’ll blame Ilya.” Nikolai drained the bottle and tossed it into the grass with a clink.
That was true. Galina and Ilya clashed all the time. Nikolai was Galina’s favorite, but this was the first time Alicia ever heard him admit knowing that. She retrieved the bottle, setting it close to her side of the bench. “It will break and someone will step on it.”
“You’re always so in charge, huh?” Nikolai stretched.
She frowned. “I just don’t want anyone to get hurt. That’s all.”
“Mother hen,” Nikolai said.
“So what? What’s wrong with wanting to make sure everyone is okay?” she demanded, suddenly angry, because Nikolai was always ragging on her. Always on her case. It wasn’t fair.
Somehow they were both standing. She poked him in the chest, hard, because he was taller than she was now. Not by much—a couple of inches—but she still had to tilt her head to look up at him, and it annoyed her. She poked him again, but this time Nikolai’s hand grabbed her wrist, holding her tight enough to hurt, if she struggled.
“I’m just teasing you,” he said without letting her go, even though she tugged. “You get so mad all the time, Allie. Why you gotta get so mad?”
“Because . . . you . . . why do you always have to argue with me? Anything I say or do, you’re always making it like some big deal!” She tried again to get her hand free but couldn’t, so she smacked at him with the other.
Laughing, Nikolai grabbed that wrist, too. He took one of her hands and jabbed at her face. “Whattya hitting yourself for? Huh? Why are you hitting yourself?”
She wriggled, furious now. In addition to getting taller, Nikolai had gotten a lot stronger. Gone were the days when she could wrestle him to the ground and knuckle his head until he gave up. Being pressed up against him felt different now.
A lot different.
Alicia had kissed a couple of boys before, but nothing like this. Nikolai’s mouth on hers was warm, sweet, and insistent. Her lips parted; his tongue slipped inside. Stroking hers. This kiss was inquisitive and also demanding. It left her weak-kneed.
It was over before she had time to even think about it, to protest or fight it, because of course she would have. Right? Nikolai?
“Shit,” he said softly and took a few steps back. “Shit, I’m fucked up. Really fucked up.”
She reached for him, but he was far enough away that her fingertips skated briefly down the front of his shirt, and then there was nothing but empty space between them. She should yell at him, she thought in a daze. Tell him off.
Instead, she pushed past him, toward the house. She didn’t look back. Ignoring everyone else at the party, Alicia moved faster and faster through the dancing, hollering mass of kids. Out the front door. Across the street. In her own house, she slammed the front door hard enough to rattle the pictures on the wall. Alicia fled down the hall and into the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth over and over again, leaning over the sink, certain she was going to be sick.
It took a long, long time to scrub away the flavor of that kiss.
CHAPTER SIX
Nikolai smelled so damned good she wanted to eat him up.
Her brother-in-law, Alicia reminded herself sternly. Ilya’s baby brother.
The boy who’d once kissed her in the backyard during a party, a kiss she’d never been able to forget.
The man whose arms felt like iron rods, but bendy. Bendy iron rods, she thought, a little dazed. Bendy, sexy iron rods. His chest, rock hard, firm, the steady thumping of his heart speeding up beneath the press of her palm against it. And lower, damn—not that she was going to assume anything, but there was a sudden rush of heat in her belly at the touch of his body on hers.
He moved away from her with an anxious snicker. Alicia’s small, obnoxious titter was nothing like her normal laughter. Or her normal reaction to being embraced by a hard-bodied, gorgeous guy.
Then again, it had been a damned long time since she’d been held like that by anyone. No wonder her body had reacted that way. Hormones, she told herself sourly. Stupid.