Rock Bottom by Jamie Canosa Read Free Book Online Page A

Don’t let anybody tell you different, okay?”
    My throat tightened at the blunt reminder of what exactly we were about to walk into. If my parents ever found out where I was . . . I couldn’t even finish that thought.

 
     
     
    Chapter Eleven
     
    Elijah’s fingers threaded through mine as we climbed the front steps and knocked on the front door. I held tight to him as it swung open and we were ushered into a dark, cramped space. It was quieter than I expected. Music played from a stereo in the corner and a few people sat around on ratty old sofas just hanging out and talking. Three guys and two girls, all five heads turned toward us when we stepped into the room.
    “Yo, Eli! What up, bro? Long time no see.”
    “Hey, Liam, how’s it goin’?”
    “Good, man. It’s all good.”
    “Guys, I want you to meet—”
    “Rylie Stark. Well, I’ll be damned.” A deep chuckle came from a particularly dark corner of the room.
    The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but it wasn’t until he stepped out into the soft glow of the single bare bulb lamp in the room that I recognized him. He was a year ahead of us—graduated, or at least stopped attending, last spring—but he was a living legend in the halls of Raymoore High. A hardcore legend. And he knew my name? Well, I wanted crazy.
    “Rafe.” Elijah nodded at him in that guy version of a hello that they do, but Rafe’s eyes stayed glued to me.
    “What the hell is she doing here?”
    I felt Elijah bristle as I shrank back behind him.
    “She’s with me. Is that a problem?”
    Rafe’s gaze followed me even as I tried to disappear and then . . . he smiled. “Not at all. Come on in. The party’s just getting started.”
    Elijah had to actually tug me into the room behind him and then deposited me on the couch, quickly claiming the seat beside me. The guys got lost in conversation, telling stories and cracking jokes made funnier by the fact that they really weren’t that funny at all. Liam sparked a bowl with a pretty purple swirl design running through it and passed it off to one of the girls. After taking a hit, she got up and took a seat on the floor near my feet.
    “I’m so glad you’re here. There’s always way too much testosterone at these things. Who the hell cares about fucking basketball, anyway?”
    “I think they’re talking about football.”
    “Same dif. I’m Meg, by the way.”
    “Right, I’ve seen you around school. I’m—”
    “Rylie. Everyone knows who you are.”
    “Really?”
    “Um . . . yeah. You’re like the friggin' queen of the school. What the hell are you doing here, anyway?”
    “Just . . . hanging out with Elijah.”
    “Are you two like dating?”
    “Um . . . no. We’re . . . hanging out.”
    She threw her head back and laughed. “You don’t sound so sure about that.”
    I shot a nervous glance in Elijah’s direction, afraid he’d overheard her, and caught him just as Rafe passed him the bowl. He passed it back to Liam without taking a hit or even offering me one. I didn’t know whether that was sweet or insulting.
    “What’s up, Eli? You not smoking tonight?”
    “I have to drive Rylie home.”             
    “Then if you’re her DD,” Rafe snatched the glass bowl back from Liam and leaned across Elijah to offer it to me. “Wanna party?”
    I leaned back in my seat, startled by his sudden intrusion, and tried to think of a polite way to refuse. It was unnecessary when Elijah’s hand closed around his wrist, pushing it back.
    “She doesn’t want to.”
    “Why don’t we let the girl decide for herself?” Rafe challenged.
    Elijah scowled and turned to me with a question in his eyes he already knew the answer to. I looked past him to Rafe and tried my best to smile, though I’m fairly certain it came off as a grimace. “No, thank you.”
    Rafe held my gaze another moment and leaned back. “Okay. Maybe next time.”
    “Yeah. Sure. Maybe.”
    Meg laughed. “Don’t mind him. Rafe can be a