GL0RY had everyone up and enjoying their set by the second song. Liah, Corey, Vik and I left our seats to bounce around with the rest of the crowd in front of the stage. After their third encore, the band called it a night, but hung out to take pictures and signing autographs on napkins, shirts, and occasionally cleavage.

"We need to get a picture with them." That was the most excited I'd ever seen Vik. He was in his element, the awkward geek thing nowhere to be found.

The four of us took a picture with the band. I bought one of their shirts and had the band autograph it. Vik did the same, the two of us chatting with the band about music. When we met up with Liah and Corey back at our table, Liah was all smiles.

"Guess what we're doing next," she said, grinning wide.

I glanced at Corey for help. He shrugged, also confused. "Going home?" I guessed.

"It's barely ten," she said, as if I offended her. "I was in the bathroom and this girl said that the band is having an after party nearby."

"So, you want to crash a stranger's party?" Vik said, suddenly concerned.

"What do you mean strangers? You two were just chatting up the band like you've been friends forever."

If we went back to Vik's, we'd probably end up watching TV until we fell asleep. This weekend was supposed to be fun and nothing said fun like partying with an up-and-coming band. "I'm in."

● ● ●

Crashing the party was easier than I thought it'd be. First, we stopped for food, grabbing burgers and shakes. We ate inside the restaurant. Liah and I got kid's meals just for the toys, which the boys immediately took over. The two of them shooting little plastic arrows at each other.

Then we found the party. It was already packed when we pulled up. The house was huge with a winding driveway full of cars parked haphazardly. We had to circle the block to find parking.  When we walked in, I half expected a comedic record scratch and for the entire party to turn on us, but no one cared. People were dancing and drinking and happy.

We followed the music to a large living room. There was a karaoke machine hooked up to the TV with someone belting the lyrics to Mr. Brightside by The Killers. Liah had that spark in her eyes and I knew she wasn't leaving without singing one song and putting everyone here to shame with her vocals.

While Vik and Liah watched karaoke, I watched Corey. His eyes bounced around the room, the same way they did when we first got Vik's. I looked, too. At the high, slanted ceilings, the fireplace under the TV, the hardwood floors currently being scuffed up by people treating the room like a mosh pit. To me it was just a living room, but he was seeing something different. I wanted to know what he saw.

"Taking notes?"

He scoffed. "Of what not to do, maybe."

I took another look around. Everything was gray or beige, and the rug was hideous, but I didn't see anything especially offensive. Corey, apparently, saw something else entirely.

"Educate me."

He shook his head, laughing it off like he thought I was playing. "Didn't you come here to hang out with the band?"

"I'm serious. I want to see what you see."

His lips twitched like he was suppressing a smile. "Okay, uhm, well, there's the shape of this room for starters. It doesn't make sense."

He was right. The room wasn't square. With the diagonal walls, it was shaped more like a weird trapezoid. Corey pointed out the mistakes in the placement of the walls and how the windows were put in randomly. When I first walked in, I thought it was fancy. But with every flaw he pointed out, I realized that I'd seen better concepts in the Sims 4 gallery.

"And that," he said, turning to an archway that even I could tell was off center. "The keystone isn't in the right place and serves no purpose."

"You get kinda sassy when trashing other people's living rooms," I teased, enjoying every second of it. Even if didn't know what a keystone was. This new side of Corey was entertaining.

He scrubbed the back the back of his neck. "It's like...Imagine someone doing nails like you. And instead of coming up with a coherent design or theme, they just threw everything on the nail and called it day."

"Oh, I've definitely come across some questionable designs on Instagram." I knew exactly how he felt, too. Because when I saw those kinds of nails, all I could think about was how I could've done so much better. Nothing inspired me more than seeing someone do something wrong.

"It's like that. There was so much potential and they wasted it on...that." He motioned to the oddly placed nook with a vase of fake flowers on it.

"You're dying to see the rest of the house, aren't you?"

His face burst open at the suggestion. He held his hand out for me. I slipped my hand into his, my fingers fitting perfectly into the spaces between his.

He led me through the hall of arches, as he called it, pointing out all the things he would've done differently. The weird ceiling with its angles and dips. The bad crown molding. Most of what he said went over my head, but I loved seeing him so animated.

We made a game of spotting unnecessary windows that looked out over nothing. Whoever spotted one first got a kiss. The only losers in this game were the homeowners and their millions of windows.

As we went up the stairs, Corey pointed out what could've been the perfect place for an under the stairs closest. Instead, it was only paneled to look like a door.

We peeked inside the bedrooms, which all looked like they were from the middle ages. My favorite was the nautical themed room with the ship's wheel on the ceiling above the bed. Like, why?

