The Billionaire Boys Club (Billionaire Romance Series Book 1) (25 page)

Kelsey laughed. “This is how we deal with the stress. Humor.”
 

“Such as it is,” Jessica said. “I just wish that was the way Dylan dealt with his.”
 

Jasmine pouted in Kelsey’s mirror and fluffed her black hair.
 

“Move it, Jazz. You have a date,” Morgan said, shoving her over. She put more black mascara on her eyelashes.
 

“You’ve got to wear something nicer, Kels,” Jessica said behind her. “It’s a party.”

“It’s Eric’s party. I know how to dress,” Kelsey said.
 

“You’ve forgotten,” Jasmine said, glancing at Kelsey’s outfit of jeans and a black sweater.
 

“I mean, at least show off one body part,” Jessica said. “A leg, an arm.”
 

“Seriously, Kels. Just take your fleece for the beach.”

“Beach?” Jessica asked.

“Eric lives near the water. We always end up there,” Morgan said.

“Not tonight,” Kelsey said.
 

“Blah, blah, blah. You’ve gotten so boring since high school, Kels,” Jasmine said.
 

“Just sober,” Kelsey said, looking in the mirror.

“I don’t drink, and I look great,” Jessica said. She was wearing a tight black skirt and a very flattering top.
 

“See?” Jasmine said.
 

“Yeah, but she’s going to freeze to death on the beach,” Kelsey replied.

“She looks too hot to freeze,” Morgan countered. She and Jessica slapped hands.

“You guys are crazy,” Kelsey said.
 

“You had forgotten?” Jasmine asked.

“Not really,” Kelsey said. “Fine, I’ll change.”

“Thankfully!” Jessica said.
 

“And I’ll do your hair,” Morgan said.

Kelsey rolled her eyes, but allowed Jessica to hand her a low-cut top, which she put on.

“Nothing to show,” Jasmine said sadly.
 

“Never was,” Kelsey replied. Morgan put her hands into Kelsey’s hair. She separated out a bit of hair and started braiding it. Jessica handed her a small rubber band and Morgan secured the braid at the end. She left the rest of Kelsey’s hair loose while Jasmine put red lipstick on Kelsey’s lips.
 

“Much better,” Jasmine said. “We’ll get you married off yet.”
 

“To one of these guys?” Kelsey said doubtfully.

“Ben’s still hot for you,” Morgan said.
 

“The quiche guy?” Jessica said. “He’s a cutie.”
 

“No,” Kelsey said.
 

“Yeah, you’re setting your standards higher,” Jessica grinned. “Miss your workout friend?”

“Quiet, Miss Hunter,” Kelsey warned. Jessica laughed.
 

“Who’s Kelsey’s workout buddy?” Jasmine asked.
 

“Yeah, Kels. What are you hiding?” Morgan said.
 

“Absolutely nothing,” Kelsey replied.
 

“You bought a new top for him,” Jessica said.

“I bought a new top for me,” Kelsey commented. “Seriously, if you don’t stop I’ll set you up on a date with Ryan Perkins.”

“I’m pretty sure I could sue you for that,” Jessica said seriously. Then they both burst out laughing.
 

“And she calls us crazy,” Jasmine said to Morgan.

The four girls walked downstairs. Dylan was sitting in the living room, wearing jeans and a fleece.
 

“Finally,” he said, standing.

“We’re worth the wait, Mr. Shaw,” Jessica said.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Dylan agreed. “You all look great.”
 

“Thank you,” Morgan said.
 

“Whose car are we taking?” Dylan asked.

“We’re walking,” Jasmine said. “You don’t drive to Eric’s parties.”
 

“Why?” Jessica asked.
 

“No one’s safe to drive after,” Morgan said. Jessica glanced at Kelsey.
 

“I had forgotten that,” Kelsey said.
 

“We could just go to the movies,” Jessica said.
 

“Don’t be silly,” Dylan said. “Let’s go.” He walked out of the house with Morgan and Jasmine. Jessica and Kelsey followed behind, closing the front door.
 

“This isn’t good,” Kelsey said.
 

Jessica shrugged. “How were we going to get out of it?”

“I hope he’s OK.”
 

“We’ll be with him the whole night. And we can ask Morgan and Jazz to keep an eye on him too,” Jessica said comfortingly.
 

