We walk through the glass doors and images from the last party flashes in my mind. Casey must be thinking about it too because she leans over and says, "I'm not drinking tonight. I don't want to push you into the pool again." Dylan, Reece, and Carlos are sitting in some plastic chairs. Dylan is laughing along with them and I smile when I see his smile. When his gaze lands on me, he immediately stands up from his chair. "Hey," he says as he walks up to me. "You look amazing," his eyes quickly flicker to my chest. I smirk because Dylan really has no shame when it comes to checking me out. "Thank you, and my eyes are up here." He lets out a laugh and puts his arm around me. "I know they are." Carlos takes Casey's hand and spins her around. "Look at my hot date. Damn!" She only laughs and hugs him. "You guys want anything to drink?" Dylan asks us. Casey shakes her head instantly. "No drinking for me tonight. I don't want anyone to end up in the pool." "Smart," Dylan nods at her before glancing down at me. "Maybe in a little bit," I say. It depends on how I feel the night is going to go. The guys bring more chairs so all of us can sit in a circle. Dylan's chair is close to mine and he keeps his arm around me, with his thumb rubbing circles on my shoulder. I feel at ease, the nervous pit in my stomach slowly going away. A guy I recognize from my computer class walks over and asks Dylan and the guys if they want to play beer pong. It seems like Dylan wants to play, but no one else wants to. Before he can say no, I say, "I'll be your partner." He smirks. "Have you ever played before?" "Well, no." He stares at me before nodding. "Okay. Let's go play then." The nervous feeling is amplified and I'm afraid of looking stupid in front of everyone, but once Dylan grabs my hand it subsides. We walk over to the table in front of the pool and two other guys are already waiting. "Oh shit, Parker's come to whoop our asses," one guy says. "Nah, he has that chick. Not Anthony," the other laughs. I cross my arms. "My name is Lacey, by the way, and I'm going to kick your ass with Dylan." Everyone around us laughs and Dylan had a huge grin on his face. "That's what I like to hear," he says. "Now, just sink the ball into their cups. If one lands in the cup, they have to drink it. And don't worry, if one lands in our cup I'll drink it." I peer into the cups and it looks like plain beer inside. I don't like beer, but I don't want Dylan to have to drink all of them by himself. "No, I can drink too." "You sure? I don't want you puking in my house," he laughs. "I'll be okay," I promise. I have a rough start and the guys we're playing are pretty good. I have to drink two cups and Dylan drinks another two. Then I get a groove going and sink three balls in a row. Dylan gives me a high five. "That's my girl," he says excitedly. Being called 'my girl' has the butterflies in my stomach going crazy. In the end, our team and theirs have one cup left and it's our shot. Dylan misses and looks at me like his life depends on my shot. I throw the ball and for a second I think it's going to sink, but it bounces off the tip and falls on the ground. The first guy throws the ball effortlessly and sinks the ball, winning the game. Dylan goes to grab the cup, but I beat him. The already warm beer slides down my throat and I slam the cup on the table. "Shit," I swear. "I'm sorry." "My fault, my fault," Dylan says waving it off. We walk over to the glass doors and I shake my head. "We were so close," I say. I hate losing, and especially to drunk idiots. "Not bad though." He chuckles. "You're cute when you're competitive." I can't say I'm not competitive so I shrug. He puts his arm around my waist and smiles down at me. "You know, you look beautiful in red." My cheeks warm. "You're just saying that." Jacob always told me I looked better in blue, so it's strange that Dylan likes me in red. "No, really. I think red looks really good on you." His smile is so genuine and it's still crazy to think that Dylan Parker actually has feelings for me. His eyes drop to my lips and he dips his head so his lips meet mine. Everything around is disappears as we perfect our kiss. I'm completely aware of my hands tangling themselves in his hair and him pushing me up against the wall to feel as close as possible. He's trailing kisses down my neck and I can't help but think that things are only going to be just fine with Dylan in my life. "Oh shit, I totally called it," Anthony's voice interrupts us. Dylan breaks away and I breathe heavily. Anthony is staring at us with a large grin on his face and his arms crossed. "I found them," he calls out.