Corey opened another door, that one leading into a bathroom. It was, like a majority of the house, beige. The floor, walls, and tub were decked out in the same ugly tile. There were a ton of mirrors above way more counter space than necessary. The his and hers sinks were on opposite sides of the room.

"Why would a bathroom need to be this big? I could fit my bed in here," I said, poking at yet another dusty fake plant.

"This is my issue." He stood in front of the huge window behind the tub. "There's not even a curtain."

"Maybe they like to bird watch while they bathe."

Corey gave me a look before we both burst into laughter.

"If they were gonna make everything one color, they should've chosen something fun. Like pink. Barbie-fied the place."

He laughed, leaning against one of the many counters. "Is that what you want, a pink toilet?"

"No, a gold toilet with diamond encrusted toilet paper."

He snorted. "Sounds painful."

"Yes, but think about the envy in my neighbor's as they watch me wipe myself in front of that massive window."

He was practically doubled over laughing.

"This house was designed so the owners can invite their family over and rub it in their faces that their bathroom is bigger than their bedroom."

I joined him at the counter, our shoulders brushing as I leaned next to him. "Is that your goal? A big house to make people jealous."

"Absolutely not," I said, making a face. "That hall was never ending. And if anyone ever broke in, it'd probably be months before I noticed. I'd want something reasonably sized. Where I wouldn't get my daily steps in just by going downstairs to get a glass of water."

"I want a really nice backyard," he said, clasping his hands in front of him. "The kind you see on TV with the dad grilling. And a pool. Or a hot tub."

"Oh, you can do a pool in the backyard and one of those hot tub bath things in the master bathroom," I said, picturing it.

He grinned. "I like that. And there has to be a big dining room for holidays."

"And a library with floor to ceiling shelves."

"All of our windows will have purpose."

"And our bathroom would be small so we can brush our teeth side by side."

"And no fake plants."

"Never."

I realized, maybe a moment too late, that we weren't talking about individual houses anymore. Somehow, it became our house. And maybe that should've freaked me out, but the idea wasn't so bad. I couldn't imagine being with anyone except Corey. He must've realized the shift as well, going quiet as he stared pointedly at the gross beige tiles.

When he met my gaze, it was with an intensity I'd never seen before. And when he kissed me, it was unlike all our other kisses. This one was hungrier. Desperate even.

Corey stood in front of me, his hands on my face, his body--solid and warm--pressed against mine. His hand moved to my waist, lifting me so I was on the counter, with him between my legs. Our lips not disconnecting once.

Even though there wasn't a inch of space between us, my body screamed for him to be closer. Like he could hear my thoughts, he pulled his hoodie off, his shirt going with it.

"That wasn't supposed to happen," he said, glancing at the pile on the floor. "It was getting hot and--

He went speechless when I added my sweater to the mix. It wasn't fair for him to be the only half naked one. Then, for good measure, I reached behind me and unclasped my bra and tossed it down.

Corey took in a sharp breath, like the air was knocked out of him. I sucked in a nervous breath, watching him watch me. I'd never been this exposed in front of...anyone. Anxiety fluttered in my belly. But when his eyes flicked back up to mine, my nerves settled.

"Harlow," he said, his voice a low, strained whisper. "You're fucking gorgeous."

My face flushes hot and I felt like a grinning idiot, but he's grinning back, so it's okay. I rub my hands down his chest smooth, brown chest, admiring the hardness of his muscles.

A month ago, he was shirtless in my kitchen and I was spilling lemonade all over myself. Now, we were both shirtless in an ugly bathroom and I didn't know what was going to happen next, but I had a few ideas.

"Oh, shit!" Corey and I jumped at the intruder. He was quick to block my bare chest from view with his own. "Sorry. My bad.' The girl backed out, shutting the door.

I didn't breathe until the clicking of her heels faded. Corey looked up at me, the two of us talking over each other. He got his words out first and he didn't say anything about locking the door.

"We should, uhm, go back down." He handed me my clothes. Whatever was about to happen passed because we didn't have the foresight to lock the freaking door!

Despite how annoyed I was at being interrupted, I couldn't help but smile whenever I looked over at him. My mind going to what almost happened.

"I'll meet you down there," he said, once we were fully clothed.

I nodded, not trusting myself not to lock us in that bathroom and do things I'd only ever read about in books. I tried to contain myself as I walked back towards the party. The last thing I needed was a bunch of strangers knowing I almost had sex with my boyfriend. But nothing could wipe the smile off my face.

Except my brother.

I blinked and Grayson was gone. I had to have imagined him. It was my mind playing tricks on me because I'd been lying to him this whole time. Because there's no way in hell he could be here.

Still, I crept around the corner to make sure, hiding behind a group of guys who smelled like weed and body spray. I saw a tall Black guy who could be my brother but definitely wasn't because it wouldn't make sense.

"Gray! You made it!"