“All right,” Kelsey said.
 

They walked away from Kelsey’s house toward the party.
 

“How far is it?” Jessica asked.

“A few blocks,” Kelsey said. Morgan and Jasmine were giggling with Dylan at the front.

“So what were you like when you lived here?” Jessica asked.

“Lucky,” Kelsey said. Jessica looked at her in puzzlement. Kelsey sighed. “I was uncontrollable,” she finally said.
 

“You?” Jessica said disbelivingly.
 

“You have no idea,” Kelsey said. “I got thrown off of the track team. I partied every night there was a party to go to, and some nights there weren’t.”
 

“Miss North!” Jessica said.

“Seriously. You wouldn’t have recognized me.”
 

“What changed?” Jessica asked. Kelsey thought for a moment.
 

“My parents didn’t give up on me,” she concluded. “And I reached a point where I couldn’t look at what a mess my life had become without crying.”
 

“Kels,” Jessica said, touching Kelsey’s sleeve.
 

“I got it together. Finally,” Kelsey said. “And I did before it was irreversible. So it’s okay.”

“I can’t believe that,” Jessica said.
 

“Ask anyone here tonight,” Kelsey said. “They all knew me then.”
 

“Not the Kelsey I know. Proud of you, babe,” Jessica said.
 

“Thanks,” Kelsey replied.
 

Jasmine turned around. “Hurry up, slackers! We’re almost there,” she said.
 

“This will be an interesting night,” Jessica said.
 

“I hope not,” Kelsey replied.
 

They walked down a small path to a house where the party had clearly already begun.
 

“We can start!” someone yelled as they walked in. “The party queen has arrived!”
 

“Hey, Kels, you’re back!” someone else called out to her. Jessica looked at her.
 

“Small town,” Kelsey said, waving at them.
 

Music was blaring, and the house was packed with people dancing and drinking.
 

“Don’t the neighbors complain?” Jessica asked.

“It’s a big lot,” Kelsey said.
 

“Parents?”

“Eric’s lived on his own since he was 17,” Kelsey replied.
 

“Ok. That explains this,” Jessica said.
 

“Just watch Dylan,” Kelsey said.
 

“Where’d he go?” Jessica asked looking around.
“Oh, no,” Kelsey said.
 

They found him ten minutes later, drink in hand, talking to a tall redhead.
 

“Kels!” she said, hugging her.

“Hi, Sara,” Kelsey said. “You’ve met Dylan, this is my friend Jessica.”
 

“Such a cute outfit,” Sara said to Jessica.
 

“Thanks,” Jessica said.
 

“Awesome party,” Sara said.
 

“We just got here,” Kelsey replied.
 

“Plenty of time. Eric’s parties go on all night,” Sara said to Jessica.

“Great,” Jessica said, glancing at Dylan.
 

Kelsey greeted most of the people at the party and introduced Jessica around. She said hi to Jim, who was holding hands with Jasmine, and she and Jessica danced with Morgan and Ben, who had appeared quickly on the scene.
 
An hour and a half later, they looked in on Dylan, who was already beginning to look unsteady.
 

“Dylan, are you okay?” Kelsey asked.

“Fine,” he replied.
 

“How much have you had to drink?” Jessica asked.
 

“Well, Mom,” Dylan said sarcastically, “I’d have to think about that.”

“Well, Son,” Jessica replied. “Think hard.”
 

“Dylan, maybe you should slow up,” Kelsey said.
 

“Interesting coming from you, Miss North,” Dylan said.
 

“What does that mean?” Jessica said angrily.
 

“You haven’t met Port Townsend’s party queen?” Dylan slurred.

“It was a long time ago,” Kelsey said.
 

“Yet people remember like it was yesterday,” Dylan replied. “Excuse me.”
 

“Ignore him, Kelsey,” Jessica said as he walked away.
 

“This wasn’t a good idea,” Kelsey said.
 

“He would have only come without us,” Jessica said.
 

“Yeah,” Kelsey replied. “I know. I’m just wondering what it will take to get him to leave.”

“Have you seen Dylan?” Kelsey asked Jasmine an hour later. Jasmine disentangled herself from Jim’s arms and looked at Kelsey.
 

