“Parties at your place every weekend!” Morgan finished for her, sending a splash of steaming water toward each of the girls. “You have the best party house in San Francisco, Maddy.”
“No question,” Kirsten said, looking across the artfully lit pool to the view of the bay. Behind them the 4
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sprawling six-bedroom Spanish-style house pulsed with Rihanna’s latest album.
Maddy smiled her agreement. Everyone was getting what they wanted: Mom and Dad were living their dream up in Napa, and she was experiencing sweet independence down here in the city.
“I should probably go mingle, guys,” she told everyone. “I am the hostess, after all.”
Brian splashed back into the tub next to her just in time to catch her last words. “Don’t go too far,” he said, winking at her meaningfully. Maddy laughed at him and pulled herself onto the deck, knowing he was enjoying watching the water run off her slim, tanned figure.
“If you tap that new keg, I might have a special treat for you later,” she said flirtatiously.
He grinned back. “Wait, I want my party favor right now!” He grabbed for her, but she dodged his grasp and draped a silk sarong around her hips, slipping a gauzy linen shirt on top.
As Maddy made her way to the foyer, she saw Brian’s best friend push through the oak front door. “Mad-eline!” Chad yelled, crushing her with a bear hug. The hall filled up with huge, brawny boys lugging an extra case of beer. Two skinny blondes appeared behind them, each waving a bottle of vodka. Maddy shook her head—
for two of the richest girls at school, Taylor and Sunny certainly managed to look remarkably cheap. 5
Hailey Abbott
“We brought Grey Goose!” Sunny called.
“Your place is so awesome, Maddy!” Taylor squealed.
“Thanks,” Maddy said. “Why don’t you stick the vodka in the kitchen?”
“Oh my God, is that Scott Winters?” Sunny screeched in reply, staring into the living room. “Doesn’t he play for UCLA?” She and Taylor hustled past Maddy, nearly knocking her over.
Within an hour, her house was filled with basically every person she knew—and a bunch she didn’t. Maddy felt like the queen of summer. When she looked around again, Morgan and Kirsten were dramatically debating something with Taylor. Sunny was making out with a guy from Cathedral Prep. Someone had put on the Ying Yang Twins, and couples were grinding in the living room and making out on the sofas. Rob Davis broke a Lalique vase, and Maddy was drinking vodka tonics way too fast.
She needed a breather. So she made her way back onto the now-deserted deck, trying not to stumble too much. “Mmmm,” she murmured, collapsing onto a canvas lounge chair. She closed her eyes and let the pounding music behind her wash through her mind. She could feel someone standing over her.
“I’ve come to collect my party favor now, hostess,”
Brian whispered as he slid onto the chair next to her. Maddy smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. 6
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He pulled her on top of him. “I am so glad your parents are gone.”
“Me too.” She loved the feeling of his whole body pressed against hers. She twined her fingers in the wavy hair at the back of his head and kissed him gently. His body tensed, and excitement shot through her. Mmm. Brian was so yummy. His lips always tasted like cinnamon. He wrapped his arms around her and flipped himself over, taking her with him. Now he was on top, gazing down at her. “It’s going to be a great summer, Madeline Sinclaire,” he said softly as he pressed his hips against hers. She closed her eyes and he kissed her again, this time parting her lips with his tongue.
I couldn’t agree more, she thought. She ran her hands up and down his bare back under his T-shirt as he shifted to the side a little and slid her shirt up. She shivered at the sensation of the fabric brushing her skin. After a few blissful minutes, Maddy drew back and glanced at the diamond-encrusted Bulgari tank watch her parents had given her for her sixteenth birthday. Ten o’clock. By now, Mom and Dad would have unloaded all the wheelbarrows and pitchforks and whatever the hell they used to resuscitate a run-down vineyard and would be sipping wine, happily oblivious to the biggest party in Sea Cliff. “I should probably go make sure no one’s throwing chairs out of windows or something,” she said. 7
Hailey Abbott
Brian groaned and reached for her.
“Don’t leave yet.”
She smiled and tried to pull him up. “Come with me!”
The packed living room was grinding to the heavy bass line. The crowd had spilled up the stairs—Maddy could hear some sort of thumping from her parents’
room overhead—and into the kitchen.
“Rob, what are you doing in there?” Maddy called over to the brawny football player. Rob Davis had apparently given up on running around the yard and had just taken the top off of the blender.
“A little something I like to call Robbie’s Late Night Bean Special,” Rob answered with a grin. “You’ll love it, Sinclaire.”
The whir of the blender was just audible over the music. In the very back of her mind, Maddy briefly wondered if he was trashing the kitchen but decided it didn’t matter. After all, she had two whole months to clean up, and right now, dancing to Beyoncé was her main priority. Your love’s got me looking so crazy right now. Brian’s arm slid around her waist. He pulled her up tightly against him and handed her a cold beer from the freshly tapped keg. Maddy wrapped one arm around his shoulders, swaying her hips to the music, and took a sip with the other hand. “Mmmm,” she murmured and buried her face in his neck. Your touch got me looking so crazy right now.
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From behind her, she could hear Morgan shrieking,
“Oh my God! She did not!” Somewhere, glass shattered. Maddy shook her hair back from her face and raised her arms in the air, swaying to the music. Brian took her chin in his hand and leaned down.
“You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” he murmured into her ear, his lips brushing the side of her face. Their eyes met as he slowly brought his mouth to hers.
Maddy felt like her whole body was electrified. She ran her hands down Brian’s back as he dipped her backward.
“Ow! Ow! Go, Maddy!” Kirsten giggled, bumping her shoulder.
Maddy twirled around, her eyes closed, singing as loud as she could, “Got me looking so crazy in love!”
In the distance, she could hear someone calling her name. But the music drowned out the voice. She’d deal with it when this song ended. Beyoncé could not be ignored. Then the call came closer.
“Maddy! Madeline Sinclaire!”
That sounds like my father, she thought dreamily. I won- der if they even have stereos in Napa.
“MADELINE! SINCLAIRE!”
Wow, that really does sound like Dad. Maddy smiled to herself. But when she opened her eyes, her father was not smiling back.
9
Chapter Two
!
Maddy froze. She could feel the blood draining from her face. Brian stumbled into her.
“Wha—” Then he looked up and went totally rigid.
All around her, the party was still going on. No one else had noticed her parents yet. Morgan stumbled out of the kitchen, a bottle of vodka in her hand. “Maddy!”
she yelled. “Are there more glasses—oh, sh—Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Sinclaire,” she said, quickly regaining her composure. “Happy Fourth of July. Isn’t patriotism just the best part of being American?”
Neither of Maddy’s parents had moved from the doorway. Her father’s face was beet red and his eyes widened to cover about half of his face. As his body 10
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tensed, his head looked like it was sinking into the collar of his shirt. Her mother’s face was completely white.
“Morgan,” she said in a strangled voice, “please turn off the music.”