It felt like something in me shriveled up and died. Because there, in the kitchen with its weirdly angled counters, the lead singer of GL0RY did that bro hug thing with my brother. What the hell was happening? This couldn't be real.

Then again...Grayson had a roommate named Allister and that's the name of the lead singer. Of all the concerts in the world, Liah found the one who had a direct connection to my brother!

I realized, with a start, that the stoners I was hiding behind were gone, leaving me exposed. I ducked out of the kitchen before Gray turned around. We needed to leave.

Liah was still in the living room, chatting with some girl with a purple afro and four nose piercings.

"Ari." Liah pulled me closer. "This is Jenique. She's wants to start an all Black pop-punk band and they're looking for a lead vocalist."

Her excitement over that momentarily made me forget why I was there. "You hate that kind of music."

Her eyes popped wide, silently screaming at me to shut up. To Jenique, she said, "I don't hate it. I just haven't paid enough attention to really appreciate it, but--"

I grabbed Liah's arm. "I'm sorry, but we need to talk."

My best friend groaned, but let me pull her away. "What is it?"

"Where's Vik? We need to go, like, now!"

She stopped letting me tug her along. "What? Why? Where's Corey? Did he do something? Do I have to kick his ass?"

"Grayson is here."

She let out a laugh. " No, he isn't. Ari, you're being paranoid."

"No, I'm not. He's right through there in the kitchen, which means we have to leave." I whisper-shouted because the last thing I wanted was to draw attention to myself. "You text Vik and I'll text Corey and we can meet at the car."

"But wait, I thought you and Corey were going to tell him?"

"Not like this!" I said, anxious as we just stood there in the open. "It's bad enough I'm dating Corey. If Gray finds out I lied to our mom and left West Valley to come to some college party, he'll be impossible to reason with. We just need to leave."

Her shoulders sagged. "Okay, yeah. I think Vik went to get us some water. Where's Corey?"

"Texting him." My thumbs flew across my phone screen as I turned to leave, immediately crashing into someone.

Hands I didn't invite to touch me were suddenly on my hips. Some dude, who reeked of beer, pulled me into him before I had time to react. "I was just coming over to ask if you wanted to dance."

"Not interested." I tried to shove him off, but he only tightened his hold on me.

"She said no, asshole!" Liah said, glaring up at the guy.

"Don't be jealous, you'll have your turn." He winked at her and it made my stomach roil. I didn't have time for this.

"Let me go," I hissed, using both hands to push him off, but he wouldn't budge.

Liah, bad ass she was, pulled out her keys and pointed her mace at him. "She said let her go."

He did. Unfortunately, I was still trying to pull myself out of his grip, so when he let go, I fell back on my ass. Now people were definitely staring.

"You're trying to threaten me?" The guy grabbed Liah's wrist. She yelped in pain and dropped her mace. "Yeah, that's what I--"

SMACK!

I didn't know when he got there, but Corey came out of now where, hitting the jerk square in the face. The guy stumbled, but didn't fall. He wiped his lip where it started to bleed. He zeroed in on Corey.

"I'm gonna kick your ass and then--" He went down, hitting the ground hard.

It happened so fast, I wasn't sure how, until I saw Vik cradling his hand like it was broken. "Ow!"

People were crowded around us, giving us the attention we did not need. "We have to leave."

Liah grabbed her keyring from the floor and we all jumped over the jerk before running out to the car. There was no one angrily shouting my name, so it was safe to assume Grayson hadn't seen us.

"How can you tell if your hand is broken?" Vik asked as we walked down the block to the car.

"I think I should drive," Liah said. Vik handed over the keys with no protest.

Once we were out of view of the house and there was no big brother chasing us down, I allowed myself to breathe. My heart still hammering away.

None of us spoke until we were in the car. Liah turned to me in the backseat, a sly smirk on her face. "Please tell me I'm not alone in thinking our boyfriends socking that dude in his face was the sexiest thing ever."

A smile broke out on my face as I looked over at Corey. "No, you're a hundred percent correct."

I needed to make Corey blush more often, because it was the cutest thing. Liah leaned over and kissed Vik, making him forget his possibly broken hand for a second. Then we headed home. First, we stopped for gas and snacks for the long drive ahead. Vik filled the tank while Liah and I got the snacks.

When I joined Corey in the backseat, I handed him a soda. "For your hand."

He smiled, resting his knuckles on the cold soda can. "Thanks. You figure it out yet?"

"What?"

"Taylor Swift."

I shook my head. "Nope, so you should just tell me."

"Where's the fun in that?"

Leaning in closer to him, I whispered, "I'll show you my boobs again."

He wet his lips, his breath tickling my neck as he whispered, "You got cheese puffs in that bag?"

I rolled my eyes with a playful attitude and threw the cheese puffs at him.