“I think he might have gone to the park,” she said.

“Thanks, Jazz.”

“The park?” Jessica asked.

“Get your jacket,” Kelsey said. They put on their jackets and walked down the street to a park entrance. “This is the park.”
 

“Closes at dusk,” Jessica said, glancing at Kelsey.

“Right,” Kelsey replied, walking in.

They went into the darkened park.
 

“Be careful, it’s a slope,” Kelsey said.
 

“I could use a flashlight,” Jessica said.
 

“Pull out your phone,” Kelsey replied. Jessica took out her phone, and she and Kelsey slowly made their way down the slope to the other side of the park.
 

“They must be on the beach already,” Kelsey said. “Steps coming up.” She and Jessica carefully made their way down a set of steps to the beach. When they arrived at the landing, they could see a small group sitting on the rocks.
 

“Hey, Kels,” one of the guys said as they walked up.

“Have you seen my friend, Dylan?”
“Dylan?”

“He’s not local.”

“Yeah, yeah, he’s over there.”
 

Kelsey and Jessica looked in the dark, where three figures were standing by the surf.
 

“Thanks, Adam.”
 

The girls walked over to Dylan and two other guys.
 

“Hey, ladies,” Dylan slurred.
 

“Time to go,” Jessica said.
 

“Yeah,” Kelsey said.
 

“Not yet, Kels,” Dylan said. “I’m going swimming.”
 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jessica said.

Dylan looked at Jessica in the dark. He unzipped his jacket and tossed it into another guy’s hands. Then he ran into the pitch-black, frigid water.
 

“Dylan, no!” Kelsey screamed, running after him.
 

Jessica stood in shock. They heard a splash.

“Help her!” She screamed at the two guys. “He’ll pull her down!”

One of the guys unzipped his jacket, but Kelsey had begun to pull Dylan back to the beach. Jessica ran out into the shallow water to help her.
 

“What’s wrong with you, Dylan!” Jessica screamed. “You could have killed both of you!”

Kelsey pulled Dylan as hard as she could, and the three of them left the surf. Jessica angrily grabbed the jacket from the hands of one of the guys, and she wrapped it around Dylan’s shivering shoulders as Kelsey pulled him toward the stairs. Jessica took off her jacket and put it around Kelsey, who was sopping wet. The first group they had passed was standing.

“Kels, can I help?” Adam asked.
 

“I need to get him home,” Kelsey said, teeth chattering. Adam took Dylan by the arms and helped him forward. Jessica helped Kelsey put the jacket over her wet body.

“You could have been killed, Kels,” Jessica said, crying.

“I couldn’t let him die,” Kelsey said painfully. She was freezing. Adam helped Dylan up the stairs and Jessica helped Kelsey. They walked across the park and left it.
 

The four of them walked the few blocks to Kelsey’s house. As they stopped near the front door, Adam lost his grip on Dylan, who collapsed on the front lawn. As the three of them tried to help him up, Dylan threw up. Kelsey got out her keys, and once they thought Dylan was done, they brought him into the house.
 

“Thanks, Adam,” Kelsey whispered. Her parents were asleep.

“Are you guys going to be OK?” Adam asked, glancing at Dylan, whom Jessica was helping up the stairs.
 

“Yeah,” Kelsey said. “Thanks.” She turned to help Jessica, and Adam let himself out. The two girls helped Dylan into the bathroom, where he threw up again. Jessica stripped off Dylan’s jacket and shirt as Kelsey removed her wet clothes down to her underwear. She ran to get towels. She and Jessica dried Dylan as best as they could, as he sat on the floor in his wet jeans.
 

“Dylan, I’ll bring your pajamas,” Kelsey said. He nodded painfully. “Can you get your jeans off?”
 

“Yeah,” Dylan said softly. Jessica left the room and Kelsey returned with Dylan’s pants. He had removed his jeans, and stood next to the shower stall in his underwear.
 

“Dry off and change,” Kelsey said. “I’ll be back.” Kelsey went to her room, where Jessica was changing into her pajamas and crying. Kelsey took a towel, dried off and put on her own pajamas. Then she went back to Dylan.

He had changed into his pants, but had resumed throwing up. Kelsey sat next to him until he stopped. He lay on the floor and looked up at her.